TR Replies
is dear shit bad for skins? anyone?
Grandparents have a pad in Red Lodge. they'd drive me up and watch through binoculars.
Cool Jayme, nice tr! Where were you staying in MT? Great pics too!
That is a fun trip on a spectacular day like yours.
I heard that if you contact Northwest Heliski and find out where they will be flying that day you can avoid their commotion.
I've also heard, without certainty, that they will do their best to avoid overlapping your tour if they know ahead of time where and when you are going to be at a location.
Or for about $1000 bucks you can ski until your group tires or money runs out, several exposures in the North Cascades...
I heard that if you contact Northwest Heliski and find out where they will be flying that day you can avoid their commotion.
I've also heard, without certainty, that they will do their best to avoid overlapping your tour if they know ahead of time where and when you are going to be at a location.
Or for about $1000 bucks you can ski until your group tires or money runs out, several exposures in the North Cascades...
Great report, thanks -- I love seeing the less-visited places. There's so much out there in the Cascades that just doesn't get touched.
Very nice report, and great to hear that you could reasonably navigate through the slide paths! Sure looks bony! What about 1st or 2nd Bowls on the North Side of Washington's peak? Are slide paths beyond the hair pin negotiable?
Cool.
Cool.
author=dberdinka link=topic=11965.msg49984#msg49984 date=1232400655]
Snowmobilers come in via Canyon Creek on the backside of Church Mtn followed by the entire length of Excelsior Ridge. I believe the wilderness boundary is near Excelsior Pass waaaay over at the west side of the ridge.
Wow, that's pretty deep into the Wilderness. Good to know.
J
Great snow quality (considering the state of things), good times, and awesome views made for an outstanding outing altogether. This truly is one of the most beautiful places in the world.
more pics:
http://picasaweb.google.com/christopherlyles/BirthdayTour?feat=directlink
a few crappy videos:
sam on madison ave
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuXGIQKoutQ
jay (altasnob) on madison ave
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lp7DbWT-Xs8
...
more pics:
http://picasaweb.google.com/christopherlyles/BirthdayTour?feat=directlink
a few crappy videos:
sam on madison ave
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuXGIQKoutQ
jay (altasnob) on madison ave
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lp7DbWT-Xs8
...
you think like us, stugie! we were worried that amar and dave (we knew they had to be TAY-ers...) were going to ski the finger first (not that it matters much in corn...), but they were going all the way to the summit. tho' the wind-packed powder on the upper nisqually looked pretty nice as well...you know, i'm not sure if i like the BD deploy or the transfer better... alpymarr's got the transfer and the extra length is crucial when you're digging out a bivy hole after skinni...
I wish we had brought some Gordons mystery ale, also an OB brew. IMO its the best weight/effect ratio available for backcountry happy hours, although its like $4 each. That and about 6in of fresh would have made the run unbeatable. Stoked to hike up that mother again sometime...all the way. Oh well, the corn was a callin'.
That looks like some good conditions under bluebird, Awesome!
Nice vid Marcus! Great ski you guys, way to get some good conditions and hammer in some lines! Solid!
Sick tr. Nice bivy. That BD shovel is a wonder, eh? I love it. Way to knock out a sick line early and take advantage of the great conditions!
Yeah, it was crap for us. We hit the rim somewhere around 2-2:30? But we traversed W around the rim to the high point. Dumb idea. Rather than just turning back at the rim, we sought the high point and lost the corn. Traversed in a probably 50mph steady wind across some pretty rad ice formations. It ended up costing us a lot of time. We probably headed down around 3-3:15. The top was boiler plate survival turns. We managed to nab a few section...
Amar, that is really nice work! Glad you guys had some great conditions! I have to say, I'm a bit envious. That's a really great tr! Nice trip!
What is the name of the chute on the right side of that photo?
Nice video Marcus!
I was at the Capitol Hill celebration that night, and skiing the Chutes on Saturday....
I'm sure we'll run into each other sometime!
- Matt
I was at the Capitol Hill celebration that night, and skiing the Chutes on Saturday....
I'm sure we'll run into each other sometime!
- Matt
Nice video Marcus!
Love the split screen action and the last minute decision to extend your mileage.
Looked like a great group and perfect day!
Love the split screen action and the last minute decision to extend your mileage.
Looked like a great group and perfect day!
I think we must have dropped in right after you, snoseeker -- we skied to the right of that little clump of rocks in your picture and our tracks aren't laid down yet.
Great day -- unbelievable weather and perfect corn.
Great day -- unbelievable weather and perfect corn.
Glory, Silas... is that three days in a row, or four? Four, I think... more than that?
Yeah, sorry we didn't mention specifics. Probably because we didn't see any naturals the two days we were out, even given the wide elevation profile. I started a tiny wet slide on Cheam. The Cascades in general had a more significant (historical?) rain event as well as more warming as of late. There were old natural releases (crowns) on the South facing steep slopes of the Black Buttes and I heard a second hand report of Marmot Ridge sliding naturally full path, while taking some matur...
