TR Replies
wow .. looks like you guys had a blast .. way to go .. the additional pix on picasa are awesome gary ... nothing says it like jan's big grin though :)
I have learned to accept that I will see people when touring (anywhere) in Cascades. And when I want to find a new place to ride I just start looking at TAY to see where all the good spots are... I wonder how all those other people out there learn about where to pile up at the trailhead?
author=aaron_wright link=topic=18210.msg77023#msg77023 date=1291136781]No Joke! I'm moving to Alaska, WA is way too crowded!
I can't believe you guys actually encounter other skiers when touring, I think it's happened once to me and that was near Steven's Pass.
I can't believe you guys actually encounter other skiers when touring, I think it's happened once to me and that was near Steven's Pass.
author=cornRIDE link=topic=18210.msg76990#msg76990 date=1291096020]
Took a group of novice bc folks on a boot pack up to Alta Vista area Sunday. Laid a boot pack for many skiers on AT gear with just my boots- no snowshoes. Except my follower was Ron J who was a super rad guy. When you drive to the only plowed road with access to good snow (when it's preseason at the ski area) and meet novices learning the craft- please be nice at least. No BS. Sometimes i...
Thanks for the TR. The photos were great with the captions. Sun, cold powder and smiles :) in your backyard. Looks like a nice start to the ski season near PA.
Hilarious thread LOL Before TAYERs there were, and still are, Mountaineer groups from NW at all accessible bc areas; they fit Scotsman's stereotype well, almost always in large groups; and I'll bet lots of TAYers started, or still are, Mountaineers. Sure Paradise is getting more crowded (I've seen it in my 20+ years skiing there)--the population of WWA has gone up markedly and newer AT gear and snowshoes make the bc more accessible to massively more people than the old XC , Tele...
Joe, Chris, Evan and I were also up there on Sunday. I think we got in a few more laps than you Silas :-P. It was much deeper off the face of the chief, however, and worth just the little bit of extra work.
http://vimeo.com/17315465
On a secondary note, I picked up a beanie while skinning up the frontside. It shall be returned to you if you can tell me the color & brand. It's very comfy.
-Bramski
http://vimeo.com/17315465
On a secondary note, I picked up a beanie while skinning up the frontside. It shall be returned to you if you can tell me the color & brand. It's very comfy.
-Bramski
Thanks for the report Gary. I'm looking forward to making some turns out your way in a couple weeks.
Hopefully that surface hoar doesn't cause any lingering stability issues....
Hopefully that surface hoar doesn't cause any lingering stability issues....
About 25+ years ago, over the Thanksgiving holiday, my parents were here visiting from Ohio.
There was terrific snowfall that year. I outfitted my parents with old Trak cross country skis and took them to Paradise.
They had never been on skis before in their life. Total "gappers." It was a beautiful day and we toured all over the place.
Now they are very old. Just the other day, my father reminded me of the only time that he was on skis and about...
There was terrific snowfall that year. I outfitted my parents with old Trak cross country skis and took them to Paradise.
They had never been on skis before in their life. Total "gappers." It was a beautiful day and we toured all over the place.
Now they are very old. Just the other day, my father reminded me of the only time that he was on skis and about...
The backside is filled in enough to be fun skiing, but that new run they "mowed" is still a stump farm underneath the surface snow. I can't say I really exercised the needed caution when skiing it yesterday, but in hindsight I'd recommend being careful as I did narrowly avoid hitting a few stumps at high speed. :) If you are back there in flat lighting, do watch out for the plethora of cat tracks they have zig zagged across the backside. There was only 1 when I skied down in...
I'm not trying to open any minds Jim, I wouldn't be so presumptuous. Just ranting as usual and bemoaning the fact that many areas I used to enjoy are overrun with herding TAYers. Selfish I know, but at least I do something about it and find other areas to go or choose times when I know they won't be there.
