TR Replies

Dec 23, 2006, Red Mtn. 3 Peak-Pt 5703 Cle Elum

Nice to meet you guys! Fantastic day indeed -- I had a snow beard and clogged nostrils on every run...

12/25/06 6:03am

Stimbuck

Hey John,

Can't believe your 41! Happy Birthday and happy touring. Hope to see you out there.

Stimbuck

12/25/06 5:26am

teter

December 16-18, 2006, Marriot Basin (Cayoosh) B.C.

The way that he described is rather steep and quite dangerous the only way I know out to that shoot is steep and in rather a long trek to get out there but good luck and so you know alot of us call it the smoka chute

12/24/06 1:26pm

motsies

thanks for the report!! i searched the cabin and the whole canadian alpine club network is just amazing...got to get up into the great BC backcountry at some point

12/24/06 8:23am

jdclimber

Yes, good times on the 23rd. No doubt about it.
Great skiing and super fun snow geeking.
Results posted here: http://cascadesnowgeek.blogspot.com/
Looking forward to looking at all of the pictures. Face shots all day.

12/24/06 7:18am

cascadesfreak

We also found super fun skiing at Yodelin on a tour there yesterday (Dec. 23rd). We had 3 excellent runs in the forest (about 800 vf each) with face-shots on almost every turn. Definitely seemed like a day to stay clear of steeper and more open slopes owing to the significant avy hazard. We heard several avy bombs go off in the direction of the Stevens ski area during the morning. The shallow crust layer underlying the new snow since Wednesday was generally about 10-to-15...

12/23/06 1:04pm

altasnob

Dec 23, 2006, Red Mtn. 3 Peak-Pt 5703 Cle Elum

Headed out from the quicksilver lift into three-way basin. We lapped a moderately angled face all day. My friend triggered a slide on the first run (faintly visible in the middle of the pic below). It was isolated, slow moving, and didn't propagate, but was still enough to keep us from getting too adventurous. The resort was blasting South Back all day, which unleashed some pretty substantial slides, but they did open it up in the afternoon.

12/23/06 11:08am

John Morrow

Oops photos:

12/23/06 10:07am

RonL

Dec 23 SnoQ Trees Very High Avi Danger

Correct it was sliding on friday's snow, not the prior crust. We were out of there by 10am, turned around around 5k.

12/23/06 8:37am

spltbrdr

Dec 23 SnoQ Trees Very High Avi Danger

RonL- don't know if it was you and your partner setting up the tracks across the gully from us (we were a party of 6 plus 1 four legged friend). Our planned tour was changed as well to the trees below Bryant Peak - we found similar conditions to those you described. A ski cut set off a nice soft slab on a steep section that was about 12" deep and ran for about 100 yards. It did not slide on the crust mentioned in the avy reports but perhaps on the previous snowfall fr...

12/23/06 4:18am

ajjenkin

So, Tony B, were you with the "Usual Suspects" or did you come by later and snap that photo?

Thanks Ron. Now that we are hitched I may have some wet nurse work in the future also.

Headed back to the "Middle Kingdom" (MI) today for the holidays, so take some turns for me and write tr's!

12/23/06 2:16am

Tophervw

Excelent~

more and more splitters comming out of the wood work....Perhaps a PNW splitfest is in call for.

Good work, Cebolla perhaps an excursion in the future?

12/23/06 1:56am

cebolla

Thanks for the info.
My Partner has toured Jim Hill and said it was awesome. They all sound fun. I tend to like longer tours rather than lapping things, so these could be up my ally. Not that Yodelin was bad or anything, just really short.

Thanks again

12/23/06 12:48am

JCK

Arrowhead Pk, Jim Hill, Jove Peak and Lichtenburg are all close & have good skiing. Jim Hill has a long approach, whereas Arrowhead is pretty short. Jim Hill is best suited to days with decent stablity. Jove has a very long approach...great skiing, but get an early start.

12/22/06 1:22pm

Eric Lindahl

Last spring, while lunching at or quite close to where this picture was taken, a couple guys skinned up to us and said the tracks we were admiring in this coulour were theirs. I think they were snow pack surveyors for WSDOT. Either they have a great job or were getting a few turns on their day off. I think they said they went up just on the back side of the lefthand skyline ridge in the photo. I have been half way up that ridge to ski a nearby bowl. Though I'm...

12/22/06 12:37pm

altasnob

Went out to Morse again today (12/22). Snow was super fast and velvety smooth. Very stable, no signs of any thing beyond sluff. One of the better days I've had touring this year.

Anyone know of an easy way to get to the top of this prominent couloir?

