TR Replies
My two cents on my first trip on this route. The open areas, which were relatively few until we reached the top bench at 5K+ feet, were deep and nice. The tightly treed steeper areas, which were relatively plentiful, were err ah not my idea of hero snow.
I took the descent cautiously to avoid shoving a ski under a tree trunk or similar, but still managed to hook a tip on some damned little sapling under a swath of icicles and above one of the many mini cliffs to lookers left of Phant...
I took the descent cautiously to avoid shoving a ski under a tree trunk or similar, but still managed to hook a tip on some damned little sapling under a swath of icicles and above one of the many mini cliffs to lookers left of Phant...
almost thought I saw the legendary Methow Double Pole Plant.....
think we saw you over there doing the blazing shovel thing ~ too busy taking face shots to be sure... nice day :)
Nice photos! Was great riding with you guys yesterday.
A great team work to get up there! A few pictures to show the evolution of the day :)
Did not manage to clear all the ice from the webcam.
A few more pictures at:
https://picasaweb.google.com/104952785231857279993/CampMuir02
-Victor
Did not manage to clear all the ice from the webcam.
A few more pictures at:
https://picasaweb.google.com/104952785231857279993/CampMuir02
-Victor
185 cm measured at Artist Point.
author=Jeff_Ward link=topic=22410.msg95780#msg95780 date=1321893930]
John,
Nice work on Jove. We were looking over at it longingly from Stevens yesterday.
Do you remember what elevation the Surface Hoar was at? We were finding large surface hoar on Stevens but it was limited to a small band just above the lower clouds (approximately 5,100'). The classic "ring around the bathtub."
My guess is this surface hoar will...
Before a morning run down 2 k from the Asulkin Cabin I reminded everyone to bring their skins. Like a true dolt I left mine. Dug a ten foot pit to the ground in the time it took volunteers to ski back up and down from the hut. Pete's not alone by far. But an empty gas tank on the first powder day of the season....at the time it was tough to take. His welts should heal nicely.
author=ryanl link=topic=22396.msg95788#msg95788 date=1321898841]
We should start a thread for this. I once drove from Seattle to the Icicle at 2am only to learn once we got there that my partner had forgotten his skis.
Did the same thing but to marblemount with skins... In February there was no hope of a tour without them.
We were back in Seattle for breakfast ;)
Huh, for once the skiing was better on this side!
I'll have to admit that I turned around about 200 ft from the shelter as my partner, Erik Henne, caught up and we noticed his nose was showing signs of frostbite. It was pretty interesting to see somebody's nose turning paper white. I was trying to catch up to you guys breaking trail as a goal. Thanks to the guys breaking that trail...that was a lot of work. The decent down was horrible...I felt like I was doing 'wall sits' the entire ride down just tr...
Meanwhile, 3500 feet lower and 1km to the east, a half dozen folks desperately tried to track out a bowl filled with thigh deep, untouched powder before they ran out of daylight. But the march up to Muir sounds like it was better training :-)
That looks like hard trail breaking....good job..... but you know it's not mandatory to tag the Muir shelter.... Amar will forgive you ;)
author=peteyboy link=topic=22396.msg95770#msg95770 date=1321861194]
I definitely get the collar for "worst partner ever" until someone wrests it from me.
We should start a thread for this. I once drove from Seattle to the Icicle at 2am only to learn once we got there that my partner had forgotten his skis.
John,
Nice work on Jove. We were looking over at it longingly from Stevens yesterday.
Do you remember what elevation the Surface Hoar was at? We were finding large surface hoar on Stevens but it was limited to a small band just above the lower clouds (approximately 5,100'). The classic "ring around the bathtub."
My guess is this surface hoar will just get pushed into the low density snow that it's sitting on, but it would be...
Nice work on Jove. We were looking over at it longingly from Stevens yesterday.
Do you remember what elevation the Surface Hoar was at? We were finding large surface hoar on Stevens but it was limited to a small band just above the lower clouds (approximately 5,100'). The classic "ring around the bathtub."
My guess is this surface hoar will just get pushed into the low density snow that it's sitting on, but it would be...
Looks fun, didn't know there was a big shark right in the middle of the slot, I guess a few storms down the season and it will be buried.
Yea, I am going to guess that your clutch disk is a bit thinner now. A good predictor of that being the smell and the blue smoke coming from the engine bay when Gib and I finally set the whips aside.
Beautiful John! We have to get out for a tour this season.
Silas, it was nice chatting with you up at the lift shack yesterday. I still cant believe how fantastic both the turns and coverage were.
-not matt :)
-not matt :)
I definitely get the collar for "worst partner ever" until someone wrests it from me. But Gregg and Gib's frustration was channeled in to successfully shaming me into driving to 1.5 miles from the trailhead. Officially not recommended. Jon & Nikki and I took the now gassed up sled there today - funny, that's a lot easier and not scary at all!
Great video. As much as I like POV/GoPro videos its refreshing to see one without any of those shots. :D
We went through the gate before 9 am.
Glad you got the maiden voyage on that one..catch up with you soon!
author=Gregg_C link=topic=22396.msg95704#msg95704 date=1321793966]
one mile. We were towing a sled. Although the sled was pretty light with no gas in it. :(
Laughed out loud at this one Gregg!