If it's any consultation to you, my twin and I were severely bullied at school as well but for different reasons. My father used to report the poachers on the s...
If it's any consultation to you, my twin and I were severely bullied at school as well but for different reasons. My father used to report the poachers on the s...
Waitaminute...crowded, overtracked and obnoxiously touristy up at Paradise!? Nahh, ya don't say! *rolleyes* What do you expect? The Paradise environs hardly even count as backcountry; after all, a road gets plowed up over 5,000 feet. If the book "Ski Touring for Dummies" was written, the first chapter would include a map to Paradise. It's the third stop for a great number of BC noobs, right after the gear shop to buy their setup and Starbucks for a latte.
Don'...
Don'...
Video is bunk???? OMG....laughing hysterically.... yea, the Blair Witch project of ski videos!!! ::) (That is my backside in the video boot packing a trough up to a col above the hairpin. I am 6'2" and I enjoyed several hundred ft. of face shots from this col.)
I was with Larry and buddy from the ham and it was as fine a day as they come.
Cityhick...hello again in passing. (Like the hat...classic retro ski look) Good to see fell...
I was with Larry and buddy from the ham and it was as fine a day as they come.
Cityhick...hello again in passing. (Like the hat...classic retro ski look) Good to see fell...
I agree, Lowell. I've been briefly irritated in the past by things like slowshoers trashing my traversing uptrack, but I remind myself that it's public land, they're probably clueless about how they're impacting my group, I'm still having a pretty decent day, and there are other spots I could likely have gone on those days where I'd not have had any "user conflict."
Scotsman - you have some interesting points about etiquette (and the likely imp...
Scotsman - you have some interesting points about etiquette (and the likely imp...
author=lolob link=topic=18210.msg76959#msg76959 date=1291084662]
Seems like the Cascades are pretty big.
It wasn't long ago that when I'd hear about backcountry crowding in the Wasatch or someplace, I'd think, "Boy I'm sure glad we don't have that here." But I think we're starting to get it.
It's true that the Cascades are big but the real question is how much acreage can ty...
author=alpymarr link=topic=18210.msg76982#msg76982 date=1291094543]
I dunno maybe thats asking too much. As far as the snowshoes and postholers: still BS. At least in Washington Trails winter issue they tell them to respect skiers and skinners and make their own tracks. Too bad that wont happen, again, its too easy to just follow my track. Help me out of Mazama, lets go BC, i am always looking to go out.
Took a group of nov...
I'm not looking to respond to any specific comments here, and encourage the group to start a thread under random tracks to discuss etiquette further since I think this is an important discussion. However, I'd like to suggest we start the etiquette discussion regarding the more important matter of safety rather than pow preservation and poaching. I know, I know...how gaper. However, I've said it before and will again "Gladly, take the first tracks...I'll ju...
...I reckon I could make you actually die laughing if I skiied into a lamppost & knocked myself out.
Sadly the wrecks are much more minor since I've stopped riding homemade gear. I've got a new set of Sparks and am very much enjoying the beauty of the technology. Love this powder.
Sadly the wrecks are much more minor since I've stopped riding homemade gear. I've got a new set of Sparks and am very much enjoying the beauty of the technology. Love this powder.
Love to get out with you Alpymarr. I fondly remember that day at at Chair Peak Basin.
Lets get out soon. ;D
Lets get out soon. ;D
Lots of good comments and valid points. I will be the first to admit that I dont consider Mazama as a BC spot....you can see the car. However, i am broke and often solo. My options are quite limited in terms of financial ability (Crystal) and safety (real BC). I will also be the first to admit that i have been BC skiing not that long, however as a fledgling tourer I was taught the basic BC ethics. May main gripe with my "tour" is not just the poaching but as Scotsman well put it, mass...
I am from Leavenworth, but spend a good part of my winter guiding up at WA Pass. The snow is great down here but I think it's good everywhere right now if you chose your slopes wisely. I think it would be pretty easy to get skunked with the current snowpack if you didn't know the terrain Two to three feet of cold smoke doesn't cover the boulders as well as a real PNW storm. Fortunately that should be taken care of by tomorrow...
