TR Replies

Last hurrah delivered a little paint on the old rusty massif. Fun day in the Spencer Couloir, didn't quite top out but still a really fun ski...






Time for Rainier.

RISG, definitely get out there if you're down in Southern Oregon. During the winter the approach is a little long (~ 3 miles) for a day trip, but totally worth it. Once corn season starts and the road melts out a little, my understanding is that you can drive closer to the mountain and cut down the approach. The Hemlock Butte hut requires reservations, and it fills up pretty quickly.

BTW, anyone who reads the TR and reserves the cabin next winter has a obligation to invite me on...

Now that's a cool looking hut.

You could drive about 2 miles past the gate. A pleasant walk before and after. Should be getting less and less snowy by the hour.

Fun Fact: they are called the "La Sal" Mountains because the spanish explorers who saw them and thought there was no way there could be snow nearby when they were spotted from the searing heat of Moab or wherever, and that the mountains must have salt deposits.  It is the oddest place to be when it's the only place for miles with snow, but there sure are some sweet lines in there!

No, that wasn't us. We were further east in the range.

The Yurt is in the Southern Swan Mountains, northwest of Missoula.  The company is called Yurt Ski and they have two yurts in this valley.  The owners are very nice and heavily bearded, as referenced in the story.  Lots of sweet treed terrain up there, plus some amazing looking alpine lines for a safer snowpack or a less risk averse group - we mostly stuck to trees due to windslab concerns on steeper open slopes.  Just an all-around gorgeous area that has a more off-the-grid feel than Washington...

a kick-ass couloir?  don't know...  you want to go check it out sometime?

Jonny, you lucky bastard... That looks absolutely ridiculous! Glad you and Erin had a great time up there. I guess I will put that place on my list now...

Dave

Jonn, I was ribbing you a bit, the vistas in those pics were amazing with so much terrain that entire lifetimes could be spent exploring on skis.

Sounds like a wonderful trip!

Did the tour on Wednesday and wondered why you stopped short of the summit … makes sense now.

The terrain is way more complex than the USGS map indicates but you made it to the first meadow (not shown on USGS maps) so theoretically you should have been fine. Taking the high road is not always better. One of my friend’s solution to route finding is always go up. Sometimes it is just not the right solution.

Glad you got up into some of that good snow.

Aside from what you skied, did you see anything else worth skiing?

Nice streak!

author=telemack link=topic=31354.msg131562#msg131562 date=1396545525]
a quick drive back to Puget Sound. 

Can you please share the coordinates of the wormhole that you've obviously discovered!!?? We visit some friends in CdA quite often, but damn that drive is anything but quick.

Fun report. Where was (I know, MT...)?

Steve - were you guided or unguided in the Willywowallyas? Which basin(s)? And did you find any of what guides down there optimistically call "sifted in powder" in any strips worth descending? That's more or less what we got a few years ago while skiing out of Norway Basin, and though I know there were some crust turns involved, the more powdery part is what I end up thinking back to  :D.

Nice. Much better than our week of dust on breakable and un-breakable crust at wallowa yurts with 50 mph winds

Nice...

What a great resource we have in TAY, to meet like minded folks.
Pretty dang nice tour, Huh? We were out there a week prior, and hit her pretty good too. 
A short vid of the day:
http://thesnowtroopers.com/2014/n-cascades-wa-ruby-mountain/