TR Replies
Thanks for the great stories and good info. Garth
Joe,
It's a very short, easy, <1/2mi from the road through the forest, up above the river, to get to the lower chutes. The climb up is very steep and long which makes for a great 2400' ride down from the north ridge. Before the long ride down we climbed up the nw most summit to ride about 700' into the north bowl, then a short hike up the N ridge again and down. 15mins brought us back to the snowmos on the road.
It's a very short, easy, <1/2mi from the road through the forest, up above the river, to get to the lower chutes. The climb up is very steep and long which makes for a great 2400' ride down from the north ridge. Before the long ride down we climbed up the nw most summit to ride about 700' into the north bowl, then a short hike up the N ridge again and down. 15mins brought us back to the snowmos on the road.
J.P.
Getting in is all about the snowmos this year!
Boot
Getting in is all about the snowmos this year!
Boot
Good Job!!
That's a long haul in-I think I know that line from my summer hiking-You have to know exactly where that is to take it.
I was just talking about that line to my buddies last weekend-good Ju-Ju
One of the longest straight lines other than those on Mt Rainier itself that I know.
The top has several sweet drops before the 2000ft straight decent to Wright Creek. Because of the exposure (slide potential), only skiable (rideable) in the dead of winter or with good l...
That's a long haul in-I think I know that line from my summer hiking-You have to know exactly where that is to take it.
I was just talking about that line to my buddies last weekend-good Ju-Ju
One of the longest straight lines other than those on Mt Rainier itself that I know.
The top has several sweet drops before the 2000ft straight decent to Wright Creek. Because of the exposure (slide potential), only skiable (rideable) in the dead of winter or with good l...
author=alpymarr link=topic=6086.msg25207#msg25207 date=1169538611]
See my PM on other Olympics tours. I haven't been on skis to any of those places you mention except the Ellinor chute. Maybe this will be the year? Mt. Townsend gets skied fairly regularly. What are the lines on Washington? That would be cool, I can see it from my house! ;D
Nice Boot! That has long been a favorite spring trip for me and I have always wanted to do it this time of year. Did you use a snowmobile for access to the trailhead or did you ski/ hike in?
J.P.
J.P.
The folks with snow down their shirts were not so angry. More like oblivious. They set off a small slide in the middle of a slope and decided that would be a fun place to dig a snow cave. With no wands to indicate their cave, we cautiously skied the left side of the slope, but on a steep roll a 40' x 20' x 1' slide slid over their snow cave. As the snow was piling up, I noticed a snowshoe moving in the rubble. So we skied over to check out the scene.
We found a sno...
We found a sno...
Morse Creek has been a destination for Yakima skiers since the 1930s, long before Crystal Mountain was even imagined. The Gold Hill cabin is still used by Yakima folks, under a Forest Service lease. You can find notes about it grouped under "1930s+: Morse Creek, Gold Hill cabin" on the following page:
http://www.alpenglow.org/ski-history/subjects/H-info.html#huts
http://www.alpenglow.org/ski-history/subjects/H-info.html#huts
Skip,
I just looked at the map and the sign is pointing SE on a tree, obscured under a branch located at the 5900 mark at Pickhandle Gap.
Curious why the town was at 6000ft and the gap is 5900ft. Must be old school calculations.
It would have been fun to run into your tour at that point.
I understand the 410 Yakima side road is plowed to the gate right about at the road that goes up to the Morse Creek Cabins. That road end is about 2.5 miles from the highway.
Do you hav...
I just looked at the map and the sign is pointing SE on a tree, obscured under a branch located at the 5900 mark at Pickhandle Gap.
Curious why the town was at 6000ft and the gap is 5900ft. Must be old school calculations.
It would have been fun to run into your tour at that point.
I understand the 410 Yakima side road is plowed to the gate right about at the road that goes up to the Morse Creek Cabins. That road end is about 2.5 miles from the highway.
Do you hav...
author=Joedabaker link=topic=6082.msg25216#msg25216 date=1169589866]
Based on that info, Fog City at 6000ft, must have been on the plateau SE of Pickhandle Gap.
