TR Replies
LONG Version: (click to enlarge photos)
The weather in the Pacific Northwest has been remarkably bipolar so far this winter. Heavy rain and flooding in early November, then mostly warm and dry through the first part of December, followed by 3 weeks of bitter cold and heavy snowfall down to sea level, and then a major Pineapple Express in early January bringing 10-15" of precip with snow levels rising above 7000 ft. And now an abnormally strong ridge of high pressure persis...
The weather in the Pacific Northwest has been remarkably bipolar so far this winter. Heavy rain and flooding in early November, then mostly warm and dry through the first part of December, followed by 3 weeks of bitter cold and heavy snowfall down to sea level, and then a major Pineapple Express in early January bringing 10-15" of precip with snow levels rising above 7000 ft. And now an abnormally strong ridge of high pressure persis...
Whoa! That third pic looks like you all were out there plucking a snow-chicken or something! :D
That looks like an EXCELLENT locale. Imagine they book out well in advance?
That looks like an EXCELLENT locale. Imagine they book out well in advance?
author=John_Morrow link=topic=12065.msg50419#msg50419 date=1233069514]
Fortunately a USFS trail crew folk went out with some Washington Ski Touring Club/Ellensburg Ski Club members and logged and brushed it out in November. Thanks to the WSTC/ESC for the good work in the area!
John, as I remember, you had something to do with this too! :) I want to congratulate the FS for their responsiveness to the needs of non-motorize...
Way to get up there in these spring like conditions. Shuksan can be a pain in the winter! Either way, awesome to see your pics and hear your story.
at this point it is all about the windblown Powder
Good work
We had similar conditions in the Crystal B.C.
Good work
We had similar conditions in the Crystal B.C.
Cool - we were just up there drooling over the Flute bowl. The avy danger was still considerable and the Symphony lift wasn't open yet, though some stuff off Harmony Bowl opened up. We had to leave Saturday, and I knew we just missed getting the goods. Way to get it 8)
Nice, as usual. Nice looking crown on that slide.
Nice! It's good for teaching rope work - parallels with jugging/crevasse rescue too. That's awesome! I just watched the Planet Earth series "Caves" the other night...made me want to go drop some vert in a different way! ;)
Aye, that's around when we were up there. There was another party of 3 that was up there at ~2:30. I was surprised at the snow up there also, because I thought the inversion would have melt-frozen everything. Glad that it wasn't anything unpleasant like that!
Holy Chowder...... I totally didn't believe Toby when he said he was in a music video on top of what he called the "Table". Never again will I enter the Garibaldi Provincial Park without having Glass Tiger scarred into my memory.
samoon
samoon
Headed out there yesterday and found much the same on some other slopes as well. The key was finding the lee sides where that little bit of new snow blew in. That slope you hit is so often reliable for just that, like you found out Sunday. Can also hold some interesting wind slab as a result also when the snowfall is more significant! Gotta love that trail ski! Fortunately a USFS trail crew folk went out with some Washington Ski Touring Club/Ellensburg Ski Club members and logged and brushed...
Pffff, Helix
You guys have a lot to learn about being Canadian. It's all about Glass Tiger!
My friends were in the area and got some video of you guys rocking out on the summit. Check the video at about 2 minutes in...I think you'll see Toby...all that sled exhaust must have gone to his head...and his hair...
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=baePtrxw_08
Darn Yankees
You guys have a lot to learn about being Canadian. It's all about Glass Tiger!
My friends were in the area and got some video of you guys rocking out on the summit. Check the video at about 2 minutes in...I think you'll see Toby...all that sled exhaust must have gone to his head...and his hair...
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=baePtrxw_08
Darn Yankees
were you guys up below the false summit around 2? i think i saw you from the ski area if it was you... nice job. figured the snow would have been a bit interesting up there.
Right on. Good call on mapping out windblown, I'm jealous. Good to see a little bit of spray coming off turns. I don't even remember what skiing blower pow is like anymore, the last time I had any of that was in Utah a month ago....hopefully a change is coming. Thanks for the stoke!!
Helix is a keener, fer sure, eh? The best documentation of a ski burning sacrifice party EVER!!!!!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_oBjinZQ7k
Dude,
You forgot to mention your tribute to Helix on top of the Tent......"Rock You"!!!!
You forgot to mention your tribute to Helix on top of the Tent......"Rock You"!!!!
That is now the funniest thing I've read all day.
That was a pretty funny report. I read it a second time and it started to make sense!
Boot top powder eh! You hosers got some good conditions!
After a skookum toor like that you need a coople of pork pies from Timmie's eh!
After a skookum toor like that you need a coople of pork pies from Timmie's eh!
Another shot for the lower slopes, which skied well.
not so new anymore. Brenda's pretty hard on gear. Seeing as yesterday is probably the firmest snow we will ever intentionally ski, the 100mm waist proves versatile enough. She's taken to them pretty well and it's going to be tough to convince her that they are not suitable for all conditions.
author=Splitboard Graham link=topic=11970.msg50353#msg50353 date=1232951870]
by the way, by teleboarders, did you mean telemark skiers, or teleboarders? my friends dad invented the teleboard, so i'm curious... peace
Yeah, we saw you guys down farther on the Wilson when we were descending the Finger. I thought I was just making up lingo when I refered to telemark skiers as teleboarders, so I ment telemark skiers. S...
thanks for the link to the tgr tr! in a couple of the pictures i could see alpymarr and i (as small black specks) watching you guys descending the finger, beer in hand! i'll definitely have to ski the entire route next time... if only we'd gotten up earlier... hope to see you two out in the hills sometime.
by the way, by teleboarders, did you mean telemark skiers, or teleboarders? my friends dad invented the teleboard, so i'm curious... peace
by the way, by teleboarders, did you mean telemark skiers, or teleboarders? my friends dad invented the teleboard, so i'm curious... peace
Nice! Brenda's looks like she's ripping it up on her new skis!
