TR Replies

May 30, 2008, Red Mountain 5880+ Cle Elum Valley

AMAZING PICS!

6/1/08 8:24am

skierguitarist

Hawkins Mountain, May 31

Looks like a sweet area!!!!! COOL!

6/1/08 7:36am

Robie

May 31 Tatooshing about.

Thanks for the good time Holly and pics , I added a few picss .

6/1/08 7:28am

cascadesfreak

Hawkins Mountain, May 31

That was some tasty corn!! and not bad managing to break the 50% mark on the joy-o-meter! (vertical feet skied divided by vertical feet hiked/skinned = 2,200 ft / 3,900 ft = 56 %!!!).
Additinal pics posted here..

6/1/08 7:12am

Kevin Steffa

author=John_Morrow link=topic=10202.msg41041#msg41041 date=1212280993]
Access and Approach Notes:
Pico and I thought we'd try Skookum Peak having been told that Paris Creek was as far up the Fish Lake Rd. 4330 as one can drive. When we got to the Paris Creek TH there was no snow to be seen anywhere.
So then we decided to drive toward Boulder Creek and try Hawkins Mountain. When we got to Boulder Creek and the view of Hawkins we saw it too was...

6/1/08 7:05am

Snow Bell

May 31, 2008, Mount Townsend

I'm sorry to learn about the Injured hikers.
I would be curious to learn more specifics of the incident.

6/1/08 6:29am

olymm

Alpental, June 1

It was great to meet you guys as well - definitely a great day for a quick tour. Thanks for letting me tag along,

6/1/08 5:39am

Kevin Steffa

May 31, 2008, Mount Townsend

Just added a few more details (see top)

6/1/08 5:18am

scottb505

Townsend is always tricky...once the road has melted out so has the snow on the south slope. I believe it doesn't get that much snow in the first place, sitting in the snow shadow of the Olympics. Still IMHO it's a great trip and like Elinor to the south, the views are worth the grunt.

Speaking of Elinor, I heard that two "hikers" were injured on Saturday by falling ice - hope they are OK

6/1/08 2:03am

Dave_R

May 31, 2008, Mount Townsend

Jessica & Lowell,
Perhaps we can pass the torch and get in one last dusker before Brett becomes an Eckstein alumni? We were talking over this exact topic yesterday with him (during our circumnav of Chair peak). We've got a couple of weeks til he's a high-schooler...
-Dave

6/1/08 1:55am

Snow Bell

Thanks for the beta on the Townsend beat. I didn't realize it had waned quite so much already. Where does the time go?

6/1/08 1:33am

Larry_R

May 30, 2008, Red Mountain 5880+ Cle Elum Valley

John, your report gives me a chance to post a link to some pics I was going to show as part of a TR that never got done from a few weeks ago. Impressive slide paths! Looks like Jon Herman and the rest of the trail crew will have their work cut out for them (so to speak) this season. :)

Time for me to put the skis in suspended animation until next year. But this was a great season; over 6 months of ski camping and not having to miss a single week. I guess I'll have to get used t...

6/1/08 1:02am

hipystix

May 30, 2008, - Mt. Pilchuck

When we were in there a few weeks ago we had trouble getting from the lake down to the creek too. About the first half when well then we stayed to far to skiers left. Ended up hugging trees also! But fortunately we came out right at the foot log. I really like that area and wanted to get back but have not been able to work that out yet. Hopefully the snow will hang in a while longer.

Eric

5/31/08 11:16pm

DCM

Should have mentioned this in the TR. The gate is open, and you can drive about 3.5 miles up the road before you hit an impassable patch of snow. The road is then bare for a while after this patch of snow, but there are quite a few downed trees. Finally the last 2.5 miles or so to the TH are all snow covered and skinnable.

5/31/08 4:28pm

Teleskichica

May 31 Tatooshing about.

Despite the rain, what a whole lotta fun!!
Here are pics of the group. (Sorry guys, no good with thumbnails.)

5/31/08 3:17pm

sheispiste

Lowell,
You and Tom may have to take the torch for the Eckstein afterschool patrols from Dave_R and his Redgoesfaster soon to be highschooler Brett. I look forward to joining in!

