TR Replies

Hi Ian,

Fantastic pics - seriously. Jason told me you had prime conditions, but you really made it sing. What I hadn't realized is that you were on Sherman Pass. I remember that article in Couloir and thinking at the time I should put that on my to-do list. Perhaps I'll have to revisit the idea...

-s

1/11/07 5:50am

jimjar

Cool Russ. Just let me know. I also have a second splitboard if he would like to give one a try sometime.

1/11/07 12:50am

philfort

Drove through there once on the way back from something, and thought we'd do a day of skiing. But there was only 1 foot of snowpack (it was New Years), and we couldn't see any appealing terrain from the pass (just dense trees everywhere...)

Looks nice in your pics though...

1/11/07 12:43am

Spin Fast

Glad I'm not there this weekend - predicted lows of -4 to -14 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ian

1/10/07 2:03pm

mej

Nice. I've always wanted to get over to that area.

1/10/07 8:49am

russ

Thanks for the comments on bc boarding, I'll pass them on. He's focusing on school this year, but wants to join in next.

jimjar - thanks for the offer, I'll PM you.

- Russ

1/10/07 6:59am

Jason_H.

The coldest day of skiing I've ever done was somewhere around there. I have some crazy black and white shots I took for photography class probably 10 years ago. We were climbing frozen trees. It was wild looking stuff. I'll have to dig those up sometime.

1/10/07 5:45am

skykilo

Hi Ian! Beautiful photos.

~~Let's go climb Hard Mox this summer.~~ OOPS, wrong Ian.

1/10/07 4:42am

Jason_H.

Nice images. You do a good job :)

1/9/07 2:26pm

Spin Fast

Like Telemack said it's not necessarily a secret, although 1) either not many know about it or 2) it's hard to get the hut on the weekend. We didn't see anyone out there and according to the log, there haven't been many skiers up there anytime recently.

Snow Peak Shelter - it sleeps four comfortably, five would be tight, six...no thanks. It's fully stocked, including cots! The physical location of the hut doesn't make much sense as it sits right on a very...

1/9/07 1:58pm

Spin Fast

author=Tophervw link=topic=5972.msg24748#msg24748 date=1168385691]
is that photographer available for hire?

Always for hire and very cheap! I'll exchange priceless photographs for trips :D

Ian

1/9/07 1:37pm

telemack

The Terminal Gravity was fine by me and made a great chaser for the Yukon Jack and schnapps :D

1/9/07 1:24pm

telemack

I'll spill the beans, sort of. It's not super secret; I learned of this in BC and Couloir, and my family and I had a great short trip in April 2005.
It's the Snow Peaks Shelter, south of Sherman Pass on Route 20 in Colville National Forest. 7+ hours, access through Republic or Kettle Falls. Contact the Republic Ranger District, Colville National Forest, Republic, WA for info. The killer is that reservations are by lottery and done for an entire calendar year i...

1/9/07 11:10am

Tophervw

Russ~

Splitboard all the way. best option to test 'em out if ya can't hook up w/ jimjar would be Second Ascent in Seattle, $25 gets pick up Friday evening and return on Sunday by 6pm...best deal this side of SODO (reference dependent on your specific location, a good deal none the less).

Best of luck, I could imagine the approach skis could be a hassle to schwack through the trees and what not.

Cheers

1/9/07 8:38am

Double E

VERY cool! A bunch of us did three days of great mountain biking over there last summer, some of it perhaps on the exact same slopes you skied. Kettle Crest trail, it's called.

If I recall, the drive was 7+ hours, Topher... not the kinda thing you do every single year... unless of course you did it in conjunction with trips to see (but then escape from) the in-laws... ;)

1/9/07 7:34am

Tophervw

Good God that is beautiful country! At 5,576 ft. a great spot. What is the travel time to that area? 6 hrs + from the seattle area? any other terrain shots?

and quite well documented, is that photographer available for hire?

Way to get IT! ;D

1/9/07 7:29am

ATnicholls

Interesting report and nice photos. Thanks!

I’m curious about the hut you labeled “home sweet home.” Is that available to the public? (If you’d rather keep that information to yourself, I completely understand.)

I’m a big fan of backcountry huts that can be used for winter activities, and there are not too many available in WA, that I know of.

Thanks again.

1/9/07 5:30am

Robert Connor

It looks beautiful over there. Thanks for the report and the very nice photos.

1/9/07 5:11am

Lowell_Skoog

Nice to see a report from an unusual location in Washington. Thanks!