Your info is consistent with my map, Joe; that bench is what we were considering to be the former location of Fog City.
I'm curious: where's the Fog City sign you mentioned you came across? Down on the road? We traversed south side of Pic...
Answered my own question about "Fog City"
Thanks to Lowell Skoog's Alpenglow site and Google.
Very interesting, Based on that info, Fog City at 6000ft, must have been on the plateau SE of Pickhandle Gap. I did not think that Jim Town was in Pickhandle basin, rather just SW of Bear Gap. Thanks for the insight.
Joe
Thanks to Lowell Skoog's Alpenglow site and Google.
Very interesting, Based on that info, Fog City at 6000ft, must have been on the plateau SE of Pickhandle Gap. I did not think that Jim Town was in Pickhandle basin, rather just SW of Bear Gap. Thanks for the insight.
Joe
Telemack - thanks for the trip report - the three directions of cornices on the same ridge line were really weird!!!
Scotsman - now bringing Michael - THAT was a power move
motherly instinct??? HAA!!!!
that boy is ALSO a friend of MY teenage son who has yet to don a shovel and venture into the wild - we might have a foot in the door here...
talk about corruption ;)
Scotsman - now bringing Michael - THAT was a power move
motherly instinct??? HAA!!!!
that boy is ALSO a friend of MY teenage son who has yet to don a shovel and venture into the wild - we might have a foot in the door here...
talk about corruption ;)
"The car ride there had all been about him telling us about hitting switch 180's off kickers, but the ride home was all about fresh tracks, skinning and how much it would cost for a set of AT gear. "
Nice! I love it when that happens!
Nice! I love it when that happens!
author=telemack link=topic=6086.msg25169#msg25169 date=1169478948]
Yah, we stayed away from all N-facing, tho we were tempted. What was the exact location and elevation of the slab? And how long does it take from where you live to get to the Oly goods?
Aspect was NE and elevation roughly 300 feet above the rope tow. I am in Olympia and frequent Alpy and MRNP. Looking to go on an extended tour into Royal Basin and hopefully a...
This is old news already, but here are some more (okay, a lot more) pics and a little video I put together from footage from the two trips:
Preacher Mountain Couloirs
A couple highlights:
traversing below the east ridge of Preacher
Preacher Mountain Couloirs
A couple highlights:
traversing below the east ridge of Preacher
Nice trax in the ghost forest. Is that pointy thing Mt. Washington?
Good times yesterday guys. What could be better than skiing fresh snow in old growth on Sunday morning with friends? The short videos I took with the camera are a bit...uh...shaky. Guess the two hand approach is probably called for. I'll get better at it--I promise!
is there a person under that powder cloud?? geez, talk about face shots!! ;D
author=jdclimber link=topic=6082.msg25154#msg25154 date=1169413116">
Got a nice early start and then skied a SE slope down from Bear Gap. Snow was pretty stable on that aspect, dug a pit to confirm, http://cascadesnowgeek.blogspot.com/.
Then toured over to "Fog City"
It is funny you should mention Fog City. A couple weeks ago was the first time I noticed that old sign. I...
Marcus~
Good work, I explored out there on new years day, some good terrain for sure to be had out there, lemme know next time your going.
Good work, I explored out there on new years day, some good terrain for sure to be had out there, lemme know next time your going.
SnowCaves + Snowshoes+Open slope-Wands=Skiers in hole surrounded by angry folks w/ snow down their shirts. ???
from the forest road (standing due east from Kendall Stump), we could see a sizable slide on the most obvious SE clearing...it had already given way before we were able to see it (~9 am on saturday)...i think that might be the same one you saw dangerT
Heavens - We are are jealous of your riding.
Snocave collapes with folks inside? damn, sux for them.
Speaking of steriods - I'm sure there a healthy dose of them a mcgriddle!
You better keep this up!
Snocave collapes with folks inside? damn, sux for them.
Speaking of steriods - I'm sure there a healthy dose of them a mcgriddle!
