TR Replies

April 15, 2012, Muir to Bridge

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.

4/20/12 10:00am

FreeBird

author=eskinmo link=topic=24517.msg103735#msg103735 date=1334892263]
my cat could ski that run ::)

Mine can ski it switch ::)

4/20/12 9:07am

Jonn-E

April 15, 2012, Muir to Bridge

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.

4/20/12 5:58am

Larry_R

April 17 and 18, 2012, Sasse Ridge Rocket run

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

4/20/12 5:16am

Kyle Miller

I saw a random snowboard group do that exact descent around a month ago.

Sorry!

4/20/12 4:10am

chrism

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.

4/20/12 4:01am

agoodie

Great to meet you guys -- thanks again for sharing your shots, and nice work on those sick lines!

4/20/12 3:10am

danpeck

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...

4/20/12 2:54am

CascadEagan

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.

4/20/12 1:39am

esvege

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.

4/20/12 12:29am

Jason_H.

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.

4/20/12 12:00am

mick_scott

Great pictures

4/19/12 3:04pm

Pavel

Here are a few pictures from the other group =)

4/19/12 1:41pm

cumulus

author=CascadEagan link=topic=24541.msg103716#msg103716 date=1334855898]
what ridge is that?

yep, Kendall. In fact the picture right above it is of the very same place, just a different much more foreshortened viewpoint... see it?

We came in from the Commonwealth but there's other access as well.

If you dig around a little, somewhere here on TAY there's a picture labeling all the chutes, inclu...

4/19/12 1:34pm

~Link~

April 15, 2012, Muir to Bridge

Excellent TR! It's true, there were a few souls deep within the Olympics over the weekend... 8)

4/19/12 1:32pm

eskinmo

my cat could ski that run ::)

4/19/12 12:24pm

Jason_H.

April 18, 2012, - Granite Mt. Dusk Patrol

Awesome report Mike. What a great place!

4/19/12 11:55am

glenn_b

author=DCM link=topic=24542.msg103708#msg103708 date=1334849707]drove home to irritated significant others (never seem to make it home on time from dusk patrol).

New rule - You're going skiing. You're not exactly sure when you'll be back. Don't worry. No news is good news.

4/19/12 10:48am

Chuck C

April 19, 2012, Hyak

Nice seeing you for a millisecond or two this morning Silas.

We continued out to Olallie Meadows where we encountered a couple raindrops that made us skin like startled moles back to the trees. Snow on the backside was decent in the morning and the front face was holding super excellent at 1400. Snow in the trees out by Nordic Pass was passable, as in, I'd like to pass this so I don't have to ski on it anymore. Rain hit for real just as we got our gear in t...

4/19/12 9:55am

hyak_erik

April 14, South Brother, Olympic National Park

author=CascadEagan link=topic=24541.msg103716#msg103716 date=1334855898]
Great TR and pics! Question, in the third photo, looking back from Gravel Lake, what ridge is that? I think it's the back of Red or Snoqualmie but I can't tell. There's some great looking lines on it. thanks

Pretty sure that is the back of Kendall

4/19/12 5:51am

ejk

Glad to hear you guys had a pretty good time skiing the Brothers. Some friends and I tried to ski it two years back on Memorial Day weekend... that was a bit late in the season. We were told by the ranger that the snow extended down to Lena Lake, so we figured it was reasonable to do a ski tour. Unfortunately, the snow actually started maybe 30 minutes above the climber's camp, right as you exit the trees into the huge avy gulch. Creek bushwhacking with skis on your pack != fun.

4/19/12 3:54am

mikerolfs

author=JoshK link=topic=24528.msg103717#msg103717 date=1334856095]
Everybody seemed more interested in hearing about our ski trip than preaching.

That was my experience too. The place is great. It's like being at summer camp complete with daily announcements, a bell to tell you meals are ready, quite hours, and rooms that are more like bunk rooms than a hotel. Volunteers were genuinely nice people. The community is Luthe...

4/19/12 3:16am

JoshK

author=samthaman link=topic=24528.msg103707#msg103707 date=1334849383]
As in they're deeply religious but don't hold it against you if you aren't? Never knew that holden had that angle to it (or really much at all about holden).

It is a lutheran church retreat. They struck me as the type of people who actually believe in the peace and love part of Christianity, as opposed to the type that are more obsessed with jud...

