TR Replies
Hello Scotsman and company,
Good to hear you had a good day. After our "big group" left Cement Basin, we toured along the east side of the ridge from East Peak in a southerly direction to Union Creek Basin. Our first run down on a southeasterly aspect had an increasingly dense sun crust as we reached valley bottom. We climbed out of Union back to the ridge and positioned ourselves above Union Creek basin on the easterly slopes, which were covered in about a foot of buttery, well...
Good to hear you had a good day. After our "big group" left Cement Basin, we toured along the east side of the ridge from East Peak in a southerly direction to Union Creek Basin. Our first run down on a southeasterly aspect had an increasingly dense sun crust as we reached valley bottom. We climbed out of Union back to the ridge and positioned ourselves above Union Creek basin on the easterly slopes, which were covered in about a foot of buttery, well...
Nice report Chris!! Looks like a great place to ski, I have only seen it in the summer and thought at the time this would be a great place to come back in the winter time.
Great shots of the frisbee game;-)
Great shots of the frisbee game;-)
Oh yeah - maybe a little late for this info now (presumably folks are off on tours for today already, and this info has a short half-life), but we saw multiple crown fractures on east (or maybe more ese) slopes near a ridgetop, a little too far away to guage depth. Nothing huge, but clearly a sign of the west winds during and just after the storm. We saw lots of snow moving from east to west during the day, and there were some small soft slabs forming on the west side near the crest (maybe top 1...
Scotsman & Mack,
Thanks for your insight up there. It was nice to meet you guys (& the dogs). We rode both the gullies on skiers right in two runs. It was a bit steeper the farther east we went, but we didn't experience any sluff. The snow felt firm but really nice (buttery). Since Tom spotted me through the first gully, I spotted him on the second and snapped a sequence of him entering the funnel with a nice heelside. Thanks again guys. See you next time.
Rob
Thanks for your insight up there. It was nice to meet you guys (& the dogs). We rode both the gullies on skiers right in two runs. It was a bit steeper the farther east we went, but we didn't experience any sluff. The snow felt firm but really nice (buttery). Since Tom spotted me through the first gully, I spotted him on the second and snapped a sequence of him entering the funnel with a nice heelside. Thanks again guys. See you next time.
Rob
Chuck, Lara and I headed up to ptarmagine ridge with similar results.
http://spcmanspiff.users.poppinfresh.net/P9250068.MOV
http://spcmanspiff.users.poppinfresh.net/P9250069.MOV
We dug a few pits and found three to four feet of unconsolidated powder on top of the hard crust. In some places it was well bonded and took 5 soft taps and then 5 hard taps before it disintigrated (did not slide, just fell apart) and others it fell off after I isolated the column wiht my ski.
<...
http://spcmanspiff.users.poppinfresh.net/P9250068.MOV
http://spcmanspiff.users.poppinfresh.net/P9250069.MOV
We dug a few pits and found three to four feet of unconsolidated powder on top of the hard crust. In some places it was well bonded and took 5 soft taps and then 5 hard taps before it disintigrated (did not slide, just fell apart) and others it fell off after I isolated the column wiht my ski.
<...
Thanks for being an early riser, Silas. ;)
That was some fine skiing.
That was some fine skiing.
Aha, but the four smartest tourists were ourselves, who left hella early, broke trail to the top of Lundin, and harvested copious amounts of freshness! (Sorry, too tired to word that in a less boastful manner. ;D)
2-3 feet of unconsolidated fresh snow (and sometimes more). We experienced no signs of instability (skiing S, SE, and SW aspects). S-SW had some considerable crust, while SE, of course, had the nicest snow.
We were surprised to see all the folks who ended up '...
2-3 feet of unconsolidated fresh snow (and sometimes more). We experienced no signs of instability (skiing S, SE, and SW aspects). S-SW had some considerable crust, while SE, of course, had the nicest snow.
We were surprised to see all the folks who ended up '...
