Jan 16th, 2009, Crystal Mountain

sssssssshhhhh!
I had a gaper moment and came off the chair lift and crashed into about three people on my butt taking them out like a bowling ball. All in front of the cool kats who stand at the top!

Uh, isn't Rex the same lift that tried to eat your backpack when you were unloading?

Uh, isn't Rex the same lift that tried to eat your backpack when you were unloading?

Jeeeeez you guys are snitching!

That was top of the Northway lift about two weeks ago. Lift caught my backpack as I was sliding off causing massive backward crash!
I try and have only one lift crash a week.

You should have seen the one on Northway last season when I caught my tips in the snow just after loading and did a complete forward pike straight off the chair onto the ground. The lift ops said it was one of the best all season! People I was skiing with pretended they didn't know me.

Not to change the subject while people are busy implicating Chris of heinous chairlift crimes, but the third picture looks to be taken of Slide Mountain on the Sourdough Range.
That is a significant slide that occurred there and it looks that even the main chute climaxed to the ground/rocks.
If this picture is in fact Slide Mountain, I have noticed over the years similar events at almost the same location with similar huge fracture lines.
Does anyone have an idea when this released? I assume that the rain event was to blame.
It surprises me that the East face in Cement basin did not release like that one.
Remarkable picture!
Oface-If it is possible, I would like to get a high resolution picture of that one to study a little closer. PM me please.

Not to change the subject while people are busy implicating Chris of heinous chairlift crimes, but the third picture looks to be taken of Slide Mountain on the Sourdough Range.
That is a significant slide that occurred there and it looks that even the main chute climaxed to the ground/rocks.
If this picture is in fact Slide Mountain, I have noticed over the years similar events at almost the same location with similar huge fracture lines.
Does anyone have an idea when this released? I assume that the rain event was to blame.
It surprises me that the East face in Cement basin did not release like that one.
Remarkable picture!
Oface-If it is possible, I would like to get a high resolution picture of that one to study a little closer. PM me please.

I skied Cement Basin yesterday and when I got home I saw the picture and thought, wow same aspect we where on in Cement Basin!!! so you are dead on there.

In Cement we actually toured over to the North end of the ridge where it sort of wraps around and had a more southerly aspect. On the way over there we looked at the true east aspect and that has some wind slab on it and we decided not to ski that line.

In Cement we actually toured over to the North end of the ridge where it sort of wraps around and had a more southerly aspect. On the way over there we looked at the true east aspect and that has some wind slab on it and we decided not to ski that line.

Last week when I was up on East peak the East face had large wind deposits, so it looks to be persistent on that slope. Good to know for reference. Last week we avoided the wind loaded area skied the gentler slopes on the other side just SE of the summit and it was good safe skiing for 1000vt.
Several years ago there was a Mountaineers outing where several people were caught in and one person died in an avalanche in Cement Basin. I think that was buried surface hoar, but still a reason to think about that location.

As long as we are doing a little sidebar on chair tricks:

- Last Thursday, I noticed that at the top of Rex and also at the top of Green Valley lifts,  that they had dug out about two feet of snow, straight down, at approach side of the disembarkment point.  So, if ya don't have your tips up.... well, that would be very bad.  That is an accident waiting to happen. 

- Last year I sat on chair that had the seat flipped up.... I didn't end up hanging upside down, but I had to bail like fighter pilot... and dive for the deck to let the chair pass over me.

- There have been a couple of times when on departure, the chair lowered down onto the top of my boot cuffs, trapping me until the chair started to rotate around the bull wheel.   I learned not to panic and just wait for the chair to let me go.

- I now look to see if the seat is down.....  and of course, tips up.