Divine Ridge
Manson,
Washington
Overview
The tongue-in-check name for this tour comes from the fact that it starts off of the trail Divine Inspiration at Echo Ridge. Divine this tour is not, however the pickings are slim at Echo Ridge for getting some turns, especially from the Lower Trailhead. This small ridge offers a swath of relatively open skiing for Echo Ridge, and is easily accessible from the trailhead, providing a measly 300 feet of descent. From the trailhead, head towards the bathroom and head down for a bit to get onto Divine Inspiration trail. After a couple of hundred yards of skinning, the trail bends and you will see an opening on your right. Ski down into the ravine as far as coverage allows.
Directions
Parking
Trip Reports
With some early season snow blanketing the Chelan Valley, I was anxious to get out for a ski tour. Antilon Lake didn't have enough coverage down low to warrant an outing, so I headed up to Echo Ridge to see if I could get a ski i. On a recent walk with my parents and their dogs, I had noticed an open slope off of Lolly Pop that looked like it could be doable, and was eager to see if I could find any new slopes to ski. However, on the drive up I noticed an open ridge coming down that looked like it had decent coverage, and decided to check it out.
There was one other car at the Lower Trailhead, but otherwise it looked to be a quiet day at Echo Ridge. I quickly threw on my skis and headed towards Divine Intervention. I could have headed out on Tootsy Roll, but the opening looked to be a little lower down on the slope and I figured it would be easier to spot from Divine Intervention.
Sure enough, after a few hundred yards of skinning where the trail contoured around the side of the mountain, it opened up and I was staring down the ridge. The coverage looked decent, considering it was only November and there had been limited snow. There was the requisite bitterbush and sagebrush poking up through the snow, but it certainly looked skiable. I ripped my skins and cautiously made some turns.
Surprisingly I was able to link a decent number of turns together. I didn't hit any rocks or solid ground, and while the pitch wasn't steep by any means, it was enough to necessitate legit turns. Although I had to ski relatively slowly, to ensure I had time to avoid the undergrowth poking up through the snow. All in all, the top section was better than I expected (I had very low expectations…).
As I descended, the coverage became sparser and avoiding the shrubbery both above the snow and below became trickier. I didn't catch my skis on any vegetation, but it was becoming more difficult to link turns together. It was more of a 3 or 4 turns, stop and survey the slope to try and find the least amount of vegetation, then rinse and repeat. Given how short the ski was, I didn't want to turn around until I was at the bottom of the ravine.
Skins back on, I made my way back up the slope. I skinned up through the forest, curious to see if there were any other slopes worth skiing, but the trees were tightly packed and not worth it. Once back at Divine Intervention, I did another ski, and headed back upo. I decided to skin out along Divine Intervention, hoping I might find another opening, but eventually turned around and headed back to the ridge for a final ski down.
Three short laps, but it was good to get out for a quick ski during the early season. I certainly felt like it was more than 300 feet on each run, but that may have been due to having to work so hard to avoid the vegetation! Probably not a ski worth doing if you don't have a parking pass at Echo Ridge, but if you happen to be up at Echo Ridge and are looking to work on your vegetation dodging skills, this is the perfect slope...
