TR Replies
This celebrates 10 years of the evening view from Sasse Ridge. John, if you want to get in on the snow camping anniversary there is still time to order those primaloft pants!
Jane
Jane
Hey Don B.
It was nice to meet some more fellow TAYrs, I presume that you guys did not head up for another run, as on our 2nd trip down did not show any evidence of an up track out. We followed your tracks out to the PCT, and jumped ship at Yodelin for the easy sleeze hitch hike back. Joe and Holly showed up just as we were pulling out ( covered in sweat ), so we were compelled to offer up some of our beer bounty for their efforts.
It was nice to meet some more fellow TAYrs, I presume that you guys did not head up for another run, as on our 2nd trip down did not show any evidence of an up track out. We followed your tracks out to the PCT, and jumped ship at Yodelin for the easy sleeze hitch hike back. Joe and Holly showed up just as we were pulling out ( covered in sweat ), so we were compelled to offer up some of our beer bounty for their efforts.
Brenda and Jeanette's drive and determination is duly noted! Any more details about your quick pit would be appreciated. Drinks are on me the next time we ski.
Stability concerns?
going up the phantom we avoided as much as possible open / loaded terrain, using mini ridges and other features for traveling. evidence of wind loading definitely from 4-12" in places, crust under this, bonding to crust was good though. we experienced no whumphing or shooting cracks. in the slot our concerns were heightened. upper section had about a 6" slab that came off clean between turns. we as much as was allowed by the...
going up the phantom we avoided as much as possible open / loaded terrain, using mini ridges and other features for traveling. evidence of wind loading definitely from 4-12" in places, crust under this, bonding to crust was good though. we experienced no whumphing or shooting cracks. in the slot our concerns were heightened. upper section had about a 6" slab that came off clean between turns. we as much as was allowed by the...
Thanks for the reply. Yes if you shopped around you could find blown in powder. Picture above 3-4" in that little swale.
author=Robie link=topic=12118.msg50657#msg50657 date=1233460547]
Anita, Phillip and myself were there as well. kinda crowded compared to normal. We wern't expecting much but were pleasantly suprised. Yes it was variable but no death crust. best skiing we had was in the trees leaving the bowls. How was the coverage in the trees east of Nordic pass? We skied in and out via the north part of the Catherine loop.
Hey Robie,
T...
Two of us skinned to Skyline Lk and the ridge above to NW at 5200 ft, then skied down the NE trending valley beyond, down to the PCT at ~3800 ft el, and traversed around on the PCT route for a long slog back to the ski area. Snowed all day, not too hard. Lots of variety in snow. Similar findings. Seemed to be about 2" of fresh moderately dense powder on light crust or on 5-6 inch denser older powder on the S-SW faces and sometimes pretty hollow below the crust but we had no areas cracking o...
Anita, Phillip and myself were there as well. kinda crowded compared to normal. We wern't expecting much but were pleasantly suprised. Yes it was variable but no death crust. best skiing we had was in the trees leaving the bowls. How was the coverage in the trees east of Nordic pass? We skied in and out via the north part of the Catherine loop.
author=ski_photomatt link=topic=12116.msg50648#msg50648 date=1233454992]
Stability concerns?
Interesting - we were nearby as well; biggest settlements I heard/felt were in fairly open W facing areas between 3.5 and 4.5k. They rarely spanned more than shoulder width and ski length. On sheltered windward slopes above 5k, I found mostly blown-in and wind-arranged powder that, while barely bonded to the crust below, didn't...
Fogle! Welcome to the site and thanks for the pics. Lets get out again with Woody soon.
J
J
Stability concerns?
We were just east of you and turned around at 5200 ft, strong swirling winds moving lots of snow around. Settlements, 5-10 ft cracks when breaking trail through wind slabs, a few compression tests failing on zero or 1 tap. You get the idea. This was on predominantly NW facing terrain. We turned tail and ran!
We were just east of you and turned around at 5200 ft, strong swirling winds moving lots of snow around. Settlements, 5-10 ft cracks when breaking trail through wind slabs, a few compression tests failing on zero or 1 tap. You get the idea. This was on predominantly NW facing terrain. We turned tail and ran!
author=Larry_R link=topic=12112.msg50622#msg50622 date=1233420832]
Oh, sorry, got off in gear-head mode.
Larry
You? Getting off in a gear-head mode?
Awesome alpenglow, by the way. Have to camp to get that view!
J (smiley face)
it did not suck
thanks everyone for a great morning tour !
Thanks Larry -- love the gear-geek notes, as usual.
But this year particularly, I'm finding that getting those perfect turns in perfect conditions is not as important as it had been. Just being there seems to be enough for me now. I suppose personal losses have a way of making you realize what's really important.
This is really what it's about. Glad you're out there enjoying yourself.
But this year particularly, I'm finding that getting those perfect turns in perfect conditions is not as important as it had been. Just being there seems to be enough for me now. I suppose personal losses have a way of making you realize what's really important.
This is really what it's about. Glad you're out there enjoying yourself.
Yep. You're right. That picture is pretty sweet. Fun day out!
Nice work finding some goods in the less than desirable conditions!
author=Pete A link=topic=12116.msg50639#msg50639 date=1233446910]
nicely done! how'd the crooked couloir exit look? curious if its filled in enough to not need a rope thru the narrow bit at the end.
crooked exit looked real slim Jason said after having looked up it, phantom had softened up nicely by the time we came down
nicely done! how'd the crooked couloir exit look? curious if its filled in enough to not need a rope thru the narrow bit at the end.
