Traversing the Pickets with Kyle Miller

We were thrilled to find this trip report from a traverse across the North Cascades’ remote Picket Range last summer, made by four local splitboarders: Scott Mcallister, Kyle Miller, Seth Holton and Frankie Choltco-Devlin. Awesome photos too!

The weather was good. It was nearly our Nation’s birthday. We Cascadian ski tourers like to do big things at the beginning of July. Sometimes, we are lucky, and our snowpack is still fat then, there is plenty of sun, and the snow is still smooth. It’s corn season, with long days thrown in, too. As usual, I wanted to celebrate our Nation’s independence by pushing my physical limits, and doing what some had said I couldn’t do, seemed perfect. Moreover, those Independence Days that I had spent in the states, I had chosen for traversing. Three July fourth’s ago, I had done the Dakobed Traverse, Two years ago, the Alpine Lakes Traverse. Last year, I had been in Matchu Pitchu (not a traverse, but cause for celebration nonetheless).
July 4 has been an auspicious time for me.
As the holiday approached and a high pressure window solidified, I reached out. Within a moment after a gmail-proposal to Frankie, he was in. Scott was a long-time touring partner. And I had skied once with Seth. In a few moments’ time, we had a party of 4 splitboarders. We were stoked!

 
Read about this thrilling mountaineering-splitboarding expedition on Kyle Miller’s blog post, A Splitboard Certified Traverse of the Pickets, at http://www.whereiskylemiller.com/?p=3649.