October 25, 2011, Mt. Daniel
10/25/11
WA Cascades West Slopes Central
5430
10
I Skied and Dan snowboarded from the East Peak of Mt. Daniel down to the bottom of the Hyas Glacier in fresh snow that varied from slightly stiff to super soft. The low angle glacier was worthy of a second run. We got a few turns in below 6400', but the ski to the lake reported by JTack last month is no longer possible. The trail was snow free below 4400' but had some trail rivers from the recent precip. We wore our sneakers to Peggy's Pond and slightly beyond on the way in, but kept boots on all the way back to the Squaw Lake junction. The biggest challenge of the day was the condition of the road to the trailhead. The condition of the road is poor. The condition of everything else was excellent. Lack of crampons for my partner was an issue. The old snow is very firm and the new snow isn't very deep. We employed the "I'll stay below and tackle you if you slip" modified spotting technique. It only got tested once and it worked just fine.
Video here: http://vimeo.com/31128314
Video here: http://vimeo.com/31128314
Very nice video. Good music selection for the video. ;)
Are you skiing a pair of Vector BC ?
Are you skiing a pair of Vector BC ?
author=Zap link=topic=22073.msg94431#msg94431 date=1319668515]
Are you skiing a pair of Vector BC ?
Yep. They came in the mail on Monday and I took them out Tuesday. They skied great. They climb like you'd expect a fish scale ski to climb. Nice upgrade from my last pair of summer skis which were the K2 Summit superlights.
VERY NICE!!
can you give us a estimate of time involved ? Both driving and tour time .
sounds like this weekend might call for east of the crest .
sounds like this weekend might call for east of the crest .
author=Robie link=topic=22073.msg94451#msg94451 date=1319683185]
can you give us a estimate of time involved ? Both driving and tour time .
sounds like this weekend might call for east of the crest .
Sure.
Left Wenatchee at 4:30am.
Trailhead at 7:15am
Bottom of skiing 10:15
Top of skiing 12:30
done skiing 2:30
back to car: 5:15.
10hrs car to car,
drive time from Cle Elum to the end of the road is like an hour.
You should do it! If I went back, I think I'd try to leave the car a little earlier and I'd make sure to continue on to the middle summit to make a lap on the north side. We were unequipped for the firm base and couldn't make that happen. (take crampons and axe).
Thanks I'll put in the mix for sunday .
Coolio Video! Skiing Mt. Daniel - It's on my list to do with my son Daniel.
author=oldmantex link=topic=22073.msg94437#msg94437 date=1319672106]
Yep. They came in the mail on Monday and I took them out Tuesday. They skied great. They climb like you'd expect a fish scale ski to climb. Nice upgrade from my last pair of summer skis which were the K2 Summit superlights.
Great to hear that you enjoyed your first tour on the Vector BC. I have a pair waiting for the snowpack to descend to road level. Did you carry shortie skins or use ski crampons ?
author=Zap link=topic=22073.msg94472#msg94472 date=1319695463]
Did you carry shortie skins or use ski crampons ?
Neither. This summer I quit carrying skins at all. I boot up with skis on my back. I'm not sure what I'll do once the snow is deeper. I bought the 160's for ease of trail carry and weight. They skied great in shallow fresh and they'll be good summer skis. I'm not sure I'll use them when the snow gets deeper though, so I haven't decided whether to cut skins for them or not. I've read about concerns of the skins sticking to the pattern section. I suspect it will work fine, but I don't know yet.
I put lightweight crampons on my T2's. (my buddy wished for crampons on his snowboard boots :)
Nice trip report, looks like the snow was great! Your right that road is almost a deal breaker, 15mph seems like max speed. I may go for round three, your skiing looked so good. The last time I went, I wished for crampons, was glad to have my ice ax, nice to have a reminder.
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