TR Replies

Wondering why you felt that was dangerous. Any funky or rotten layers under the crust would be bridged and supported by the crust and I can't imagine that being a concern. There was a big avy cycle up there a couple days ago during the warm up as I'm sure you saw from the refrozen tree bomb and cornice chunder.

But being overly cautious is indeed better than being under cautious.

1/11/13 1:30am

Shred

Enthralling read! It's hard to build bomber rap anchors, when you have to carry the loads of your guys BIG Kahuns!!!

1/11/13 1:18am

snoholic

There is some nice snow around Stevens especially on moderate slopes. We also found some quite good skiing on steeper lines if you pay attention to where the wind blew it. Stay out of the trees, unless you would like to see what WW3 frozen in time looks like.

1/11/13 1:13am

Daver

True the new snow had a very poor bond on the rain crust, it wasn't slabby at all. The concern for us was what rain crust was collapsing on.

1/11/13 1:10am

snoholic

Incredible adventure! I'm glad all turned out well.

1/11/13 12:32am

Pete_H

I'm also not sure what the OP means. I was up there yesterday too. The new snow had very poor bond on the rain crust but not slabby at all.

1/11/13 12:24am

andyski

Thanks!

1/11/13 12:16am

Randito

FWIW: On Wednesday night at Summit West I noticed sluffing of the fluff on the crust on short steep slopes (e.g. under the unloading station) -- a rare thing to see inbounds at Summit West.

1/10/13 3:32pm

Jim Oker

Sounds potentially nice for moderate-pitched open areas. Or am I just being hopelessly optimistic? I've often found fun tours/turns in such areas in times of dust-on-crust. Also wondering how things are up around Stevens which got more of a convergence effect in the last round of snow...

1/10/13 3:28pm

banosser

gulp... thank God

1/10/13 2:07pm

Lisa

Thanks for the update, I expected such might be the case. We were going to head up there tomorrow but think it best to do some ice climbing instead.

1/10/13 2:07pm

Jonn-E

Andy I'll clarify. Climbing the ridge above the nice groomed road to the weather station there was significantly more wind scour, so the rain crust was much more shallow and hardened by freezing. The trees also force a lot of awkward, steep moves in there. I had crampons and the certainly helped in that section, but were no silver bullet. The whole section from the weather station to Heather is "sporty" right now.

1/10/13 2:04pm

Jonn-E

Being one of those people, I'd add that the second pit was on a moderate slope but produced the same result as the first pit on a steeper slope. The rain crust provided false support (and a false sense of security) on skis. Lower down the rain crust disentegrated into a layer that skis could punch through, making turns in tight trees more challenging below 4300'. The new stuff is pure fluff though and made for some spectacular turns. Solid group!

1/10/13 2:00pm

andyski

Thanks for the report. Would you mind clarifying a bit? You say you wish you had crampons, but then got face shots. Was it only crunchy in the lowest trees? Was it because the new snow was really low density and dissolving underneath you? Thanks!

1/10/13 1:16pm

samthaman

wow, glad everyone is ok.

1/10/13 12:32pm

kevino

Quite the experience John. Glad you and Scott made it out safely.

1/10/13 12:01pm

powhound

pretty much the same on the chair/bryant side, some goods were found, pretty variable dust on crust to 10"+ in spots. Anything steep had big debris piles at the bottom

1/10/13 9:48am

Pete A

i think this is all an elaborate ruse to keep the herds from tracking up the slot couloir this weekend..... oh, and the whole kendall area is also probably really crappy too.

1/10/13 9:34am

Griff

Thanks for the report. I just commented the conditions were very similar in bounds as well. Agreed that the weekend does not look as good as it once was. Also agree that some bonding and/or melting of the ice layer would be nice. Maybe too cold???

1/10/13 8:43am

Charlie Hagedorn

Thanks!

1/10/13 8:39am

skier8484

author=jdclimber link=topic=26931.msg113513#msg113513 date=1357857625]
Went up with the intention to ski the Slot. 4-8 inches of nice light snow on manky crusty. Bonding was poor, but upper layer had no cohesion at the moment, so no real avy danger other than light sluff and plenty of that.
Hard going, sidehilling on even a gentle slope caused fresh to slide out and ski and skin to chatter. Switched to postholing for last ~1000 ft. Went about 10 steps do...

1/10/13 7:33am

cumulus

thanks for the report!

1/10/13 7:15am

matmaster

Here's a picture of Phoebes I took in the spring of 2008. One of my favorite photo's ever.

1/10/13 4:22am

Cornfed

Love the trip report. My Dad (65 years old) has been going up to Priest lake since he was 3 years old and he and I have hiked through hordes of skeeters to to the top of both the tit and the nipple in summer. I have dreamed of heading up there in the winter sometime to do some skiing -- logging roads cover every conceivable mountain in Idaho - at least on the East side of Priest so a sled opens up pretty much all the terrain. A partner, more time, and access to a sled and I...

1/9/13 2:52pm

kevino

Hey Matt,

I'm living in Spokane this year and while I don't have a sled I got some strong trail breaking legs. Let me know if you ever need a partner.

-kevin

1/9/13 2:20pm

bcjunkie

author=mccallboater link=topic=26867.msg113258#msg113258 date=1357532879]

Good skiing to be had up there, and around the old Continental Mine also. The old mine road used to be a wonderful 2-4% grade up from the Bonners side. I wonder what shape it's in? The old mine buildings arn't located in the best place for turns, and are very cold, but worth a visit.

You wanna play tour guide, and show us the goods?

1/9/13 1:31pm

jwplotz

December 14, 2012, Steep and Deep at Baker

Thanks for the useful info Lowell regarding the improvised picket. I don't think I would have trusted a deadman or pickett in that snow.

