TR Replies
What a great read for a Sunday morning. Well written and great photos. Congrats.
DAY EIGHT:
Woke up, same routine. Melt snow, drink water, coffee, and eat a good breakfast. We had decided the day before to head back up to the same zone. Just a bit further east to hit another coulie we had spotted. As with everything in Alaska it looked much closer than it was.
Travel was quick though and before we knew it we were at the bottom. I was feeling good and kicked steps to the top.
Woke up, same routine. Melt snow, drink water, coffee, and eat a good breakfast. We had decided the day before to head back up to the same zone. Just a bit further east to hit another coulie we had spotted. As with everything in Alaska it looked much closer than it was.
Travel was quick though and before we knew it we were at the bottom. I was feeling good and kicked steps to the top.
Thanks for fun narrative and rad photos! looks like the trip of a lifetime. I especially dig this photo
way to send it!
way to send it!
Awesome TR Ben. Really, really enjoyed your write up. What a spectacular trip. Kind of with ND and I had just sucked it up to ski while we were there for 24 hours!
We had a great time there in late June 2 years ago. 26 hours plane to plane of almost continuous hiking. Found a 130 year bakery with awesome sandwiches. Saw some old ski tracks up high on some snow fields. And it isn't that far of a flight. And at least it usually snows, rather than Norway's rain.
Great post and trip. Nice to know of a quieter alternative on St Helens.
I've noticed significant changes in the Coleman headwall area over the last several years. That upper search area definitely seems to be falling apart in a hurry. The final steep bit on the headwall had melted down to rock last fall in the first time that I remember. There was also a large tongue of ice further east before the Northridge that has completely disappeared in the last 10 to 15 years. Would be interesting to assemble a chronology of photos taken from the Heliotrope area to docu...
Congratulations! One fewer first remains. :).
Elliot knew he was capable of the line but just was not feeling it and decided to ride out the col.
The single best statement I have read on TAY or other sites. Shows wisdom and rational decision making even in the face of the majority making a different decisions. Well done, Elliot. :)
Awesome write up! Ice and fire in the land of the Vikings, and roadside couloirs! Bucket list must do, thanks!
Nice report, like the HOT springs ;)
Too bad we missed you Saturday, but consider we woke up to catch our flight around the time you went to sleep I wouldn't have lasted long. Whale was great.
Too bad we missed you Saturday, but consider we woke up to catch our flight around the time you went to sleep I wouldn't have lasted long. Whale was great.
it was still storming the next day, so i spent a little while hanging out with gabe's heli crew at their posh guesthouse, but soon my feet began to itch.
i loaded up my heavy bags of gear and caught a bus to akurey...
i loaded up my heavy bags of gear and caught a bus to akurey...
kyle packs a mean lunch!
iceland's westfjord tunnel system is impressive in its length (over 9km), intimidating in its width (mostly one shared for bidirectional traffic), and unique in its complexity (don't le...
iceland's westfjord tunnel system is impressive in its length (over 9km), intimidating in its width (mostly one shared for bidirectional traffic), and unique in its complexity (don't le...
Crazy Bulgers! Skiing seems like a great idea to nab the less traveled.
Great TR and photos plus the Map Route. ;)
Thanks guys! Here is proof that only it was all about jump turns. More 180s then you get in a park run.
Teletubbie POV video:
http://vimeo.com/94624530
Teletubbie POV video:
http://vimeo.com/94624530
Map of route... Dark Peak is located behind Bonanza Peak and guarded by long approaches from any side with no real trail system to the base of the peak. There is a trace trail up the Swamp Creek drainage, kind of, but it ends in a maze of slide alder / vine maple. Then there's a 4th class tree climb to gain the glacier.
So we concocted this other route after reading Jason and Forest's Bonanza Peak TR (actually, saw the Company creek photo's).
So we concocted this other route after reading Jason and Forest's Bonanza Peak TR (actually, saw the Company creek photo's).
Way to tick one off. Great timing!
Good job! That is fun terrain over there indeed.
8 years ago Mike? How it flies.
8 years ago Mike? How it flies.
thanks for the Grouse/Coleman update!
Aren't Ptarmigan's grouse? Either way, sounds like a grand time in the animal kingdom all around.
author=T. Eastman link=topic=31662.msg132930#msg132930 date=1399616953]
Why didn't your buddies ski up the wall?
Two were splitboarders, capable of all sorts of weird things. The other two must have copped a contact high.
Gold Creekin' with minimal Gold Creek. Dig.
South side roolz! Way to catch it with pow.
That is a great line. I called it the "Soren Couloir" as I finally knocked it off the day fellow TAYer RonL's daughter was born.
Tabski, thanks for the TR, looks like corn is still few weeks away?
How thick is the snow on the road?
Strange things happen around Roman Wall:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/runningclouds/496920669/in/photolist-
How thick is the snow on the road?
Strange things happen around Roman Wall:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/runningclouds/496920669/in/photolist-
Why didn't your buddies ski up the wall?
I'm pretty sure I've heard that called the "toilet bowl." Gotta be careful you don't get "flushed."