It was indeed a great ski down to the bridge. Considering the hard pack on Muir and ice on Pan face, I was pleasantly surprised. The glacier seemed pretty well filled in, the corn was great. It got a little heavy below the toe, but we didn't come down until 2:00. The bridge flagger said someone ran into trouble in the Nisqually Chutes. Anybody hear anything about that? Thanks again to Monica for the lift!
I checked out East Peak today with a couple of coworkers and the corn was just as good as the reports suggested. We tagged the summit at about 1pm and enjoyed the view before heading down. The snow on the SW aspect below the summit was just about perfect... a smooth hard base with an inch or so of soft stuff on top. Took a couple laps and then endured the refrozen ruts on the way out. But the line off the top was well worth the effort. Tomorrow should be good too if the clouds hold off. Then we...
shoot... was hoping to get some turns there soon, but looks like the commute wouldn't be worth it...
he hid two in my mine, so i hid two in his. a beer for a beer makes the whole world doubled.
Did you followed the usual summer procedure of hiding 'em in your partners pack? ;)
That made me laugh as I threw a 12'er of Coors Light in a buddy's pack (unbeknownst to him) one summer when we did a long weekend in Yosemite.
Right on.Cool to hit Baker summitt in January.I was wondering how the avi conditions were up there.Did you see any naturals.I'm defintley wigged out from the reports I've been getting on the coast mountains.Where people haven't been hitting any alpine steep terrain.I would like to know if the conditions are different on the volcano and Cascades.
Old chub or dales in a can is a good call...nice!
We must have just missed each other. I skied the main pyramid shaped WSW slope skier's left of the big gully then traversed left of the runnels on the lower face. I was alone. Skinned up the bottom 2/3 of the slope then switched to booting for the last few hundred feet to the top.
[/nothing like a cold, refreshing, carbonated beverage while enjoying a sunset amidst an icefall!]
Most people don't take 16ers on winter ascents of Rainier, but then most don't climb it in the winter.
Did you followed the usual summer procedure of hiding 'em in your partners pack? ;)
great pics! got to get myself there.
very observant! si, those are empty 16 and 12 oz. cervezas! Old Chub scottish ale in a can (8%) and bitburger lagers. i call it combination weight training/liquid carb-loading. nothing like a cold, refreshing, carbonated beverage while enjoying a sunset amidst an icefall! 8)
author=Jason_H. link=topic=11968.msg50061#msg50061 date=1232481927]
I was up in your neck of the woods. Nice to see what I didn't get to see. Ha. the avi danger was sketch, sketch and the clouds didn't split for a second. Oh well. Still good to see more of the area. Perhaps I'll have to go up again one of these days.
Thats too bad Jason - where did you go?
Asulkan - http://www.leelau.net/2009/rogerspassm...
It was monday. We skied the very west facing shot below the buttress (where the narrow chute is). We saw tracks on the WSW face (main pyramid shaped face) and a snowshoe/bootpack up. Was that you guys? A little suprised we didnt cross paths. I was with one other and my dog. Unfortunately no pics... need camera.
Are those 16oz cervezas on the Fuhrer? You guys bivy in style!
Yes, the North Cascades are always an adventure, the stuff of dreams! So... what general area did you go into? We all look forward to at least a few tantalizing photos of snow covered behemoths from remote places.
I was up on Ruby Mountain over the weekend... We definitely heard a loud avalanche echo up the Thunder valley sunday morning. We saw headlamps high up in Colonial Creek monday morning... also noticed that a few parties were headed up Goodell Creek.
Good luck on yo...
I was up on Ruby Mountain over the weekend... We definitely heard a loud avalanche echo up the Thunder valley sunday morning. We saw headlamps high up in Colonial Creek monday morning... also noticed that a few parties were headed up Goodell Creek.
Good luck on yo...
I was up in your neck of the woods. Nice to see what I didn't get to see. Ha. the avi danger was sketch, sketch and the clouds didn't split for a second. Oh well. Still good to see more of the area. Perhaps I'll have to go up again one of these days.
[/I think it was you I met on East Peak and then again while we were hiking up...Glad you got the goods!]
Yea Stugie, that was me and Mike who you also met at East peak. I’m curious what time you skied down and how the snow was. It didn’t seem like it was going to get much softer on our line which was just slightly west of south. Maybe the lines on more westerly aspects did but with the sun angle barely above 20deg at noon? That’s pretty low for spring snow.
Anyway great to...
Was this Monday the 19th or Sunday the 18th? I was up there on Monday and skied off the top of Red at 3:00. I didn't see any other skiers high on Red but did see old tracks from the previous day. I also skied the SE shoulder of Lundin around 1:15, again saw old tracks but no other skiers.
I second that sled pic. That is just sick awesome!
Nice Lee, as always. When you get a chance, you want to mail some of that powder down this way? ???
Hey Bob, I think it was you I met on East Peak and then again while we were hiking up. Good seeing you again! Glad you got the goods!
Sorry it took so long. Here are a few pictures
Your guys' pics are awesome...read the tr on splitboard as well. Good job on the advertising - ;) Too bad the snow conditions were crap.