TR Replies
I <3 LT ... especially when there is sufficient snow! I'm a Salmon local, so I end up skiing there a couple of times each season (which turns out to be almost all of my resort skiing). Glad you enjoyed yourself.
author=CascadeClimber link=topic=27358.msg115139#msg115139 date=1360092131]
I tried to day-hike up Alta that way one time in August. NOT recommended.
That's aggressive! Alta is super steep from the SW, W, & NW aspects.
I tried to day-hike up Alta that way one time in August. NOT recommended.
Awesome trip, you guys! Even though the snow was crap, it looks like you were able to access some really unique terrain.
author=alpine-earth link=topic=27358.msg115129#msg115129 date=1360083696">
Superb! Thanks for the beta photos.
Skinny skis for the valley, heavy gear on the back, have never failed me in deep GC exploration...unless you're THIS guy.
I've tried to be, and I'm not.
I don't know who THAT guy is, but he's now a legend in my b...
Superb! Thanks for the beta photos.
Skinny skis for the valley, heavy gear on the back, have never failed me in deep GC exploration...unless you're THIS guy.
I've tried to be, and I'm not.
Skinny skis for the valley, heavy gear on the back, have never failed me in deep GC exploration...unless you're THIS guy.
I've tried to be, and I'm not.
Thanks john!
That most def would have worked.
I think the best would be to.climb from lost lake to the spot you stopped, then decend. Skip merrit all together..just didnt have the light to attempt it.
We skinned to a spot just down the ridge to the east of that point. Very mellow terrain between us there.
That most def would have worked.
I think the best would be to.climb from lost lake to the spot you stopped, then decend. Skip merrit all together..just didnt have the light to attempt it.
We skinned to a spot just down the ridge to the east of that point. Very mellow terrain between us there.
author=ryanl link=topic=27358.msg115119#msg115119 date=1360077275]
Good effort. For future reference, Gold Creek never goes downhill. It's uphill in 4 directions.
I just checked the topo... Turns out you're correct. Scientists maintain that while the land is uphill in every direction, the flatness of snoqualmie pass creates a vortextual pull on the waters in the valley slowly lulling them south.
author=alecapone link=topic=27337.msg115121#msg115121 date=1360078364]
Ahhh! Nice. Thats the finall decent we where looking for!
. Did you continue straight up the ridge from the road until it knifes out, or go around merit lake way? Couldnt tell in the dark but it would have been easier to decend that way after climbing from lost lake, if possible.
That photo with rock looks like you are on the west side of the ridge..
Ahhh! Nice. Thats the finall decent we where looking for!
. Did you continue straight up the ridge from the road until it knifes out, or go around merit lake way? Couldnt tell in the dark but it would have been easier to decend that way after climbing from lost lake, if possible.
That photo with rock looks like you are on the west side of the ridge..
. Did you continue straight up the ridge from the road until it knifes out, or go around merit lake way? Couldnt tell in the dark but it would have been easier to decend that way after climbing from lost lake, if possible.
That photo with rock looks like you are on the west side of the ridge..
Ryan I think you said it right on the drive home that we encountered every kind of bad snow possible... Still an awesome exploratory tour into some relatively deep territory for a day trip out of Alpental - gotta love how much Snoqualmie pass area has to offer when the snowpack is in!
couple of my pics:
1) entrance to the Holy Dive
2) W Face of Kaleetan Pk, in the belly of the beast.
couple of my pics:
1) entrance to the Holy Dive
2) W Face of Kaleetan Pk, in the belly of the beast.
Good effort. For future reference, Gold Creek never goes downhill. It's uphill in 4 directions.
Thanks! Yeah, all in all it was pretty good snow.
Glad it all worked out. Thought about skiing the Zipper Sunday but was worried snow would be marginal, at best. Sound like we should have gone for it!!
Thanks Zap.
