TR Replies

Great.
That's what we like to see.
Should get some more snow over the weekend.

Zap,

Well executed 007 on the Ski Pass, and pleasant journeys to the south.  

So what did you miss at the top?  Well, you really can see bubbling lava splattering the walls of the crater - suddenly seeming very close on the precipice overlooking the sputtering red hole.  The lava was cool, but the sound was scary.  Deep angry groins and rumbles - if you've ever been in an earthquake you know the sound, and it's unsettling.  

And gas mask is right on.  By the end of a 15 min...

here's the video:

http://web.mit.edu/jlcrowle/www/Sheffy/Bob%20on%20Royal%20Flush.AVI

http://web.mit.edu/jlcrowle/www/Sheffy/Bob%20on%20lower%20East%20Fall%20+%20alpine%20day%20wreckee.AVI

thats great news, thanks for sharing.

Crazy . . .

They have yet to even turn on the snowguns anywhere.
I didn't hit up that area of the mtn - lower elevation, and very exposed to wind.  Upper Killington Peak, Glades area, upper Snowdown, all completely "in" even though only October.
Driving back home, 3000' lower by the gondola base, completely bare.

I grew up skiing Killington and Mt. Snow. Never thought I'd see reference to them here on TAY. Thanks for the memory trip. Way to get some snow!

You know why they call it Royal Flush?  Because that's where all the poop goes from the summit lodge..or at least it did back in the day.  Go East Coast, Yeah!

Your memory of the upper slopes is still very applicable.  The rim covered ridge is still there.  I used the binoculars to get a closer view of the surface on the upper slopes and it did not appear skier friendly. The lower slopes were perfect.

Zap

Verrry nice. The 'friends' pic is particularly heartwarming.  :)

After reading your report I'm inclined to think the upper slopes of the mountain are in perpetual bad form.

On our tour of the mountain we found the upper 1,000 VF to be some of the most technical skiing of our whole tour.  Huge cauliflowers and mushrooms made simple skiing impossible and survival turns where the name of the game on the rime-covered upper pitches.  It was not very pleasant skiing, but it was doable.

The reward?  The view down into the cauldron from t...

Wow, so many memories coming back, Zap, this is so fun reading your report...some thoughts:

When we skied there, we camped in the Paragua (your "Monkey Puzzle" trees I assume) forest and were serenaded by the wildest screams I've ever heard while camping.  Scared the shit out of us as we tried to sleep for the night.  Turned out to be a version of a fox (or so we deduced from the fuana section of one of our guidebooks). But in that surreal forest, in the dead of night, it could...

Skiing among monkey puzzle trees is rather memorable.

MY OH MY!!
snow, skiing, mountains, and one of my favorite trees!!
you've just got to share photos of this!

best for safe travels,
jessica

Hmm... Which photoshop effect did you use to get all that whitestuff in the photo?

RAD!!

I was through that way a few weeks ago on my way to the ferry, carrying skis (but without maps, knowlege of local terrain, or visibility).  Looked like lots of good touring whenever the low cloudcover parted, but the closest I came was a quick hike partway up the glacier on Hudson's Bay Mountain, which would have been totally skiable were I able to see farther than fifty meters or so.  I slept overnight in the parking lot at Shames, surrounded by spectacular ski terrain (again subject...

It was great to meet a bunch of TAYers. I planned to wait to ski down with the posse, but the call of the corn was just too strong. Next time! ;)

Since probably no one else on this board is familiar with those mountains, how about some pics, so we can enjoy some stoke?  :)

To those who went on this trip, how long was the walk (in minutes and/or in vert) before you finally put on your skins? How long was the skin up afterwards?

It was great to put faces to so many names.  The TAY community never fails to impress me with the quality of its members.  Thanks!

Conditions for the 2000'+ vert ski descent were a mix of uneven frozen ice (ugh), smooth frozen ice (pretty nice actually), and some softer snow at lower elevations (very nice).  Snowpack resulting from the three feet of recorded snowfall ranged from massive drifts to thin layers of ice, with just about everything in between.

You were right when you said you missed fall and plummeted right into winter for your first NH ski of the season.  We ha...

yes, this was a fabulous day--a nice surprise too, because i was not expecting it to be that good.  fun seeing the whole gang up there, but i agree with michael--

...where the hell was the RonJ team though ;-) ?

your presence and your infamous delectable bbq items would have been the icing on the cake! 8)

What a great day and perfect weather window! Seeing the weather today I am so glad we were out there yesterday!

Thanks for all the great pix to everyone, it was great to see the usual TAY crowd (where the hell was the RonJ team though ;-) ?) as well as some folks I hadn't seen in years.

PBelitz: the "unkown skier" is Kristina, doing her first descent on the Muir snowfield.

Yes, Muir was outstanding yesterday!  I guess you have to take those bluebird spring-like days when you can find them, even in late October.

What super and serendipitous crew of TAYer to pass a day with as well.  This community continues to please...

The Muir hut has been refurbished and is in prime form with new cabinets, cooking area, paint, concrete floor and expanded bunks which should be able to accomodate close to twice as many climbers as before.

Pbelitz: fo...