October 10, 2008, Coleman Pinnacle area
10/10/08
WA Cascades West Slopes North (Mt Baker)
7592
15
Nice late start on a chilly day. Once again, thanks to Charles, new ski acquaintenances were made! Unfortunately we found the Artist Point road closed at the ski area (and I had only ski boots for footware) and snow coverage much less than the 18" reported by telemetry.
We did find beautiful scenery, few other visitors, and some good skiing, though short runs for the long walk. We skied an east facing tongue first, after gaining Ptarmigan ridge, 3" settled new snow atop old hard snow that was somewhat bumpy. We briefly considered skiing it again, but decided to continue further on the trail in search of better. Jim wanted to ski the run he did a few weeks ago, Michael liked the look of it, Silas was lazy and lacked motivation, and Don was Game for anything. It turned out to be great, not as bumpy as the first run, more direct fall line skiing.
Since we were pretty far in, especially with some road walking, and the skiing was somewhat uninspiring, we decided to head back to the car, checking for other ski runs on the return. Only Don chose to ski down from the trail, Silas chose to make a steady pace out alone with his (by now) painful feet, Jim and Michael napped in the sunny but cool air waiting for Don. The road back from Artist Point was skiable to the last hairpin turn above and east of the summertime visitors' center.
The skiing was good for October, fresh snow and fall colors were beautiful, but all in all a lot of walk for not much skiing.
We did find beautiful scenery, few other visitors, and some good skiing, though short runs for the long walk. We skied an east facing tongue first, after gaining Ptarmigan ridge, 3" settled new snow atop old hard snow that was somewhat bumpy. We briefly considered skiing it again, but decided to continue further on the trail in search of better. Jim wanted to ski the run he did a few weeks ago, Michael liked the look of it, Silas was lazy and lacked motivation, and Don was Game for anything. It turned out to be great, not as bumpy as the first run, more direct fall line skiing.
Since we were pretty far in, especially with some road walking, and the skiing was somewhat uninspiring, we decided to head back to the car, checking for other ski runs on the return. Only Don chose to ski down from the trail, Silas chose to make a steady pace out alone with his (by now) painful feet, Jim and Michael napped in the sunny but cool air waiting for Don. The road back from Artist Point was skiable to the last hairpin turn above and east of the summertime visitors' center.
The skiing was good for October, fresh snow and fall colors were beautiful, but all in all a lot of walk for not much skiing.
Great skiing with you guys. I agree that this website's great attributes, beyond the sharing of pictures and information, is connecting us to new friends and ski partners. My wife still calls you all my"imaginary friends". (After yesterday's comments, I think I have to put Jimmy and Silas in a special subset of ski partners - it sounds like there's something darker going on there.)
Silas, you're a pretty amazing mountain man! Thanks for hiking my b**tt into the ground. Too bad you didn't join us for Pizza/barbecue and micro brews in Mt vernon. We had a great dinner and got acquainted with Jimmy's family. I noticed, too, you got honorable mention in yesterday's Muir report even though you weren't there. People can't stop talking aout you. Glad you gave up 8" for our 3".
I don't think there was a prettier place to ski yesterday than Ptarmigan. That 18" (minus 15") of fluffy powder was fabulous, once we got used to the old cups below.
Jimmy - get your altimeter checked. My rusty knees say we did At Least a couple thousand vertical - and they Never exaggerate. Telemon says the first snowfield we skied was 300 ft in his Sept report. Great hiking and skiing with you. I enjoyed meeting your great family, too.
Michael - Welcome to backcountry skiing. It only gets better after this. Thanks for spending time with an old tele geezer. I'm looking forward to The Triggerhappy proof of the integer theory that the number of turns available and the number of snowflakes are both linked to "e".
