TR Replies
Ruby isn't exactly a secret stash. It's probably the most skied peak in winter along SR20 west of the crest.
Amar, (and everyone) thanks for posting about your fun and beautiful skiing adventures. The last decade's boom in backcountry skiing will certainly bring more of these kind of discussions; and TAY is in direct confrontation to the "locals-only" mentality.
It's a tough balance between public exposure of beautiful places...
Amar, (and everyone) thanks for posting about your fun and beautiful skiing adventures. The last decade's boom in backcountry skiing will certainly bring more of these kind of discussions; and TAY is in direct confrontation to the "locals-only" mentality.
It's a tough balance between public exposure of beautiful places...
Phew, what great fun, looks like you just nailed the sweet spot, and with a great crew, thanks for the pictures, and video.
author=Amar Andalkar link=topic=24307.msg102833#msg102833 date=1333222357]
While you did not ask me directly to remove this TR (the other person who PMed me did ask directly), your PM appeared to be intended to pressure me (or shame me, or guilt-trip me) in that direction. Especially since you quoted your PM to the author of the March 22 Ruby Mountain TR, where you did pressure him towards TR removal (stating "my choice when it comes to Ruby Moun...
What do you think about dawn patrols on the west side of Humpback.. with colder storms of course?
That slide is a regular feature. The rock faces on that side of Humpback shed often.
As the Cascade gems are slowly documented, it makes me sad, though it is inevitable. It's inevitable that some places I like to ski will someday see exposure to the internet. When it happens, I'll mourn the loss of places that I've found or that were shown me by friends; places I could nearby find solitude and peace in mountain snow. Then I'll find more, but they'll be harder to reach.
For those losing favorite haunts to trip-report-following masses, it's...
For those losing favorite haunts to trip-report-following masses, it's...
Condescending input, wouldn't you say...cherish human interaction/comrade-re... JACK!
yeah, it wasn't bad in the open. We were up there taking a quick lap of the top few hundred feet when a bunch of people (your group?) came by. The skiing was better than I was expecting from the climb, not too deep & sloppy on the skinny boards I was borrowing for the day...
We all agreed it was nice to get out and get some skiing in, and at least it didn't rain on us! At one point someone called it sunny, but it was really only a kind of "sun"...
We all agreed it was nice to get out and get some skiing in, and at least it didn't rain on us! At one point someone called it sunny, but it was really only a kind of "sun"...
It was a much better day than I expected and the sunset runs were a real treat.
author=DCM link=topic=24337.msg102853#msg102853 date=1333245218]
Crazy how deep we were sinking in given how heavy the snow was up there. The stoke was not running too high today.
Yeah, that describes it exactly. It was like it was an upside down snowpack except that it really wasn't!
Thanks for the info.
John
I heard that it was Bryce Phillips too. A group was taking photos and perhaps filming on the ridge above pee pass on Thursday, and there was a rumor that they were setting up for a cool filming on Fri.
Some more info about Crispin and the skin track. We met at source lake and while he changed in to up gear, my partner and I started up an already laid track. Shortly I hear him kindly excuse himself as he passed my partner and then shortly passed me.
More impressive though w...
Some more info about Crispin and the skin track. We met at source lake and while he changed in to up gear, my partner and I started up an already laid track. Shortly I hear him kindly excuse himself as he passed my partner and then shortly passed me.
More impressive though w...
Nope, not much different at Snoqualmie. Little to no new snow overnight at pass level, but snowing hard most of the day. Crust in the trees down low, and then creamed butter up higher. Crazy how deep we were sinking in given how heavy the snow was up there. The stoke was not running too high today.
I for one have enjoyed every single one of Amar's reports--often enviously, I might add, but not because he stole my stash of powder. His reports are useful and beautiful, a rare combination. As for Ruby: censorship never works. There have been dozens of Ruby reports at TAY and nwhikers, including winter reports. Everybody who cares about bc skiing knows there is a lot of prime bc terrain there; it's relatively unfrequented only because many people, myself included, are too busy...
In southern CO town of Salida this weekend trying to ski one of the Sawatch peaks. Very , very low snow year here, so nice to see Chair Peak holding so much snow. Nice pic's.... Brings back good memories.
author=Amar Andalkar link=topic=24307.msg102833#msg102833 date=1333222357]
...((shaking my head))
Hee, hee. Yeah, a bit ironic, but still funny - attempting to defuse odd situations comes in many colors..
If offering my own paint, it might be I'd say that this is the weirdest thread (not saddest thread, because that belongs, in part, to me and some others from last week ;) ) that I've seen around here...
Honestly, I have been eying this same ski location for years by asking the question, what would it be like to ski here on the North side of Ruby? Posting the trip is great im my mind. I would have posted my trip and not removed it if I ever got people from Bremerton interested in the North Cascades. I almost just posted a ski trip I did up Sourdough Mountain that I did in February from the same parking lot if it were not silly little computer problems with learning out how to post photos on t...