Two of us skied nearby, trailbreaking was more work than we expected, due to the sun crust on south and southeast slopes below 4000'. We too experienced the chilly east winds, and were happy when they moderated around noon, tho were still very strong on ridge crests all day. Lots of wind fluting formations near the crest, but still soft enough to bust through.
Four smarter tourists departed the trailhead an hour and a half behind us, likely made much better time in the prepared track,...
Four smarter tourists departed the trailhead an hour and a half behind us, likely made much better time in the prepared track,...
Did one of you loose a clip-lock from a ski pole on your decent of Smith Brook road? I found one as I was descending quite inelegantly on snowshoes. I took the high-crust forecast as an opportunity to get out for a day with a non-skiing mountain pal.
Hey it looked like a perfect pitch afterwards and great coverage above it I would have to say that it is Huckable
Weekendclimber~
Next sunny deep day lets go out there, looks good to me. :)
Next sunny deep day lets go out there, looks good to me. :)
That looks like a good landing to me if you are talking about the one with the flat top.
Sorry I missed this one - family skiing called - but it was great skiing with everyone the day before. Amazing that that many people could actually stay together throughout the day!
Right on Drew, looks like you've got the touring fever!
Creative use of post wonder drug production time.
If I can get over this nasty cold, I'm hoping to get out on Sunday... Let's make contact.
Creative use of post wonder drug production time.
If I can get over this nasty cold, I'm hoping to get out on Sunday... Let's make contact.
Where's the vid Ally? ;)
umm, yeah...i did take some video on this trip, but the movie came out a little shaky--too much laughing. i gotta work on that.;)
was a good trip overall, despite the slippery snow conditions. hey, and who knew skiing through frozen meteorite cornice chunks could be so fun?? :) big time high 5 to swallows on the snowboard too--he was a trooper on that final long and icy traverse at the end! her...
Nice writing- it's always nice to hear passion eloquently expressed .
Chris, Thanks for the kind label of "ambitious", as our adventure was called "kind of psychotic" ;D by one of the locals! We actually take both as a complement. The crampon/axe climb from the 8200' col was quite fun, but the 2500' ride down from the col into the basin was exhilirating 8). Snow was stable except for minor areas of surface windslab/sluff and it seems like that one slope and the trees held the most powder. --Don
Nice pic choice Nate -- Jove Peak was rich with good-lookin' ladies this weekend.
Great video, as always :)
Great video, as always :)
Killer report, Chris.
Sounds like you guys used your head (as usual) staying away from the avy monster and making the best of some cold marginal ski conditions. It certainly looked like the scenic terrain more than made up for the challenges you seemed to have easily bested.
Great trip, great report.
Sounds like you guys used your head (as usual) staying away from the avy monster and making the best of some cold marginal ski conditions. It certainly looked like the scenic terrain more than made up for the challenges you seemed to have easily bested.
Great trip, great report.
Cass: I like the new background and size of photos.. loads really fast....nice shots bro....JW
At last, finally got the rest of the photos re-sized and cut-down to a collection of 32 pics (went a little crazy with the digital SLR this trip, but the photographic opportunities were so great and abundant!). Here's the link to the thumbnails:
http://www.cascadesfreak.com/gallery/ChelanMtns-Holden-2-2006
http://www.cascadesfreak.com/gallery/ChelanMtns-Holden-2-2006
And for some coffee-break entertainment, here's a little video from the trip:
http://www.evilfungus.com/outside/galleries/jove/jovepeak.wmv (18mb)
the better half of our party of 6:
http://www.evilfungus.com/outside/galleries/jove/jovepeak.wmv (18mb)
the better half of our party of 6:
Nice report Chris 8) sounds like fun
Nice tree skiin' photo! Hope to be able to join you for a trip soon! Interesting local variablilty in snow stability...
