Sounds like convective showers. Post frontal cold air aloft over surfaces warmed from solar radiation- causing instability and thus snow showers. The cold air aloft also helps keep the ptype as snow even when the surface climbs above freezing.
As a long-time reader and newly minted TR author, I've noticed a decline in TR participation. This observation has prompted me to take action by providing some beta and a few pow-licious photos in hopes of raising the stoke, which could help build a more welcoming forum for all BC enthusiasts. Whether you're a noob learning the ropes or a grizzled vet trying to protect "your" stash, I believe we can benefit from sharing our experiences and knowledge.
Fyi I was up there this week and the road has been plowed (for logging) from the bridge to a fork about 1 mile from the trail branch. From the dry road there's solid snowpack. Approach conditions are optimal especially for biking. Beware logging trucks midweek.
Very cool - to what elevation did you have to drop on the north side before cutting west to climb out of the Thunder Creek drainage? It's a bit hard to make out from your map.
@kamtron I'm not an ice climber and wouldn't have done this without a partner who could lead ice. The amount of ice climbing required on the route at present is pretty small and not too difficult, but still. There was one other group ahead of us and no one behind us. It wasn't a problem having people ahead of us, we caught up with them at the summit and all descended together joining 2 60m ropes. My partner and I only had a single 60, so it was actually quite lucky to have the other group the...
Nice work! Saturday was a perfect day for slaying couloirs! Glad you got some…we thought we were getting remote - what do you reckon your mileage was RT?
Yep, Gary, 5 hours of driving, 5 hours of skiing. It was really hard to leave Indian Rock and the Mazama glades with so much powder and daylight left. I wish they would at least go back to 5pm.
Robie, yes, that's where I entered. I then skinned one more from the bottom straight back up and did it all over again. So good yesterday!
I am trying to practice my version of getting back to basics.
I think everyone would agree that the number of winter backcountry enthusiasts has grown, maybe exponentially, in the last 20 years.
Watching places that saw few, if any, visitors become frequented. Not that outdoor enthusiasm isn’t fantastic, but so is responsibly and sustainably recreating. Personally, I began viewing the act of writing TRs positively correlated with the massive influx of people ski to...
This route was still very good today, Sunday 3/26. North side had excellent snow quality, untouched since the Friday evening dump. The bottom is a little more melted out than in the above report, but that was really only an issue on that last 50ft down to the trail (if you happen to come out at that same culvert). Also did a couple runs in the upper NE bowl (very nice), and took a quick look on the west side (came back up because it was all roller balls). Can't get enough of the Humpback. It...
Blackdog, thanks for your reply! The big rock is/was known as Indian Rock. Fun skiing in that area Ive always entered from the top and south .
Gary , I wish you wudnt mentioned "Instant Gratification"😉 but you are right about entering it about 200ft or so south. And yes with this much snow the river shud have multiple places to cross.
A further note on "Instant Gratification"
If unsure of the snowpack its best to poke around a bit before attemping
We used to call blackdog's "Steep trees" - Mazama 'Glades'. The shade and slightly northerly aspect keep powder longer than the adjacent big open 'Mazama Face' or '911'. It's usually simple this time of year to cross the Paradise River directly on drifts, saving a kilometer or so each way on the unplowed road..
The Paradise lot is plowed by pushing snow to the Valley Road corner and sometimes bulldozing it over the side. So the fi...
I think this is the kinda report Avajane was referring to that we don't see much of on TAY anymore. I'm glad Robie wrote it up. It gave me the motivation to pack my stuff this morning and head to Paradise.
Bundy's, 911, and Mazama all skied fantastic. Skied the southern end of Mazama under the big rock. I typically don't get down that far. There's some really steep trees in there that are super fun. Clouds, sun, pow, snow! Great day (except for the 4pm ga...
Wonder if people's dwindling narrative skills has anything to do with it? It takes time and effort to draft a compelling TR, skills that may be fading.
But enter Chat GPT! Maybe there is a well-written TR wave coming!
Adventurous trip. On more than a few days this season the by-far best snow of the tour has been at very low elevations on what you'd typically think of as the exit rather than the main event.
