TR Replies

The way down from Thumb Rock looks like it has blue and grey patches... is that ice?

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.  

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...

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.

Nice work gang!   8)  Way to keep the dream/ski streak alive Kamster!

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...

Nice  8) Where's the vid Ally? ;)

Yeah, I guess I don't have any magic rule of thumb for separating wind slab from sun crust.  I just noticed that the layer I'm calling sun crust was 1). never more than an inch or two deep, 2. Only occurred in sun-exposed places, and 3. was very cohesive, as you might expect a layer that had melted and then refrozen to be.  Its presence also seemed to be uncorrelated to areas where you might expect wind loading.  Of course, if in doubt, assume the worst though...

We followed your tracks on Sunday.  The ski conditions were horrid, but the views were great.  Hope it snows again soon.

Yeah we also noticed these spotty wind-deposited areas.  They didn't seem deep enough to be of any concern, but that's of course assuming no terrain traps below.

Nice job.  I had hoped for softer conditions high up.  Do you have close-up pictures of the summit gullies?  Was it filled in enough for skiing? ;D  And thanks again for the heel-lever.

Hey guys, nice trip that day, wasn't it.  We've got a picture of you guys with the rest of the Sulphide all around.  We'll have to e-mail it to you.  We just posted our report.  Do you have a generic web host for pictures?  I don't think I have that with yahoo mail.

Later

Thanks for your photo, it looked very inviting compared to the hard wind crust we had seen last Sunday.  The snow on the north slope yesterday was skiable, but variable.  We did kick off the small slab, but the rest was mostly shallow and well bonded.  The last steep part down to the lake was negotiable, at best.  Again we really enjoyed the tour despite the marginal ski condition.

Thanks for the report!  Maybe this is a dumb question, but is it possible your 2" slab was really sun crust?  On Saturday I traversed a lot of sun-exposed slopes that had a very cohesive 1-2" layer that slid easily on the underlying powder, but this was just the sun crust and not worth worrying about.  We didn't find any wind slab at all on saturday, but I think the Chair Pk TR
did mention some...

I also had trouble skinning in places where there were a couple...

Nice work!  The circumnavigation was our original goal for Friday, but one thing led to another and we ended up turning around at the notch on Chair's east shoulder.  How was the skiing on Chair's north slope?   It looked like it might be pretty good as of Friday afternoon.  I've been thinking of what I might of missed ever since.  I assume the windslab you mention released?  

Thanks for the report and pictures.  

One question,  in the report you recommended on taking the PCT.  I am new to the area, what and where is the PCT?  

Thanks

Yesterday's conditions in the Snoqualmie Pass area rivaled New England for challenging snow.  I agree with all - fun outing, even with the dreadful conditons.

A picture does tell a story.  Here's one to exemplify the "changeable conditions" you could find:



This picture was taken on a NE slope at 3,000'.  I...

There was a LOT of wind crust, so that used to be powder. Maybe the NE lobe, which is steeper, but appears perhaps a bit more sheltered, had a little more powder.

John, funny you should mention winter camping....  :)

If you took any pics, how about posting the best one here?

L

Way to go John! Nice to hear about your Valentine's Day trip.

My family and I and a couple of friends stayed at the NP Inn last January overnight two different times. There was great pow at Mazama Bowl. My family enjoyed the Inn, especially my 5 yo daughter.

just wanted to add the following.

the crust under the new snow was firm under skis but could easily be kicked through while booting up.

although the new snow on most of the west face was unconsolidated, the last 50-75ft to the top was wind-effected and had a shallow slab that had formed...below that the snow sloughed easily but was not slabby at all.

Wax your boards with cold wax this weekend...I think the last little bits of my all-temp wax job was scraped fairly clean from...

Depends on where exactly you want to tour (not to be a wise guy). exit 53 gives you a pretty direct line up to the clearcut climb to the high open knob across from Summit West. If you want to do a loop over the ridge and down into Commonwealth Basin (there are some cliffs to navigate around as you drop into the basin, by the way), the other approach makes some sense. Or you can park by the porta-potties off exit 54 and ski a road up toward the Kendall Lakes. The first two options don't really ha...

Thanks for the report about the Kendall Knob area.

I have been wanting to ride up there.  What is the best trail to take to get to the Kendall Knob area.  One guide book I have read suggested approaching from the Common Wealth Campground road and another said to go up from the exit 53 area by climbing up through some of the private cabins in that area.

I was wondering if I could get a few deatails of where to park and where the trail is located.

Thanks.

...

You can find some information by following the links that start here:

http://www.alpenglow.org/ski-history/subjects/R-info.html#mt-rainier-traverses

Thanks Lowell.   The rollerblades beta sounds critical!

What do you consider the cruxes of the route? What elevation did you contour between Cathederal Ridge and Pulpit rock?

The crux is constantly looking ahead and fi...

Thanks for sharing news of Stevens area conditions, just as Charles has done for the Snoqualmie Pass area; now all we need is for some of the Baker lurkers to fess up (please? :))