Well done!
And in the winter perfect!
And in the winter perfect!
Good choice ! I had my gear by the door and was headin for that area but got blown out by other priorities. Glad you had a good time.
author=Stugie link=topic=11981.msg50331#msg50331 date=1232920762]
Travertine, you a caver? :)
Totally a caver. Not so many good caves around here, so I fly to former home turf in KY a couple of times a year for the best caving in the world. Many of the same skills apply, such as packing beverages in containers that are not going to fail in mid trip.
Travertine, you a caver? :)
I usually use a flask. Or a nalgene. Took a girl out to the olympics to hike up the Elwah a ways...brought wine in a couple of Nalgenes. She dug it and we both got drunk without having to suck any kind of dampened pack...
I usually use a flask. Or a nalgene. Took a girl out to the olympics to hike up the Elwah a ways...brought wine in a couple of Nalgenes. She dug it and we both got drunk without having to suck any kind of dampened pack...
Yeah, hopefully there were others who managed to find the corn as we did. Great timing as we descended around 2ish, right when the sun became obscured by the clouds and provided for a fun ski down. Slight refreeze is better than slush in my book and allowed an aesthetic ski down amongst the sloughing marbles. Good pitch, smooth corn (slight refreeze), and good views managed to envoke feelings of satisfaction- despite my "itch" for more.
Ahh, until the snow falls again...
Ahh, until the snow falls again...
Great skiing with you the other day, Silas. Just got back from a three day hut trip off Kootenay Pass with Julie and the rest of our housemates and am happy to report that north faces are holding strong despite recent warming. Give a holler if and when you come out this way. Happy retirement!
author=duzitgo link=topic=11970.msg50033#msg50033 date=1232429028]
Amar & Dave, let's see the rest of it. Splitboard Graham scooped you on the photos of the Finger. good grub at Copper Creek, too.
One of the friendly five.
Duzitgo, great meeting you! Amar should be finishing this TR sometime ;) I posted on TGR too:
http://tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=148686
...
fuhrer finger is the steepest part of the route, and Fred Beckey calls it 35-40 degrees, but i'm convinced that the crux of the hourglass is more like 45 degrees. the best info i've seen on it is in the cascade alpine guide, though it isn't focused on skiing. if you don't have them already, buy all three. the best porn i've ever bought!
thanks mtraslin! :) be sure to check out amar andalkar's tr if y'all haven't already...
i've poured booze and wine into tougher containers, and i've done that with beer for concerts and other events, but not in the backcountry... maybe i should tho', since i have had the same thing happen on a ski trip to the basin on the west side of elinor and washington in the olympics, i had a 24oz can of Tecate that burst in my bag. i didn't get any enjoyment o...
i've poured booze and wine into tougher containers, and i've done that with beer for concerts and other events, but not in the backcountry... maybe i should tho', since i have had the same thing happen on a ski trip to the basin on the west side of elinor and washington in the olympics, i had a 24oz can of Tecate that burst in my bag. i didn't get any enjoyment o...
Does anyone ever pour their beer into a more travel-proof container before the trip? One of my most disappointing trip memories (another sport, admitted) is hearing the hissing sound and then watching about 11 ounces of precious liquid soak out into the pack, about a thousand feet and 10 rope drops underground. Salvaged one swallow.
Nice guys. You chose right. I toured Crystal BC over near JBAS into Morse Ceek and up to 3way and it was total survival skiing on breakable crust.
Nice work guys,I can't believe that is a 10,000 foot descent.What is the slope angle of this line.Do you have anymore beta for this ski.
author=Splitboard Graham link=topic=11981.msg50295#msg50295 date=1232783677]
i've taken four bottles of pyramid snowcap on overnight ski tours
Amen, I need to ski with you guys.
also a fan of drinking rainier tall cans at rainier...! they have rainier malt liquor in 16oz. cans at liquor stores, which is another option... ;) probably my all-around favorites are oscar blues dale's pale ale, old chub scottish, and caldera ipa. dales is rated the best pale ale in the country by the NY times, and is a deliciously dry and hoppy beer, and at 6% is strong, but splitting a sixpack with someone (or not) won't cancel your next day's plans; the chub on the othe...
Nice pictures - looks like a great day!
"Take no left turns unposed"
"Take no left turns unposed"
author=savegondor link=topic=12025.msg50277#msg50277 date=1232752054]
what i want to know is whether you find anything that isn't going to be ice by saturday.
We did not. Maybe some lurker can help us with advice for tomorrow. We had some clearing and less wind at the top, then it clouded over again for the ski down to the car. Our best hope now is for lots of new snow and that sounds unlikely too.
what i want to know is whether you find anything that isn't going to be ice by saturday.