TR Replies
POWDER!!!!! Thanks for the great trip report and photos. Funny, a week ago a member of the party I was with lost a ski on the cool glacier that miraculously stopped itself despite the icy conditions. Glacier peak has been kind those who have ventured out there recently. :)
Fantastic trip, report, and spectacular pictures - thanks so much. I remember a January Baker summit trip two years ago in sustained 50 to 60 mph winds when my partner Mark, a great climber and skier, got picked up off the Roman Wall - and got himself in perfect position in the air to land in textbook self-arrest. The issue there was that we had our skis A-framed on our packs. The sail effect sent him airborne.
A few more photos of the avalanche debris, taken on Monday February 23 after a group of us skied from Camp Muir via Nisqually Chute mid-afternoon in stable conditions and reasonably good snow (although not nearly as good as the smooth corn or powder which I enjoyed on my 6 descents of the Chute during January 2015). Winds were MUCH lighter than the previous day, since both the strong easterly pass flow and northeasterly upper-level winds had diminished greatly overnight as forecast.
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Thnx all for sharing your experience and expertise. Its appreciated more than you know.
Sounds about right. I'm guessing we were around 60 mph. We could stand up, but it was hard sometimes, and we felt safe as long as we were firm on our feet.
incredible! truly spectacular scenery and thank you for the play-by-play with pictures, always appreciated! thanks for the TR.
my understanding for average # person.. 50-60mph your mass gets pushed around but you one can generally continue (friction/anchoring playing a role of course). Need to be 75-85mph gusts/constant to be knocked down/out of control.
my understanding for average # person.. 50-60mph your mass gets pushed around but you one can generally continue (friction/anchoring playing a role of course). Need to be 75-85mph gusts/constant to be knocked down/out of control.
Just wanna echo a thanks for posting. I like Bruce Tremper's new message that we shouldn't shame people who trigger slides so that we encourage more discussion. This could happen to all of us.
The convexity and the rocks! Amazing what a little wind slab can do given the right ingredients.
There are so many things to keep in our head all the time. This will help those three things stand out for me next time. Wind slab/transport, conve...
The convexity and the rocks! Amazing what a little wind slab can do given the right ingredients.
There are so many things to keep in our head all the time. This will help those three things stand out for me next time. Wind slab/transport, conve...
Love the off-the-grid adventures you guys seem to conjure up!
Strong work, Dan! Stoked for you.
Nice find with the running water! Love the description of the ice-exfoliation, too.
-S
Nice find with the running water! Love the description of the ice-exfoliation, too.
-S
author=Norseman link=topic=33747.msg139488#msg139488 date=1424787784">
Woah! That thing takes amazingly good video.
Heads up: Drones Banned in NPS System
Best be flyin that thing on the sly, as they're not allowed in Wilderness, Natl Rec Areas, Natl Parks.
Hmm, been thinking of taking up skeet shooting in...
Pretty sure the 4.5k means you have to walk to 4.5k altitude, so something like 1k above trailhead.
Typical early July conditions and annoying because of the flat walk in the meadow where you're not gaining a lot (or losing a lot on the way home).
Typical early July conditions and annoying because of the flat walk in the meadow where you're not gaining a lot (or losing a lot on the way home).
Excellent footage, very engaging.
Do you mean it is a 4.5k walk from the TH to snow, or a 4.5k walk from parking to the normal TH?
Do you mean it is a 4.5k walk from the TH to snow, or a 4.5k walk from parking to the normal TH?
I should say that Jason took the really fine pics :) I'm the super model ;D
Thanks guys. It really was a trip of beauty.
Thanks guys. It really was a trip of beauty.
Gosh Dan, what beautiful pictures, and it did look darn cold.........and windy! thanks!
Nice pics Dan! Awesome adventure! And powder!!! Glacier Peak in winter, the current snow situation notwithstanding, takes a strong effort.
Glad it worked out and thanks for sharing.
I'm with Skier of the Hood and Lowell - that convexity and little bit of steepness and extra deposit got you. I'm not saying I wouldn't have skied it as well, but when there are many options in front of you......I would like to think that I would always try to pick the best one. Great observations Amar.
Glad you posted. This is such a skied line.
I'm with Skier of the Hood and Lowell - that convexity and little bit of steepness and extra deposit got you. I'm not saying I wouldn't have skied it as well, but when there are many options in front of you......I would like to think that I would always try to pick the best one. Great observations Amar.
Glad you posted. This is such a skied line.
BTW, FWIW, IIRC that waterfall from Pebble Creek was where a missing snowboarder/med student's body was found much, much later than when he disappeared after leaving Camp Muir in a storm.
Amazing!! We had to stop our car and park one mile below that trail head and start skinning in July. That is unbelievable!!
