TR Replies
Thanks for the nice report. Too bad about being stopped by Shasta's infamous winds. It's happened to me at least a half-dozen times around 11000-13400 ft on Shasta. Given the forecast (copied below) of 35 mph winds in the free air at 14000 ft, I wouldn't be surprised if you had sustained winds of 50+ mph and gusts over 70 mph due to the orographic enhancement. The lenticular in your last photo certainly indicates winds in that range.
I was almost tempted to drive down t...
I was almost tempted to drive down t...
Thanks. great photos! Love the clouds in the shots from Cowlitz Rock. Looks like the cornices are still scary up on top.
Gotta love those ski track selfies!
Very cool! Hoping to get back there in the next couple weeks. Thanks for the report.
Headlee is on climbers left and is about the same steepness. I've only been there once and I would think snowpack, wind, cornices would be extremely variable from year to year. Good to be prepared for steep snow climbing and even rock steps if not totally prepared to climb the snow or blocking cornices.
We all drove over Barlow, which is in great condition, freshly graded. The hwy through Oso is still closed as far as I know.
Thanks for the beta. I'll be in the north cascades this week for 4 days and this is a very plausible location for us. Did you drive through darington? Just wondering about road conditions given the land slide.
Awesome vid! Duly inspiring...hopefully we'll get another break in the weather soon.
rad! It looks like you guys hit the conditions pretty darn good. thanks for the video - it was fun to watch on a gloomy gray day at sea level 8)
AWESOME trip report Marcus! I must say I'm jealous of your adventures from a SAIL BOAT! It was so fun following your progress while you were out there, and stealing your ideas when we got out there ourselves.
author=pipedream link=topic=31598.msg132644#msg132644 date=1398885324">
Excellent report!
Now I'm just waiting for the other TR out of Norway from a certain splitboarder and tutu-wearing skier...
It appears that Silas's recovery is going swimmingly.
(Sorry about the blurry pic. It was hard to stay focused)
(Sorry about the blurry pic. It was hard to stay focused)
http://freeheelvegan.com/2012/06/29/vesper-peak/
Vesper has been pretty good to me in early July. We've gone as far as the entry to Wurtz basin in May but were scared off by conditions. I think the cooler to headlee is climber's left. There might be a photo in my link for you to verify.
One of my favorite places for sure.
Vesper has been pretty good to me in early July. We've gone as far as the entry to Wurtz basin in May but were scared off by conditions. I think the cooler to headlee is climber's left. There might be a photo in my link for you to verify.
One of my favorite places for sure.
I would try to get as close as you can to 3800 feet. I not sure of the options, normally this time of the year there is more snow at Marble parking.
Where's the best place to park and start from at this point?
I put eyes on Baker from the Twins on Wednesday afternoon after work but I didn't get boots in the snow to know what it was doing. From what I could tell there were lots of smaller loose wet slides on both Baker and North Twin.
hey neighbor, me and q will be the desired uphill speed you'll want when that time resumes, the down is all you to control.
We were set to ski CD today but after reading the Special NWAC Forecast I pulled the plug around 4PM yesterday. The reported slide on White Salmon Glacier also contributed to the decision.
http://www.nwac.us/avalanche-forecast/current/cascade-west-stevens-pass-north/
It looks like the freezing level will drop again and above 2000m should see 15+ inches of snow. You might get powder instead of corn.
http://www.nwac.us/avalanche-forecast/current/cascade-west-stevens-pass-north/
It looks like the freezing level will drop again and above 2000m should see 15+ inches of snow. You might get powder instead of corn.
Your slideshow brought back some nice memories: thanks for the TR.
World class. Hope to do that some day too.
Couple of beers gave us the proper slerve to enjoy the schmoo at West last night. Just fun to be out in the sun and skiing in T-shirts after work.
