1-1-11 Mirror Lake - Tom, Dick, and Harry
1/1/11
1748
3
Started the year off with a little dawn patrol up into Mirror Lake. Started hiking from skibowl parking lot at 6am up through the resort. On top at 7:30am to watch the sunrise. Skied down to the lake on pretty terrible snow. Occasional boot top deep wind load to sudden inch deep crust on top of boot deep soft to bullet ice in places where the wind had blown the snow off. Climbed back up into skibowl just below the summit cliffs and skied back out to the car via skibowl. Beautiful morning to be out and fun to put the first runs on my New BD factor boots, but the snow was disappointing. All in all a nice way to start 2011.
on a ski tour Sunday we skied a N aspect on Hood at close to the same elevation and found similar crusty icy conditions as you described. But opposite the ridge a S aspect in direct exposure to the winter sun held some of the driest powder consisting of mostly surface hoar. there is still some fresh powder out there depending on aspect, but I was surprised to find the exposed S aspect so nice. A lot of surface hoar Sunday, hope it consolidates to the new snow that's supposed to hit later this week.
Thanks for the report. Sounds like the coverage is there. Now all we need is another low cold storm. Patrol give you any grief for touring through the resort?
No grief, but I think I was there before they were. I started hiking about 6AM in the dark. I just did not turn my headlamp on until I was off the main run at the bottom and headed up the runs that take you out back towards the top.
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