Selkirks Spring Access

Peak access vs. coverage occurs in


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For those without sleds, when in the spring do the access roads and efficient start points open up in the Selkirks? What if you ride a mountain bike? When is access the best?

Do you have any Snotel indicator rules of thumb? Other than taking note of the elevation and aspect of a station location, do you have any rules of thumb for what a given station's data means? For example, if a given station is clear, do you associate that with a particular trailhead or access point being clear?

Also looking for folks who are interested in getting up there for a multi-sport adventure, biking in, skiing corn and climb rock routes, or some combination of the above. I have experience with each and looking for a chance to combine them! It would be great to maybe take off early on a Friday and bike/ski in to a bowl with some south-facing rock and see what's in. If nothing, lets ski some corn and head out Sunday. Anyone interested? I'll be looking for partners for this likely through June. Hit me up!
 
Great question here. I don't have a good metric for how to use snotel data to help indicate access, but what has been a good tool is Sentinel 2...

The road to Roothann from the Priest Lake side and then the Beehive Lake's trailhead approach from the Sandpoint side are two great zones to ski into June for the zone you've mentioned!
 
Thanks for the reply! I was just browsing Sentinel Hub last night. I typically use the Playground browser, but this EO browser looks even better.

Interesting to hear that the road to Roothann is a good one. I usually think of low-elevation roads and trailheads as the first ones to melt out, and that one is pretty high. Seems like a great late-season option when you need a high trailhead to aefficiently access snow.

The north-south alignment, wide valley, and low elevation of most of the Beehive side access road make it seem like a good candidate of early season.

I was eyeing driving up two-mouth creek to ski the road up to wigwam. Looks like you could drive in a decent ways and just skin straight up the Squawman Lookout road for a pretty direct approach, but the Sentinel imagery is showing that road is snow-covered. Guess I'll keep watching!
 
Nice dude. Keep in touch as you explore... I'm all ears. I'm excited to be skiing well into the summer this year!

Another place to find touring partners would be the Spokane Mountaineers. They have a bc ski group that is rebooting and pretty active!
 
I keep track of SNOTEL data for general spring touring access. If you are curious about skiing something specific I might have some beta for you. I also use that beta in conjunction with recent satellite imagery.
My data comes from years of tracking SNOTEL depths on the dates I’ve skied certain zones.
 
The roads on the Priest Lake side have lots of snow on them still. You can get up a ways, but its a slog from there without a sled or tracked vehicle. Also, its a big no-no to rut up the lower roads when its mud season (which it is). Easier early access is typically from the the east side of Selkirks.
They had a logging operation all winter up the Roothaan road, but they only logged to 3500'-4000' (max). There's around 60-70" at 5,000' up north here, so it should last a while, but will make access more difficult for a the time being. Still getting some snow up high with over 100" still above 6,000'. Lots of ski-in to climb spots, with Chimney Rock (see avatar) probably the most popular. Mid-late-May or June is the best time usually.
Two Mouth is easier from the East Side also as they do not maintain any trails from this side, and there is decades of down timber drainages (poor forest management!) There's a road that goes right up to within about a mile or so of the lakes.
They are logging pretty high off of Rd. 10 which goes up to Schweitzer from the East River Rd. Not sure about the climbing in that zone, but there is some good skiing north of the ski area.
Good luck and start early in the A.M.!
 
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