Silas, you're a pretty amazing mountain man! Thanks for hiking my b**tt into the ground. Too bad you didn't join us for Pizza/barbecue and micro brews in Mt vernon. We had a great dinner and got acquainted with Jimmy's family. I noticed, too, you got honorable mention in yesterday's Muir report even though you weren't there. People can't stop talking aout you. Glad you gave up 8" for our 3".
I don't think there was a prettier place to ski yesterday than Ptarmigan. That 18" (minus 15") of fluffy powder was fabulous, once we got used to the old cups below.
Jimmy - get your altimeter checked. My rusty knees say we did At Least a couple thousand vertical - and they Never exaggerate. Telemon says the first snowfield we skied was 300 ft in his Sept report. Great hiking and skiing with you. I enjoyed meeting your great family, too.
Michael - Welcome to backcountry skiing. It only gets better after this. Thanks for spending time with an old tele geezer. I'm looking forward to The Triggerhappy proof of the integer theory that the number of turns available and the number of snowflakes are both linked to "e".
Yes, I need to get my altimeter checked. I'm really not confident in what it said were really short runs, because they sure felt like long runs on the way up. I seem to remember measuring the second run with an altimeter once and getting 500 vf.
The snow was outstanding. I think we got about 3-4 inches, but it blew around a lot. Many aspects had zero snow, while in some places the powder was blown 12+ inches deep. Photographic proof is pending my photoshopping, er, contrast improvement of the photographs.
Seriously, I took 2.3 gigabytes of photos, so it'll take me all day to sort them out and upload the good ones. I suspect Silas took about as many photos, but since the invincible bugger is skiing again today, we may not see them for awhile.
The snow was outstanding. I think we got about 3-4 inches, but it blew around a lot. Many aspects had zero snow, while in some places the powder was blown 12+ inches deep. Photographic proof is pending my photoshopping, er, contrast improvement of the photographs.
Seriously, I took 2.3 gigabytes of photos, so it'll take me all day to sort them out and upload the good ones. I suspect Silas took about as many photos, but since the invincible bugger is skiing again today, we may not see them for awhile.
author=Rusty Knees link=topic=11013.msg45187#msg45187 date=1223744150]
Great skiing with you guys. I agree that this website's great attributes, beyond the sharing of pictures and information, is connecting us to new friends and ski partners. My wife still calls you all my"imaginary friends". (After yesterday's comments, I think I have to put Jimmy and Silas in a special subset of ski partners - it sounds like there's something darker going on there.
Jimmy - get your altimeter checked. My rusty knees say we did At Least a couple thousand vertical - and they Never exaggerate. Telemon says the first snowfield we skied was 300 ft in his Sept report.
Actually. what I said in September was that "we only used 300vf of that slope"; so you may very well have skied several 1,000 vertical, Don. ;D
I,too, have meet and skied with several people because of this website, including the infamous, SilasWild.
Hopefully there will be a bit more than 3" of fresh snow when I return to Ptarmigan Ridge later this month.
Telemon,
That matches what I remember. I measured 500vf last month on that slope, and you stopped about 200 vf above me. For some reason my altimeter only recorded the slope as 250 vf yesterday, but we ran that same length I did last month.
::sigh::
Damn gadgets!
That matches what I remember. I measured 500vf last month on that slope, and you stopped about 200 vf above me. For some reason my altimeter only recorded the slope as 250 vf yesterday, but we ran that same length I did last month.
::sigh::
Damn gadgets!
author=lordhedgie link=topic=11013.msg45193#msg45193 date=1223750877]
Telemon,
That matches what I remember. I measured 500vf last month on that slope, and you stopped about 200 vf above me. For some reason my altimeter only recorded the slope as 250 vf yesterday, but we ran that same length I did last month.
::sigh::
Damn gadgets!
Just so we are talking about the same slopes, I was referring to the what I call the hairpin turn snowfield above. We used only 440 vf of the snowfinger that I met you on. It drops east from Camp Kiser; I didn't think that your group went that far along Ptarmigan Ridge.
