TR Replies
After looking at the pics, many congrats on getting that high up in trail runners.
True grit!
True grit!
Nice pictures. Ptarmigan with their winter coats on - must be going to dump on us soon! ;D
-Dave R
-Dave R
amongst many other great photos, i really like that #42 from the picasa web group. really cool! :)
and the birds, of course. what are they?
and the birds, of course. what are they?
Savegondor - I wondered where you had got to. I always enjoyed your videos! Glad you're still climbing and skiing.
Nice pictures, Chris!
Sorry I didn't make it out with you guys, it looks like the rest of us missed a great trip, except for the fear of snow bell becuddlement, sleeping in a bivvy bag, icy snow, and dangerous headfirst slides...wait a minute, maybe I didn't miss much. ;)
Even with all that, I do wish I'd been able to say yes. Good job getting what was there.
Your fall sounds like the one you saw me take coming down off Pi...
Sorry I didn't make it out with you guys, it looks like the rest of us missed a great trip, except for the fear of snow bell becuddlement, sleeping in a bivvy bag, icy snow, and dangerous headfirst slides...wait a minute, maybe I didn't miss much. ;)
Even with all that, I do wish I'd been able to say yes. Good job getting what was there.
Your fall sounds like the one you saw me take coming down off Pi...
author=wolfs link=topic=11257.msg46514#msg46514 date=1227157374]
An update from 11/19, or shall we say a conditions report/tale of woe.
Despite this it was a beautiful day for a hike. A hike that just happened to include packing a few heavy objects on my back that ended up seeing no use that day.
Wolfs you have my admiration and gratitude. This is the type of self-sacrifice that Urll has been demanding.
Thank you,...
Thanks for all the stoke response!!!! Thanks guys! Now isn't there some snow coming this week?
Scotty- wish you could have joined us. Bring on the pow!
Wolfs- wow! looks like you had one heck of a day up there blowing in the wind. At least it's a beautiful place.
Wolfs- wow! looks like you had one heck of a day up there blowing in the wind. At least it's a beautiful place.
An update from 11/19, or shall we say a conditions report/tale of woe.
I had every intention of getting to the fine conditions reported on Heliotrope in recent reports. Corn, powder, whatever. But either they weren't there, or at least I just plain couldn't get there. The problem today was the wind.
It was seriously brutal. I'd estimate peaks of gusts at 60-75mph and this was just on the climbers trail. I physically could not get up the hill with the skis att...
I had every intention of getting to the fine conditions reported on Heliotrope in recent reports. Corn, powder, whatever. But either they weren't there, or at least I just plain couldn't get there. The problem today was the wind.
It was seriously brutal. I'd estimate peaks of gusts at 60-75mph and this was just on the climbers trail. I physically could not get up the hill with the skis att...
Glad you had a good day boys and very happy to hear you are alright after your slide.
You two are going to be hard to keep up with now that you've both got new sets of dynafiddels..
I'll catch up at the transtions when you are dynafutzing!
Beautiful bluebird day but I am tired of beautiful bluebird days.Please make it snow, and hard!
You two are going to be hard to keep up with now that you've both got new sets of dynafiddels..
I'll catch up at the transtions when you are dynafutzing!
Beautiful bluebird day but I am tired of beautiful bluebird days.Please make it snow, and hard!
Pugh is a beautiful mountain which would surely be a great ski (I have only booted it). In the department of getting to cool places in the winter, this is notable:
>>being so close to Darrington the Mountain Loop Highway is plowed here.
It means that the only addition to the regular approach in winter would be about 700 vf of the spur road up to the summer trailhead (early this summer even that was closed for some habitat reason).
>>being so close to Darrington the Mountain Loop Highway is plowed here.
It means that the only addition to the regular approach in winter would be about 700 vf of the spur road up to the summer trailhead (early this summer even that was closed for some habitat reason).
Nice recon! Darrington terrain is sick! Way to get out and give us some stoke in these difficult times!
