TR Replies
...forgot to mention not a sight or sound of a snowmobile all day long. Maybe we were lucky or maybe they all work full time for gas money and only show up on the weekends. Either way, the peace and quiet is a major factor in the enjoyment for me.
and:
and:
author=Scotsman link=topic=10376.msg41941#msg41941 date=1213855757]
Joe's sweet cuddlings are definitely another benefit one gets to enjoy on trips with him!
Nice TR, and nice half-p...
Kicking steps for pizza and beer sounds like a good living.
Exceptional TR JD. Thanks for bringing Morning Star to my attention. My ski "to do" list is starting to rival my wife's list for me "to do."
Exceptional TR JD. Thanks for bringing Morning Star to my attention. My ski "to do" list is starting to rival my wife's list for me "to do."
Great tour and great TR's Jason and Amar. I have really enjoyed following your exploits this season. Your excellent photography helps me to feel like I came along with you. Keep it up.
author=skierlyles link=topic=10376.msg41856#msg41856 date=1213760921]
(Joe let me know if you have any corrections)
Nope.
author=skierlyles link=topic=10376.msg41856#msg41856 date=1213760921]
Thanks to Ethan for driving and to Joe Bell for nothing.
Any time.
B.T.W.: for anyone who may be touring with Chris; he gets all weird when you try to cud...
Thank I might have seen you up there. We just headed up to the top of two and came down on some variable snow. Surface slough was prevalent but not too bad. Like Micah said; still some good skiing up there so get after it!
Dave, the feet are healing. Ha.
What a sunny-nice, fantastic weekend. Too bad this one isn't as good.
What a sunny-nice, fantastic weekend. Too bad this one isn't as good.
Eric,
Last question first. I have not done the loop or traverse down to the hairpin after climbing from the west. However, the lone climber/skier that we met at the top ascended from the hairpin and later descended that way. I can tell you that we could see that the route had coverage all the way down to the hairpin and the climber confirmed that. This was a surprise to me because we had driven to the hairpin just two weeks prior and the skiers that we met who...
Last question first. I have not done the loop or traverse down to the hairpin after climbing from the west. However, the lone climber/skier that we met at the top ascended from the hairpin and later descended that way. I can tell you that we could see that the route had coverage all the way down to the hairpin and the climber confirmed that. This was a surprise to me because we had driven to the hairpin just two weeks prior and the skiers that we met who...
Hey, Alan. I'm new to backcountry skiing/skinning but have been climbing up in the Early Winters area several times, so I am familiar with the terrain. Planning on heading up there tomorrow and spending the night in/around the blue lake parking lot Friday night and sking Friday/Saturday.
Two Questions:
How was the snowpack/quantity? Enough to still have some around now? How about for skirting the lower slab cliffs? A guess? You wen...
Two Questions:
How was the snowpack/quantity? Enough to still have some around now? How about for skirting the lower slab cliffs? A guess? You wen...
You guys are animals! Nice work! I'd say your skied elevation for the weekend is pretty noteworthy! And again, great pics!
I spied some of those chutes recently in a photo my friend took of Adams and we talked about it. Way to hit it up! That looks like an excellent run! Great tr, and great photos as well Amar! Great to have some beta on an area not often looked at, much less tackled!
Thanks for all the nice comments guys. We really lucked out on Morning Star - it was one of those days I'll never forget, which is one of the reasons I do this. I have to admit that the extreme nature of the route (at least for me) added spice that made me focus harder than I have for a while, and produced a euphoria afterward that I don't get on a run up old standards (see thread on the movie Steep for
As one of the youth I feel it necessary to put in my two sense. Not to be out done by the masters club, Matt and I took off at a quick clip toward bench lake. We followed the first boot track we came to up towards the ridge between bench lake and snow lake. Upon reaching the ridge we had and excellent view down onto snow lake and the path we should have followed around the bottom of a large cliff. Not wanting to descend we followed the ridge up until it became clear that...
author=skierlyles link=topic=10376.msg41856#msg41856 date=1213760921]
We awoke at 4:15 due to the diligence of Ethan and after a quick attempted cuddle by snowbell,
Joe's cuddling attacks are definitely another danger one has to be on the look out for on trips with him!
