Alpental 3/5/08

Sometimes Plan D is the best plan.

My Plan A was Mount Snoqualmie, and at least peeking into Slot or Crooked. But I hadn't really realized how warm it had gotten yesterday. At the bottom on the approach to the waterfall was a strong sun crust. Under that crust was some unconsolidated slop. I kept at it but by the top of the waterfall I was getting more and more of a feeling that this was going to turn out to be a 3 hour bake in the sun on the way up, and by the time I got back down it would be insufferably and maybe even dangerously soft. So I pulled the plug.

Now for all I know Slot or Crooked would have been great. But I've had enough experience with spring snow on the Phantom such that I don't think the Phantom itself would have been a fun trip today, and that known condition offset the unknown possibility of goodness up higher.

Plans B and C would involve having to take my boots off and drive somewhere else. I was too lazy.

Plan D, the ultimate in laziness, was to buy a ticket and go lift skiing. I trimmed down the pack but kept the skins in. It took a while for them to get 2 running, just before 10:30.

All I did all day was the Alpy sidecountry. It was really good. Although the Tuesday crowd had done their best they had not slain all the pow and there was enough left to make me happy. The key was to use high traverse and go at least as far as Piss Pass; I think many snowboarders don't go that far if they don't have to. Around lunchtime I hiked up and over 261 to get to Pineapple Col. The deep dark hole under the Tooth usually reliably holds snow the sun can't get to that well and today did not disappoint. Snow was a slightly dense powder but with an excellent silky surface. Down where the big boulders start, stopped and skinned up again for a total of three laps. After this returned to lift serve bc and found more good stuff on Draft Dodger. Everything is so well filled in that you can head down some dubious looking exits and still pull it off; I basically skied right down the notorious waterfall.

Warm day so in surrounding mountains lots of wet slides propagated, eg Red and Kendall. Not as many of these on Chair. Some fair size chunky spontaneous ones spawning off nubbins near  Tooth observed more locally while I ate lunch in the basin under 261 and behind Pineapple col before skinning back up.

The sun was really only on most of the Alpy bc for 3 or 4 hours (10-2ish) so the sun is not doing all that much damage there me thinks.