TR Replies
Nice report. It was good seeing you guys up there and thanks for the in the field heads up on the crevasse & slabbage action. My buddy & I intended on a summit bid the next morning, but contented ourselves with doing some laps before it got too warm.
I had a similar experience skiing the Spearhead Traverse about 5 yrs. ago. Two of our party of 4 skied right across a crevasse which was totally unremarkable. The 3rd person was right in my tracks and went in over his head. He had 1 of our 2 - 30m ropes, but at least I had the other. We quickly set up a belay and helped him out. This was an early april trip with a normal or better snowpack; supposedly the safest time to travel our NW glaciers.
Since then I'...
Since then I'...
Glad you're and everyone in your party is okay. That's a scary thing.
That's a lot of work. Way to get it! That postholing shot is awesome. Those are the kind of steps you put your head in when you're up to your waist in snow and bemoan to yourself, "What the hell am I doing?" Followed by, "Oh, man, it's just right there, maybe an hour." It never is :).
The top is a lot more filled in than when we were there. What a great year for snow!
The top is a lot more filled in than when we were there. What a great year for snow!
Thanks Wolfs, Snow Bell and our new Euro friends put you beta to use this morning. Another early start and we left the base at 6.00 am and used the skin track up to the top of Three way exit chute that you had presumably set. Skied really well as you said, not powder but close. We then hiked up Silver Basin and the Euros,Paul and Jaakko skied Brain Damage while Joe and I dropped Hourglass.
Soft and quite skiable but getting unstable. Called it quits at 10.00 amd and then went to Campb...
Soft and quite skiable but getting unstable. Called it quits at 10.00 amd and then went to Campb...
Thats hard core man! Well done on keeping going with all that knee deep trail breaking.
I got exhausted just thinking about it. :D
I got exhausted just thinking about it. :D
Nice shots man! The dog following in...wow! Did I say nice shots yet!?
here's to spreading the love scotsman! 8)
looking forward to photos...
looking forward to photos...
Agreed -- great shot. I've never seen a dog do a front flip before...
A great TR. As I've aged, I've learned that some trips are about the "tour" and not the "turns". Plus, all trips must be "roundtrips". ;)
Nice report, Scotty.
Thanks fo spreading the TAY love ;)
Thanks fo spreading the TAY love ;)
Thanks, Wolf.
Beta much appreciated.
We'll put it to use.
Beta much appreciated.
We'll put it to use.
author=John_Morrow link=topic=9890.msg39846#msg39846 date=1209220830]
Hi Lar,
Well, I think I hit a personal best this week with 17,000 vertical in the past 7 days. Of course my tele turns were pretty out of balance on tired legs and I took a few ridiculous falls! Watching TJ ski with such amazing grace over any terrain, either dropping the knee or not, makes me see how I could use some (ski) area time.
But then I get out into a quiet place i...
hi all--
thanks for the well-wishes and info on the area! i know that after two years of traveling long distances to get our turns, i will appreciate the easy access and beautiful scenery just out our back door. i'm glad to hear that so many of you frequent the area as well--and as kam said, if any of you are passing through town, you'll always have a place to stay with us! i look forward to having lots of ski buddies again. :)
i found out just the other day that i...
thanks for the well-wishes and info on the area! i know that after two years of traveling long distances to get our turns, i will appreciate the easy access and beautiful scenery just out our back door. i'm glad to hear that so many of you frequent the area as well--and as kam said, if any of you are passing through town, you'll always have a place to stay with us! i look forward to having lots of ski buddies again. :)
i found out just the other day that i...
author=Larry_R link=topic=9890.msg39845#msg39845 date=1209217668]
So John, does that put you over 14,000 vertical for the last 7 days....again? You know what the doc said about that. :D
Great pics, I wish I had the strength to have been there.
Larry
Hi Lar,
Well, I think I hit a personal best this week with 17,000 vertical in the past 7 days. Of course my tele turns were pretty out of balance on...
So John, does that put you over 14,000 vertical for the last 7 days....again? You know what the doc said about that. :D
Great pics, I wish I had the strength to have been there.
Larry
Great pics, I wish I had the strength to have been there.
Larry
Looks like a great day on the Mt Rose Hwy. I was up on Pk 9561 two winters ago with my friend who lives in Crystal Bay. That run is practically in his back yard. He gets up early, puts in a lap up there, and is showered and at work by 9:00.
After living in Seattle so long (I grew up in Reno), I tend to forget how short the drives to some really good skiing are around there.
Maybe we'll bump into each other the next time I'm down for a visit...
After living in Seattle so long (I grew up in Reno), I tend to forget how short the drives to some really good skiing are around there.
Maybe we'll bump into each other the next time I'm down for a visit...
"Old Skoog" has gotten hip, and now skis super fat black crows...Tom would be proud of his new dude dad ;)
You guys seemed to be having a great time. The snow, in parts, had an almost cotton texture. I thought it would be the same in the bowl but it was a little heavier. The high snowpack this year provided extra branches on the traverse back to the trail and I we had a wee bit o trouble with that. See you on the mountain.
Thanks for the idea Ron. That route looks like it would be pretty sweet. Given the slighly longer access I don't think it will ever be a slut, but it looks fun enough for sure. Next winter.
Thanks to everyone, this is the type of interaction that make us all a little safer, sure glad at the worst of the story is a lost pole and ski. jamie
Lately we've been taking a couple of trips a year to Reno with some of our non-skier friends. We like to take a morning hike up in the hills north of town in Rancho San Rafael Park. This year being the first time we'd been there in the spring, we made it to the first snow patch. I was telling Brenda we could have easily carried our skis from the Fitzgerald to what looked like some really nice corn slopes a bit higher, and made it back before our gambling friends rolled out of bed.
