Paragliding from Snoqualmie Mountain

On February 2nd I flew from Snoqualmie Mountain's east summit and landed on Snow Lake. I had been thinking about paragliding off Snoqualmie for a while. I've spoken to a couple other pilots who have flown off the summit to the south and landed at the Alpental ski resort in the summer, but I thought it would be better to fly around the more scenic north aspects of the mountain to land on Snow Lake to the west. This way I could also avoid a potentially dangerous (and probably illegal) landing at the ski resort during their operating hours.

Overview of my flight in Google Earth

It was a relaxed Saturday morning and I slept in a bit. I had no real plans for the day since the weather was looking mediocre, and I'd already had a lot of hike & fly adventures the previous week. It was looking foggy outside and Tiger mountain was also completely socked in on the webcam. 

However, a quick look at the Summit at Snoqualmie skiing webcams showed clear and sunny conditions at the pass. With winds from the north at just 5 mph conditions were looking excellent for my imagined flight off Snoqualmie mountain. Avalanche conditions were still low to moderate, so I felt comfortable going solo.

Excitedly I packed up my gear and had a late pancake breakfast before zipping up I-90 to the main Alpental parking lot. I starting skinning just before 11am with a goal to take off by around 3pm. 

Halfway up Snoqualmie with Guye peak in the background

The skinning was very slow low down in the trees with super icy conditions (ski crampons required)  and some steep sections that I needed to boot, but once I gained enough elevation to traverse to the south ridge the traveling became much more enjoyable. I was familiar with the route as I had done it once before to ski the Slot and Crooked couloirs on Snoqualmie's north face with Lane. For a GPS track of my climb click here.

Looking south at Guye peak and the Alpental ski resort

Views of Red Mountain to the east

Looking up the south ridge to Snoqualmie's summit

The only tracks on the mountain

After summiting at 2pm I scouted out north-facing launch options, but couldn't find any areas free of trees near the ridge. I considered dropping down into the Crooked Couloir slightly, but the north-facing slopes seemed to be wind loaded quite a bit and I didn't feel like dying in an avalanche.

Looking into the Crooked Couloir from the summit ridge

The east summit looked to be the best option with a nice rounded top and plenty of space for a northwest-facing launch. I decided to traverse south under the steep ridge instead of exposing myself to wind slabs on the north side. The south slopes were getting blasted by the sun, and I set off a couple small wet slides as I kick turned my way down the steepest sections. I wasn't concerned as the run-out was safe and the slides were easily predictable.

View of the steep ridge and east summit beyond

The east summit of Snoqualmie

My first couple launch attempts were aborted. At first I tried launching with the skins still on my skis (which had worked for me on my previous two ski launches), but the snow conditions were quite sticky and I wasn't able to pick up enough speed. My second launch attempt failed because I was facing too far west, and the north wind picked up one side of my wing first and flipped it over.

After some frustration and stumbling around in the snow, I finally got things figured out and had a successful cross-slope takeoff at just after 4pm. You can see a full track of my flight here. Below is a video from the flight. I also have a full flight video on my YouTube channel if you've got 10 minutes to spare.

Video highlights from the flight

The flight was incredible with nice sunset lighting as a result of my launch delays. The views looking at the Slot Couloir and steep cliffs on Snoqualmie's north side were amazing. I took advantage of the light north wind to gain some lift off the ridge as I glided to the west towards Snow Lake.  It was fun to fly close to the knife-edge and have views looking over the south side into the Alpental valley. I was eyeing bailout options just in case something went wrong, but thankfully the flight went smoothly and I had plenty of altitude to make the lake landing.

After packing up my wing I had a short skin out to the divide above Snow lake, and some spicy skiing on very firm snow back out to the car -- arriving just as it got dark.

Skinning out from Snow Lake

Skiing back out the Alpental valley (Snoqualmie mountain on the left)