Gee, maybe Marcus should just remove the TAY "Trip Reports" option.
Amar, I really enjoyed this trip report, just as I do all your well-written, informative other reports. It's fun reading about places I may not have thought of skiing, even though I may have visited them in the summer. Peoples' love for these places shines through; maybe that's what I like thr most.
Much more preferable to the "skied-somewhere-on-planet-Earth"...
Amar, I really enjoyed this trip report, just as I do all your well-written, informative other reports. It's fun reading about places I may not have thought of skiing, even though I may have visited them in the summer. Peoples' love for these places shines through; maybe that's what I like thr most.
Much more preferable to the "skied-somewhere-on-planet-Earth"...
author=Amar Andalkar link=topic=24307.msg102833#msg102833 date=1333222357]In case this is a response to my comments, I want to be clear that my only point there was "even PMs on this topic have a tendency to lead to the public discussion that increases the exposure." If one...
And I don't think that PMs on an online forum like TAY are somehow sacred or privileged private communications whose existence can not be revealed to the public.
It's far better to have an open public discussion than deal with PMs. After receiving a second PM on this issue (Lowell's), I decided to take it public to head off any others who might want to PM me asking to take the TR down. And I don't think that PMs on an online forum like TAY are somehow sacred or privileged private communications whose existence can not be revealed to the public.
author=Lowell_Skoog link=topic=24307.msg102807#m...
Yes, not the first time I've seen someone be compelled to make a public point based on those sorts of PMs.
Tomorrow should be nice for skiing too, eh? That's what I'm hoping anyway. And if I'm lucky, I'll find myself a spot to tour where we are setting our own track, figuring our own way, and getting that "sense of discovery" that Lowell, Ski Photomatt, and others have mentioned when this topic arises. I feel lucky to live in a place where that stil...
Tomorrow should be nice for skiing too, eh? That's what I'm hoping anyway. And if I'm lucky, I'll find myself a spot to tour where we are setting our own track, figuring our own way, and getting that "sense of discovery" that Lowell, Ski Photomatt, and others have mentioned when this topic arises. I feel lucky to live in a place where that stil...
author=dberdinka link=topic=24280.msg102623#msg102623 date=1332857844]
The big one you see from the highway that drops all the way down to the valley floor? We skied that a long time ago in mediocre snow. It has an obnoxious double fall line the whole way unlike Clean Slate. I called it "Barometer Falling" but I don't think anyone knew that but me....
I believe that zone was what Allen and Brian recently describ...
Lowell, i meant to thank you in my earlier post for coming forward and stating your case. Arguing on the internet (even politely) is tedious and exhausting so I though it was exemplary of you to come forward and make your case under your own name. Thank you for that.
When living in Vermont, I frequently came across what I would describe as the mountains-as-church crowd vs. what you described as the mountains-as-arena crowd. Given the relatively tiny amount of BC terrain in VT vs. thi...
When living in Vermont, I frequently came across what I would describe as the mountains-as-church crowd vs. what you described as the mountains-as-arena crowd. Given the relatively tiny amount of BC terrain in VT vs. thi...
author=Jim Oker link=topic=24307.msg102823#msg102823 date=1333212923]
I've seen one thing for sure over the years, very much so on nwhikers and to some extent here - if you want to draw attention to a place that has just been reported on, suggest that the report should not have been posted. It seems like a very good way to massively increase the page views and the length of time for which the report stays near the top.
Yeah....
I've seen one thing for sure over the years, very much so on nwhikers and to some extent here - if you want to draw attention to a place that has just been reported on, suggest that the report should not have been posted. It seems like a very good way to massively increase the page views and the length of time for which the report stays near the top. Unless of course the poster relents and agrees to remove the report, but clearly that's not always what happens.
I'm fine...
I'm fine...
author=samthaman link=topic=24307.msg102810#msg102810 date=1333178945]
Lowell (ok, mr. skoog to you), I love alpenglow.org, both because of the historical context it provides, and for the motivation to get out the door and push myself. Many of the routes described on your site aren't particularly hard for a fit skier to do in a day, yet they're named, described, and in some cases "red-lined' onto photos. Is that really any different than wh...
author=skykilo link=topic=24307.msg102808#msg102808 date=1333177632]
We should all applaud Amar for skiing from somewhere other than Paradise!
;D
I know of this sweet Slot by Snoqualmie but don't tell anyone because it is a secret!
Sorry would write more but I am training for Alaska.
author=skykilo link=topic=24307.msg102808#msg102808 date=1333177632]
I'm constantly ``discovering'' for myself things that are actually well documented in one place or another. So this argument strikes me as a red herring in the same way Amar's argument about a possible tram strikes you.