1/9/07 3:21am

khyak

Anyone that has seen the debri pile from chair peak unloading down to source lake would not venture that way in high avalanche danger. I really don't think there is a safe route to snow lake divide!

1/8/07 1:17pm

Kevin Steffa

Those short skies do make the steep switchbacks a little easier, and it was pretty efficient gliding up the track that day!

1/8/07 12:52pm

coyote

the rap wall is a mixed climbing venue. two tiers- the lower only has one route, the upper has several.

1/8/07 10:29am

cascadesfreak

Dec 31, 2006; Goat Wall-Knob 5188'(Methow Valley)

Kevin- Nice report and photos.

author=russ link=topic=5957.msg24720#msg24720 date=1168295535]
On second look at the photo it looks like he's using Dynafit binding/boots.

Yep, those are Dynafit bindings/boots (that's Tobin on the snowboard). If I recall correctly, he cut-off the tails of some old skis for those approach boards which have the climbing skins permanently attached.

1/8/07 9:10am

allyson

goats, schwackin' gone wrong, high octane backcountry beverages, lynx tracks...sounds like a sweet way to bring in the new year!! move over dick clark!!! ;)

great photos too you guys--here's to a happy and healthy 2007!

1/8/07 7:53am

jimjar

Russ lets hook up for a tour sometime. I have a set of short skis your son could try our. I also have a second split board if that is something you/he wants to try out. Personally once I used a split for the first time I never went back to the short skis.

1/8/07 6:38am

Jerm

Top of what is (I think) called No Fog, the gully you ski down and across to get to Source Lake from Great Scott Bowl. I saw at least 4 bolted routes. This is right off the summer path to the Tooth, so they could just be rock routes.

Route finishes at the highest icicles. If it is mixed ... looks pretty wild!

1/8/07 6:32am

russ

Kevin,

Nice photos! I noticed one of your party using shorter approach skis and snowboard. My 18 y.o. son has expressed interest in joining me on backcountry outings with his snowboard. Approach skis seem to be the best option for him since he's not interested in a split board setup.

Any feedback/tips on this approach? I couldn't tell what kind of bindings are on the approach skis, but I've been looking at the Karhu Karver binding/ski combo. If you're...

1/8/07 6:04am

climbinghighest

author=Jerm link=topic=5954.msg24712#msg24712 date=1168278698]
bolted cliff in No Fog?

Bolted cliff? Where is this again.

1/8/07 1:51am

Jerm

Is Rap Wall that bolted cliff in No Fog? Not a place I would have wanted to be yesterday....

1/7/07 1:14pm

alpymarr

Some friends and I were up in the Alpental BC this weekend. We knew perfectly well the avi danger and made sure to use the maximum caution on where to travel and where not to ski. Not to say that you can ignore the threat of natural slides, but using keen eyes and knowledge, it's do-able. Made it up to the Snow Lake saddle and camped the night up there, recieving a good two feet of light dry snow which gave way to graupel early. Awake to sounds of patrol blasting Denny. NOTHING is stable. W...

1/7/07 12:44pm

littlefrantz

Some young skiers/climbers up at the Rap Wall at Alpental got caught in an avalanche up there. Ski patrol warned them not to head up on Saturday, but they stayed overnight through today. No one was hurt, but a couple got partially buried.

1/7/07 10:35am

Jerm

Dec 31, 2006; Goat Wall-Knob 5188'(Methow Valley)

author=MW88888888 link=topic=5954.msg24679#msg24679 date=1168192567]
There will be ugly slides out there today. Devastating slides perhaps. For me, a warm bed, a hot breakfast, and dry clothes awaited.

Anyone see any of these?

I skied Alpental today expecting to see all kinda stuff rip but all I could make out were point releases. Impromptu ski cuts in the small bits of untr...

1/7/07 8:56am

Kevin Steffa

Photos:

http://picasaweb.google.com/kevinsteffa/06_12_GoatWall

1/6/07 2:22pm

Don_B

January 6, 2007, Snoqualmie Pass

I was with a party of four. We decided against Kendall and went to Hyak's Silver Fir lift where we discovered we had the hill pretty much to ourselves due to the power outage. Skinned around and up to Nordic Pass, skied down to Nordic Pass, and open slopes nearby where the groomed trails were closed, and back out via trails and ski runs. Veru deep fairly dense powder in the forest 3K to 4K feet elevation in nice calm conditions, nothing sliding (yet). In open areas around Windy Pass t...

