TR Replies
Great to see so much discussion - thanks for sharing your experience with everyone, Eric, and of course I'm glad you're ok. I've skied that slope innumerable times each year since 1999 and to be honest, when I read your description, I know that I could make the same mistake. It's a reminder to us all that the "jones factor" goodness of cold late season snow needs to be taken with a large grain of salt. I try to remember to stay the hell off the sou...
author=BWW link=topic=9836.msg39634#msg39634 date=1208745957]
I guess that I'm concerned that we missed something that should have been an obvious red flag.
The red flag to the armchair observer is that there was no real stability assessment of that slope, your experience mistakenly allowed you to believe you could recognize slab or potentially instabilities by visual reference. I don't expect to ever have enough...
Here is another photo from the tour. Cass ripping it on the "Kick-Ass Blasters", aka "Vente Cocoas".
Telemack, definitely check out skibuilders.com for the run down on building your own ski's. Kelvin and Kam have done an amazing job with the shop and the website. I was on a pair modeled on the "Little Wings", and Cass' on "Space Pants".
Telemack, definitely check out skibuilders.com for the run down on building your own ski's. Kelvin and Kam have done an amazing job with the shop and the website. I was on a pair modeled on the "Little Wings", and Cass' on "Space Pants".
Jimmy, you funny. I sucks getting old doesn't it?
yeah I cleaned my glasses and see... South side.
Stag Leap never fails. Ever.
Did you ride on the north or south side of the road?
Did you ride on the north or south side of the road?
That's a fun hike in the summer too, the view is pretty unbeaten.
author=BrianLee link=topic=9850.msg39651#msg39651 date=1208758075]
I can't wait to get back there when there is good snow.
I wish I had a dollar for every time I thought or said that line.
I know it is a long way from Loop Loop and Methow, but looking at their webcam shots, it's surprising that there is enough snow there given the warming on the Eastern slopes.
Good job!
That was pretty much our ascent route, except for the upper part; we climbed up to the ridge quite a ways further to the left where it was less steep, then followed the ridge to the summit.
author=trumpetsailor link=topic=9821.msg39644#msg39644 date=1208754253]
Looks like you got it good. Good job! :).
Hi Trumpetsailor,
From where we met up there last month, go right around a litle knowl to reach the entrance of the Twins. I found it to be the most moderate entrance. And the "hidden exit" I talked about across the way is really moderate as well, and easily visible from the bottom. One can...
I had fun slowshoeing in the Tatoosh Sat/Sun. Still recovering from shoulder surgery, so no skiing (falling) for me.
Saw a small ski-cut-triggered slab on a north aspect east of The Castle Saturday. Photo here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dennyt/2429407249/. Sunday morning heading up the same gully we strayed into some steeper territory until we heard one good WHOOMP. Enough of that, turned around, and went up a different way, only to see a natural slab...
Saw a small ski-cut-triggered slab on a north aspect east of The Castle Saturday. Photo here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dennyt/2429407249/. Sunday morning heading up the same gully we strayed into some steeper territory until we heard one good WHOOMP. Enough of that, turned around, and went up a different way, only to see a natural slab...
Looks like you got it good. Good job! :).
Nifty - I've been eying that line on and off while surveying the quad (primarily as a way up Alaska). Good to hear that it's good!
Nice job guys! Sounds like your patience was rewarded handsomely, Becky.
It was nice to meet you all, and thanks again for letting us tag along on the way out. Here are a couple pics, and more here.
Marcus powdering his face
Marcus powdering his face
Eric,
Hermann seems to be one of the worst spots for slabs in the Baker area. The wind blows down valley and wraps around the ridge itself before heading towards the big drop of the Nooksak. I was out nine days ago with a friend on Hermann and it was quite reactive. We remotely triggered a slab down valley from your slide site and there was lots of settling and whumping. Neverless, we had a great day by picking lines through the trees and staying away from stee...
Hermann seems to be one of the worst spots for slabs in the Baker area. The wind blows down valley and wraps around the ridge itself before heading towards the big drop of the Nooksak. I was out nine days ago with a friend on Hermann and it was quite reactive. We remotely triggered a slab down valley from your slide site and there was lots of settling and whumping. Neverless, we had a great day by picking lines through the trees and staying away from stee...
Thanks for the skin tracks (from you and the group of 5 in front)!
Lee A, Doug D, and Kristin K followed your nice tracks and completed the circumnavigation today as well--- we are sorry we were too lazy this morning and missed skiing with you!
I couldn't believe the snow on the ski to Melakwa lakes either, I hadn't zipped my jacket up fully and carried an extra few pounds of snow down with me. Small price to pay for the nice deep powder. We kept expecting th...
Lee A, Doug D, and Kristin K followed your nice tracks and completed the circumnavigation today as well--- we are sorry we were too lazy this morning and missed skiing with you!