There was one area where you had to boot pack a bit. There was also continuous lovely skiing from the top to the bottom for corn harvester's almost to the car. Even the Roman Wall was nice and sugary.
Was that really a drone? That is amazing. Too bad you can not just grab onto it so you could eliminate the need for skinning. That flick was...
There was one area where you had to boot pack a bit. There was also continuous lovely skiing from the top to the bottom for corn harvester's almost to the car. Even the Roman Wall was nice and sugary.
Was that really a drone? That is amazing. Too bad you can not just grab onto it so you could eliminate the need for skinning. That flick was...
Woah! That thing takes amazingly good video.
Heads up: Drones Banned in NPS System
Best be flyin that thing on the sly, as they're not allowed in Wilderness, Natl Rec Areas, Natl Parks.
Heads up: Drones Banned in NPS System
Best be flyin that thing on the sly, as they're not allowed in Wilderness, Natl Rec Areas, Natl Parks.
Thanks everyone for the contributions. I think the main thing was that all my red flags were up for the area with the wind and visual clues, but they kept getting pulled back down upon inspection or seeing others ski similar aspects. I don't think it was necessarily a herd mentality, but seeing others ski things did affect what data I was processing. Pits...I don't really know, because it would have been really difficult to find any single spot to dig that gave a good indication for an...
Sorry about your day ::) but I'm glad to have read this hilarious report!
Thanks for the report. So strange to not have a day in the tatoosh this year. I have nice memories of running into Brenda at the castle saddle back when I was on snowshoes with a board on my pack. She was always so kind to us punching holes in the skin track.
On Saturday we found some pretty nice windblown powder on the run down from Herman Saddle down to Chain Lakes. Not a lot, just 4" or so in places over the hard pack, enough to make for some smooth turns.
Vastly exceeded expectations, having only headed out for the views on the expected and actual bluebird day.
An added bonus was the absence of bullhorns and LE interrogation.
Vastly exceeded expectations, having only headed out for the views on the expected and actual bluebird day.
An added bonus was the absence of bullhorns and LE interrogation.
Awesome trip!
No for boring but helpful car stuff:
Unfortunately an automatic transmission cannot be roll-started, you really need a clutch to perform that old trick.
The time between when a car is made and when a car is finally sold can be really hard on a car battery for a plethora of reasons. I suggest having the battery strength "bench tested", a universally free test at any auto parts store and probably any Subaru dealership too. If it doesn't live up to...
No for boring but helpful car stuff:
Unfortunately an automatic transmission cannot be roll-started, you really need a clutch to perform that old trick.
The time between when a car is made and when a car is finally sold can be really hard on a car battery for a plethora of reasons. I suggest having the battery strength "bench tested", a universally free test at any auto parts store and probably any Subaru dealership too. If it doesn't live up to...
Thanks for the report, glad you escaped the slide safely.
One interesting thing about the slide which no one seems to have mentioned is that it clearly shows 2 crowns, in that it steps down from the original bed surface to a lower bed surface at a new 2nd crown a few dozen yards below the original upper crown. Here's a larger view of that area, cropped from your full-size photo on Flickr:
One interesting thing about the slide which no one seems to have mentioned is that it clearly shows 2 crowns, in that it steps down from the original bed surface to a lower bed surface at a new 2nd crown a few dozen yards below the original upper crown. Here's a larger view of that area, cropped from your full-size photo on Flickr:
Thanks for posting, dub_xion ! It's appreciated, and it can be hard to do.
Glad to hear you came away un-scathed, dub_xion. And good on ya for sharing your experience! I work with NWAC as one of the professional field observers for the Cascades Central-West zone and wanted to take this opportunity to remind folks that they can share their snowpack and avalanche observations with NWAC directly via our website. Here is the link: http://www.nwac.us/observations/submit/.
Historically, the forecasters are quite accustomed to referencing sites like Turns-All-Year...
Historically, the forecasters are quite accustomed to referencing sites like Turns-All-Year...
author=Skier of the Hood link=topic=33733.msg139426#msg139426 date=1424665006]
What jumps out to me is that you skied a highly convex slope while the others skied through the centre which doesn't have a convexity (or not as large of one?). Also you describe observing hard wind board which can be more stubborn to trigger then a soft windslab depending on age, one observation that might have helped you would have been to check the thickness of the hard wind...
Thanks for sharing and including the pics! I think the rock band probably had a lot to do with the release, I have seen a lot of slides trigger below a rock band over the years..it is an unstable set up as the rocks heat up more than the snow and degrade the bonding.
Great trip, fantastic pictures, thanks!
