TR Replies

Sunshine isn't all it's cracked up to be :(  Glad you are getting good snow down there.

Very similar experience for us today. We dug a hasty pit about 100 feet above where the person in your first photo was. Found the rain crust at 50cm. Decided not to ride the chutes (including the two to the right of the one you pictured). Another group, a young teenage snowboarder and skier were heading for the ridge and had talked about riding the chutes. We recommended a different route of descent, but they continued on. On our next lap from the main silver basin saddle, we observed slide debr...

Nice job John!

author=ron j link=topic=33096.msg137656#msg137656 date=1419008381]
Thanks, Andy.
Looks like you'll need to go back out today and check what fell last night.  ;)

Pretty nice today (19th), with 8 inches of new and some sunbreaks providiing spectacular views of the mountain.

Thanks, Andy.
Looks like you'll need to go back out today and check what fell last night.  ;)

Were they kind enough to let you park in the lot?  Beware, they are tow happy. 

I believe their special use permit states that they cannot trespass non-pass / ticket holders if they are not actively operating.  Likely gray area, as they did spin chairs this season.  But the current website posting says "We will open when..." 

Looks fun. 

You would be correct running clouds pretty much right at blowdown pass.
  Long way up the road 15km to the lake sled travel pretty quick. From there 1000ft runs in the alpine.

Yeah.

looks wintery!  where on the duffey was that?

I was up there a few weeks back and the icy road was the sketchy part... Hopefully get back up there on Sat ... Thanks for the beta and pics!

Good on you! As long as there are observations to be made - to the mountains we must go! (By whatever means)

author=runningclouds link=topic=33072.msg137594#msg137594 date=1418780261]
Nice area! Is the trailhead accessible all year round?

Very strong parties can access this area, even when the Paradise Road is closed, with a dawn start via the Wonderland Trail west from Longmire, then north along upper Rampart Ridge. It's about five miles from Longmire to Mildred Point, where one finally breaks out of the trees. There are a couple s...

Yes, it's the Comet Falls TH about 4 miles past the Nisqually gate.

There is skiing to be had out there! I know too many people that have stayed at home because they think it is crappy. High alpine last weekend  was damn good! Way to get after it!

Nice area! Is the trailhead accessible all year round?

author=ErikT link=topic=33071.msg137583#msg137583 date=1418755091]
Are you going to do a weighted average of "fun factors" by hours of vert; or just per day?

Not to thread jack but...
I prefer to do all this ski counting (and rating now, ha) by day. Otherwise it gets too complicated, and I don't always remember or care to turn the GPS tracks on. For it to count as a day, at least one of two conditions must be m...

Haha nice Matt, that is probably a better way to track it than straight vert. Are you going to do a weighted average of "fun factors" by hours of vert; or just per day?

I think I've signed myself up for more dawn patrols and lapping of volcanos in spring than I might normally have done. It's all better than working, though!

coverage was quite bleak at White Salmon on the drive up. There was more than enough to comfortably skin and ski the road to AP. Dropping into the valley and climbing back out towards the parking lot didn't look worth it though... plenty of rocks poking out down there still...

Looks great, man!

Love the skins-loincloth.

author=avajane link=topic=33049.msg137567#msg137567 date=1418704058]
It said the crown was 160 cm to 210 cm and was 70 meters wide.

Yes I did see the report on Wayne's blog. So I was prepared to see this huge crown and it was a bit of a let down. The height of the crown was quite variable. If the report writer meant 160 was the lowest and 210 the highest then I definitely disagree. The crown below the lift was not more than 50 cm....

The Avy rating went from High to Considerable to Moderate very fast. My thought at the time was they figured everything had already ran. But how could you think that - after watching a slope go natural the day after dynamite didn't do anything to it! I wonder if the rest of the corridor was a Moderate rating for the weekend, or if it was just the terrain adjacent to WB.

Man - Those are some stiff looking flagstone pavers! You could make a nice winter only patio from them.

Looks like you had lots of good snow off Flute and Obeo. I don't know if you've seen it, but wayneflannavalancheblog.com has posted more pictures including the Whistler Ski Patrol's Fracture Line Profile. Wayne's initial comments were that it was a natural 3.0, but the profile report called it a 2.5. It said the crown was 160 cm to 210 cm and was 70 meters wide. It ran to just above the lake. It ran mostly on the November 20th bed surface.

Wayne's blog...

OUCH! Hope there is no lasting knee damage. Thanks for the report!

I had a similar, tho probably less severe, early-season injury years ago, and have seen many of the stoked hurt themselves in shallow snowpacks as well... The Paradise weather station is partially sheltered by trees, and IMO the telemetry 'Total Snow' figure exceeds the general depth of snow in many nearby areas by about 20% in mid-winter and probably even more now.

Because of the sparse coverage (...

Norseman, I hear you. It'd be nice if they kept it open 24/7. Anyone know, are they still planning to repave that road in 2015-2016? It got a "no impact" finding 2 years ago. That was before the sequester. Maybe repaving will make it quicker to clear.

ron j, your Model A mention got me wondering if they really plowed that dirt track, back when it was first built! I'll have to ask. That was long before the Paradise golf course and rope tow went in.