TR Replies
Yes....lots of character building to be had out there :)
Way to get after it!
Way to get after it!
@splitboard graham: we should have done a few laps up top, and wanted to, but we wore out the snowboarder in our group who was snowshoeing. I think he is now convinced of the value of a splitboard!
Your first pic is very cool. Wish I was there. Thanks.
Awesome! Way to sneak into the weather window. I'd love to see more pictures, the Coleman looks less filled in than I'd expect after the March precip.
We parked about 3 miles from the TH, but the snowmobile made quick work of that early in the morning :)
Sounds like a great trip in a very limited weather window!
How close to the trailhead could you drive (distance or elevation)?
How close to the trailhead could you drive (distance or elevation)?
That looked like a pretty burly route for the dog.
It was a good day for wandering about. That route to snow lake basin is sooo flat!
We had planned to go that route, but ended up climbing to the top of Snoq and skiing back the Phantom. Summitted about 3ish with another group of 3.
Snow was nice above 5k, and heavy but fun below.
Hand shear tests were showing the new snow sliding easily, so I dug a pit at ~5500', on South facing slope:
SS easy-medium pull failure 16" down...
We had planned to go that route, but ended up climbing to the top of Snoq and skiing back the Phantom. Summitted about 3ish with another group of 3.
Snow was nice above 5k, and heavy but fun below.
Hand shear tests were showing the new snow sliding easily, so I dug a pit at ~5500', on South facing slope:
SS easy-medium pull failure 16" down...
Nice shot of the frost feather - there sure were a lot of BIG feathers around yesterday.
Thanks again for the great uptracks - Susan and Charlie are monsters! After the brief meeting at the parking area and watching you sail into the distance ahead of us, we could sense you but not see you for the rest of the day . ;D By the way, we sniffed out a route on a decent chunk of the lower 1K that was primarily old open forest, and the crunch factor was moderated down there thanks to the mu...
Thanks again for the great uptracks - Susan and Charlie are monsters! After the brief meeting at the parking area and watching you sail into the distance ahead of us, we could sense you but not see you for the rest of the day . ;D By the way, we sniffed out a route on a decent chunk of the lower 1K that was primarily old open forest, and the crunch factor was moderated down there thanks to the mu...
Oh, I see how it is. I wasn't there this week so, of course, "this trip was a lot more fun than Kendall Stump last week." :)
Glad you guys had a fun time out there. Hopefully I can get out with you next weekend.
Glad you guys had a fun time out there. Hopefully I can get out with you next weekend.
Mighty fine. Always want to go back for more, but the sun sets an unstoppable clock. One soft sluff ran on a 40+ degree slope, soft bed surface ~8-10" down, sheltered W-facing @5k.
i think we were heading up the skin track at the same time as you fellas. we ended up skinning up to the top of great scott and lapping that a few times to ourselves, which was good - a little less heavy up there. a group of three followed our skin track in and dropped fuck bowl... didn't see them come out... circumnav? that would have been quite the endurance chore in that snow...
glad you had a good taste of alpy :)
glad you had a good taste of alpy :)
The drive from Durango to Ouray is quite spectacular. I remember driving it in a blzzard with chains on the camper and realizing there were no guardrails to limit your descent thousands of feet off the roadway.
You've become quite the fashion maven - that NM cap certainly compliments your jacket and pants.
I can see the value of living at 7000' is helping your endurance adventures. ;)
You've become quite the fashion maven - that NM cap certainly compliments your jacket and pants.
I can see the value of living at 7000' is helping your endurance adventures. ;)
author=snoholic link=topic=20417.msg86784#msg86784 date=1301881025]
We got great tours in 9 out of 10 days while in the valley. This was the lowest snow year I have seen there.
Just goes to show that in Chamonix, even "bad" years are good! Thanks for sharing the photos, even without food photos I can still remember some fine dining.
Sweet! Glad you had a good trip. Thanks again for the ski box loan.
Awesome report of endurance. Really enjoyed the read especially with the couple that made a few apparitions ahead of you.
I love poaching laps on a drive-by. Never know what's going to be over the rise, and there's always the thought that maybe it ain't been done before..
Sure do like those aspen woodlands..
Sure do like those aspen woodlands..
Few more pics and some vid from Kim Kircher.
http://kimkircher.com/2011/04/02/climax-avalanches-at-crystal-unusual-snowpack-causing-big-slides/
http://kimkircher.com/2011/04/02/climax-avalanches-at-crystal-unusual-snowpack-causing-big-slides/
The rock face slide was a natural that happened around noon when Kellys gap was open. The probe line was more of a precaution than anything else. Around 3:30 patrol cleared the area and bombed the face at which time it went big and took out most of the gap road. As I was headed down around 5ish they tossed a few more bombs on it and everything went again. Lets say it was a good show.
author=Joedabaker link=topic=20403.msg86751#msg86751 date=1301780468]...
There's a lot of nervous patrol on the hill right now. Bear Pit went off big too. Trees scattered like spaghetti sticks on the kitchen floor in the basin. Not sure of the size of the crown, but were talking a well skied area that stepped down i heard about 9 ft or so.
...
The inbound avy in Bear Pit and Rock face are sights to behold the power of avalanches.
There were leading tracks and there was the potential that there was someone possibly trapped in the debris since it was open when it went off as a natural slide. It must have been tough to probe given the depth and thickness of the debris. The deposition is well over 20 ft near the end of the slide. Not sure how they will get a road up Kellys gap anytime soon. I think they eliminated the possibility that anyone is missing today.
