November 30, 2005, Alpental

D'Oh!  I knew I should have gone this morning.

The snow was fluffy, fantastic goodness, and they were actually pretty nice about booting us out, but it sucks!

Is this a new directive? New management style?

How was the coverage? Any rocks sticking through or lurking under the soft fluffy stuff?

Wanting to take the new (well, last year new) powder boards out when they open on Friday but think my rock skis may still be the better choice ;)

Sucks about getting booted off the mountain.

Michael

They seemed a little rude higher up, but the guy we talked to down at the base was really nice.

I can understand their position if they're going to be throwing charges above us  ;)

Oh god the snow was good.

Coverage was fine.  They're opening Friday.  The only time I hit a rock was when I slammed into the side of a streambed while floating down Sessel in the flat light.

I agree the snow and coverage were really nice.  I was up there with my dog Charlie and he preferred running back down the skin track rather than swimming (he forgot his snorkel).  I somehow missed the patrollers and got two extra runs in before I saw them on their way down.  

Grrr!  >:( I knew I should have gone.  I was actually going to go tomorrow, but if they're kicking people out now, it would be a shame to drive up there and get booted.

Had a feeling that was about to happen. Next stops: Phantom, Chair, and Pineapple Pass, I guess, once things are more stable. And I can't imagine they'd open the BC ropes right away, so except for patrol forays and ropeduckers even the near BC might still be human powered for a while (or did you folks catch any wind of an impending open that included the BC?)

PS: welcome back, AlpyCam!

 ...while floating down Sessel...

you thaid floating, bwhehuh.  

Oh god the snow was good

I'm so, so, glad I couldn't pull off a dawn patrol this morning, the snow quality sounds so awful  ;)...; had to drive to Portland for work instead...

The only thing worse than Hangfire is Gunfire.
If I try and Poach Alpie on Friday, I'm bringin' my Kevlar. On second thought, there might be snow in other places.....

Heard they would be doing control work at Alpental so we made a go at Hyak this morning instead. 6:30am and there was already a bomber skin track in the thigh deep pow. Objective was Mount Catherine, but we doddled around in zero visibility on the back side trying to figure out how to cross the creek, then decided to go back and ski Hyak as time was running out for us with deadlines and commitments. Of course it was great as everyone has said. It's going to be a great season when you've lost track of ski days by November...

By the time us night-shifters got up there, the situation at Alpental was common knowledge . . . plus the huge booms and rumbles we heard were a tip-off. We got in two runs at Ski Acres (Central) on the steepest run we could find (I'm told this is Parachute) and two under the old chair at Hyak. Face shots all around.

Met up with two patrollers myself as they did a sweep of the mountain, very nice chaps.  Can't blame them for cleaning off the mtn - throwing dynomite above John Q Public is tricky stuff.  I'm still impressed with the good vibe I get from Alpental.  From my experience, stay away from alpy if 6" or more comes down - just go find somewhere where they aren't throwing explosives around and everyone will play nice in the sandbox.

That, or wait til April (or May I hope!) when it closes and you'll have it once again to yourself.

Also, thanks to Phil and Co. for not giving me the stinkeye for monging your skin track in my shoes...I usually split skin and shoes, but I was hoping you were someone I knew.  

I was able to get a full run down Sessel after I left you guys and then another run down lower debbies before that work thing ended my day.

From my experience, stay away from alpy if 6" or more comes down - just go find somewhere where they aren't throwing explosives around and everyone will play nice in the sandbox.

Or go on Monday.

Also, thanks to Phil and Co. for not giving me the stinkeye for monging your skin track in my shoes...I usually split skin and shoes, but I was hoping you were someone I knew.  

I was able to get a full run down Sessel after I left you guys and then another run down lower debbies before that work thing ended my day.

Glad you were able to make use of our tracks. If I was solo on a powder day, I would have done the same thing. Plenty to go around!!!

Heard they would be doing control work at Alpental so we made a go at Hyak this morning instead. 6:30am and there was already a bomber skin track in the thigh deep pow

I was one of the split boarders at the top that you passed by. Was curious if any of the TAY'ers were out and about. Good stuff, back to the same tommorow morning :)

Did you have a dog with you? We were the party of three over by Roz's Trees... There were a lot of people up from the neighborhood (Hyak) yesterday.

That was us with the Bear the dog (my buddies canine ski bro.) Some of you have probably seen him around. Bear has as lot of cool summit tags under his belt. He never complains about the conditions or his lack of equipment options. He has poached my line on a few occasions though.

Did you have a dog with you? We were the party of three over by Roz's Trees... There were a lot of people up from the neighborhood (Hyak) yesterday.

Pretty sure we were right behind you and ahead of Aaron. No dog, just me and a fellow splitter. Anybody heading up that way tommorow am?

Don't know the area terribly well, would love to find something with a bit more steepness in the vicinity. Beer for anyone will to share ;)

That was us with the Bear the dog (my buddies canine ski bro.) Some of you have probably seen him around. Bear has as lot of cool summit tags under his belt. He never complains about the conditions or his lack of equipment options. He has poached my line on a few occasions though.

Yeah, we were coming up when you, Adam and Bear were heading down the face. Bear is a cool dog, saw him in Nash last Saturday too!

Ducktherope,

I thought I saw a dog with you when you were starting up...
Must have been another party.

Dawn patrollers:
Alpental may be off limits: but there are plenty of other options up the commonwealth (Snoqualmie, Red and Lundeen for example).  Just a reminder: beware of Alpental during storm cycles.  Having had the good fortune to witness control work at Alpental, I can tell you that often "bags" lit on the summit of Denny can trigger slides all the way up both sides of the basin from the Phantom on through Chair peak.  Mondays can also be control days, but generally only in the rare huge multi-day storm cycles where they don't want to get too far behind.

Just remember, these guys are your friends...let's keep it that way.

Ride Deep, Ride Safe!

I can tell you that often "bags" lit on the summit of Denny can trigger slides all the way up both sides of the basin from the Phantom on through Chair peak.

???  You're saying that control work done on Denny mtn could trigger slides on the Phantom?

Hey Phil, I've seen it happen.

While what Sam and Squak say is indubitably true, I must also wonder: was that at times of HIGH avalanche danger?  That would be my guess.  Can anyone affirm or debunk me with their observations?

I wouldn't worry about it Sky, I don't think any Alpy bombs will propegate clear down to New Mexico!
;D ;D ;D ;)

Like, do you mean the danger was so high that a slab propagated around source lake basin to the Phantom?  I've seen movies of that happening before, in Colorado I think - miles of ridgeline avalanching from one little bomb.  (But it would seem to me that there is too much forested/cliffy terrain in Alpental valley to transmit a slab that far).

Or do you mean concussion from the bombs was enough to trigger slides across the valley?

I'm sure it was the concussion.

I'd have to agree with Sam, most definitely the concussion.  They were going OFF this morning.  We began to notice some fracturing up higher on Snoqualmie Mtn. today (out of the trees and areas exposed to winds yesterday and I'm sure through the night).  Word is, we're supposed to have a 3 day total by tomorrow of approx. 3 feet.

It is the concussion; when standing at the top of Denny, you can see the concussion disturbing snow as it sweeps up the valley and back down again.  On hair trigger avy days where the concussion brings down everything in the basin one would hope TAYers would not be out and about anyways...

Although I've never been an avalanche patroller, I've been told that bombs that go off in the air are more effective at starting slides than bombs that go off in the snow. Air concussion is more effective than snow concussion. That helps explain why distant bombs are better triggers than you might expect.