I couldn't believe the snow on the ski to Melakwa lakes either, I hadn't zipped my jacket up fully and carried an extra few pounds of snow down with me. Small price to pay for the nice deep powder. We kept expecting th...
author=Boot link=topic=9814.msg39618#msg39618 date=1208730927]
Joe, have you continued up to Slide before?
Not yet Boot, but if I had enough time and more importantly a ski partner or two I would have kept going. As you know it is a long approach from the lower road to Slide (6 miles uphill just to get there). It's only a few miles from my house to the trailhead, so maybe sooner than later...Of course the distance woul...
Gregg,
Thanks for your post and your pictures. I was wishing that we had taken some. It looks like the second was taken very near to the spot I dropped in. I'm not sure, but it looks like the first pic shows the second crown, and just a bit of the crown from the first slide at the right side of the shot.
I would certainly defer to experience regarding your assessment of conditions, especially since you were at the same spot that day or the nex...
Thanks for your post and your pictures. I was wishing that we had taken some. It looks like the second was taken very near to the spot I dropped in. I'm not sure, but it looks like the first pic shows the second crown, and just a bit of the crown from the first slide at the right side of the shot.
I would certainly defer to experience regarding your assessment of conditions, especially since you were at the same spot that day or the nex...
We had a similar incident on the south side of Mt. Snoqualmie on Saturday. A skier set off a slow moving slough slide that caught 2 people, one got carried 60-75 feet and stopped herself by grabbing onto a tree as the slide went by. The other was standing next to a tree and got his legs covered. The crown was probably 10-12 inches and 40 feet across and slid to the basin floor about 300 feet below. Luckily nobody was hurt, but it was amazing as to how fast it happened an...
Thanks for the post -- glad you're allright.
FYI for those O1s, they definitely have the cartridge bindings curse of unscrewing themselves -- try a little teflon tape around the threads and see if that helps keep them in place.
FYI for those O1s, they definitely have the cartridge bindings curse of unscrewing themselves -- try a little teflon tape around the threads and see if that helps keep them in place.
Nice! I was afraid it might have shmooed up after yesterday -- glad you guys got the goods.
Eric-
We were skinning up to the Blueberry chutes and watched both releases yesterday.
I'm glad to know you and the rest of you group were ok, we wondered how everyone had fared.
We were skinning up to the Blueberry chutes and watched both releases yesterday.
I'm glad to know you and the rest of you group were ok, we wondered how everyone had fared.
Nice work guys! Becky, I'm glad you finally got to ski the circum -- it's a good one -- and with powder in April, who would have thought!? Even better! :) It would have been fun to join you guys but gotta buckle down or I'll never graduate. ;)
I was out skiing by myself when I came across your avy. Sorry to hear about the slide and the lost gear. I have a pair of anti-pistes mounted with Pures and love them for powder skiing. A couple of points. That section of the ridge is notorious for getting wind loaded. I have been skiing Baker backcountry since '84 and have rarely rolled over the top of the slope where you entered in. Only in the most stable conditions do we drop that slope over the top.&...
Re: stability yesterday (4/19)
In the Tatoosh on north-ish aspects around Unicon Saddle, we found very low density new snow on top of a hard crust - I likened it to powdered sugar on glass.
Though the bond to the crust was not very strong, the new snow had virtually no cohesion, and thus was not behaving like a slab. We got numerous sluffs to run, but weren't worried about slab releases...
EXCEPT where there were wind drifts.
(This was also ment...
In the Tatoosh on north-ish aspects around Unicon Saddle, we found very low density new snow on top of a hard crust - I likened it to powdered sugar on glass.
Though the bond to the crust was not very strong, the new snow had virtually no cohesion, and thus was not behaving like a slab. We got numerous sluffs to run, but weren't worried about slab releases...
EXCEPT where there were wind drifts.
(This was also ment...
Yes, that was me that Ash posted about yesterday.
I'm not sure why my binding popped off so easily, but it felt like a fluke thing to me. I pretty much have them set up per the factory recommendations, which feels fairly tight to me. I have noticed that they need readjusting every so often; I think that the cartridges must rotate a bit on their own during use. They were tight yesterday though, so it seemed weird to me. I feel like I may have been ab...
I'm not sure why my binding popped off so easily, but it felt like a fluke thing to me. I pretty much have them set up per the factory recommendations, which feels fairly tight to me. I have noticed that they need readjusting every so often; I think that the cartridges must rotate a bit on their own during use. They were tight yesterday though, so it seemed weird to me. I feel like I may have been ab...
Joe, have you continued up to Slide before? This sure has been the year of adventure in finding new, low level runs. I've hiked that many times, even in the winter to get to Slide, but it's never had enough coverage low down to ride all the way. This is late May '05.
From the NWAC avy report this AM:
"There were no reports of slab avalanches to the NWAC from
the ski areas or on the Turns All Year web site for
Saturday. Some triggered point release powder snow
avalanches on steeper slopes were reported from near the
Mt Baker ski area."
Given my post yesterday, it's interesting that the NWAC didn't consider this to be a slab avalanche. Is this due to some hypertechnical definition?&n...