4/19/12 2:21am

CascadEagan

Great TR and pics! Question, in the third photo, looking back from Gravel Lake, what ridge is that? I think it's the back of Red or Snoqualmie but I can't tell. There's some great looking lines on it. thanks

4/19/12 2:18am

lrudholm

Now every time you go to discovery you get to tell someone what you skied.

4/19/12 1:55am

hedonaut

Thanks for the comments, really enjoyed this trip and highly recommend it! The first pic above is quite foreshortened, found a couple that show the complete route a little better.

Go up the gully feature to the cliff band, then pop out right onto the small patch, then near the ridge top find a way to continue right through the rocky ridge-line (up the icy chute, a climbing crux) to the big patch, make for the summit block.

4/19/12 1:45am

Salal

Very nice! I went up the tunnel creek way solo earlier this year and that east face wasnt looking so hot. Way to get it. I love mt constance.

4/19/12 1:42am

Jonn-E

Hive Mind FTW:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holden_Village,_Washington

4/19/12 1:41am

Stefan

now this is great!

4/19/12 1:34am

hedonaut

sweet adventure! the race 'gainst "the arc of the sun" is an anxious one, to be sure...

4/19/12 1:07am

samthaman

April 14, 2012, Rainy Pass/ Nason saddle- LOST SKI

author=Kyle Miller link=topic=24528.msg103682#msg103682 date=1334796755]
Nice work guys it was great chatting with you.

The people of Holden really are very nice and inviting whether you are religious or not.

As in they're deeply religious but don't hold it against you if you aren't? Never knew that holden had that angle to it (or really much at all about holden).

4/19/12 12:29am

JibberD

Yes, I am tempted to try a Dynafit binding as well, but am wary for the same reasons. Unplanned releases seem frequent and the brakes often inadequate.

Seems like Dyna's are the best thing going, when all is well, but tend to be finicky and unreliable from what I have seen. For now I will remain in the low tech age...

Glad you both made it out safely.

4/19/12 12:21am

RossMac

very impressive! Great TR and photos.

4/18/12 10:04pm

hipystix

Very Nice Job!! I think your timing was perfect for good conditions too.

Eric

4/18/12 10:03pm

cumulus

author=hedonaut link=topic=24539.msg103688#msg103688 date=1334808199]
I spied this from Seattle on a Discovery Park run earlier in the week

love it! Fantastic line!

4/18/12 4:14pm

mick_scott

Cool trip

4/18/12 4:02pm

philfort

April 8, 2012, Klahhane Ridge

Hey, very nice! Ryan and I and co tried it a few years ago as a day trip, but ran out of time (and sort of took a wrong turn in the main gully). Glad it worked out for you. Great that this line is so visible from Seattle.

I thought the approach was kind of a bear, and I think if I go back I'd try the valley where the trail is, and then pop over the ridge into that basin. Couple extra thousand vertical, but it might be worth it.

Was the road totally driveable?

4/18/12 3:12pm

Gary_H

I enjoyed your TR, we ski this area frequently in the spring. Good decision to focus on the north facing slopes, these are the best lines. :D

During the initial consolidation phase, we have experienced conditions similar to what you found on that same descent route. We use the same techniques you describe to descend safely. Ski cutting each steep section and then skiing down the slide path has worked well. The terrain further to the east is a bit more gradual and has a more cons...

4/18/12 2:48pm

samthaman

April 14, South Brother, Olympic National Park

as a general PSA, just because the skin track happens to go right under that huge angry ice cliff, doesn't mean that you have to. I don't mean to single you guys out at all, I've just seen photos in several recent shuksan TR's that seem to show people needlessly traveling uphill right under it and I felt like it was worth bringing up. I'm of the opinion that it's one thing to take calculated risks on a descent, or with a snowpack, and quite another to roll the dice...

4/18/12 2:42pm

Gary_H

That was a big day!
Excellent report and pictures..................

Gary

4/18/12 2:21pm

Gary_H

April 15, 2012, My Lake via Kaleetan

author=ryanl link=topic=24539.msg103690#msg103690 date=1334810657]
$$$$$$$$!!!!!!!!!!

Awesome dude! you, sir, are a gamer. Way to get it.

Couldn't have said it better. Good approach route choice.

Just because you don't see a lot of Olympics reports doesn't mean the Peninsula skiers aren't out there getting after it. ;)

Gary

4/18/12 2:15pm

Kenji

yes, Spring skiing!

4/18/12 2:11pm

ryanl