TR Replies
Thanks for the great TR Cascade Climber!
I climb/ski Mount St. Helens pretty often (5 times so far this year) and I’ve been a volunteer member of the Mount St. Helens Institute’s board for 14 years. I can provide some information about the MSHI and what it does with your $5. Sorry this will be kind of long, but so many on TAY ski on Mount St. Helens, and quite a few of you whose trip reports I admire and enjoy are annoyed, so I think it is worth taking some time.
As an orga...
I climb/ski Mount St. Helens pretty often (5 times so far this year) and I’ve been a volunteer member of the Mount St. Helens Institute’s board for 14 years. I can provide some information about the MSHI and what it does with your $5. Sorry this will be kind of long, but so many on TAY ski on Mount St. Helens, and quite a few of you whose trip reports I admire and enjoy are annoyed, so I think it is worth taking some time.
As an orga...
Hmm, how bad is it?
Never been to Pilchuck, and it sounds like it would make a nice dusk patrol... a change from Alpental
Never been to Pilchuck, and it sounds like it would make a nice dusk patrol... a change from Alpental
So Jealous. We were up on the mountain from the 8th to the 10th, being our first time attempting to summit, we opted to try to summit via Ingraham Direct / DC, which turned out to be a poor choice. Rotten snow and high rock/ice fall danger turned us around at ~12000'.
We enjoyed seeing your turns down and I am glad that at least a few people made it to the summit during the nice weather last week! :)
We enjoyed seeing your turns down and I am glad that at least a few people made it to the summit during the nice weather last week! :)
author=cascadekid link=topic=28523.msg119993#msg119993 date=1368489064]
So guys, what exactly is the boot of choice up there? ;)
2 People on the left don't fit in. Please tell me they weren't in your group! Grats on a summit and ski. I'm looking to do my first ski down soon, any conditions reports on the upper mountain with cracks opening to the Furher?
author=philfort link=topic=28508.msg119986#msg119986 date=1368484895]
Might today's rain clean the pollen off?
Nope. Still lots of pollen as of yesterday. At least it gives me a chance to show my skis that it's not always a one-sided relationship. ;)
author=CascadeClimber link=topic=28515.msg120048#msg120048 date=1368574917]
I got an email today asking me to fill out a survey about my 'characteristics' and attitudes toward leave no trace.
I didn't ask for this or tell them they could use my email this way.
Since they conveniently included the email address of an Eastern Washington Univ. person running the survey, I forwarded it and said I'd do it for a small $22 se...
I got an email today asking me to fill out a survey about my 'characteristics' and attitudes toward leave no trace.
I didn't ask for this or tell them they could use my email this way.
Since they conveniently included the email address of an Eastern Washington Univ. person running the survey, I forwarded it and said I'd do it for a small $22 service fee.
I didn't ask for this or tell them they could use my email this way.
Since they conveniently included the email address of an Eastern Washington Univ. person running the survey, I forwarded it and said I'd do it for a small $22 service fee.
april 1 to october 31st, you are supposed to pay.
up till may 14th no limit on number of permits available
after that until the end of october, 100 per day.
all other times of year still supposed to 'get a permit'
up till may 14th no limit on number of permits available
after that until the end of october, 100 per day.
all other times of year still supposed to 'get a permit'
Is the $22 required year round now? You used to be able to go for 'free' during winter....
Thanks for the info Water. This info helps support my uneducated guesses to where the $ goes.
author=hedonaut link=topic=28530.msg120001#msg120001 date=1368496590]
seems Pelton basin is the way to go to Cache col, most of the time--a bit more climbing, but so much safer. imo.
that magic s loop has been on my mind recently--how were the conditions, ample snow in general?
I agree about Pelton Basin it was my first time but I have always been spooked when looking at that traverse. A bit more time but you are not o...
additional goodies on their Form 990 from 2012 is that they generated $14,000~ for their co-organization....
....The Mount Adams Institute!!!!!!!!!!!