Has anyone been up the CD on Baker recently? Looking for current conditions in the last week or so...
author=Pete_H link=topic=31547.msg132431#msg132431 date=1398563478]
Fair enough. But mountaineering, yes. Ski mountaineering (or ski alpinism), no.
Splitting hairs there. I will bet they enjoyed the whole thing. I suppose if you went on the same trip then you would have had 1/2 an adventure +/-.
author=Jonas link=topic=31609.msg132678#msg132678 date=1398959744]
Booted up the clearing but went a little too high and left and missed the shoulder over to the hanging valley that leads to Headlee.
That's real easy to do; following your intuition is so tempting there :). I've missed it even when I knew about where to roll over the ridge.
Sloopy snow needs a sloppy style.
I aspire to be one with the snow.
I aspire to be one with the snow.
yeah, it was a ski cut. the surface under it was very slick but it wasn't ice. should have taken a look but wouldn't be surprised to find a suncrust with graupel on it. more concerning were the ski cuts slides i set off in bounds at Crystal. More like 8-12 inches of propagation running on 45 degree slope under the gondola. The whole of upper exterminator had basically gone in what looked like wet slab from point release and other ski cuts- some running two or three hundred feet...
author=LukerBee link=topic=31547.msg132663#msg132663 date=1398916095]
You may be wright or you may be wrong 8)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cih0btgJw8s
Bravo! Wonderful report and great job on the trip! I'm going to bookmark this TR for study if/when I get to planning to do that trip. Thanks for all the great info. Love the photos.
And the mandatory Matterhorn shot
Thanks so much for sharing, Marcus! Awesome trip!
How great for Martin and Mike to have a super experienced, stellar crew like yourselves to call clients. Dream team.
How great for Martin and Mike to have a super experienced, stellar crew like yourselves to call clients. Dream team.
Nice one, Pete!
That road's not so bad. The next ten miles, however...
Dreams of hwy 20 dance in my head.
That road's not so bad. The next ten miles, however...
Dreams of hwy 20 dance in my head.
Man the snow looks so good in that last photo. The ski back down the gully is a great consolation.
It is genuinely interesting to read the different responses between this forum and the identical post on CC.com. Really shows that there are some cultural differences between those who climb to ski and those who climb to climb.
Regarding stability: we found two faint crust layers, at 2.5in and 8in. Otherwise it was completely consistent. ECT failed at 16 at the first layer (2.5 in), it was not sudden/planar. Upon trying to remove the block it broke halfway across, splitting the column above the fracture in two. Pretty good indication of surface weakness, but no indication of propensity to propagate. We observed solar affected point release evidence and no wet slab activity. Pole penetration between 2-6in. We chose to...
Jill and I skied West on April 29 and it was sloooopy. Time for rain and cool temperatures.
You may be wright or you may be wrong 8)
Interesting, he sent me a pm asking me to stop posting and said that the plan had been to cut the lock, hence the carrying of bolt cutters. The naivete of posters and people in general is astounding.
author=LukerBee link=topic=31547.msg132641#msg132641 date=1398881496]
So I toured Pilchuck with Dave yesterday – only on the ride home did I learn of his TAY celebrity stature. He shared the whole story with me. When I got home I read this thread.
...
Three broken ribs? Is that all?!
Get back out there, slacker!
Get back out there, slacker!
That was a good read,
thanks for posting.
thanks for posting.
Thanks much ! We were wondering .
Dang, looks nice. A coworker and I were planning on heading up to the lookout for the night after work yesterday then riding down this morning, but balked due to the avy warning and thoughts that nothing would freeze overnight, leaving top-to-bottom isothermal mush to deal with.
Not to pile on, but I heard Backcountry.com is having a sale on bolt cutters. The new light-weight 'ski mountaineering' model. :)
I liked the drying rack! What an adventure - "Planes Trains and Automobiles" plus bus, yacht and skis. Nice!
Cool scan from the book. Nice to run into you guys. Thanks for help with sunglasses. Good times at Pilchuck....