TR Replies
Hey Crispin
Nice trip! Too bad we didn't find you - we did almost the same trip. We followed your tracks out past the Portals and then lost them. We camped on the Mazama Gl and then went over Hadley Pk early Sun morning. Great run down the north side in ok snow. We continued to Skyline trail and skied down the road to our car at the end of the snow. A really fun and super scenic traverse. Thanks to the guys who did the Watson Traverse for shuttling our cars!!! We swapped keys bu...
Nice trip! Too bad we didn't find you - we did almost the same trip. We followed your tracks out past the Portals and then lost them. We camped on the Mazama Gl and then went over Hadley Pk early Sun morning. Great run down the north side in ok snow. We continued to Skyline trail and skied down the road to our car at the end of the snow. A really fun and super scenic traverse. Thanks to the guys who did the Watson Traverse for shuttling our cars!!! We swapped keys bu...
Thanks for the info! You've put Lennox back on my explore list. I can see it from my house so I tried to get on top back in December but ran out of time. Had to turn around at about 4800'.
I approached from the West having driven the long and bumpy North Fork Snoqualmie road. Long drive, long road ski, just wasn't worth it but found some great skiing in a few places.
Your plan and approach sounds like a lot more fun.
I'...
I approached from the West having driven the long and bumpy North Fork Snoqualmie road. Long drive, long road ski, just wasn't worth it but found some great skiing in a few places.
Your plan and approach sounds like a lot more fun.
I'...
author=jesski link=topic=24577.msg103850#msg103850 date=1335229019]
How was the debris situation?
Wet slides had left some chunks on Saturday.
Cheers!
Jessie
Mostly smooth slop with a few chunks here and there...
Fun day!
Great to meet everyone!
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.438804292803515.122026.100000218445455&type=3&l=8496320839
Nice tour Crispin! Any mountain goats around? I remember seeing a great Snowy Owl a little further out than Coleman Pinnacle one spring 4-5 years ago. Wonder if it is the same one? Impressive and beautiful for sure.
author=hyak_erik link=topic=24566.msg103803#msg103803 date=1335153343]
I saw about 30 of these critters near the switchback. What was the story on that?
There were two groups, one was a large private party doing ice ax drills, the other was our group of about 20 - we are training for a charity climb of Mt. Rainier this August to benefit Boys and Girls Club, Special Olympics, and the Food Bank. Was a great day to be outside!
Strong work! Both times I've attempted Jefferson it was without skis and I regretted not having them. Way to get after it.
Sweet! Sounds like a good day, Timmy. Thanks for the report.
That's very cool, Dave.
And well played. Many of us that try to help usher our S/O's into backcountry skiing botch the job miserably by pushing too hard and/or taking them out in miserably conditions.
It appears you had just the right touch.
High Five :)
And well played. Many of us that try to help usher our S/O's into backcountry skiing botch the job miserably by pushing too hard and/or taking them out in miserably conditions.
It appears you had just the right touch.
High Five :)
samthaman, know what you mean. I have a vivid memory of driving my old car (the land-yacht) loaded w/ meager belongings to Seattle straight from undergrad school, and on I90 nearing Bellevue, some other similarly packed blokes had pulled over to take a picture sitting on top of their truck roof w/ the Olympics in the background--such was the stoke. Pretty compelling joint we live in.
Thanks packrat, was a bit overhasty in posting those pics. I gather that dr dale's webcam is l...
Thanks packrat, was a bit overhasty in posting those pics. I gather that dr dale's webcam is l...
looks like the snow is setting up nicely, could you boot it without breaking through?
Wow - that's a fairly ambitious trip. Nice photos! Thanks for posting. I'm hoping to get in there a little later this year for some turns!
Thanks for the cold Rainier in the parking lot Silas!
Good to see you.
Good to see you.
Hi, Silas.
Members of my party skied that same line on 4.21, reporting it to be pleasurable. I have yet to ski that exact variation but might do so in the near future. How was the debris situation?
Wet slides had left some chunks on Saturday.
Cheers!
Jessie
Members of my party skied that same line on 4.21, reporting it to be pleasurable. I have yet to ski that exact variation but might do so in the near future. How was the debris situation?
Wet slides had left some chunks on Saturday.
Cheers!
Jessie
Dang, Vera and I were up there until about 2:30. Missed you somehow. Frank
Skin/ski right from the lot, and it looked as though that would be the case for a while.
Zach and I skied that chute to skier's right last June - but not on purpose. We hit a cloud deck at about 8000 feet and ended up one chute too far west. But it went, and we now call it the "nisqually chute white-out variation".
Maybe some sort of training. The Mounties, Boealps, SAR teams, et. al. have been doing stuff up there.
had a long day on snowking once ;-) good decision Charlie
I was up on Ruby Sat/Sun (the secret stash...lol), and everything was sliding. I watched tons of natural releases and could ski cut slides on pretty low angle stuff as well. The main gully in the upper part of Happy Creek was full of tons of debris. I cut across the top of it and happily (pun intended) added a bunch more debris to the pile. Definitely not the best ski conditions but a gorgeous weekend to get out and enjoy NCNP before the highway opens to the congo line of fat people in RVs and H...
author=Charlie Hagedorn link=topic=24572.msg103827#msg103827 date=1335205817]on SR20; very fun. Most impressive avalanche history seemed confined to NE aspects above 5.5k. Lots of unsurprising loose sluffy stuff in the sun.
I just heard the big NE gully at Ruby came down. I was there last weekend: it does get quite a bit of afternoon sun. N
author=philfort link=topic=24572.msg103828#msg103828 date=1335207397]
How did you get to Swamp Creek? Bike?