Sure is tough cleaning up left overs, huh Si?
Wow great vid. Wish I had gone up there.
Local knowledge, your from Leavenworth ain't ya? You'd be a mid-southerner to us folk up north. Ain't ya got better snow down there?
Scotsman, It's good to hear from you. It looks like you've been getting the goods as well. I will be back working for NC Heli as well as NC Mountain Guides this winter. Hope to ski with you again soon. We have to try to top last year. It's nice to see the snow piling up at the pass. I'm actually looking forward to the pass closing - the real start of the ski season.
Powski - That wasn't trick photography or video from past years. I agree it's no...
Powski - That wasn't trick photography or video from past years. I agree it's no...
author=Jim Oker link=topic=18210.msg76948#msg76948 date=1291080409]
I don't live in Seattle. I don't understand the horn comment, but I use my car horn when it will help with safety as well as every now and then to let some a-hole know they pulled a f-d up manouver, fwiw. I do wish more people around here would use turn signals...
There are many ways to promote fine discussion. Some of them even avoid being rude to an entire community yet...
author=Scotsman link=topic=18210.msg76934#msg76934 date=1291077951]
I guess my thoughts( which admittedly I do not always follow as I am an admitted hypocrite) is that its' OK to use another person's skin track out to a certain area but in doing so you should have the decency to extend the skin track past where they decided to ski and ski another slope. To follow their skin track and then ski the same slope is IMHO not correct etiquette.
If that...
There was certainly no shortage of terrain with thin coverage but in the right spots I can testify to the abundance of fluffy goodness...
Love this thread.
Being such a good person, during a recent morning at Paradise I was kind enough to send an entire flock of new BC skiers up high for the nice, long clean lines of the Muir Snowfield. As I explained to them, you can simply look at the shoulder leading up to the snowfield and *see* all the snow with your naked eye. Don't ski away from good snow in the pursuit of better, right??
I mean, it seems obvious enough right? It's called the Muir Snowfield b...
Being such a good person, during a recent morning at Paradise I was kind enough to send an entire flock of new BC skiers up high for the nice, long clean lines of the Muir Snowfield. As I explained to them, you can simply look at the shoulder leading up to the snowfield and *see* all the snow with your naked eye. Don't ski away from good snow in the pursuit of better, right??
I mean, it seems obvious enough right? It's called the Muir Snowfield b...
Looks like a beautiful day! Nice video too! About how long did it take you to skin to the stone hut?
author=Joedabaker link=topic=18201.msg76943#msg76943 date=1291079820]
I'll accept a fortune to just show them. Money must be paid up front though.
Perhaps it is due to business models like these that the maps haven't been reprinted?
That video is bunk, I was there this weekend and it sucked. Pockets of air, rocks, crappy snow, I wish I stayed down south, much deeper snowpack. Just my 2 cents.
author=kath link=topic=18210.msg76910#msg76910 date=1291070458]
we recently took up bc skiing for the solitude but are sadly discovering that you really have to search for it these days
Seems like the Cascades are pretty big. If Paradise is getting skied out, there are a ton of other spots to get solo turns...you might just have to get a bit craftier (and then be evasive/vague about posting the actual location on TAY when you pu...
author=alecapone link=topic=18192.msg76863#msg76863 date=1291052677]
Nice Mack!
What time where you climbing X2 diamond? Seen three characters up there while driving past about noon+.
We were on there about noon, but we weren't the only ones. Didn't see too many other skiers but there were lots of tracks. If you're sure the three were truly "characters" then it musta been us!
