Info on New Ski Routes in the Cascades

I'm sitting here getting Psyched for the ski season (if it ever comes)....and I've been looking for some beta on ski routes in the cascades that I know people must have done, but it seems like much of it hasn't been recorded - at least not formally.

Lowell has done a good job of piecing a lot of it together and TAY and CC.com have some excellent info in the trip reports.

But I'm wondering what the attitude would be to creating an on-line wiki-type guidebook to ski touring in the cascades? A place where you can log your routes and check out other people's routes in detail.

I am not thinking of yet another forum for TRs or discussions, but something more focused on the encouragement of new route development and documenting routes as they get skied/climbed. All that excellent info should stay where it belongs - Here.

Or are people too unwilling to give up the goods and afraid others are going to steal their Pow stashes?

Any thoughts?

I think it's a good idea. I also think you're on the right track by not considering a forum or discussion area, because if you're trying to compete with TAY, I think you'll have a very tough go at it.

If it's centered on routes, not trip reports, you'd have a great tool that could even integrate with TAY -- I could post a trip report here, linking to the route that someone else put together but I followed.

Thats exactly what I was thinking.  I have no intention of "competing" with any of the established community sites - TAY, Telemark tips or Cascade climbers.

I'm just frustrated trying to dig through all the TRs to find that one specific TR that may or may not have all the route details I need to repeat that cool route someone did last year (Case in point - that cool Alpy to Granite Mtn traverse from last spring).

Whatever the format and where ever the route info lived is open for discussion. Its more the idea of creating a place for those specific details to live. Kinda like the road access forums on TAY.

Heck. Its probably as simple as a routes forum on TAY where you can post specifics of a first traverse, decent etc.

Have you checked out the NWMJ over the past couple of years?  Lot's of new and exciting route info there, consolidated in one place.

I think detailed route descriptions of difficult "firsts" are a bad idea.  If you have to follow someone else's route description to a T, maybe you're not ready for that trip.  I'm not saying that people should hide their knowledge or purposefully mislead, but is yet another internet site really necessary?

Oh yea, check out my blog!!   

That's a good point. A route description forum on TAY could save you a LOT of work setting up a webserver and all. I would posture that the best solution would be a moderated forum, where new threads could only be approved if Charles (or an appointed moderator) approved them. On the other hand, I know Charles hasn't got a lot of time to manage this site, so an open forum may be fine -- this community does a good job of keeping posts high-quality.

The only real advantage of a dedicated server would be the ability to index routes, making searching a lot easier. That, however, is work in itself. The search function was invented for a reason... But a forum would have a tendency to have "old" routes get buried and forgotten, until someone re-created the wheel, er, ski track, and posted the route as "new" again.

In regards to prestonf's post, which he so rudely entered while I was typing , I'm a bit of a follower of the watch-yer-own-back crowd. If a particular route is difficult or dangerous, or has unusual obstacles or skills required, it's due care on the part of the poster to mention that. However, to not post the requisite route information could lead to someone taking a less safe path while searching for information that could have been posted online.

Er, or maybe I misread your intent. For easier routes, exact route information can be easy... The track along Ptarmigan Ridge is well-established, and the cat track through Alpental Valley is definitely something to follow if you're heading that way. But when you're out in the more difficult terrain, the "obvious" path isn't always so, and conditions changing from year to year could move the safest path. I find it completely logical that an advanced route may suggest "descend by the safest route considering snowpack" whereas an easier route may specify a specific descent that leads quickly and easily to the car.

Sorry if you already know about this, but check out summitpost.org. Certainly not what you're talking directly about (ski routes), but somewhat of the same grain as far as your idea goes. It lists by mountain, international and state-wide, with beta about itself and routes on it.

I kind of like not knowing as much. I spend the summer fantasizing over topo maps of my favorite areas (and some new ones) and just trying to eyeball potential tours based on my recollection of the area and its topography on the map. It makes for great rambling adventure tours.

Good luck!