12/22/06 10:37am

Tony_Bentley

12/22/06 7:35am

RonL

Sorry to hear about your leg GregL. I hope to see you up in the mtns again soon.
Thanks for the turns Mike, and don't call me a wet nurse!
Congrats Tony!
I hope you all saved me some for the weekend.

12/22/06 6:14am

skykilo

BUMMER! Hope you heal well and quickly.

12/22/06 6:09am

gregL

Another biker cut me off on the Burke-Gilman and I went down pretty hard - 8 screws and a plate holding the left fibula together. Inopportune, to say the least.

12/22/06 5:41am

skykilo

Snow was really nice off the summit, too!

You tracked my landing, hoser. Ha ha. Just kidding, I found an acceptable alternate flight plan.

What happened to your leg, Greg?

12/22/06 4:08am

gregL

Dec 21, 2006, -- Hyak (closed)

Thanks, man. We got our power back, but I'd still rather have 2 working legs!

12/22/06 1:29am

Larry_R

Dec20, 2006, Jolly Mtn.

Christmas came early this year. My sister Jane and I were slogging along in deep and none too light snow with our 'everything for comfort' packs, thinking that maybe we should bail to the lower of the two campsites we like because with new snow coming we were not sure if we could get very far up the next morning anyway. (See the pic below, going down the next day.) Then out of the woods pops John, who had taken Route B. John not only set a nice track right to our campsite, but on up th...

12/21/06 3:11pm

loom

Whoa lucky, it was a total dust on crust feeling with Alpy's 8+ inches on crust ;-) Granted it was pretty nice light dry pow so I'm not complaining at all. BC opened a little late, but some got plenty test runs in early. Even back there and up high the crust could be felt especially when dropping like it's hot.

Nice job, earning four laps today while I was being lazy lapping nash.

12/21/06 11:28am

altasnob

Headed out north of the north back boundary today (12/21). Pretty good stuff with 3" new on top of a soft base as long as you avoid the avy debris that came down during last weeks warming period. It was sunny but stayed cold so the snow should be good for the weekend warriors out there. South back wasn't open but they were blasting all day. Not really sure what the hold up was because a slide seemed pretty improbable.

12/21/06 5:49am

snoslut

I was at the Elk last Saturday and Buster told me about that one. Sounds like another close call. Glad your okay.

Myself and some others had frequented that area the previous 2 days and on that 3rd day, Saturday, it was bluebird. Anyways 2 days before Nomad and I broke trail next to the clump of trees skiers left/lookers right of where the slope avi'd. Moderately steep with cliffbands seperating some gullies. The skin track contoured the base of this until you enter the tree...

12/21/06 5:13am

Lowell_Skoog

author=rippy link=topic=5794.msg24219#msg24219 date=1166733231]
Nov 25th (Saturday) a partner & I had an up close and personal encounter with an avalanche at the break-over on East Peak.

Are you referring to the NE flank of East Peak? There's more than one break-over on that peak.

12/21/06 4:59am

Marcus

Wow -- glad you and your partner are still with us, Rippy. Thanks for sharing...

12/21/06 4:33am

rippy

Nov 25th (Saturday) a partner & I had an up close and personal encounter with an avalanche at the break-over on East Peak. Burghdorfers book shows this as a potential avalanche slope & I'm very aware of it. (???) We were on a tight timeline with one run in mind, then head home to get some chores done. Being in a hurry causes "shortcuts" (mistake #1). Arrived at E. Pk. summit about 10:15 a.m. We looked at 2 pits going up & checked stability at several switchbacks...

12/21/06 3:04am

telemack

Dec 19, 2006, Arrowhead, Stevens Pass

Yeehaw! and Happy Solstice!!!!

12/20/06 3:43pm

Spin Fast

What a difference a day can make indeed. After a great day of making turns in a suprisingly untracked Moonlight bowl Monday, yesterday three of us set the destination of Type Peak. Skinning up we quickly realized the snow went to complete mush. Took a run down the north slopes of Skyline, turned around and called it a day.

Conditions Monday were quite good, with about 6-7 inches of fairly light snow on top of a consolidated snowpack. Although visible in the pit, the rain crust about...

12/20/06 11:53am

bc_skier

Rippy,

Would you mind sharing the experience you had in Bullion Basin, and the exact location you experienced instability. Knowledge is Power!

Thanks!

