Mt. Democrat, West Face

Type: Backcountry or Sidecountry

Be prepared for route finding and variable snow.

From the top of Democrat, there are several descent options. For this route, we skied south off the summit to the first major chute and descended that. The top part of the chute is a consistent angle that's not too steep which allows a few open turns before it starts to choke more. After the chute becomes narrower is when the route-finding begins. I strongly recommend hiking up the same way that you plan on descending, because that will help with finding the safest way down. We had to traverse away from the boot-pack at one point to avoid an ice waterfall that we climbed on the ascent. Once you get to the bottom it's relatively quick to ski down the road back to Fremont Pass.