I said it would take me all of Saturday to process all the photos I took on Friday, and I was right. Even throwing away the ones I didn't like, I still have a lot of photos. I'm putting a gallery of low-res photos here. Ask if you want them at full-res -- some are as large as 30 megapixels.
Here are a couple for those too lazy to click the link (you know who you are)
* Nobody else seems to know a name for this run, but I frequently see goats on it, so there. I named it.
Here are a couple for those too lazy to click the link (you know who you are)
 RustyKnees not looking so rusty |  SilasWild getting wild |  TriggerHappy pulls the trigger |
 RustyKnees skis back to the truck |  Tracks on the Goat Throat* |  Beautiful end to the day |
* Nobody else seems to know a name for this run, but I frequently see goats on it, so there. I named it.
So how far was it roughly to the point of ski-able areas? You had to hike from parking lot?
I've never done the area, but looking at the "goat's throat" makes me feel like a Baker day tomorrow rather than a Rainier day.
I've never done the area, but looking at the "goat's throat" makes me feel like a Baker day tomorrow rather than a Rainier day.
Hey Bwood,
We think we hiked about 6 miles out to our farthest run. The first run was maybe 3-4 miles. If we'd known you wanted to ski it we wouldn't have trashed everything... ::) If it's stayed cold out there, you'll still have plenty of untracked snow. Good luck!
We think we hiked about 6 miles out to our farthest run. The first run was maybe 3-4 miles. If we'd known you wanted to ski it we wouldn't have trashed everything... ::) If it's stayed cold out there, you'll still have plenty of untracked snow. Good luck!
After seeing lordhegie's excellent photos, I can now understand why Silas was complaining about all the walking. You guys did travel a long ways on foot for those turns.
"Goat's Throat run"...I like it!
"Goat's Throat run"...I like it!
I skied the same runs a few weeks before, but they seemed closer to the parking lot then.
Oh, yes, they were. The National Forest Service moved the dang parking lot several miles downhill!
Oh, yes, they were. The National Forest Service moved the dang parking lot several miles downhill!
What's a little walkin'?
Nice work out there boys! looks like the snow was nice and smooth- pleasant change from the recent state of affairs.
Hedgie- nice pics, you are either a good photographer or just have a really nice camera!
Thinking of coming up there Sunday- hope the snow continues to pile up in the meantime. I need to expand my knowledge of the vast Bakerness!
Chris
Hedgie- nice pics, you are either a good photographer or just have a really nice camera!
Thinking of coming up there Sunday- hope the snow continues to pile up in the meantime. I need to expand my knowledge of the vast Bakerness!
Chris
Sorry I messed the group by a day. I think my dog and I followed your exact route the entire way on Saturday. I can't imagine walking the entire way in ski boots, Silas, my feet were sore enough in hiking boots...
2 photos - one of the closer patch, the second of the "Goat Throat". Beautiful day on Saturday, too.
2 photos - one of the closer patch, the second of the "Goat Throat". Beautiful day on Saturday, too.
Clem -- Did you go by yourself? I see our four tracks plus one on the Throat, plus one set of bootprints up.
Silas wore his ski boots all day. I wore hiking boots out, but kept my ski boots on for the return, and skied down the road as far as I could. Actually, about two feet further than I could, resulting in losing some skin to the asphalt.
Lyles -- Thanks. The hardest part of photography is, I feel, figuring out which six photos to post, to avoid incurring Charles's wrath.
Silas wore his ski boots all day. I wore hiking boots out, but kept my ski boots on for the return, and skied down the road as far as I could. Actually, about two feet further than I could, resulting in losing some skin to the asphalt.
Lyles -- Thanks. The hardest part of photography is, I feel, figuring out which six photos to post, to avoid incurring Charles's wrath.
Yes, I went by myself. The tracks you see are from my dog chasing me downhill. I followed your tracks up high, circling around from Coleman Pinnacle to get to the top of the run.
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