I try not to preach that often but after seeing some decisions that gave me chills Saturday. That was the reason for the post Here is the full thought
"
There is nothing wrong with turning around and aborting a mission. I have done it more times than I can count. Learn to trust that feeling, as it is normally alerting you to danger. That being said, if you always turned around when you saw a small storm cloud in the sky, or weren't feeling 100% fit and...
I try not to preach that often but after seeing some decisions that gave me chills Saturday. That was the reason for the post Here is the full thought
"
There is nothing wrong with turning around and aborting a mission. I have done it more times than I can count. Learn to trust that feeling, as it is normally alerting you to danger. That being said, if you always turned around when you saw a small storm cloud in the sky, or weren't feeling 100% fit and...
Great report and photos for Cerise Creek. The last time I was there was Victoria Day by mistake.
Good thoughts at "powdergangster.ca"
;)
"So don't turn around the moment you feel scared, but evaluate the situation objectively when that little alarm goes off. It is all about your risk tolerance - the more you are willing to risk, the more you ignore your epic alarm. The mountains will still be there next week so sometimes waiting is the best cours...
Good thoughts at "powdergangster.ca"
;)
"So don't turn around the moment you feel scared, but evaluate the situation objectively when that little alarm goes off. It is all about your risk tolerance - the more you are willing to risk, the more you ignore your epic alarm. The mountains will still be there next week so sometimes waiting is the best cours...
At least you got above the cloud! What a difference a day makes. After all the fun Saturday, I KNEW that it would be the frozen nasty on Sunday - but went anyway. Lucky to not break a leg on frozen snow shoe holes in the fog.
Sounds very familiar. We got a little bit later start due to parking pass shenanigans, but had a pretty similar day. Found the steep skin track up the face - stayed on it for a while but bailed to the west ridge at ~5k and called it off due to horrid conditions. Ski crampons were a godsend.
The south face was less than appealing, so we skied down the west ridge. Found some decent skiing between 3700 and 4400, so we did an extra lap there. Tree skiing below tha...
The south face was less than appealing, so we skied down the west ridge. Found some decent skiing between 3700 and 4400, so we did an extra lap there. Tree skiing below tha...
author=RyanPete81 link=topic=27339.msg115044#msg115044 date=1359958119]
...and skinned and booted our way to the high point north of Roosevelt's true summit (Roosevelt 'skier's summit'?).
So nice to see (rare) accuracy regarding Roosevelt's summit proper!
Definitely an ambitious route for Saturday, with all those diverse aspects... good day for recon though! Thanks for the report.
Got a late start knowing that we missed "the day" on Saturday. Grey parking lot at 10am, went out towards Edith Creek and enjoyed views above the clouds all the way to Hood. Had lunch at 7000' beneath McClure Rock... no wind, bluebird, but cloud level was rising so we rode 500 feet on hard snow then stumbled back to the parking lot in a whiteout.
Still had fun.
Still had fun.
Holy Diver, that is some strong work!!!!
Do you still have a link available to your Picasa site?
Missed your report in April thanks for the great beta.
John
Do you still have a link available to your Picasa site?
Missed your report in April thanks for the great beta.
John
That first shot was worth your entire day.
Sick.
Sick.
Thanks for the report. It looks great up there!
Wife & I had a hilarious time dodging slow rolling, 4 foot, wet snow pinwheels on the back side of Silver King one spring day. After stopping (several times) to rest our old legs we had to immediately face up hill to see which dance moves to make to avoid getting bowled over. We laughed so hard at the ridiculousness of it that it was hard to dodge 'em fast enough.
Good choice and very nice first picture !