1/6/07 11:31am

Pete A

January 6, 2007, Snoqualmie Pass

A whole gaggle of us were at Alpy this morning....we threw our backcountry gear in our cars at the last minute in case the lift lines at Alpy were too long we could opt for a tour...as it turns out with the power outage and all, it was a very wise decision to have the bc gear.

From the parking lot we could see the ski patrol setting off slides near shot 8, so we figured it would be best to skin for turns somewhere other than the ski area and give the ski patrol a break....could alre...

1/6/07 9:18am

Zap

January 6, 2007, Snoqualmie Pass

Suprisingly, a good day at the Pass. I was one of the leaders for a Mountaineers Ski and Snowboard course field trip at the old Mountaineers lodge site and it was very pleasant. The ski area was closed due to lack of power so you could tour everywhere. As Silas mentioned, the weather was mild and no wind. We dug pits and on our shovel shear test we found the failure about 12" down at 3400' at a slight rain crust. I was skiing on Friday at Snoqualmie Centra...

1/6/07 12:57am

climbinghighest

January 3, 2007, Heather Ridge

Yes, be safe today, and especially tomorrow. Avy forecast states that Sunday destrcutive slides are highly possible.

1/5/07 9:11pm

Larry_R

Sasse Ridge, Jan 3-4, 2007

author=MW88888888 link=topic=5944.msg24649#msg24649 date=1168050705]
That, or you're going to have to start reporting to the NWAC for a new Sasse Ridge telemetry site.

Thanks for the snow report.

MW, it turns out that there is a Snotel site on Sasse Ridge. This gives a fairly good idea of the conditions at 4300 feet, although unlike the NWAC sites that report precip to .01 inches, the best that the unheated Snotel...

1/5/07 2:08pm

Jim Oker

January 3, 2007, Heather Ridge

author=climbinghighest link=topic=5935.msg24650#msg24650 date=1168051158]
...TOO MUCH SNOW!!...

Looks like we may get a good spring/summer snowpack this year!

I hope we don't lose anyone tomorrow...

1/5/07 10:39am

climbinghighest

January 3, 2007, Heather Ridge

I visited Heatehr Ridge today. I'd have to say this was the first time I have been there and came across TOO MUCH SNOW!! Breaking trail the snow was knee deep, using a 166 splitboard. With no floatation you would easily sink in up to and past your waste. Really difficult to get going, and turns where basically out of the question, it was point it and go or risk getting stuck. To bad avy danger wasnt so high, the open bowls and steeps would have been nice.

1/5/07 10:31am

MW88888888

Sasse Ridge, Jan 3-4, 2007

Larry, you're going to have to start paying taxes for your homestead on Sasse! That, or you're going to have to start reporting to the NWAC for a new Sasse Ridge telemetry site.

Thanks for the snow report.

1/5/07 3:24am

Joedabaker

Sasse Ridge, Jan 3-4, 2007

author=Larry_R link=topic=5944.msg24634#msg24634 date=1168012311]
My dad taught us that sometimes you just have to go no matter what the weather, because sometimes those turn out to be the best trips.

Don't Know Unless You Go!
This has always been my motto.
When I rave of the great conditions to those that balked they write it off to my over optimistic attitude on snow conditions.
Action speaks louder th...

1/5/07 1:46am

Jim Oker

If Terminal Gravity has their Barleywine available, that's a yummy beer for those who like heavy/strong brews, and it is certainly the most efficient sort of beer to tote up the hill. Try emailing CB (Connoly) and see how much beer he's willing to haul in for you...

1/4/07 11:54pm

Scotsman

md2020,
They had a min-keg in the cook yurt but it didn't work realy well and they had to decant the beer into a pot which we ladeled into our cups. It was nice, and much aprreciated but if you are serious about your beer, bring your own. ;)

Some other info you may find useful. We stayed in Chandler's Inn the night before meeting the guides. It was very good value and very nice and their breakfast is killer. They w...

1/4/07 9:59am

larry's sister

Dec 27-28, 2006, Tronsen

about Larry's stove... Lar you forgot to mention the value of your stove in just heating your tent. I am so often sitting in my tent in the near ambient 6 degrees or 16 degrees, whatever it is outside and I find out that down in Larry's tent it is so warm that he is sitting around in his base layer, while I am in full parka and primaloft pants. I have an antique stove too, just not so nice. My Coleman Peak One melts all of my water in about 15 - 20 minutes and t...

1/4/07 7:38am

md2020