That's a bummer Joe... if you ever need someone to join you, you know, to make it seem new and fun again... let me know :)
That's good news Kam and Ally,
So what is the job that you both are taking?
My sister is a Dr at the U of Reno and I look forward to visiting her and having someone to take tours with in the Sierras. As long as we keep the bush whacking to a minimum. ;D
Good luck on your travels,
Joe
So what is the job that you both are taking?
My sister is a Dr at the U of Reno and I look forward to visiting her and having someone to take tours with in the Sierras. As long as we keep the bush whacking to a minimum. ;D
Good luck on your travels,
Joe
Since I am one of the few who lives in the State of Washington and has not skied the Slot, it motivates me every time I see a report on it.
It keeps the Slot Chute infamous...to me at least.
I guess I'll just have to settle on skiing crap like this around my neighborhood.
;)
It keeps the Slot Chute infamous...to me at least.
I guess I'll just have to settle on skiing crap like this around my neighborhood.
;)
author=Daniel link=topic=9764.msg39789#msg39789 date=1209052667]
I always wondered how long you two would last in Virginia.
My thoughts exactly.... welcome back to the left'ern side of the continent!! ;)
Thanks for the tip, powdrx - the Slot was Hot today. Totally filled in, the face shots were so great I had to do it twice.
I skied the Slot for the first time this year, a few weeks ago, and when I think about it I'm still exhilarated. I was lucky enough to hit it in just the right frame of mind, with a couple of really fun partners. Cruising down past the dogleg, then stopping there in the eerie quiet, then hitting perfect powder in the happy valley below-- somewhere in there I glimpsed earthly nirvana. Of course I came back to reality soon enough. But every time I read a Slot TR, I per...
Ah, even though Beethoven wrote the 5th 200 years ago, it's new to someone who hears it for the first time. Don't forget your first time. Couldn't have done it w/o TAY posts, personal blogs, and NWAC. Keep posting. Imagine if Beethoven just burned the script after the first concert.
Yeah, not too crazy bout logging, but one has to admit that it does open up some hard to access terrain for skiing and some other worthy recreational pursuits. I just wish so many raw logs weren't leaving the province, be nice to cut em up into nice lamps and tables first (and marking them up the appropriate percent).
author=Daniel link=topic=9764.msg39789#msg39789 date=1209052667]
...I always wondered how long you two would last in Virginia.
what do you mean?
Hibachi Killer Paul: i'm saving up for a new hibachi, so stay back!
Its funny you say that, we have been joking around calling it the Slut Couloir all season ;)
None the less it is badass terrain that is easily accessable
None the less it is badass terrain that is easily accessable
I skied the Slot and Crooked on Sunday with dozens of others. I bet more than 100 people skied it that day. I'm still somewhat in shock over how crowded it was there. I have to say I've never seen a skin to backcountry location so crowded, but I don't go to Snoqualmie very often either. Perhaps that is norm being so close to Seattle and with frequent TAY reporting?
Beauty!! That pic perfectly illustrates the goodness of that run. Thanks for posting it! Man, I wish we'd gotten some photos like that!! :)
a shot of one of "the five" on the way down to Malakwa lake.
author=Marcus link=topic=9876.msg39796#msg39796 date=1209067868]
How far back in is that snomo ride? Is the USFS going to use your video for training purposes?
Marcus, the trip from Salmon La Sac to the drop-off point was almost 10 miles. Definitely tiring either on the machine going 8 mph max, up and down over the ruts, or behind riding the jerking and lurching sled. Grooming had stopped April 1. so the ruts were qui...
Nice video Larry -- gives a good look at that area. That was a great angle you had on John's line down from the Silver Creek overlook.
How far back in is that snomo ride? Is the USFS going to use your video for training purposes?
How far back in is that snomo ride? Is the USFS going to use your video for training purposes?
Glad to hear you hit it when it was 'good'. I hike up last Friday (18th) in 30+ mph winds coming straight down the face. 1 hour 45 min. to the top on firm (see: icy) conditions. Pretty much survival skiing to get back to the base. Cats and snowmobiles had tore up the runs when it was soft and the re-freeze was brutal. Probably my worst day of the year but it sure beat working! ;D
The Slot is the winter equivalent to the South Face of the Tooth, only it looks better in pics.
Like all 5 star routes in this state, if you do them at weird times you will have solitude.
Like all 5 star routes in this state, if you do them at weird times you will have solitude.
Heh, the rename may be apt, but I wouldn't want to dissuade Elmer from posting a TR now and again by calling him a "yapper"...
Thanks for the report Elmer. Midweek seems to be the way to do it, these days.
Thanks for the report Elmer. Midweek seems to be the way to do it, these days.
I'm wonderin' -- what with everybody in town jumping on the Slot and then feeling compelled to yap about it on the Internet -- maybe we ought to rename it The Slut Couloir"?!
Wow! This is fantastic! I always wondered how long you two would last in Virginia. Congratulations to both of you!
God bless logging roads - am in awe of your access from town
2.5hrs to the Slot (including some binding fumbling time-sorry Einar). Snowed about 2-4in from 7:30-9:30. Sun was in and out on the way up. Slot was choice Spring Powder... 6 tracks down it now. Phantom was typical heavy smoo by noon so get out early!! Crooked was untracked as of yesterday.
Enjoy!!
No pics... but everyone knows...
Enjoy!!
No pics... but everyone knows...