Nice tour and viddy!

5/31/08 3:10pm

Scotsman

My 16 yr old Stewie and I went to Crystal today and hiked up and skied Gunbarrel near 3way Peak. On the way down he found $10 in the snow under the quicksilver lift. Pretty faded so they ( 2 x $5 bills) must have been there a while. He bought the lattes at Wapati Woolies.
Always a cool day when you get to ski with the fruit of your loins and find money! ;D
Nice job Lowell with the adaptations.

5/31/08 2:57pm

Eric Lindahl

May 30, 2008, - Mt. Pilchuck

Ahhhhh, nickel nosing. Seeing your picture of Tom skiing on a fine spring day brought back fond memories of Gordy & Randy's little brother tagging along many a late spring alpenglow meander up & down the chairs at Alpy or Acres looking for "nickels". Best find was a diamond wedding ring!! BTW, Marilyn & I were doing same on a Crystal to Chinook jaunt the same day. Not much booty but as a consolation it happened to be very good spring skiing.&nbs...

5/31/08 1:38pm

juan

thanks for the report. is the mt pilchuck road open all the way up?

5/31/08 12:19pm

Michael

May 31, 2008, Snoqualmie Pass corn

Nice trip Silas! Looks like you guys had some good snow. Will try to make it another time when I am less sleep deprived :-)

5/31/08 12:15pm

ryanl

May 31, 2008, Snoqualmie Pass corn

glad you had a good time Dan. Pretty cool.....

5/31/08 11:43am

Charlie Hagedorn

Mmm - check out that excellent snow in the second photo. Fun day!

Below, Silas demonstrates convincingly that the corn harvest is not limited to silly blue hat wearers (However, if you look very carefully, he's wearing an understated dark blue hat).

5/31/08 10:01am

John Morrow

May 30, 2008, Red Mountain 5880+ Cle Elum Valley

Pictures

5/31/08 9:18am

Larry_R

May 26-28, 2008, Tatoosh: Turns, Tours, and Traverses

author=Larry_R link=topic=10190.msg40976#msg40976 date=1212109794]

Speaking of VR pans, there is a link to a pan that John did from the top of Pinnacle on this page:

http://www.larryscascaderesource.com/VRpans/VRpans_files/panlink.html

I'll have a pan from Foss soon. It will be the first complete 360 deg pan using my new 12 mp camera.

The pan from Foss (6524) is up now, linked on the same page as above....

5/31/08 9:03am

Lowell_Skoog

author=oftpiste link=topic=10198.msg41035#msg41035 date=1212275298]
Lowell, what kind of set-up for skinning do you have Tom on? I'd like to get some kid-sized skinning set-ups for my guys.

I took some old adhesive skins and removed the tip and tail hardware. To put them on a short pair of skis, I center the skin on the ski, smooth it down working outward from the center, then fold the skin over both the tip and tail. I wrap about...

5/31/08 8:50am

skierguitarist

Wow! Way to get after it Dan! Sounds like things have changed a bit on that route since the time I did it in June '96...though that choke/hourglass section was fairly narrow as I recall. I too got to the summit way too early and I also had to wait and wait for things to be "right" (which was a little before 2pm). For me the spooky part I unfortunately experienced, was the trip out onto the Sandy and up the Reid as my old Montana skins would not stick...

5/31/08 8:08am

oftpiste

Lowell, what kind of set-up for skinning do you have Tom on? I'd like to get some kid-sized skinning set-ups for my guys.

Nicely done.

5/31/08 5:33am

skykilo

glad you got it.

5/31/08 4:20am

David_Coleman

5/30/08 Olys, Klahhane Ridge

Impressive descent Dan! Looks to be right up your alley.

The above comment is powered by Google ads! HAHAHA

5/31/08 3:02am

Rusty Knees

Welcome, to TAY, T! There's getting to be a pretty active Olympic contingent reporting in now. I grew up over there, and miss those peaks and valleys. Maybe I can get over and ski that ridge with you before it's done for the year.