"There were no reports of slab avalanches to the NWAC from
the ski areas or on the Turns All Year web site for
Saturday. Some triggered point release powder snow
avalanches on steeper slopes were reported from near the
Mt Baker ski area."
Given my post yesterday, it's interesting that the NWAC didn't consider this to be a slab avalanche. Is this due to some hypertechnical definition?&n...
What is usually important at this time of year with new snow over a buried crust is the penetration of radiation (especially longwave) to the crust. This radiation can cause an almost instantaneous loss of adhesion or bonding at the crust. This seems true especially for crusts that are buried less than about 18"-24" (which is usually the case in spring). Often the snow surface can, for a period of time, remain dry because of atmospheric effects. What seems to happen is that the radiati...
Link to his thread and story here: http://www.turns-all-year.com/skiing_snowboarding/trip_reports/index.php?topic=9836.new
Wow! Glad you're alright! Is this you? http://www.turns-all-year.com/skiing_snowboarding/trip_reports/index.php?topic=9817.0
Wow, how did your ski come off with the 01s? Do you run low preload? I wouldn't expect those bindings to come off, I have the same and they seem to fit very securely. Glad to hear you're OK. The sun affects the powder very quickly this time of year, turning light snow to slabby mashed potatoes in minutes even at relatively cool temps of 15-20F.
Awesome. I worked in Misty Fjords in 97' and 98' and, though the mountains aren't tall, I always knew there was lots of terrain to hit in SE AK. Thanks for sharing, Jimmy. So that one photo of your friends is really looking over the water at Admiralty Island? It looks sooo close!
John
John
As usual Mr. Skoog, total style and class. Thanks for sharing it.
It was great meeting you guys after reading all your posts over the years! I know Marcus already said this but thanks again for the beta on the return route and the ride back to our car -- what a nice tour.
I still can't believe all the powder and face shots!!! Yesterday was such a great day.
--Kirsten :)
I still can't believe all the powder and face shots!!! Yesterday was such a great day.
--Kirsten :)
Opps, meant to say 'was about a foot of snow on valley floor, snowpack model says 6 inches new in last week'.
Or something like that anyway. :) Roughly. An approximation, an estimate, a shot in the dark....
Larry
Or something like that anyway. :) Roughly. An approximation, an estimate, a shot in the dark....
Larry
author=Larry_R link=topic=9835.msg39597#msg39597 date=1208703066]
There is still plenty of snow on Sasse Ridge however for those who want to do a spring trip to Jolly. There is about a foot of new snow, 80% coverage on the valley floor, building rapidly as you go up.
A foot of new! That far east, it's gonna be a good week in the Teanaway!
J
author=snoslut link=topic=9821.msg39592#msg39592 date=1208665481]
Gotta love the Twins. Appears that they have treated you well.
I absolutely Agree, snoslut! That skiers left Twin is in the top five lines of my winter! After that we skinned up to about 100 vert. of the top of Camel Toes. Another nice long sustained slope. Do you know if it is accessible from the south? That side looks a bit forbidding from below. FYI, there...
We skied Silver Star several years ago and approached from the SE. We took the Washougal River Road, left onto NE Hughes Rd, right onto NE Miller Rd, right onto NE 39th, left onto NE 412th, right onto Skamania Mines Rd. The roads are plowed by the 2 or 3 families that live up there. We parked at the intersection of Skamania Mines Rd and W1200. We followed the W1200 rd on skis to around, trail 180 to Silver Star.
The terrain between Silver Star and Chimney Rocks looks really good and...
The terrain between Silver Star and Chimney Rocks looks really good and...
Gotta love the Twins. Appears that they have treated you well.
author=Clem link=topic=9821.msg39588#msg39588 date=1208660296]
One of our skiers was swept off his feet however.
Yeah, and upon skidding on the rough crust that the sluff exposed, another in our group went head over skis, slid, flipped once more, and looked generally silly in front of all those folks!
Clem, had to get this one of you in action since you got ones of Swooz and I!
A great day indeed. Who would have believed this snow on April 19? Snow had blown in on the north facing slopes we skied, at times seemed about 18" deep. The only instabilities we saw were on southwest facing slopes. There was an underlying firm suncrust and the new 8" had bonded porly. In places every turn set off a sluff but not a slab and no propagation. One of our skiers was swept off his feet however.
Great to finally meet so many regulars and thanks again for the beta on return routes and the lift back to the car. Unbelievable snow.
Holy Cow! Looks like you skied about 50 miles that day! Done the 'ol Valley Blanche once and wished I would have made the tour over to C. Italy, too. Think in one of those photos I can just make out the top part of the Grand Pilier D'Angle near the Peutery? Oh I must get back there (not to ski the G. P. D'angle...no way, no way....) that area is So COOL.
I hear the Three Cols" tour some where over by Argentier and Aiguill du...
I hear the Three Cols" tour some where over by Argentier and Aiguill du...