Nice TR, and nice half-pipe steeze from the "mad cuddler".
Wish I could have gone.
Nice work on the TR's fellas. Good to finally put that one in the bag after discussing so many times in recent years! 8)
What, no pictures of your feet?!? That was an epic Cascade thrashing - like someone hung you guys upside down & whipped your ankles with a leather belt, a bloody mess! Amar and I definitely favored much better in that arena, although my downhill small toe was well bruised & beaten by the time the weekend was done.
What, no pictures of your feet?!? That was an epic Cascade thrashing - like someone hung you guys upside down & whipped your ankles with a leather belt, a bloody mess! Amar and I definitely favored much better in that arena, although my downhill small toe was well bruised & beaten by the time the weekend was done.
Holly & Richard, thanks for another great day. Now that I've seen the pics I finally realize why I brought the Xploders even tho the bindings are annoying---better color coordination! (especially the flaming orange skins)
Possibly worth a mountain bike approach on the road (we saw a few mountain bike tire tracks), though there'd be a considerable number of dismounts and hike-a-bike sections over fallen trees and remnant slide debris. The basin above the trailhead is melting out fast; hard to say how much longer the snow will be continuous to Cascade Pass; maybe another week or so? if it doesn't get too warm...
author=Joedabaker link=topic=10344.msg41894#m...
My version of both trips with way too many photos:
Circumnavigation and Avalanche Glacier Headwall
I had a good trip Amar, Dave and Josh. I really love this mountain and enjoyed getting up on it.
Circumnavigation and Avalanche Glacier Headwall
I had a good trip Amar, Dave and Josh. I really love this mountain and enjoyed getting up on it.
Dude, what do you do for a living because I want to do that. I definitely ski vicariously through you. And it's awesome.
author=Randy Beaver link=topic=10376.msg41888#msg41888 date=1213807775]
Way to get it! I'm looking for redemption now...........
and yes of course- thanks to randy beaver for some beta! awesome trip, thanks for making it safer too. all the climbers were glad that the slabs were already triggered.
c
author=ryanl link=topic=10337.msg41771#msg41771 date=1213663920]
I don't remember making any decision. I just remember turning hard into the slope and thrusting both my fists into the underlying surface as hard as I could, trying to edge my skis as much as possible. I ducked my chin to my chest (I was wearing a helmet) and braced myself as the debris above washed over and around me. For a few seconds every muscle in my body was tensed.
...
a pic of the lower gladed area and a view towards Couger. Tree skiing would be nice in winter but skiing it now, is like skiing on a bed of branches, nasty.
Thanks Jim, for heading back in to retrieve our skins! I am indebted many summit beers!!!:)
author=jd link=topic=10380.msg41896#msg41896 date=1213811885]Jeff had an axe (otherwise we never would have keep going) so he went first kicking perfect steps while I followed with a near useless whip-it.
jd, I hope you bought the beer to pay back Jeff for kicking all those steps.
Nice work. I climbed MS years ago via Beckey std route, and I remember it being steep and scary on all flanks. That's a heck of a line...
jjabodee, you got the road right, but the trail head is a long ways from Wirtz Basin. We skinned up the road for ~1.5 miles before hitting the trail where we took em off. It is quite a hike right now to just ski the basin, but the snow is quite good up there and you could do a couple of runs on the top bit below Morning Star that is quite nice. The Basin is also a beautiful place worthy of a visit just for that.
Good on the engineering; only one skin up...nice!!!!!!!!!!!!
JD; et al-
Great Stuff. I may try a humble mini version. I've never been to the area, so indulge me, if you would:
I can't find Sunrise Mine Rd. on my map, might it also be named FR 4065, which heads south from the hwy near Headlee pass?