12/20/06 3:43am

rippy

Dec 18 -- Lodge Lake Loop

Glad to hear the outcome was good, that's a rather nasty chute when it goes. My recent experience in Bullion Basin was a HUGE wake-up call. As I've now done some serious reading / re-educating, I find a few things that seem too common. Complacency, basing decisions on similar slope trust factors, and not keeping well informed of current snow/ weather / avy danger come right to the top. It's all different after a close call & I'm sure you & your buds are "reflecti...

12/19/06 2:53pm

Randito

I've been eyeing those slopes for a while too -- good for you getting after them!

12/19/06 4:26am

teter

I TOTALLY AGREE ITS ALWAYS SMART TO UPDATE ON TRAINING..... i ADMIT THAT I JUMPED THE GUN ON THAT ONE AND IT IS STUPID TO SAY IT WONT HAPPEN AGAIN BUT NEXT TIME I WILL TAKE MORE TIME TO TEST A SLOPE

12/19/06 4:20am

snoslut

Teter sounds like a close call and a wild adrenaline ride. Glad you and company came out unscathed.

Check your pm's.

12/19/06 3:51am

bc_skier

Do not take this the wrong way but you might want to consider taking an Avalanche Awareness Course.

Many people have died skiing/snowboarding in the backcountry at Crystal when the upper mountain is closed. The main reason they close the upper mountain is when there are high winds...high winds = wind loading, wind loading = high avalanche danger.

Don't get me wrong, a person can get out in the backcountry and ski/snowboard on high hazard days but not on steep chutes l...

12/19/06 3:25am

teter

I have a split board but it is pointless when everyone else is without ,this year Im going to test out some Snoeshoes

12/19/06 3:20am

climbinghighest

thats classic!!

12/19/06 12:46am

RonL

Slot Couloir 17

Hey NickD, I do recall seeing a solo skiier on the way down the Phantom now. I am guessing you noticed the graupel as you got in the upper reaches of the Phantom; I don't recall seeing where that skin track finally cut back for the summit. I'm glad the Slot was still in shape for you. We try to remain in good standing with the Powder Preservation League.

12/18/06 11:29pm

Double E

author=Edub link=topic=5784.msg24123#msg24123 date=1166478813]
Damn, Chris. Now I'm really sorry that I wasn't able to get out with you this weekend. Soon come. Thanks for the update and good lookin' out for those would come after. ;)

Respect,

~ Edub

Word to every word there ... Yeah, next time give me more advance notice, Topher! ;)

And welcome to the site, Edub. Funny, I&#...

12/18/06 1:31pm

oftpiste

Dec 18, south face north diamond peak

http://search.tramdock.com/exec/?mv_session_id=KxLSBzLF&q=skins&go_button.x=0&go_button.y=0

;D

12/18/06 12:36pm

normanclyde

Cool.
I love that Poudre Canyon drive and the Never Summers. One of my favorite corners of Colorado.

12/18/06 12:21pm

Tophervw

December 17, Skyline Ridge, Stevens Pass

author=loom link=topic=5784.msg24109#msg24109 date=1166460112]
I kept saying we should take a quick lap on that glade, but Topher kept saying "nope, we should save that for the folks that come up tomorrow" ;-) lol

Yeah ;) ;)
That is why we left those untouched...

12/18/06 10:37am

wlm3

We also noticed surface hoar on a generally North facing slope at about 5100 ft, just below the ridge. Interesting to note, I recently purchased some polarized sun glasses and the surface hoar sparkles with these on when the sun is out.

What a splendid day ;D

12/18/06 6:45am

telemack

December 16, 2006, Phantom, Snoqualmie Mountain

Thanks for the report, Stimbuck. Fergie and I enjoyed following your skin track, and then bailing early for first freshies. Impressive to summit in that wind! I also appreciated the use of the cold, dark patrol shack.
We also dug more into your hasty pit we found at around 5200'. There had been 5-6" on the slope skier's R of the upper Phantom, with a minor crust and then a rain or melt crust another foot down. Fergie...

12/18/06 5:58am

NickD

Slot Couloir 17

I was heading up just as Ron and friend came down. Yes Pete there was groupel there, mainly around 5500'. That, along with some slippery ice crust might make for a dicey bond later in the week with what is coming. De-ski required to climb most of the last 600 to summit. Had to do some judicious sideslipping on ice into the slot but lots of great powder left by Ron--thanks. Only top few inches of surface sluff moved on steeper aspects. Did get some of that suncrust in lower Phantom but quite...

12/18/06 5:53am

Edub

Damn, Chris. Now I'm really sorry that I wasn't able to get out with you this weekend. Soon come. Thanks for the update and good lookin' out for those would come after. ;)

Respect,

~ Edub

12/18/06 3:47am

Marcus