It was a good tour, indeed - thanks for showing us around, Paul. While my burning thighs may have cursed you a time or two during our final nonstop descent of Blackcomb, I want you to know that was just the lactic acid talking - they didn't mean it.
Let's get out again soon,
-s
Let's get out again soon,
-s
ron j and crew--tear it UP!! way to find the goods, as usual. 8)
cass--nice!! way to put your avy 2 skills to work! looks like you had some fantastic sunshine out there too, glad the cold didn't hold you back too much... :)
sounds like you got to practice some sweet gymnastics moves too!
and half a pole...is that sort of like half a pon?? ;)
I hadn't planned on practicing summersaults, but the trap crust provided such an involuntary opportunity, twice! >:(
sounds like you got to practice some sweet gymnastics moves too!
and half a pole...is that sort of like half a pon?? ;)
The way down from Thumb Rock looks like it has blue and grey patches... is that ice?
Note the superhighway cruiser up the right side of the photo. I dubbed it the skinterstate.
So...where are the pictures sky ;D
I enjoyed powder in the schweitzer backcountry thinking that there was none over here. It sounds like you found a little of everything including powder.
I enjoyed powder in the schweitzer backcountry thinking that there was none over here. It sounds like you found a little of everything including powder.
Great tour! Skis as a mode of transportation is really what its' all about. After forty three years of sliding down hills around here on slippery boards, this concept has finally hit home with me. It seems to makes sense; the closing of the circle or loop. Thanks for sharing your trip.
M. Ellis
M. Ellis
There's a lot more snow up there now than in the picture. The arch is completely filled in, and from the Yakima side only a low snow ridge is visible. On the other side the bridge is partly exposed and you can read the "Wenatchee National Forest" sign.
When we tour out that way I look over to see if the bridge has filled in yet, but usually there is a low cloud or some fog obscuring my view of the bridge. Thanks fo...
Wow sounds like a killer weekend or week or whatever it was Chris!!!! (wasn't too clear on the dates/duration thereof....) ;D tempted to wait up to see if the pics appear soon but I really should get to bed soon so I'll probably just go do that.
A great and compelling report. Thanks Lowell.
The high level tours you enjoy seem very similar to the tours done in Europe. I purchased Bill O'connor's Western Alps Ski Mountaineering book last summer and every trip described is a high level tour.
The high level tours you enjoy seem very similar to the tours done in Europe. I purchased Bill O'connor's Western Alps Ski Mountaineering book last summer and every trip described is a high level tour.
Lovely trip y'all (do they say that in Virginia?) :)
Nice work gang! 8) Way to keep the dream/ski streak alive Kamster!
Great minds, eh?
I kept trying to get that top layer to run by ski cutting too, but couldn't budge it. You must have had more buried surface hoar than we did :)
We didn't have the "shattering glass" surface either. That must have been more west facing, eh? I love that stuff.
Oh, BTW, mate, you can shoot field reports in to NWAC via the blog link, LH side of most any TAY TR page.
Looking forward to skiing with you again, Joe.
I kept trying to get that top layer to run by ski cutting too, but couldn't budge it. You must have had more buried surface hoar than we did :)
We didn't have the "shattering glass" surface either. That must have been more west facing, eh? I love that stuff.
Oh, BTW, mate, you can shoot field reports in to NWAC via the blog link, LH side of most any TAY TR page.
Looking forward to skiing with you again, Joe.
Might be worth paying attention to after this next storm cycle.
You know that is funny Ron.
I was skiing some North and West exposures near your location Saturday-untouched, 35 plus (angle) degree perfect slopes. We found a wind effect and some surface propogation that was not to deep. Variable dense wind slabs. We did not dig a pit due to the confidence of the surface crust, but discussd the potential for fauceting deep layers due to the cold te...
Jennifer and I saw this debris 2-19 in Edith Basin just below Golden Gate. About a 12" crown for about 200 ft . Pretty harmless in this setting,but not if it carried you over a cliff or thru some trees ???.....Jerry