Keep in mind a recent post from Gary Brill about the surge in glacier movement, noted specifically on the Coleman glacier. Not sure this affects the Heliotrope, but worth looking at.
http://www.turns-all-year.com/skiing_snowboarding/trip_reports/index.php?topic=10942.0
http://www.turns-all-year.com/skiing_snowboarding/trip_reports/index.php?topic=10942.0
author=Scotsman link=topic=11238.msg46416#msg46416 date=1226969234]
The Hummel's at the forefront of skiing yet again, "Synchronised ski mountaineering", it will be in the 2018 winter Olympics. I agree ,great photo.
I'd thought they looked more like walruses sunning themselves. Very cute walruses, of course. ;)
The skiing may not have been great, but it looks like the trip was worth it just f...
That is a really cool looking skiing objective. Good work on getting outside the box.
author=bramvs link=topic=11204.msg46463#msg46463 date=1227046217">
Thanks for the TR! I'm just wondering where you saw this crevasse?? And also (sorry if this is a bit of a thread hijack) in general if people generally bother taking a rope when skiing on this part of Heliotrope ridge... I always wear a harness and carry a rope when on a glacier, but perhaps that's a bit too much for this part of Heliotrope Ridge?
I looked on some satellite...
The tracks were much appreciated! There was probably some substantial consolidation between your trip and ours, even though only separated by a day, as we did not experience any sinking. The two small slide paths we saw on the flank of Table Mt. were no more than 6 inches deep and 2-3 feet across.
I've never seen anyone use ropes on Heliotrope unless crossing Coleman proper. We've had discussions here before on whether Heliotrope is truly a glacier or just a snowfield, without much conclusion -- but I think the overall feeling is it's a slow-moving glacier. Still, the crevasses tend to appear in the same places, and as long as you stick to the ridge on the west end, i think everyone agrees you're pretty safe. In July, knock yourself out going all over...
Those tracks you saw were definitely mine. Glad I could at least break trail for you part of the way. Also glad to see my "Goat Throat" name seems to be sticking.
Sounds like the stability was better for you than I. My early turnaround was caused by large numbers of pinwheels and sinking in well past the boot, leading to a fear of wet slides. Yes, the snowpack was pretty shallow overall, but the snow conditions made me think that seeking out deeper sn...
Sounds like the stability was better for you than I. My early turnaround was caused by large numbers of pinwheels and sinking in well past the boot, leading to a fear of wet slides. Yes, the snowpack was pretty shallow overall, but the snow conditions made me think that seeking out deeper sn...
Cool. Sky went in there several times and I joined him on one trip. We skied from partway up the face in your last photo. Would love to get back there and ski it off the top, since we never did. Seems like it would have some nice steep skiing.
Thanks for the TR! I'm just wondering where you saw this crevasse?? And also (sorry if this is a bit of a thread hijack) in general if people generally bother taking a rope when skiing on this part of Heliotrope ridge... I always wear a harness and carry a rope when on a glacier, but perhaps that's a bit too much for this part of Heliotrope Ridge?
I looked on some satellite photos of Heliotrope Ridge on
I looked on some satellite photos of Heliotrope Ridge on
;D :D ;D That was a Very Sweet Day, I too was out there riding the glacier with a brother single stick (boarder). Our first time that far up(7000ft) and was amazed by my surrroundings on the clear day, sights of Rainier, Olympics, Canaidias!, the Islands. . oh ya....I made this face on they the way down---- ;D
I'll never grow tired of looking at your pics. As always, nice job Jas! Sure looks like winter conditions higher up on that thing. Nice to see the Pineapple didn't reveal too much on the way up to the false summit!
Look in my misc folder at the top 26 pics. You'll have to push the links since its the index page.
http://cascadecrusades.org/misc/small/
There are some pics of the route. The chutes looked all right. I'd want more snow to ski over the rocks back to the s route, but you could do it? Hopefully there will be better snow than we had. I know the pics don't show it well, but trust me the skiing wasn't great. I'd want better snow before I'd go back...
http://cascadecrusades.org/misc/small/
There are some pics of the route. The chutes looked all right. I'd want more snow to ski over the rocks back to the s route, but you could do it? Hopefully there will be better snow than we had. I know the pics don't show it well, but trust me the skiing wasn't great. I'd want better snow before I'd go back...