Some pics from the evening. Also fun to finish off the night with some trailhead barbecuing!
Yeah, no Victor, no photos. No GoPro. No helmet either, I'd have to strap it to my head like Bijorn Borg
It really is a great line.
It really is a great line.
You still have PBR in your fridge?!
Glad you made it to wherever you were trying to go, somewhere up there.
Don't you have a GoPro to document some of these trips?
Glad you made it to wherever you were trying to go, somewhere up there.
Don't you have a GoPro to document some of these trips?
author=Jim Oker link=topic=31635.msg132914#msg132914 date=1399596972]
Nice route. That gully is really fun when the snow is good!
The efficacious route would have followed an established boot path up to the south ridge when we emerged from the forest. Mounties, maybe. Inside joke, some members of the Sherpa Climbing Club, following in the steps of Gene/Bill Prater, the Freds-Dunham and Stanley, and so on, would cite the S ri...
author=glenn_b link=topic=31635.msg132871#msg132871 date=1399435876]Nice route. That gully is really fun when the snow is good! I like the trees up high on the face as well - very pretty. We've always just been content with topping out at the northern end of the summit ridge, saving the true summit for summer hikes. I think we were spoiled our first...
Hiked and skied up Earl via the NW ridge. Skied down the central gully on the W face.
Thanks for the TR. Makes me want to try again soon.
That last B&W ridgeline picture is epic! Thanks for sharing all these great images / videos. As if I didn't want to get out there badly enough already!
I'm going to have a hard time topping this trip in 2014. A well executed trip with a rad crew.
"Almost a week later now, I'm still wondering if I should have gone instead, especially since such weather windows with light winds at 14000 ft are so rare on Rainier (usually only a handful of times in an entire January-July summit ski season). But I don't really regret playing it overly safe and just skiing Muir once again."
Wise choice! You do great reports and we would all wonder why you missed the class! Being solo is a much scarier game and you were sma...
Wise choice! You do great reports and we would all wonder why you missed the class! Being solo is a much scarier game and you were sma...
T East - Deal. Fairchild is one of the last prizes for me along the Front Range. Massive approach has kept it as a last Holy Grail. But I look at it everyday from my house and the 2,000 VF down the SE face is so appealing. Maybe this year?
MW88....
RMNP is an amazing place to ski. You picked a great route that day. I did scads of skiing there in the late-70s and early-80s as a transplant from the Adirondacks. Being a climber the abundance of granite made for great scenery. It was amazing that through some of the most improbable places, a sliver of snow would connect, or as you found, nearly connect these cool runs.
Skiing is cool because each area develops its own character and...
RMNP is an amazing place to ski. You picked a great route that day. I did scads of skiing there in the late-70s and early-80s as a transplant from the Adirondacks. Being a climber the abundance of granite made for great scenery. It was amazing that through some of the most improbable places, a sliver of snow would connect, or as you found, nearly connect these cool runs.
Skiing is cool because each area develops its own character and...
430 to 815 doesn't get me to the summit of Dragontail! Thanks for the report and enjoy the Big Sky Country.
May 7 update. I was able to drive to Beverly TH in standard passenger car (Legacy). The main North Fork road is loaded with potholes and the Beverly road is quite rough. Easy does it. I would estimate the walk is about .8 mile from Bean Creek crossing until consistent snow. Barefoot with rolled up pants works fine for creek crossing but it was quite active today.
Far SE drainage run off Earl was great proto corn. Two inch pole penetration by early pm. The crust below not very strong...
Far SE drainage run off Earl was great proto corn. Two inch pole penetration by early pm. The crust below not very strong...
Sure enjoyed meeting you and wish I could have gotten out in the mountains with you while you were here. Best for fun in Montana. Some day you'll find a partner who can keep up with you, but until then, keep me in mind.
I call the high point between Anapurna and Dragontail "Dino Rock", because of the balanced feature at the summit. I love that pitch down to the plateau.
I call the high point between Anapurna and Dragontail "Dino Rock", because of the balanced feature at the summit. I love that pitch down to the plateau.
Thanks, Kevin. Best wishes for you in MT. Some good stuff there, too.
Nice run! I too struggle with 2AM wakeup calls, sometimes the other side wins ;)
Boot - if Lake Haiyaha, the only pic I had was at dawn.
T East - yes, good year for the park, no complaining at all, just better non-stop descents can be found...like, as you mention, Tyndall glacier off the north side - I really enjoy that canyon better as the descent from the Divide is continuous and fun to Emerald lake.
T East - yes, good year for the park, no complaining at all, just better non-stop descents can be found...like, as you mention, Tyndall glacier off the north side - I really enjoy that canyon better as the descent from the Divide is continuous and fun to Emerald lake.
Beautiful mountain! I climbed the north face in 1980 when BC skiing wasn't even in my world.
Good work!
That's loads of snow for the Park. Don't complain, it's rarely that good. Do Fairchild it's fine.
Looks like the North Face of Hallets is next, eh?
That's loads of snow for the Park. Don't complain, it's rarely that good. Do Fairchild it's fine.
Looks like the North Face of Hallets is next, eh?