Joe,
So do you know why they were probing the debris from Rock Face?
So do you know why they were probing the debris from Rock Face?
There's a lot of nervous patrol on the hill right now. Bear Pit went off big too. Trees scattered like spaghetti sticks on the kitchen floor in the basin. Not sure of the size of the crown, but were talking a well skied area that stepped down i heard about 9 ft or so.
North and South closed today, but it sounds like they are going to get a copter to do the avy work on the next clearing.
I talked to Paul Baugher today about the situation and he took some time to really...
North and South closed today, but it sounds like they are going to get a copter to do the avy work on the next clearing.
I talked to Paul Baugher today about the situation and he took some time to really...
author=SnowGirl link=topic=20403.msg86740#msg86740 date=1301762954]
The area was closed and the avalanche was triggered by ski patrol.
Was it triggered with explosives I would hope?
The area was closed and the avalanche was triggered by ski patrol.
Thanks for the pics Susan! Rookie question; Is the patrol probing the debris just in case some in-bounds skiers got caught in it?
lrudholm and Boot, thanks for the beta. hope to get up there soon!
Jackal: Route 1 on your map is fairly close. The SE ridge is obvious and easy; the North Ridge would seem ridiculously difficult and unnecessary. The one pearl I can give is at the flat meadow at 3200' to look through the trees at the end on the right and follow that right branch of the creek up into the upper bowls. Boot
author=alecapone link=topic=20362.msg86621#msg86621 date=1301585864]
Awesome fellas!!
Where you up there trying to get a rad photo of Dash hitting something in the picketts?
Maybe Spencer missed the memo, but every split boarder on the west coast was up at Baker this weekend. Or maybe he got the memo?
Well I was tempted to head up the sourdough ridge trail. The south face of Luna looked pretty sic...
Ditto about having Ruby on the must do list. How great to get above Diablo/Ross area in the winter.
Here's a map based on earlier TRs. Any tips from those who've done it? It seems a crux is navigating the lower woods. For final approach from Happy Creek, is there a recommendation re. from the south ridge (as on map) or cut uphill right (w...
Here's a map based on earlier TRs. Any tips from those who've done it? It seems a crux is navigating the lower woods. For final approach from Happy Creek, is there a recommendation re. from the south ridge (as on map) or cut uphill right (w...
Excellent! Great to read others heading up there - a great spot to ski before the NCH opens (which will be late this year). When we did it in 2009, we took a more mellow series of ramps, though the cornices do present a challenge getting to the summit ridge from the north bowl.
Great trip, nice photos, thanks for the report. Ruby Mountain has been on my agenda for over a decade, I love summits with great views. Either as a summer day-hike (via the abandoned trail from Fourth of July Pass) or a ski trip up the north side like this. Gotta get up there soon.
There haven't been many TRs about skiing Ruby, a search turns up two from 2009 (Feb 21 and
There haven't been many TRs about skiing Ruby, a search turns up two from 2009 (Feb 21 and
Nice work! I'd love to get over there someday. Looks like you killed it!
I was taking a nap on a rock in the sun on the Amethystes glacier when I looked over at the Courtes and saw five little speedy ants ripping down.
More info on MTTA
South District
Of course I did patrol on the N District Tuesday, in the rain, to Copper Creek Hut (4500 ft asl).
South District
Of course I did patrol on the N District Tuesday, in the rain, to Copper Creek Hut (4500 ft asl).
Typically, over the last couple years, I've just stayed out of Newton Creek until corn season due to the number of people making multiple skin tracks and randomly climbing and skiing.
author=alecapone link=topic=20353.msg86623#msg86623 date=1301587061]
Too bad Alta doesn't allow snowboarders.. :'(
LOL
sweet .. i've been looking for this tr but "black hole" .. went right over my head ... anyhow i watched you guys from time to time on kyles "spot" tracker .. when he said he was headed to bandit i googled and found phils old tr on tgr and thought wow those guys are going to have a blast! .. glad you all made it ... and had fun ..
great video footage nick .. it looks like hd ... is it?
great video footage nick .. it looks like hd ... is it?
The one across the lake was bigger but the little alien couloir more aesthetic.
Short and sweet and the top narrow and steep.
Seems it'd be a nice accent to any Chair Peak circumnav tour.
your job is better than my vacation! Where do I apply?!
hey steve
i could not find the product tester employment application on the bca website ;-)
i could not find the product tester employment application on the bca website ;-)
COngrats on becoming men guys.!!
Everybody hits it, but she's still purty.
Best to show up right after she dou.. ah heck, never mind.
I'm still a virgin, what do I know.
Everybody hits it, but she's still purty.
Best to show up right after she dou.. ah heck, never mind.
I'm still a virgin, what do I know.
SICK!
Too bad Alta doesn't allow snowboarders.. :'(
Too bad Alta doesn't allow snowboarders.. :'(
Awesome fellas!!
Where you up there trying to get a rad photo of Dash hitting something in the picketts?
Maybe Spencer missed the memo, but every split boarder on the west coast was up at Baker this weekend. Or maybe he got the memo?
Where you up there trying to get a rad photo of Dash hitting something in the picketts?
Maybe Spencer missed the memo, but every split boarder on the west coast was up at Baker this weekend. Or maybe he got the memo?
A few more shots near the summit for future reference...while waiting for the weather to dry out.