You better keep this up!
author=snoslut link=topic=6090.msg25177#msg25177 date=1169489789]
I got a few pics of gregm harvesting some in a untouched bowl if anybody is interested.
yo i'm intersted
one of snoslut
i missed the snocave incident but i swear the rest is true - including the dude with the neon pants!
there were some good turns to be had (skier #2 here, guy in green). i missed the guy with the face-paint though...
I was expecting a circus but when I saw it was you guys I smiled. Nice meeting you again Monica. Btw what kind of steriods you use?? I've had to deviate from my standard of corndogs since they don't sell them at 5am. I'm on mcgriddles and redbull now.
Interesting weekend in terms of snow stability. Kept you on your toes and knocked the adrenaline level up a notch.
What I observed/heard over Saturday and Sunday at Heather Ridge.
1. Snowshoe'er s...
Interesting weekend in terms of snow stability. Kept you on your toes and knocked the adrenaline level up a notch.
What I observed/heard over Saturday and Sunday at Heather Ridge.
1. Snowshoe'er s...
Great trip Telemack,
Just a little more information. The ridge has cornices both sides( although bigger on the NW side )which is an indication of how the winds have been changing direction up there. The lee slopes did indeed look inviting and spooky and we stayed away. ;)
The Michael that was with us was a 15yr old friend of my son Stewie and this was his first BC trip. :D
I had taken him with Stewie to Crystal the day before and checked out...
Just a little more information. The ridge has cornices both sides( although bigger on the NW side )which is an indication of how the winds have been changing direction up there. The lee slopes did indeed look inviting and spooky and we stayed away. ;)
The Michael that was with us was a 15yr old friend of my son Stewie and this was his first BC trip. :D
I had taken him with Stewie to Crystal the day before and checked out...
Preston - great riding with you and Chris yesterday. Special props for those who laid down the uptrack on Saturday (I guess that is one benefit of Sunday tours). It made lapping the trees that much more enjoyable/quick! And beating the traffic made the beers that much more enjoyable back in Seattle...
We were also up in the Kendall Peaks region on Sunday (joamna I think it was you we saw below us as we went up the NE ridge toward Kendall Peak). Also concerned about the avy conditions, we dug a pit at about 5400', and it showed similar results as others have reported. Shovel shear test broke with ease about 2" above the old rain crust, but on compression testing, we couldn't get snow to slide on that layer even with numerous whacks from the shoulder. The new sn...
Yah, we stayed away from all N-facing, tho we were tempted. What was the exact location and elevation of the slab? And how long does it take from where you live to get to the Oly goods?
In 1988 and 1990 had some big dumps in Seattle. I skate skied on downhill gear completely across Ballard, then got sweet turns on Phinney Ridge, very steep.
The terrain park is at The Locks in Ballard. If you know where the lawn on both sides of the locks does the short rolling levels you will know what I mean. With a foot and a half of snow it was super fun. We also skied the sand dunes at Discovery Park.
The terrain park is at The Locks in Ballard. If you know where the lawn on both sides of the locks does the short rolling levels you will know what I mean. With a foot and a half of snow it was super fun. We also skied the sand dunes at Discovery Park.
I was also up at Hurricane Ridge today, first time skiing there outtabounds. Conditions were pretty nice as telemack stated, and stability tests revealed the same as his. I personally think that Hurricane Ridge is a bit of a buzz kill, since I have a monster drive up there, but nonetheless a fun trip. Think I'll try some other tours in the area with hopefully a LOT more vert and options available. My buddy(snowshoeing snowbaorder, and a bit slow at the thinking thing) decided he liked the l...
Thanks for the excellent trip report and inspiration. We had planned to ski out of Stevens Pass today, but reading the trip reports at 6 am caused us to quickly reconsider. Thanks to philfort, zap, silas and others for taking the time after a long day of skiing to warn us of the potential danger. Without much time to plan, we thought we would try out the Kendall area. Found some really nice slopes, were a little worried about avy hazard so we dug some pits. Took a pretty firm pull to dislodge th...