Good luck on your first year. Well begun is halfway done.
Rusty Knees

5/31/08 2:42am

Amar Andalkar

Great job skiing another big line on Hood, Dan. That ski-width chute sounds nasty, though. I've wanted to ski Sandy Headwall for a long time, but maybe not this year in that case.

I have lots of photos of Sandy Headwall from Lolo Pass and McNeil Point taken in previous years, here's some of the better ones:

5/31/08 2:26am

danhelmstadter

more pics... anyone have a good one of the entire route from a plane or lolo pass?

5/31/08 12:00am

BillK

Where is this? USA?

5/30/08 11:38pm

KenR

author=korup link=topic=10137.msg40993#msg40993 date=1212163520]
Lowell, thanks for digging up all that historical context. Strange how a 1940's text has far more to say about it than anything around today! Does Martin Volken's guide have a section?

Yes Lowell, thanks for taking the time to post the history.

uphill roped on skis? Martin Volken's book does have a page which addresses that. Along with some...

5/30/08 1:05pm

chrism

Thanks for the detailed report. That looks like a neat area to check out on skis.

5/30/08 8:41am

kuharicm

See you there this Sunday maybe... we're headed to ski that Needles chute.

- Matt

5/30/08 3:59am

Tony_Bentley

Those who survive are masters of risk calculation or are fortunate to have survived regardless of their ignorance of inherent danger.

5/30/08 3:48am

Snow Bell

I believe that we hit consistant snow around 4300'. It was a pretty distinct transition from bare trail to snow. (maybe about 4 miles in?) Don't follow our skintrack after the log creek crossing below the lake. We did not discover a better route here. ;)

author=fheimer link=topic=10186.msg41001#msg41001 date=1212170269]
We followed your tracks out on the approach. If my camera hadn't been in the bottom of the pack I would have t...

5/30/08 3:25am

trees4me

It sounds like a great trip. Do you have any idea what elevation you started skinning and stopped walking?

I think a few of us are headed out there this weekend...

5/30/08 2:57am

fheimer

Great meeting you guys out there. We had a fun day touring around the basin sampling a few of the longer slopes. There are so many great ski lines. Everything from chutes to low angle glacier. We had an awesome time.

We followed your tracks out on the approach. If my camera hadn't been in the bottom of the pack I would have taken a picture of sally manuevering down the cliff with her ski laden back pack. It was managable and we eventually found...

5/30/08 2:17am

Keith_Henson

As I read this I keep remembering the trip report (though I can't remember the peak) where Sky K (Sj), (Cascade bad ass hardman deluxe), is on roped belay as he starts down the slope.

While on glaciers, skiing or otherwise, I am always conscious of avoiding the natural convivial tendency to form a group (herd) when stopped. If you are over a hidden crevasse, 6 people standing on top of it is spooky. Keep your distance!

I would assume this might be a bigger issue for sn...

5/30/08 1:45am

Lowell_Skoog

author=korup link=topic=10137.msg40993#msg40993 date=1212163520">
Lowell, thanks for digging up all that historical context. Strange how a 1940's text has far more to say about it than anything around today! Does Martin Volken's guide have a section?

Martin's handbook has a lot of information about glacier travel and roping, but it is broken up into several places throughout the book--for example transitions, roped...

5/30/08 1:27am

Stugie

Lowell, nice history lesson! Thanks Jason too, great perspective on this topic and well worded. Very interesting how they emphasized the "command" aspect of the last skier and the teamwork with rope movement and overall team travel. I like the emphasis as sometimes I feel people forget there is a team aspect to mountaineering as well as the individual challenge. Good points. As we're getting into this a bit, does anyone know what kinds of glacier (ski) techniques were used be...

5/30/08 1:05am

korup

May 25, 2008, Cowboy Corn

Lowell, thanks for digging up all that historical context. Strange how a 1940's text has far more to say about it than anything around today! Does Martin Volken's guide have a section?

5/30/08 1:05am

bobS

There were a couple 'bilers ziping around somewhere in the distance at one point, but they were far enough away so you couldn't smell 'em.
It is not exactly a back to nature tour anyway... but still, they don't let dirt bikes up there in the summer... ???

5/29/08 2:05pm

Snow Bell