What jumps out to me is that you skied a highly convex slope while the others skied through the centre which doesn't have a convexity (or not as large of one?). Also you describe observing hard wind board which can be more stubborn to trigger then a soft windslab depending on age, one observation that might have helped you would have been to check the thickness of the hard windslab. Without being there I have a hard time in identifying what might have helped you but with your observation th...
author=Jonn-E link=topic=33733.msg139423#msg139423 date=1424663560]
What time?
John, I remember heading up after our lunch for that second run at about 1pm. So we were probably at the top of Nisqually chute around 12-12:30.
I think we started up the skin track out you describe, then cut up for that run.
I've always kinda frowned when in the ski flicks they show some skier/rider outrunning a slide, that it give...
I won the Dirtfest Sickbird trophy of Inspiration?!
Thanks TAY!
Thanks TAY!
Dub,
What time?
I'm curious because I was one of the many up there who skied the chute. I made a little ski cut on the skier's right/looker's left of the chute near the rocks at the top and even though it was pretty steep I couldn't get anything to move. However, on the way out I exited skier's left side of the chute, in an area that's hidden a bit in the exit channel in your first upslope shot. While arcing up to a little steep slope I did get a tiny bit...
What time?
I'm curious because I was one of the many up there who skied the chute. I made a little ski cut on the skier's right/looker's left of the chute near the rocks at the top and even though it was pretty steep I couldn't get anything to move. However, on the way out I exited skier's left side of the chute, in an area that's hidden a bit in the exit channel in your first upslope shot. While arcing up to a little steep slope I did get a tiny bit...
I think based on reflection, that chute with the natural point-release did not have wind running straight down it in the same way Nisqually main did, and thus had more wind-deposited snow and instability. If that had been realized in the moment, a more thorough understanding of the potential hazards of the other slopes could have been realized as well.
A couple more photos from the day...
i think you get the sickbird award.
Hi Brian,
Sorry, took it off as I'm trying to sell it on the Avenza Map Store. You can access that from within the Avenza PDF Maps app, just search on Rainier Slope Map or similar.
but because I'm a bad capitalist, I'll put it back on the site for you to grab for free. If you like it perhaps let your friends know it's available from the Avenza store for $2.99 usd.
thx for the interest!
===============
go to this link:
Sorry, took it off as I'm trying to sell it on the Avenza Map Store. You can access that from within the Avenza PDF Maps app, just search on Rainier Slope Map or similar.
but because I'm a bad capitalist, I'll put it back on the site for you to grab for free. If you like it perhaps let your friends know it's available from the Avenza store for $2.99 usd.
thx for the interest!
===============
go to this link:
Sounds like a great way to make the most of your day. That Roundhouse is quite the place.
Here is a link to a few of the pics I captured along our trip. Hopefully We will have a short video up in a few days.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10205935578287612.1073741866.1204161047&type=3
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10205935578287612.1073741866.1204161047&type=3
This kinda of captures the scene around here....and snowpack is 107% of normal...very sun affected terrain.
few pix from trip, the line, the man, & the exit diversionary tactics
We saw the winch cat from a distance while skinning. It was on a very long cable, I can't imagine anyone choosing to ski near such a system, and there are several other skiing thrills I choose to forego, too. I'm lucky to enjoy moderation, thankful I am easily pleased.
Thanks for the pics!
They help rev the imagination...
They help rev the imagination...
Yeah, winch cats are perhaps the greatest hazard to skiing a resort during off-hours. Skiing near a winch cat is perhaps also the best way to endanger uphill access, as the presence of public near a winch cat makes blatantly obvious the liability to the ski resort.
I'm sure you were careful, as you had an idea of what you were looking at. Nevertheless, when a winch cat driver sees a skier, he's thinking about you getting decapitated at speed.
I'm sure you were careful, as you had an idea of what you were looking at. Nevertheless, when a winch cat driver sees a skier, he's thinking about you getting decapitated at speed.
Winch cats can be an unexpected hazard, too: http://www.steamboattoday.com/news/2011/dec/08/steamboat-ski-area-warns-skiers-beware-winch-cats/
Silas, I'm not sure you're getting soft, just smart.
Silas, I'm not sure you're getting soft, just smart.
Thanks all!
I thought about and it may have been possible with our old, fully manual car. But this new car is all automatic and the stick is locked when the car is not on (new discovery). It's apparently possible to release it with a long screw driver, but I couldn't get to it as it was in the trun...
author=Norseman link=topic=33711.msg139365#msg139365 date=1424442453]Were you not able to roll-start the battery-dead subie?
I thought about and it may have been possible with our old, fully manual car. But this new car is all automatic and the stick is locked when the car is not on (new discovery). It's apparently possible to release it with a long screw driver, but I couldn't get to it as it was in the trun...