I will agree with Russ' conclusions about the back side, a lot of sluffing was going on in the more open and glade type areas enough so that my partner was covered up to his waist with the stuff that he was throwing off...ended up lift riding a little before noon on the backside of Stevens proper and did some hiking off of southern cross chair and found it to be fairly consistent...taught lessons for a few hours later in the day (boy was that fun) and then headed home satisfied...&nbs...
Interesting day... the backside of Yodelin was surprisingly stable. New snow at ~14" showed weak bonding, but only resulted in some surface sluffing. On the long low angle tree runs it was a mixture of soft new snow and chunks of frozen tree dropped blobs.
Only run on the front side resulted in a 30' wide, ~16" deep slab releasing in front of me on a steeper slope. This was low down just as we intersected the skin path 2 switchbacks above the parking lot.
Only run on the front side resulted in a 30' wide, ~16" deep slab releasing in front of me on a steeper slope. This was low down just as we intersected the skin path 2 switchbacks above the parking lot.
I could not agree more. I triggered a similar slab in the same area west of moonlight below the cell phone tower which propagated a long way as it slid. Skecthy as hell. I stayed in the trees for the rest of the run and didn't go back for seconds. It scared the shit out of me! It was real deep and fluffy though!
Nice TR and photos. It's great to see some "new to me areas".
I was there also, witnessed many slabs and set one off myself. Crowns were mainly 12" or less. First slide was on the skin up breaking trail, slope right in front of the trailbreaker just broke away. Nothing huge though, tg. The fracture propagated maybe 20-30 feet w/ 12" or less crown.
Final note, it didn't really seem to matter what aspect you were on. If it was steep enough it would slide. Of course everything is kinda of loaded on the backside there.
I�...
Final note, it didn't really seem to matter what aspect you were on. If it was steep enough it would slide. Of course everything is kinda of loaded on the backside there.
I�...
We spent the day just west of the pass... I would say these were the sketchiest conditions I've been out in this year. We set off many slabs, intentionally and not, and some triggered remotely. One which propagated a good distance in forest. Several naturals from overnight, all around. Lots of shooting cracks.
Yup, I would say fairly sketchy.
Yup, I would say fairly sketchy.
Silas, Thanks for the nice skin track on the PCT. I was planning to ride the lifts but the State Patrol chain stop backed up traffic and I was behind the power curve for the resort. Pulled out the touring gear and followed a nice skin track up Heather Ridge. It was snowing throughout the day with a light wind from the west. I was surprised to find 18" of light snow along the uptrack. Stopped along the western edge of Moonlight and descended the tight trees towa...
Similar Snow Test Results at Heather Ridge on North Facing slope. Test RBlock was on a 35 Degree Slope. First layer of more than a foot or more slide at RB2. Lower crust layer about 2 feet down, slide at RB6. Stayed in the trees all day. With Mini slides going off pretty much all around.
Tom has a really nice aerial photo that he took a few days prior to the trip.
That's good stuff! Those kids must have been fired up (adults, too)! Growing up in NH in the 70's when we actually had snow all winter there was a lot of that going on.
In regards to in-town turns, we took advantage of a couple of spots in W Seattle during that 2004 storm. One was that small park at the end of California overlooking Alki, that was good. Then we found the West Seattle golf course (btw Delridge and Avalon) to be the real jewel...
In regards to in-town turns, we took advantage of a couple of spots in W Seattle during that 2004 storm. One was that small park at the end of California overlooking Alki, that was good. Then we found the West Seattle golf course (btw Delridge and Avalon) to be the real jewel...
Sluff. Nothing too scary but for the location.
I was at Snoqualmie Central with my grandson(sherpa training) and the heavy snowfall earlier in the morning turned to freezing rain at 11am and continued until we left at 1pm. I noticed a slight raincrust developing on my last run at 11:01am. Had to wait for the trainee to finish his lesson. The raincrust may be an issue at lower elevation tours this weekend.
Yikes - sounds like an entertaining moment toward the end of the run there. Sluff or slab?