Now Jim, please tell me you haven't been lurking to catch me on the same page as Mr. Scotsman - again. ;D You should know that I don't carry his water, nor he, mine.. Nevertheless, your point is duly noted. My reference was a bit tongue-in-cheek (with Seinfeld in mind), yet it remains true that etiquette is sometimes hard to find. I see the matter not so much as farming snow, but as yielding space. I prefer to cut my own uptrack, but I'll use another if it resu...
author=Joedabaker link=topic=18201.msg76943#msg76943 date=1291079820]
I'll accept a fortune to just show them. Money must be paid up front though.
Mine has more clear tape on it than paper. ;)
So that was where it was going off this weekend ! Great vid and a great call on your part(s). I lost count of different parkas, was there a good turnout? You nailed it, keep that mojo goin.
Nice - thanks for sharing. I had fun visiting friends in Coeur D'Alene for the long weekend, but knew I was missing out on some good fun...
I don't live in Seattle. I don't understand the horn comment, but I use my car horn when it will help with safety as well as every now and then to let some a-hole know they pulled a f-d up manouver, fwiw. I do wish more people around here would use turn signals...
There are many ways to promote fine discussion. Some of them even avoid being rude to an entire community yet can get at least as useful a discussion going! Try it sometime...
There are many ways to promote fine discussion. Some of them even avoid being rude to an entire community yet can get at least as useful a discussion going! Try it sometime...
author=Jim Oker link=topic=18210.msg76945#msg76945 date=1291080042]
Sure, I'm OK with stating the obvious when it calls out bullying or trolling. Maybe that makes me lame or something, and I'm OK with that.
Sometimes trolling or presenting another view promotes discussion but you passive /aggressive types wouldn't understand.
Don't honk your horn Jim! That's the Seattle way.
Excellent conditions.
Here's the WSDOT update from a ski buddy. The snowshoe affected depth statement is unique. ;)
"Hi all,
We were able to keep the North Cascades Highway open through the Thanksgiving weekend, despite one slide that closed a lane for a couple hours until our crew could safely clear it.
HOWEVER, we're closing it at 4 p.m. this afternoon and will look at it after the storm to see if we can reopen. We've got a...
Here's the WSDOT update from a ski buddy. The snowshoe affected depth statement is unique. ;)
"Hi all,
We were able to keep the North Cascades Highway open through the Thanksgiving weekend, despite one slide that closed a lane for a couple hours until our crew could safely clear it.
HOWEVER, we're closing it at 4 p.m. this afternoon and will look at it after the storm to see if we can reopen. We've got a...
Sure, I'm OK with stating the obvious when it calls out bullying or trolling. Maybe that makes me lame or something, and I'm OK with that.
author=Jim Oker link=topic=18210.msg76940#msg76940 date=1291079226">
::)
Troll definition (bolding is mine):
Captain Obvious to the rescue.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=captain%20obvious
quote:A phrase quite obviously inspired by John Madden. Contrary to popular belief, Captain Obvious is capable of flying but is afraid to, so he drives around...
author=Scotsman link=topic=18201.msg76935#msg76935 date=1291078208]
I'll sell you mine. Make me an offer.It's got some of Jeodabaker's secret stashes marked on it.... it's worth a fortune. ;)
I'll accept a fortune to just show them. Money must be paid up front though.
author=Scotsman link=topic=18210.msg76903#msg76903 date=1291066494">
New name for Mazama Bowl= The sheep pen or the Lemming lair.
Powder preservation with TAYers=OXYMORON.
How many TAYers does it take to F**K up a powder slope=ONE.
How do you trap a TAYer?. Put in a skin track and then backtrack in the same track, they will follow until it ends and then be immobilized trying to figure it out and unable to move ahead.
::)...
author=Scotsman link=topic=18210.msg76934#msg76934 date=1291077951]
I guess my thoughts( which admittedly I do not always follow as I am an admitted hypocrite) is that its' OK to use another person's skin track out to a certain area but in doing so you should have the decency to extend the skin track past where they decided to ski and ski another slope. To follow their skin track and then ski the same slope is IMHO not correct etiquette.
If that...