Great pic's heinzsd - really like the first one that shows the open wormflow at the foot of the mountain. BTW - is your right pole bent or were you traveling faster than the camera could capture you. :)
Blower over inversion! Gorgeous! To the viewer it looks bottomless.
author=telemack link=topic=27302.msg114969#msg114969 date=1359832373]
It's still cloudy down here on Hood Canal. Are you riding your new used Goode skis? 8)
More like the Goodes are riding me :)
Fairly stiff East wind up high kept things reasonably cool. We skied pretty much to the end of the slide path where the summer trail first hits the slide path and switches back to the left. There was a bit of bushwaking involved to get this far down though. The summer trail is quite annoying with skis right now because of all the exposed creeks to navigate, so we took our chances fighting the slide alder.
author=altasnob link=topic=27311.msg114984#msg114984 date=1359854984]
thanks to TBill's intense skin track straight up
Yup, sounds familiar. Thanks for the report! Any wind? How far down did you ski?
Granite was a shmoo fest for the lower 2/3 before becoming more consolidated, but it all skied surprisingly well. First time I've skinned the entire thing thanks to TBill's intense skin track straight up the face. Massive wet slide looks like it came down yesterday but we had no issues other than the occasional pinwheel.
Saw your tracks off Mastiff today and didn't see an uptrack. Said, "hmm did they do the traverse!" Nice work.
It's still cloudy down here on Hood Canal. Are you riding your new used Goode skis? 8)
"Gotta go to know" is right . Stayed home thinking slop.
Nice Video Andy and Regine!
Nice Video Andy and Regine!
Looks to me like 0.5-3" ski penetration, increasing with elevation, over a ski-supportable, but somewhat scratchy crust. Snow looked like slightly heavy pow, getting lightly roasted, especially down low/in the sun. Looks like they skied from ~8k to the road, and had more fun than a day at work.
Looks better than I'd have guessed from the telemetry; I thought the crust might be breakable/hooky from ganders tonight. Gotta go to know!
Looks better than I'd have guessed from the telemetry; I thought the crust might be breakable/hooky from ganders tonight. Gotta go to know!
conditions in the video look like fast, buttery, spring-like conditions under full sun :) looking forward to some touring tomorrow. thanks for the stoke.
Can't open the video. What were conditions like?
author=gfunk link=topic=27092.msg114871#msg114871 date=1359673212]
Hi John,
Yes, there are two large north facing bowls that you can ski back into Crystal Lakes basin. Locals know them as smoke-a-bowl and pack-a-bowl, with pretty heady references. Another excellent circuit back is to go to the high point northeast of Chinook to access Sheep Lake couloir, putting you in Sheep Lake basin. From here skin over the west ridge to Crystal Lakes or northeast t...
Hi John,
Yes, there are two large north facing bowls that you can ski back into Crystal Lakes basin. Locals know them as smoke-a-bowl and pack-a-bowl, with pretty heady references. Another excellent circuit back is to go to the high point northeast of Chinook to access Sheep Lake couloir, putting you in Sheep Lake basin. From here skin over the west ridge to Crystal Lakes or northeast to Sourdough Gap and into Morse Creek. Here's a shot of that coully:
Yes, there are two large north facing bowls that you can ski back into Crystal Lakes basin. Locals know them as smoke-a-bowl and pack-a-bowl, with pretty heady references. Another excellent circuit back is to go to the high point northeast of Chinook to access Sheep Lake couloir, putting you in Sheep Lake basin. From here skin over the west ridge to Crystal Lakes or northeast to Sourdough Gap and into Morse Creek. Here's a shot of that coully:
author=airpoppoff link=topic=27243.msg114845#msg114845 date=1359606909]
Wheres that gopro vid!???
Locked in the vault of footage never to be seen by anyone ::)
author=PetraSkis link=topic=27200.msg114623#msg114623 date=1359346846]
We decided for a short tour out of Alpental today. Since we got a late start, we just skinned out to Source Lake and then up the ridge towards Chair Peak. It was snowing continuously and visibility was not great, but we were rewarded with some great turns in untracked chest deep powder.
Really nice and fairly light snow. We had a blast! :)
It...
author=lrudholm link=topic=27266.msg114853#msg114853 date=1359651146]
Wish I had dual citizenship.
I wish we had cheap beer.