John, woody, eric & jake :: sorry these are slow in arriving. skiing was great compared to our current
state
state
Pretty nice. Good to hear the Alps are getting good snow this year.
Only in skiing though are pictures of rappelling considered extreme.
Only in skiing though are pictures of rappelling considered extreme.
Nice work!
You have to love the alps!
I was there last year racing the world ski mountaineering champs representing canada!
The euros are way to fast up and down.
Thanks for the report!
Be safe!
You have to love the alps!
I was there last year racing the world ski mountaineering champs representing canada!
The euros are way to fast up and down.
Thanks for the report!
Be safe!
Love the title of this trip report. It's like a Japanese translation of an American horror movie.
Definitely looks like good judgement on your part. The terrain you avoided is very complicated and reminds me of scary places I've been in the not-so-distant past. I would have avoided it too. Unless there were thousands of cookies on top.
Definitely looks like good judgement on your part. The terrain you avoided is very complicated and reminds me of scary places I've been in the not-so-distant past. I would have avoided it too. Unless there were thousands of cookies on top.
even with safe snow that looks like a shit slope.
BTW i think the other approach looks much much easier....
gross and yuck yuck.... even if it had been safe that'd be shit skiing.
WHAT?! You guys are pansies! ;) just kidding, glad you guys played it safe. The snow is coming...
Sadly it was the other side of the mountain in Dense woods west of Lanham lake.
The visibility was poor and we had never been there before so we stuck in the trees
This was the headwall we decided against climbing
The visibility was poor and we had never been there before so we stuck in the trees
This was the headwall we decided against climbing
Any pictures?
And to add to your warning, I stood too close to the edge of the cornice over that wind-loaded snow field and it collapsed! Of course I knew that was a danger, but I did it anyway.
so just a reminder, watch those slabs AND don't stand too far over the start zone. I fell about 6 feet down behind a 3 feet of cornice slab that broke off and impacted a 35 degree ice slope. had that been the slab you mention that also would have...
And to add to your warning, I stood too close to the edge of the cornice over that wind-loaded snow field and it collapsed! Of course I knew that was a danger, but I did it anyway.
so just a reminder, watch those slabs AND don't stand too far over the start zone. I fell about 6 feet down behind a 3 feet of cornice slab that broke off and impacted a 35 degree ice slope. had that been the slab you mention that also would have...
"caves" is ridiculously rad.
author=Splitboard Graham link=topic=12087.msg50571#msg50571 date=1233291150]
not so good in that area today... >:( wind and sun affected. day late...
not even pickhandle peak ???
not so good in that area today... >:( wind and sun affected. day late...
author=John_Morrow link=topic=12087.msg50521#msg50521 date=1233238611]
That south facing slope is a favorite Spring corn run accessing it from our side of the hills.
Does that mean you live on the Eastern side of 410
and we were finding Powder on North Facing slopes wensday
I dont know about today as Dan and myself were bush whacking up at Stevens Pass
author=PNWBrit link=topic=12087.msg50528#msg50528 date=1233250578]
Who'd have believed that third one would have even been possible.
Definitely photoshoped!!!! Kidding!
wow...great pics, and nice stash...hoping there will be some left this weekend.
Does anyone know if it warmed up up...and if so how high?
Does anyone know if it warmed up up...and if so how high?
author=daveb link=topic=11970.msg50537#msg50537 date=1233262178]
It's not quite a TGR film, but it's not perfect blower on an Alaskan Peak with a heli-ride to the top either!
And you're still dropping WAY more vert. Go Cascades!
Thanks = there are more shots here
http://www.leelau.net/2009/fluteoboe2009_01_25/
Canon Digital Rebel XT with 10 - 22 lens
http://www.leelau.net/2009/fluteoboe2009_01_25/
Canon Digital Rebel XT with 10 - 22 lens
author=T. Eastman link=topic=11970.msg50512#msg50512 date=1233209587]
Did you ski all that vertical non-stop?
Amar did a straight-line from the summit to the bridge. I couldn't stop him! One of the ice towers provided a great kicker and he launched over the entire icefall. What can I say? He's lucky he landed between towers and not in a crevasse. :D Actually, we stop consistently to leap frog for photos,...
Wow, you guys know how to find it. I was out in the Morse Creek Drainage on Sat, 24th and found only breakable crust and survival skiing. Nice work
Sweet pics! Those closeup shots of the tele turns with backlit ice crystals could be a mag cover. What kind of camera and shot settings were you using?
Who'd have believed that third one would have even been possible.
Love that shot looking down into Morse Creek. That south facing slope is a favorite Spring corn run accessing it from our side of the hills. Thanks for the look over at Mesaschie Cr. For some reason I don't seem to have any photos in that direction and was curious what the terrain looked like over there.
J
J
Did you ski all that vertical non-stop?
Great trip report Amar! This has inspired me to take another run at this route this year.
Looks like a great area. I've never heard other people mention it but always figured there was something out that way. How steep is that run?
looks like great weather and some decent snow. Keep at it.
have fun up there Thurs. FYI: loaded areas mid to lower on slopes at Meadows resulted in Hard Slabs up to 3' deep that were difficult to trigger on ski cuts.