TR Replies

April 24, 2010, San Bernadino (Switzerland)

Ha! Murray did indeed bring a shovel this trip. I don't think he'll forget that one again any time soon.

4/24/10 3:03pm

Rusty Knees

"No meals to write home about yet. "
OK, but don't keep us waiting for "der strudel" pictures too long. Have fun!

4/24/10 2:43pm

silaswild

author=Marcus link=topic=16451.msg68746#msg68746 date=1272130617]
So this is when I can start living vicariously through you? Okay, good. :)

Back at you! Nice!

4/24/10 11:09am

curmudgeon

April 24, 2010, San Bernadino (Switzerland)

Great pictures, great memories of a great place.

Tell me -- curious minds want to know -- did Murray bring a shovel this trip?

4/24/10 9:39am

GregLange

Regardless of the "OK" nature of the descent on your end, it sure beats the 2 quick laps I did this AM at Snoq. West...

Glad to hear that you have successfully launched for another year. I am looking forward to hearing that costs will be nearly same as in past years, and that the fun quotient is as stellar as always!

4/24/10 7:57am

Marcus

April 24, 2010, San Bernadino (Switzerland)

So this is when I can start living vicariously through you? Okay, good. :)

4/24/10 2:36am

Marcus

What doesn't Picasa allow? Oh, wait... linking? I've been able to. Give me a link to your album and I'll mess with it.

Snow Bell

Staying tuned....

alecapone

The day before I swallowed my "Pride" and did some but slide. Riding wasn't the best but it was one of the most fulfilling days of my season. I think it is little more deserving of a good write up then my usuall choppy hard to read style.

I did not know picasa didn't allow. that kinda sucks.

4/24/10 12:56am

Snow Bell

Picasa doesn't usually seem slow to me. I use it to hold albums of ski trips but it does not allow you to link photos to TR"s. For that I use Flickr.

What happened the day before?

4/24/10 12:47am

alecapone

Excellant trip and write up(I viewed it on your blog first). Sounds like it was a lot of fun!

Thanks for sharing, and adding a few more entries into the lottery.

4/24/10 12:38am

alecapone

Yeah..

we had enough of that the day before ;)

I am making pictures right now. Switching to picasa since my bucket is full. Is picasa always so slow?

4/24/10 12:21am

Marcus

Nice -- good call on the ridge. I'm sure y'all have ridden more than enough frozen avy debris already this season.

4/23/10 11:54pm

ron j

Nice trip, Marcus.
Thanks for sharing.

4/23/10 12:34pm

Marcus

Nice Pete! Glad you guys had a great week. Yeah, the hut and terrain are fantastic -- I felt like we barely touched it, since we spent so much time gently getting comfortable. I'd love to go back.

And Q, anytime. We'll be around the house all day tomorrow, with dog training on Sunday.

4/23/10 11:35am

peteyboy

Great pics, Marcus, and good meeting you all on the heli-pad in Nelson last Saturday. Our week was of course spring good and spring bad. Great corn, a few big settlements under ski, many giant crowns to gawk at, no skiers caught in slides, some mush, some crust. You may have underplayed how much the hut and terrain rock, though. Hope we all get back here time and again (as we fly out tomorrow).
Pete

4/23/10 10:35am

peteyboy

I've been waiting all week for your trip report! That first picture ... yikes!! :o

Sounds like a great trip -- need to get the full scoop in person soon. ;)

Q

4/23/10 9:42am

CookieMonster

Boing, Boing, Boing. I wish I could hop like a Kangaroo.

Thanks for the data.

4/23/10 4:41am

Monika

author=CookieMonster link=topic=16445.msg68724#msg68724 date=1272049057]
Great trip report and beautiful pix.

How about that couloir visible across the valley in Monika's 2nd photo? Is that the east side of Silver Star?

kangaroo ridge

4/23/10 4:35am

CookieMonster

Great trip report and beautiful pix.

How about that couloir visible across the valley in Monika's 2nd photo? Is that the east side of Silver Star?

4/23/10 3:57am

Monika

"There was a thread not too long ago about why post or write a Trip Report. (I can't find it--ugh) Some bantered for the snow beta, some guys went gaga for, or against, gorilla beating-gloating, and others are fanatics for photographs (that I still can't manage to embed properly)"

...yeah, some of my thoughts too sheispiste.
Sunday Khanh and I were surprised no one had been up to the col since the last storm. Who would have expected a starry night Saturday...

4/23/10 12:10am

Marcus

April 21, 2010, Crystal Mtn, A FOOT OF NEW POWDER?

Nice Jess -- great TR.

4/22/10 11:18pm

Bird Dog

22Apr WA Pass

Nice TR, and great conditions report - thanks.

4/22/10 12:23pm

all mtn

thats pretty incredible. and who says the weatherman is always wrong. here in the Sierra, I hear the stories of the "over-night pow" in Utah. typically - March

4/22/10 8:58am

bramski

April 21, 2010, Crystal Mtn, A FOOT OF NEW POWDER?

Sorry man. They're probably glacier mulch by now. Else making a nice home for some bluejays.

