Lake Janus and Grizzly Peak — Saturday, Mar. 24, 2001

Central Cascades > Stevens Pass - East

Our group of three skiers headed up the Smith Brook Road Saturday morning, with temperatures hovering around 50 degrees. The road was well-tracked and easy to ski. We left the road at the big hairpin turn and continued through open slopes and forests to Union Gap. Snow depth here was about 5 feet. From the gap, we traversed steep to very steep, crusty snow slopes toward Lake Janus, generally staying between 4300 and 4500 feet. A better route to the lake would be to stay lower and follow the creek. We arrived at the lake early in the afternoon and lunched in the warm sun. After lunch, two of us set up camp for the night; our third member bade us farewell and skied back out. With a little daylight remaining, I decided to continue up to the summit of Janus Mountain, the unnamed 5650-foot peak west of the lake. I first skied to Mud Lake, at 4700 feet, then angled back to a 5300-foot saddle south of the summit. From this saddle, a pleasant ridge leads up to the ""south peak"" and then several hundred yards beyond to the ""north peak"" (true summit). At a point about 25 feet below the summit, the ridge becomes steep and rocky, requiring me to leave my skis and scramble up a short crack, then crabwalk the knife-edged, snow-covered summit crest. The exposure and views were dramatic! Unfortunately, the waning daylight prompted a quick descent back to Lake Janus, which I reached just before dark. Rain began falling as we finished dinner in our tent, and it continued all night long. However, just before we broke camp the next morning, the rain turned to snow. Our ski back to Smith Brook was….wet. The falling snow was wet, and the night's rainfall had turned the snowpack into a slurpee. We were happy to reach the car before anyone drowned!