Marcus, we can carpool.....
Nice one Jeff! We were up there yesterday and I thought I might run into you. Pretty amazing how filled in it is, eh? Looking forward to getting out with you this year!
Great pictures. Can I infer from them that the slot is filled in?
Way to occupy. Thanks for the update..was curious about them parts. I thought Scott's sponsor was rico's pizza though? I bet now that he has his own oven he will be selling pies and putting rico out of business in no time.
Telemack--Nice to hear you made it out! Sorry I wasn't able to make it. I'm super excited about the falling snow though. Winter is here. It'll be interesting to see if this cold air will lead to some deadly depth hoar near the ground. Was there any delay in the road opening?
author=Glorificus Adventum link=topic=22325.msg95647#msg95647 date=1321683934]
I have skied from the Baker parking lot numerous times and for the first bit (Blueberry Shoots/Table Mtn/Swift Creek) there are always people simply hiking out using the easiest route (the skin track). Obviously poor etiquette, but just something one has to deal with. Going beyond these areas usually means next to zero foot traffic. Think of it this way: they may be mucking up the s...
Sweet! Thanks for the update on this area.
Interesting format at winterscience.com.
You are right. By the map we were in Pickhandle.
Safer access is 200' before the gully the skin track headed up on climber's right. Head up through the old growth before the creek/waterfall comming out of upper Pickhandle basin.
Great old growth tree skiing (rem too far spaced to count on as anchors) directly above the higher of the Gold Hills calets.
I realy wish I could have been...
You are right. By the map we were in Pickhandle.
Safer access is 200' before the gully the skin track headed up on climber's right. Head up through the old growth before the creek/waterfall comming out of upper Pickhandle basin.
Great old growth tree skiing (rem too far spaced to count on as anchors) directly above the higher of the Gold Hills calets.
I realy wish I could have been...
[img width=800]https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-YRYpVRbJu30/TsmrgBNQngI/AAAAAAAAG0k/09r9TK5hRvg/s720/IMG_00731.JPG" />
we had a horrible day at Baker ;)
..catch up with ya another time Gregg!
we had a horrible day at Baker ;)
..catch up with ya another time Gregg!
Carl you're an awesome skiing machine! Nice footage! It was a pleasure to meet you in the BC and hope to run into you again!
Baker BC is a zoo this time of year when it is the only show in town. I am getting less tolerant of the masses in the slackcountry and beyond as I get older. An early start makes me less grumpy. You come up Marcus and I will gladly wait for an acceptable start.
Hi Zap, I was one of the others on AT gear and have to say/agree that the conditions where really nice. A lot of untracked turns available and the quality of the snow was great - as was the sunshine. I also did a check of Hyak and it looked busy and tracked out...& maybe even more unfriendly terrain features.
author=jhamaker link=topic=22402.msg95716#msg95716 date=1321829677">
We followed tracks in to Miner's Basin above Gold Hills.
We skiied 6k ft E face w/ surface sluffs then tried 6k ft W face and nearly set off the whole facelet. Multiple fractures but no running avy. The trees by the edges let loose because of the avy being nearly set off. Occational wumphing all aspects 6k ft.
Yeah, definitely a scary snowpack in spo...
author=kath link=topic=22404.msg95721#msg95721 date=1321833896]
i'm about ready to give it up and sell our AT gear because of all our injuries but you make me think we should give it another shot
Hi Kath, I do understand the feeling especially after all the injuries Jill and I have experienced in the last year. Hopefully, you and Robert have recovered. I find that being in our mid 60's we just don't heal as fast...
i'm about ready to give it up and sell our AT gear because of all our injuries but you make me think we should give it another shot
We followed tracks in to Miner's Basin above Gold Hills.
We skiied 6k ft E face w/ surface sluffs then tried 6k ft W face and nearly set off the whole facelet. Multiple fractures but no running avy. The trees by the edges let loose because of the avy being nearly set off. Occational wumphing all aspects 6k ft.
We skiied 6k ft E face w/ surface sluffs then tried 6k ft W face and nearly set off the whole facelet. Multiple fractures but no running avy. The trees by the edges let loose because of the avy being nearly set off. Occational wumphing all aspects 6k ft.
fischer trax would've been sweet since they are so rare ..
wolverines are awesome too forest .. have you shared them with conservation nw .. if not, please do
wolverines are awesome too forest .. have you shared them with conservation nw .. if not, please do
We were across the street hitting the backside of the area. Pretty darn good snow for this early, everyone hit a rock or two, but it was worth it!
I mostly am familiar with Bullion Basin area (backcountry with my lab), but Silver Basin sounds awesome. I'm new to 'turns-all-year'. Where do people meet for ride sharing (I'm in Olympia, WA)?
author=Trolleyman link=topic=22392.msg95679#msg95679 date=1321751791]
What a beautiful way to start the season. Knee deep,light n fluffy and good vis in a.m.. Skinned up Appliance store via top fo Queen chair. Considerable ammo...
Nice! I was going going to head up to Silver Basin on Friday before CM ski patrol strongly recco'd against it. Looked like great conditions...can't wait to get out there.
Nice! Sounds like Pete and Becky didn't suffer too badly from your "selective partnering" ;) Hope to get up there for a tour with you soon -- and now I know I have to leave really early.