Yep. Saw someone headed up with skis and a trailer too :).
How did you get to Swamp Creek? Bike?
Looks like it was a great day up there!
Were you still able to skin straight outta the parking lot? Much base left at the bottom?
Were you still able to skin straight outta the parking lot? Much base left at the bottom?
I saw about 30 of these critters near the switchback. What was the story on that?
Nice report. Thanks for the read.
another great run today.
skied down kicking up rooster tails at 1300
skied down kicking up rooster tails at 1300
Likewise Carl! Those were some pretty fine turns. GV bowl and out the gap via banana chute didn't suck either.
Nice work on the videos. Keeps the stoke going on those long work days.
Nice work on the videos. Keeps the stoke going on those long work days.
Spring is on. It felt great climbing and lounging around the crater in shorts and shirt. Then it got even better with a great run summit to van. We left the summit just in time to avoid the shmoo, about the crack o noon. Thanks for the video.
Niko, Keith and I must have met you in the Nisqually bridge parking lot - skied up just as you were leaving. We did the main chute and took it down to the bridge.
Visibility wasn't great on the way up, but it provided for comfortable and quick skinning. Winds seemed a bit stronger than forecasted too, but no way to confirm with the rimed wind gauge at Muir. We were up to Muir in just a hair under 3 hours and ducked into the shelter to relax for a bit. Popped out at 2:30 and the c...
Visibility wasn't great on the way up, but it provided for comfortable and quick skinning. Winds seemed a bit stronger than forecasted too, but no way to confirm with the rimed wind gauge at Muir. We were up to Muir in just a hair under 3 hours and ducked into the shelter to relax for a bit. Popped out at 2:30 and the c...
Nice one, looks like you guys hit it.
Very inspiring TR and great pics! Thanks for posting.
We skied the chutes: visibility was good; very sticky snow--so sticky we decided not to ski the last 1500 to the bridge but went back to Paradise. Gorgeous day, though. N
love the olympics TR's! those mountains made me fall in love with WA and want to move here
Very impressive. Loved all the pictures. Thanks for posting this. (Plus, glad I never get the call on these steep and scary missions :) Really like being an armchair mountaineer ....)
Thanks for the report. It is good to see reports from the Olympic Mountains.
I think this picture is from Dr. Dales webcam near Seabeck.
I think this picture is from Dr. Dales webcam near Seabeck.
author=hedonaut link=topic=24539.msg103714#msg103714 date=1334853913">
Larger perspective presumably from Seattle, Brothers on left and Constance on right, the line appears to be a left-facing corner coming down from left of t...
author=glenn_b link=topic=24542.msg103732#msg103732 date=1334886532]
New rule - You're going skiing. You're not exactly sure when you'll be back. Don't worry. No news is good news.
Corollary to new rule:
The new rule will be acknowledged but never applied. They'll still be worried. And pissed.
Great trip! I have puzzled over this one for a while. That route doesn't make it look any easier than I imagined. Thanks for all the photos. They filled in a few blanks for me.
author=eskinmo link=topic=24517.msg103735#msg103735 date=1334892263]
my cat could ski that run ::)
Mine can ski it switch ::)
You taught your cat to ski and enjoy 10-45 degree slopes? Sweet!
I taught my cat to chase trolls, personally, because it sharpens his hunting instinct.
I taught my cat to chase trolls, personally, because it sharpens his hunting instinct.
Thanks for writing the trip report Jane!
This was one of those trips that illustrated something we've found over the years; you don't know unless you go. Even at 8 in the evening, I still was guessing that there would be a slim chance that the skiing would be good the next day. And trying to judge from home prior to a trip is even more difficult.
Larry
This was one of those trips that illustrated something we've found over the years; you don't know unless you go. Even at 8 in the evening, I still was guessing that there would be a slim chance that the skiing would be good the next day. And trying to judge from home prior to a trip is even more difficult.
Larry
I saw a random snowboard group do that exact descent around a month ago.
Sorry!
Sorry!
Wow, nice line. Thanks for posting and also for the great shots of some of the rest of the terrain out there.
Especially cool that it can be seen from the city. It would be great to see Puget Sound on the decent, but there's definitely something special about cloud decks as well.
Especially cool that it can be seen from the city. It would be great to see Puget Sound on the decent, but there's definitely something special about cloud decks as well.
Great to meet you guys -- thanks again for sharing your shots, and nice work on those sick lines!
Amazing!
I'm new to the PNW and I live in Poulsbo and the Olympics are my new backyard and skiing playground. So... anytime you want a partner to ski the Olympics or the Cascades, send me a PM. I'm just looking for people to ski with.
I look at constance every day and have wanted to ski the very line you skied. Awesome TR... great for future reference. The other pictures are great... the skiable terrain in the distance you mentioned surrounds Mt. Decepti...
I'm new to the PNW and I live in Poulsbo and the Olympics are my new backyard and skiing playground. So... anytime you want a partner to ski the Olympics or the Cascades, send me a PM. I'm just looking for people to ski with.
I look at constance every day and have wanted to ski the very line you skied. Awesome TR... great for future reference. The other pictures are great... the skiable terrain in the distance you mentioned surrounds Mt. Decepti...
Holy! wow. Can anyone confirm if that's the first decent of the North Face, West Route by a snowboarder? Skoog's site lists the first decent by skiers only 2 years ago.
I'm glad it worked out for you Eric, nice job! Regret not joining you on this one, hanging out in the clouds was not what i was hoping for.
Awesome times! Nice line. Looks like killer conditions.
Phil, I always loved your crazy ideas for lines. Too bad we cliffed out on this one.
Phil, I always loved your crazy ideas for lines. Too bad we cliffed out on this one.