4/22/10 2:33am

NMaddox

Amar,
I completely agree with your analysis of the snow consistancy yesterday. I headed to Alpy after work for a short workout and found mush (and no new snow) in the parking lot, but 8-12" around the corner in Upper International, but just on very localized aspects (better on NE side of the moguls). You could get one good turn, then 2 turns on rock hard muce (muchy ice?), then another cascade cement pow turn.

Very dense snow, but any snow in late April sh...

4/22/10 1:55am

Sweeneyski

Did you happen to find any glidelite skins on the trail? Lost some awhile back.

4/22/10 12:34am

gorp

Here are my pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2075357&id=42900320&l=696c0c4cdf

fyi, though there were bare patches in the trees, you can still ski car to car. booting was just easier coming back up the clearcut.
i sent the ski area an email regarding the creek, haven't heard back yet...

4/21/10 2:51pm

bramski

It's about 1 mile as of Sunday. And probably melting pretty fast.

4/21/10 7:59am

Clarence

Here is a picture of the slide(s). It's kind of a bad picture, but...
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/-W7MrQ9U3ym2o9Con2Bq7g?feat=directlink

We did ski back down the WS. The skiers left half of the glacier that is a little lower angle and get's more sun had not slid. It's rolling terrain was smooth and enjoyable. We didn't notice any significant instability.

4/21/10 7:53am

James Wells

I love your pix, they are great.

How far is it to skinnable snow from the TH? Inquiring minds want to know.

4/21/10 7:50am

Clarence

Sunday was a gorgeous day indeed! It was nice talking with you guys below the summit. Glad you had fun despite Saturday's weather.

Edit: Nice Pics!

4/21/10 7:40am

bramski

Glad to hear you guys got a good ski of most of the pyramid. Had we been a little braver I think we would have gone for it. Do you guys have pictures of the slide paths on the WS? When we ran into you guys en route it sounded like there was plenty of hazard.

4/21/10 7:38am

bramski

As usual Scott, you are a vertical animal. Nice work.

4/21/10 7:35am

Clarence

I just reported the incident as directed by that web site. Thanks for the tip, I would not have known who to contact otherwise.

4/21/10 7:28am

JimH

Nice work guys!

And yeah, the gas smell needs to be reported. Baker ski area might want to know too - maybe they can figure out the source and limit the damage if its really their stuff.

Here's the WA DOE spills page. The local USFS ranger district might be helpful too since they may know the terrain and what facilities and operations are up there.

http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/spills/other/reportaspill.htm

4/21/10 5:29am

Andrew Carey

I hope you reported the leak--it could be ongoing!

4/21/10 4:39am

Good2Go

Ah, got it, thanks!

4/21/10 2:46am

glenn_b

The downed tree is on the Stafford Creek road. I understand the North Fork is blocked by snow at the usual spot shortly beyond the guard station.

4/21/10 2:41am

Jim Oker

Any sense of how deep the snow is in the shaded area between the guard station and Beverly Creek?

4/21/10 2:11am

Good2Go

I went up the N Fork road on Sat on my snomo. There weren't any trees down that day. Glenn - We're planning to head up there tomorrow for a possible climb/ski of Stu. Do you think the tree can be moved w/ a truck winch or would it need to be cut first? As for the road, I agree that most of the snow will likely be gone by mid May. That said, there are a few spots that don't get any sun, so it might not be totally drivable, even then.

4/21/10 1:52am

CookieMonster

JoshK, Thanks for the clarification. The description "Roush Creek Snowfield" refers to the lower regions.

Juan, I don't eat much on tours, because eating solid food makes me nauseous unless I get a reasonable break for digestion and have a lot of water available. I didn't even touch my ClifBars until we reached the climber's trail and began the hike down.

4/21/10 1:40am

juan

April 18, 2010, Mt Baker, Heliotrope Ridge/Coleman

Thanks for the conditions report. You don't bring much food along on your trips, do you? All clif bars and shots? Man, I need something that sticks to my gut for big trips

4/20/10 11:15am

ema

Alan, the trail bridge is good to go. The creek snowbridges over Grouse Cr. route never really formed this year. The road was being attempted further by people in high clearance vehicles when I came down Sunday. There are a couple of "cold corners" that will have snow, even when there is bare road above. You can probably count on the road being clear to the turn off/ first view area/ "parking permit" required sign (just shy of the TH) in two weeks if it doesn't snow belo...

4/20/10 9:54am

glenn_b

The Esmerelda trailhead should be a sure thing or close by mid-May. As for the tree, someone's going to have to cut or pull it out the way. There's still some snow on the road but high-clearance rigs were driving it before the tree fell.

4/20/10 6:35am

CookieMonster

Thanks for the kind words. I revised this trip report last night, because my initial scribbles made me look like an uneducated moron.

Scott, you're a great touring partner and fantastic rider. Not to mention nimble and very clever. Thanks for following my train of thought, I owe you one or two now. Hopefully we'll get one or two more trips this season. Maybe a big line somewhere exotic... but you have to supply the brain power and I have to get my skis sharpened! And those p...

4/20/10 5:50am

atortele

Glenn:

Do you think the road may be clear up to Esmerelda TH by mid may and what about that downed tree?

Craig

4/20/10 5:30am

PNWBrit

Great writing.

Thanks.

4/20/10 4:44am

Scotsman