Is there camping nearby (or can I just sleep in my car) for an early Saturday morning start (I'm coming from the city)?
Is the 2.2 (3) miles on the road all walking, or is skiing possible? At the end of that...
Great Stuff. I may try a humble mini version. I've never been to the area, so indulge me, if you would:
I can't find Sunrise Mine Rd. on my map, might it also be named FR 4065, which heads south from the hwy near Headlee pass?
Is there camping nearby (or can I just sleep in my car) for an early Saturday morning start (I'm coming from the city)?
Is the 2.2 (3) miles on the road all walking, or is skiing possible? At the end of that...
Joe, I was a little worried about the trees too, but they turned out to be widely spaced, older growth stuff with 4-6' and more of coverage except at the creeks. It would actually be an awesome place for big forest glade skiing in the winter.
Thanks Joe. I'll see if Schu has any pics to throw up.
Here's a WMV version of the video. I didn't do any editing (just transcoded from AVI to WMV), which means that my wheezing and mumbling are audible. It's shakey because the long end of the zoom on my camera is 432mm equivalent- hard to hold steady.
DanH skiing Fuhrer Thumb
L
DanH skiing Fuhrer Thumb
L
I think we met just about everyone who Posted on the Muir Snowfield that day. I too was longing to ski the Nisqually Chute and am glad that no one got hurt in that slide.
When looking back from the lot there were similar aspects as the west side of the Nisqually glacier on the Cowlitz Glacier (near Anvil Rock at approximately 9500') that slid naturally.
When looking back from the lot there were similar aspects as the west side of the Nisqually glacier on the Cowlitz Glacier (near Anvil Rock at approximately 9500') that slid naturally.
Merk,
I got the ariel photos from Google Earth, then put them through Photoshop. I looked for a shot of Morning Star on John Scurlock's pages but couldn't find one.
I got the ariel photos from Google Earth, then put them through Photoshop. I looked for a shot of Morning Star on John Scurlock's pages but couldn't find one.
Very cool. Did your left leg get more tired from all the side hilling?
author=ski_photomatt link=topic=10380.msg41902#msg41902 date=1213813622]
Great photos and report. Every time I've gone past that line on the way to Vesper I've wondered about it. Nice job!
ditto! I saw that line on Morning Star a couple years ago while heading in to Vesper and thought it would make for a great ski...glad someone got it!
Great photos and report. Every time I've gone past that line on the way to Vesper I've wondered about it. Nice job!
That's a helluva report and nice work on the trifecta! As usual your pics are very impressive. Just wondering... what program are you using for the aerial images?
Thanks for the report and great shots - I love the panos.
Do you think it would be worth mountain biking the road?
Do you think it would be worth mountain biking the road?
Awesome trip report.
You get an A+
Really nice tour too...
You get an A+
Really nice tour too...
Straight up jd! That is a sweet tour! Nice pics and hella nice work!
To think we shelved our plans to tour up there...
Worst decision ever apparently...
you guys were skinning from the TH, how long would you gander that will be in?
Worst decision ever apparently...
you guys were skinning from the TH, how long would you gander that will be in?
Looks like a must visit someday!
Nice pictures all, great trail report.
What's that wrap on your leg Cass?
Nice pictures all, great trail report.
What's that wrap on your leg Cass?
Kam, gotta love the brevity of your TR of one of the most lovely places in the whole world. Nice pics.
Cool route and great job engineering a route with only one skin leg. Wow.
A nice adventure for your first posting. Welcome to TAY.
Way to get it! I'm looking for redemption now...........
I spoke with a couple of rangers along the glacier basin trail. I asked why the delay in repairing the trail, thinking that with all the trail crews waiting in limbo for the high country to melt out why not get to it? They said the trail is in a designated wilderness area and has to go through an environmetal review before the new trail can be put in - may be a year or two before it gets built.