But for MSHI:
$309,055 in Government Grants for 2012. Guess the $65,000-85,000 of money from the public for permits isn't enough?! :(
$9,400 spent on travel
Pretty sure they fold the climb permit revenue under 'membership dues [$156,267]'...which is clever eh? If you bought a permit you're p...
....The Mount Adams Institute!!!!!!!!!!!
But for MSHI:
$309,055 in Government Grants for 2012. Guess the $65,000-85,000 of money from the public for permits isn't enough?! :(
$9,400 spent on travel
Pretty sure they fold the climb permit revenue under 'membership dues [$156,267]'...which is clever eh? If you bought a permit you're p...
author=CascadeClimber link=topic=28515.msg119938#msg119938 date=1368411964]
There was an official of some type stationed at 4800' checking permits when I passed through. I wonder how much of the $15 per person ($7 is a 'transaction fee') is spent on enforcement.
Was it a FS employee? Their volunteers are supposed to be able to ask about permits but obviously hold no power to do jack squat about it if you don't...
So cool. Looked like lots of fun to ski. Whenever I see these great ski pictures, however, I clearly remember the slow agony of the long walk down.
It looks like a cool little ski area - must be fun on a powder day! I like how their sign in the parking lot mentions sidecountry access for backcountry skiers without a bunch of disclaimers - seems like there is a sense of adventure there.
A photo from down bellow of the larger side path climbers right.
The wonderful diagram of the slide path was done by Brian, I don't think that anything came from that couloir lookers left though.
The wonderful diagram of the slide path was done by Brian, I don't think that anything came from that couloir lookers left though.
That was our skintrack up the gully. It should be in for a bit longer. The commonwealth easy to skin from the road and should be for a while.
The snow walls above the creek at the bridge to go to Red are about 4 ft high. No south facing lines on Red go anymore.
One can still ski silver creek all the way to gold creek.
South facing lines on Alaska are out.
The Burntboot valley is melted out
Joe, Alaska, and Edds lake are getting puddles a...
The snow walls above the creek at the bridge to go to Red are about 4 ft high. No south facing lines on Red go anymore.
One can still ski silver creek all the way to gold creek.
South facing lines on Alaska are out.
The Burntboot valley is melted out
Joe, Alaska, and Edds lake are getting puddles a...
I think the snow on those slabby rocks breaks up like that every year, but I'm not sure I've ever seen it quite that deep! Crazy...
author=gorp link=topic=28535.msg120008#msg120008 date=1368506470]
How was snow cover in Commonwealth (if you went that way)?
On Sat May 11th there was snow cover to the road. There are waterfalls and a lot of bare rock from the Kendall catwalk into the Commonwealth basin, but we saw skin tracks into a gully that looked like it had snow the entire way up.
How was snow cover in Commonwealth (if you went that way)?
whoa
that arm is sketch--seems Pelton basin is the way to go to Cache col, most of the time--a bit more climbing, but so much safer. imo.
that magic s loop has been on my mind recently--how were the conditions, ample snow in general?
thx for the report!
that arm is sketch--seems Pelton basin is the way to go to Cache col, most of the time--a bit more climbing, but so much safer. imo.
that magic s loop has been on my mind recently--how were the conditions, ample snow in general?
thx for the report!
So guys, what exactly is the boot of choice up there? ;)
author=CascadeClimber link=topic=28515.msg119916#msg119916 date=1368381363]
Just me, my skis, and 683 other registered climbers on St. Helens yesterday.
That is quite a picture! Looks like Paris subway at rush hour, glad you survived it! :)
The upper slope on Mix Up Arm gave way and had what was easily a 20 foot crown that went directly down to the surface.
Interesting, I was contemplating heading into the same zone but was more psyched to climb than ski given the forecast and overall snow conditions. What do you mean by 20 ft slope gave way? Thanks for the clarification.
Nice! I gotta take my skis up there.
Thanks for the report on Mt. A, my first time on a "real" pair of skies was there (can it really be 41years ago!?). Glad to see someone getting a few turns in the bowl. About this time of year, we would hike all the lift lines, looking for the magic money clip with 5 $100 dollar bills in it! The reality was maybe a few quarters and dimes!