Beautiful pictures! Was there any snow in the SW chutes???
Yep. Now I'm officially jealous and sad I didn't head down.
Lots of photos from the day. Perhaps a few will come back to enjoy the 6 I can put up here.
So sorry to hear of your loss, Larry. We will still hope to see some of your Cle Elum Valley updates. They have been very usefull to me and probably many others as well.
Yeah, it wasn't in the best shape to begin with (it had definitely been splinted a few times). We did try to stock up as much wood as possible before the real snow began and the ax was working well. I'll also ask around, but the two people who were most affected won't be back in town until the end of the week.
author=Snowulf link=topic=11219.msg46398#msg46398 date=1226940523]
BTW, one of the things that happened while we were there was that the handle of the maul shattered beyond repair. What would be the best way to replace it? Money to the VOC or a direct replacement of the handle? The head of the maul is still there and the ax is still in good shape.
Thanks for being honest... not sure exactly what shape the handle was in before it...
author=Pandora link=topic=11238.msg46407#msg46407 date=1226953951">
I adore this photo!
The Hummel's at the forefront of skiing yet again, "Synchronised ski mountaineering", it will be in the 2018 winter Olympics. I agree ,great photo.
It was great meeting you up there Dan. I managed some fantastic photos, too. Thanks for hanging with us, it was fun! BTW, nice photo of us doing what we do best :)
author=ScottW link=topic=11219.msg46324#msg46324 date=1226713683]
Another VOCer here. If you can give me some more details of where the roof is leaking, it might help us patch it up. Glad you enjoyed the area. Looks like better skiing than I had during my attempt on Tuesday :)
BTW, one of the things that happened while we were there was that the handle of the maul shattered beyond repair. What would be the best way to replace i...
Thanks SG,
I thought I might take this opportunity to say that due to a recent death in the family, I may not be posting as much this season, and I may not be out as much as I had been in past years. But who knows?
Larry
I thought I might take this opportunity to say that due to a recent death in the family, I may not be posting as much this season, and I may not be out as much as I had been in past years. But who knows?
Larry
author=kuharicm link=topic=11236.msg46388#msg46388 date=1226899448">
What was going on on the other side???
The other side was a mixture of various spring conditions, with lots of hidden rocks. The trip report is here. I bet I saw more goats than you, though.
Glad to see the requisite tree clearing supplies are available in Trout Lake!
good work gang!
good work gang!
Nicely done, Dan. Those rime formations/big rocks are mighty nice when it's windy but sunny. Glad you got it done!
We found clean lines down from the ridge to around 6100. It was well consolidated and corn... better corn than I found all last spring!
What was going on on the other side???
What was going on on the other side???
thinking of heading up that way on tuesday. I wonder what the lower ridge was like? Crevasses barely covered? Looks like it was almost corn-like and surely well consolidated.
Nice! I was thinking about making it up that way but didn't get around to it. The fresh snow line's pretty far up the mountain right now - won't be that way for long though ;)
Wish I had read this yesterday :D
Just got back from being there today... we kept on going and going on Ptarmigan Ridge chasing something that didn't look too shallow... well, anyway, it was a nice and scenic ski traverse with a few turns thrown in there :)
Just got back from being there today... we kept on going and going on Ptarmigan Ridge chasing something that didn't look too shallow... well, anyway, it was a nice and scenic ski traverse with a few turns thrown in there :)
author=lordhedgie link=topic=11228.msg46353#msg46353 date=1226800742]
Not exactly an epic day. Got a nice coreshot, but it's not the first on these skis. I would say there's just not enough snow to ski north of Artist Point, and not enough to justify the trip past it. But it was the first time I was able to ski since early October, and it's always good to be out there.
I have been extremely lucky on my la...