We should all applaud Amar for skiing from somewhere other than Paradise!
First off it is nice to see Amar actual...
Thanks for sharing with the community, Amar. I always enjoy reading your TRs.
Lowell (ok, mr. skoog to you), I love alpenglow.org, both because of the historical context it provides, and for the motivation to get out the door and push myself. Many of the routes described on your site aren't particularly hard for a fit skier to do in a day, yet they're named, described, and in some cases "red-lined' onto photos. Is that really any different than what Amar has done? Does it make them any less of an adventure? I'd pose that in the very same way...
author=Lowell_Skoog link=topic=24307.msg102807#msg102807 date=1333177216]
For me, the issue is not about powder stashes. It is about what Reinhold Messner called "White Wilderness." It's the notion that we lose something when every place is mapped and photographed and documented to the point where you can't go anywhere and experience the joy of discovery anymore. You never experience the delight of finding a place that you never knew exist...
I'm one of the people who contacted Amar about this trip report.
I did not ask Amar to remove his TR. But I explained why I was disappointed to see it and why I have chosen not to post reports about this destination. I explained my philosophy 18 years ago in a letter to the editor of Couloir. At the time, Craig Dostie was catching flak about publishing "secret spots" in his magazine.
I wrote:
I did not ask Amar to remove his TR. But I explained why I was disappointed to see it and why I have chosen not to post reports about this destination. I explained my philosophy 18 years ago in a letter to the editor of Couloir. At the time, Craig Dostie was catching flak about publishing "secret spots" in his magazine.
I wrote:
Couloir, Feb/Mar...
I want to wholeheartedly lend my support to Amar on this one, this is one of the few subjects in skiing that will really make my blood boil, and it's heartening to see the reaction of most of the rest of TAY.
edited: because I thought better of posting at midnight.
edited: because I thought better of posting at midnight.
Way to nail Lane. Lover's Lane can rip big, you guys got it in good conditions. Fly and Zipper a little more tricky. Hitting it a few years ago we had the zipper peel out.
I enjoyed the trip report and the pictures. Although I enjoyed the relative quiet of the backcountry in the '80's and '90, more skiers has forced me to explore other areas and enjoy the amazing advances in technology that a large buying pool encourages. It is not that crowded out there. Folks need to get a perspective here and look at the big picture. I have to agree with Amar on this issue. The North Cascades belong to all of us.
Constant documentation of the mundane is something relatively new to the backcountry ski community. Modern technology makes this possible...
... in an earlier era it was considered bad form. That is why you get push back.
... in an earlier era it was considered bad form. That is why you get push back.
Great session guys! Let me know next time you head over there.
I really, really wish this was TGR forums right now.
This website exposes the secret stash knows as the Pacific Northwest. This local stuff is a bunch of elitest BS. Amar your a badass and I am and will continue to be proud to follow your skintrack.
Yeah, and was I ever pissed when you did that recent report from the Tatoosh. Everybody knows that 's my "Secret Stash ".
Amar, you did no wrong. They are fooling themselves if they think Ruby Mt. is anything remotely like a "secret stash." Anybody with a TOPO can easily discover it and put two and two together that the road access makes it a desirable winter objective. I've been up there before and it didn't require an internet TR, or a book writeup, for me to discover it. I saw it on a map and realized it had great relief and access and would thus offer awesome views. I'm hardly the only...
Thanks all, glad our pictures inspire folks to explore! We are still learning about the area and what's bombed and how :)
Thanks, Amar, for exposing a constructive dialog -- I agree, there is no such thing as a 'secret stash', especially not on such a large, prominent, and obviously accessible peak as Ruby! It would be a shame to this community to pull your very informative TR.
I have logged many trips to Ruby over the past 10 years as well (you may have even found an earlier TR of mine in your search with cascadesfreak). I have also made first TRs here in other remote areas such as Bedal aroun...
I have logged many trips to Ruby over the past 10 years as well (you may have even found an earlier TR of mine in your search with cascadesfreak). I have also made first TRs here in other remote areas such as Bedal aroun...
Thoughts on Trip Reports, Secret Stashes, and Ruby Mountain
In the past 2 days since this trip report was posted, I've been contacted via personal-message by two TAY members, one self-identifying as a Skagit Valley local and the other a well-known member of the Northwest backcountry community from the Seattle area, both requesting or suggesting that I should consider remov...
Very Interested...
Nicely done!
Nicely done!
Well, it's not quite life-size, but here is the full-size version:
RubyRossLakeJackCraterPanorama8000-24Mar2012.jpg (8000x2600 pixels, 4.0 MB)
RubyRossLakeJackCraterPanorama8000-24Mar2012.jpg (8000x2600 pixels, 4.0 MB)