Mt Ashland is my local hill-- short, but steep. Outside the ski area, there is some good terrain if you head west along the Siskiyou Crest FS 20 toward the Applegate Valley. FS 20 goes about 20 miles at around 7,000 feet. I'm sure it's melted now, but I always thought it ideal for a midwinter pulk tour-- relatively flat road with places to drop in the whole way.
Nice work you guys! Not a bad way to stand on top for the first time... knowing you don't have to walk down!
We were on the mountain also, trying to beat the Mother's Day crowd.
Very good ski for the first 2K, but the bottom was going fast.
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/103727466702143735136/albums/5876895051361743329
Very good ski for the first 2K, but the bottom was going fast.
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/103727466702143735136/albums/5876895051361743329
Here's a photo of the west face of Jefferson, taken on May 1st from the Milk Creek Junction. A lot of good ski terrain in there, but as Tim mentioned, it's kind of a slog to get in there from the Pameila TH, and that coupled with the steep trees on the approach, at least to the SW side, make for a long day. I didn't get nearly as high as thought I would, after running into frozen conditions in a steep drainage.
author=Charlie Hagedorn link=topic=28507.msg119912#msg119912 date=1368379015]expect moats below anything steep that's not 'piste'.
For sure on that one. Cracks are in abundance on anything steep and off the beaten path. Our run out Hummocks required two raps off big trees using a short section of rope. Good times for sure!
Incredible day. The FF is in perfect shape right now with little crevasse danger (at least on the upper mountain) allowing for a direct route. The Wilson glacier approach had quite a few snow bridges that were getting soft and a little questionable. Comfortable summit temps made for a leasurly summit stay.
Do you have any pics of the current conditions?
45 min road walk. Nice conditions, but it should be mentioned that there is pretty bad pollen. You might want to bring some Goo Gone or something to clean it off.
Thanks for the report, I was just wondering what the status of the highway was, I am hoping to ski it this spring, sounds like I better get moving. Hopefully it will cool down a little and save some corn!
Hi,
We were the couple that you saw up there. We turned around just before you guys - you were right about the soft snow!
We initially tried driving up towards Rye Spring with an idea of skiing the SW face, but found it blocked within a mile of the highway. We then headed up the road towards Fourmile lake. It was plowed for 3.5 miles up from the highway (to within 2.5 miles of Fourmile lake), so we camped there and set off from that point. We ended up having some naviga...
We were the couple that you saw up there. We turned around just before you guys - you were right about the soft snow!
We initially tried driving up towards Rye Spring with an idea of skiing the SW face, but found it blocked within a mile of the highway. We then headed up the road towards Fourmile lake. It was plowed for 3.5 miles up from the highway (to within 2.5 miles of Fourmile lake), so we camped there and set off from that point. We ended up having some naviga...
We made it thanks to a 3-foot wide ribbon of snow a few hundred yards in ;D It's probably gone by now. About 500 feet up, coverage is still good though.
Great trip report and the photos of the dog rescue were wonderful. ;)
My last trip to South Sister required Jill and I to hike the trail to the flat and start skiing. Nice to see that you skied back down.
My last trip to South Sister required Jill and I to hike the trail to the flat and start skiing. Nice to see that you skied back down.
Awesome trip guys! Todd, you work with my sister-in-law, Jenni Schmidt. She introduced us a few weeks ago. Your blog is quite inspiring! I'd love to get out there with you some time. Until then, keep up the good work! -Robby
author=Oyvind_Henningsen link=topic=28515.msg119942#msg119942 date=1368414210]
and skied to within 52 yards of the trailhead ;-)
It's going away fast this year. And the warm downpour we're getting right now won't help.
Nice ! Went up on Thursday, a few less folks ;-) and skied to within 52 yards of the trailhead ;-)
That is one massive conga line.
That is one massive conga line.
author=Jim Oker link=topic=28515.msg119935#msg119935 date=1368410028]
So what is in the hoard that the ranger wanted to steer you away from, and were the hordes getting into it? [insert clown emoticon here]
Cornices. But in the picture seems the hoards were staying back.