And yes, I like to think there were guardian angels working overtime that night. Thanks for the good sentiment.

1/9/13 1:06pm

bcjunkie

Nice guys! Way to kill it! Sometimes, that is also my credo, " Turn or Burn!" Hope the new splitboard is a coming!

1/9/13 12:29pm

JasonGriffith

These days I seem to hear of hardmen/women using nylon stuff sacks filled with snow, girth hitched, and deadmanned. Light, pack down small, but leave a bit more litter on the mountain. That said, I like the 1X4 prototype Lowell!

Nice work on the descent! I love how something I consider a good tick on my climbing resume is "just" a ski to some other folks.

1/9/13 12:26pm

Lowell_Skoog

author=jwplotz link=topic=26890.msg113456#msg113456 date=1357785540">
The rest of the story...

Thanks for that.

About bollards ... I wonder if something like this would have worked better:

I made a few of these anchors for times when you need to rappel over a cornice or something and no other anchors are available. I haven't actu...

1/9/13 12:01pm

powhound

Holy shit! You guys are fukn nuts. Glad you both made it out in one piece. Remind me never to attempt that line...especially in the dark

1/9/13 11:20am

jwplotz

The rest of the story...

This is Scott's first summit of Dragontail. He's been close, but never touched the top. We left the car at Bridge Creek CG at the late hour of 6am. It's nearly 4pm and the light is waning in the gloomy overcast.

We snap a couple shots and click into the planks to make the first couple exposed turns just below the summit to the exit notch of the Triple Couloirs. However, for us it will be our entrance notch. I look down the 3rd...

1/9/13 10:39am

Lowell_Skoog

author=jwplotz link=topic=26890.msg113437#msg113437 date=1357745663]
That being said, I was surprised to find a lot fewer fixed anchors in the runnels.

Thanks for the clarification.

I think most climbers look for well-iced conditions to climb the Triple Couloirs. And most of them probably either turn back below the narrows or they are successful at climbing through. So there aren't going to be many bailout anchors...

1/9/13 9:45am

JoshK

december 30, 2012, black hole sunday

Very cool! What a fantastic area, with tons of exploration potential, so close to the big city. There is a photo of the "Kendall adventure zone" floating around that names all the various lines shown in Dan's summer picture.

1/9/13 8:45am

JoshK

Awesome, just awesome! What an incredible looking line and my resolve to return has been restoked after a broken binding on my friend's ski turned last season's attempt in to a long approach scouting mission.

1/9/13 8:11am

ryanl

I want to post again just because. So glad to live in an area where stuff like this happens. Thanks you two.

1/9/13 2:23am

danpeck

Looking forward to a full write up as well

This is definitely legendary!

I'm interested in the psychology of saying the day before that you would never ski that line, and then suddenly doing it and in very adventurous conditions ;)

I can feel the adrenaline rise like a tide that brings you into circumstances you wouldn't have dreamed of--it must have felt other worldly at times, at least in the sense that you were doing something spectacular and u...

1/9/13 1:51am

jwplotz

Jan 4, 2013, Sherpa Glacier, Alpine Lakes Megaday

Scott and I certainly knew we'd need my pro to rap the runnels and possibly the transition from the 3rd couloir to the 2nd couloir. We just kept it in the back of our minds from the outset that we may not even get to ski the TC's at all, and not even touch the rope and rack.

That being said, I was surprised to find a lot fewer fixed anchors in the runnels.

1/8/13 11:34pm

powhound

Hers a short video of the day

https://vimeo.com/57044031

1/8/13 11:34pm

Lowell_Skoog

author=jwplotz link=topic=26890.msg113296#msg113296 date=1357589386]We thought we would be taking the rope and small rack of my booty cams and stoppers, plus an assortment of pitons, mostly smaller lost arrows, for a hike and they would never see a crack. But oh were we wrong...

Just trying to understand what you wrote here...

When you started down the couloir, did you expect the route to be snow-filled, so you wouldn'...

1/8/13 2:54pm

snoholic

1/6/2013, Yodelin

I was in the same vicinity on 1/6 and like you saw no reason for concern. Amazing how much things can change overnight.

1/8/13 8:24am

danpeck

author=Forest McBrian link=topic=26798.msg113403#msg113403 date=1357684703]
Dan--

That is the Kendall Adventure Zone!

Ha! I love that name. The Adventure Zone! I need some adventure.

1/8/13 7:09am

~Link~

Wow, well done. The TR is sort of like a preview for the cinema... Gnarball

1/8/13 6:45am

Forest McBrian

January 2-3, 2013, Twin Sisters Ski Traverse

Dan--

That is the Kendall Adventure Zone! All of those are great lines, and it's a reasonable day outing from the pass. Or you can camp out and collect them all...Super fun!

F

1/8/13 6:38am

Forest McBrian

Nice work Dustin and co! Strong work.

1/8/13 6:35am

cumulus

those runnel rappels sound a hair bit nerve racking... commited/ment ambiguity indeed... y'all deserve some bluebird powder cruising!

glad you're both still around for another round

1/8/13 4:05am

Marcus

I was wondering about that! Glad they're hanging in for you... Got your money's worth out of them ;)

1/8/13 3:59am

danpeck

Erin, speaking of Couloirs, Have the two of you ever skied any of these lines I spied with my wife this summer? I believe your tour through silver creak basin took you under these.

1/8/13 2:52am

alecapone

ps..

Those are the boots Marcus gave me a couple years ago.. could use some new liners, but still kickin! Thanks.

1/8/13 2:28am

alecapone