TR Replies
Here is another groovy movie ----- Call to 911 Sorry Darryl,I had to include your spectacular fall (it went well with the music) and thanks to Jibber for taking the camera for a few shots.
how was Black Peak? was that 9:30pm that you made it back to the car? wow. so how was the snow on the south side?
well, awesome views as you know plus 1/3 ice climbing/crossing, 1/3 night skiing, part creek crossings (we were attempting to a loop via Last Chance Pass but not enough snow so ended up backtracking) and I'd say about 1400' "almost corn" out of 8300'. you may be thinking "yikes!" and with any n...
Until that posser learns how to ski, he better not be using my name ;)
Sorry I missed seeing you all this weekend; I was hoping too! Did a long adventure on the s. side of Black Peak Saturday and got back late (9:30) and then the bday tour Sun.
hi Monika! good to hear you were in the area. how was Black Peak? was that 9:30pm that you made it back to the car? wow. so how was the snow on the south side?
Sorry I missed seeing you all this weekend; I was hoping too! Did a long adventure on the s. side of Black Peak Saturday and got back late (9:30) and then part of the bday tour Sun.
When we exited this way on Saturday and the wind was howling on the ridge. As each skier decended the ice particles would blast the followers waiting in the queue. We laughed that we needed earplugs because the skiing was so loud. But better skiing out than the alternative.
ps. to the rest of the WA splitters...you guys missed out big time! ;)
Yeah, but how often do you get to relish the lowest snow year in 30 years? Ok, so about every 30 years (we hope)...
Tahoe. So close, yet so far away. >:(
Nice job guys...
Here's a photo of it from last June . Looks like for a "pure" descent, you'd need to do all 3 portions ;)
Of course, the two benches might deduct more from the hot-slot scale than the extra vertical would add...
And a close-up
Maybe, but I'm pretty certain that there was water running...
Which way did you guys come out?Heya Joe! Great to see you again last Saturday!
We finished the BD tour via the small pass and very icy E-facing couloir on the ridge north of Copper Peak (north of "Kangaroo Pass"); then made the descending traverse in the Early Winter's Creek drainage to the hairpin turn at Hwy 20. A generous snowboarder driving a Volvo gave me a ride back the Blue Lake trailhead to retrieve the car :)
Sun cups?
I was there Sunday and I would catagorize them a human foot cups! :)
I was there Sunday and I would catagorize them a human foot cups! :)
Great pictures, Kam, especially the one of Carter!
Edited to add: . . . and now on the cover of Telemarktips.com for all the world to see!
Edited to add: . . . and now on the cover of Telemarktips.com for all the world to see!
Thanks for posting the report Kam!
Great to see you and the Cass up on the pass.
Incredible day of touring. Great pics! Which way did you guys come out?
Great to see you and the Cass up on the pass.
Incredible day of touring. Great pics! Which way did you guys come out?
Nice job guys...
Here's a photo of it from last June . Looks like for a "pure" descent, you'd need to do all 3 portions ;)
Of course, the two benches might deduct more from the hot-slot scale than the extra vertical would add...
And a close-up
Here's a photo of it from last June . Looks like for a "pure" descent, you'd need to do all 3 portions ;)
Of course, the two benches might deduct more from the hot-slot scale than the extra vertical would add...
And a close-up
Several times all we could do was lie down and take the pelting of ice pellets from gusts probably around 330 mph 8)
Good thing I left my red sparkled shoes at home, I thought if I clicked my heels together one more time I was going to end up in Kansas at Auntie Em's house with Dorothy and Toto. ;D
Also here during a short carry, Darryl's skis were ripped off his shoulder and landed about 30 ft away...
Nice find Sam & Jason! Looks like a pretty sweet "Plan B" 8)
I'd say about a 9 on the "hot slot scale", for sure. It was almost exactly 1,000 vert according to my altimeter, based on where we started climbing up the apron.
BTW: if anyone finds an MSR pot lid in the woods 2,000 feet below Kool Aid lake, email me. ;) It took the big ride. A moment of silence, please... ???
BTW: if anyone finds an MSR pot lid in the woods 2,000 feet below Kool Aid lake, email me. ;) It took the big ride. A moment of silence, please... ???
Nice write up snoslut!
It was great to have you down here. ;D
Way to get it done and represent the WA splitboard chapter. 8)
ps. to the rest of the WA splitters...you guys missed out big time! ;)
It was great to have you down here. ;D
Way to get it done and represent the WA splitboard chapter. 8)
ps. to the rest of the WA splitters...you guys missed out big time! ;)
OK I thought about it more and rating couloirs would be stupid. I just want to know more: how big were the sidewalls? How big is that thing? Looks like about 800 feet on topozone? Did you ski all the way down the cirque?
Jason, how good was the ice on either side of Cache Col?
Jason, how good was the ice on either side of Cache Col?
Mark from Bellingham is my inspiration! He frequently speaks of being part of the late crew.
I'm glad I could convince you to go on this trip rather than Hood Sam. I'd have to say that Hurry up peak has to be one of the best summits I've been on. I had no intention of climbing this mountain and without the map, hardly knew the name. It was just such a great feeling to top out on the small summit pryamid amidst a sea of glacier and rock. And BTW Sam I have some great shots of you. You'll have to wait though 8) If I get another comment about my sunburn today, I going to >:(
That's funny, when I was in there in January I noticed the melted snow fingers on the left, but I can't say I recall that couloir. Good job guys, it looks nice.
It just goes to show, some people don't have the vision for this stuff. ;)
On another note, let's try to define an objective scale to measure a couloir's aesthetics. I'm only mildly trying to harp on you Sam, because I can be prone to superlatives too. But it would be nice if we could definitively say, 'Th...
It just goes to show, some people don't have the vision for this stuff. ;)
On another note, let's try to define an objective scale to measure a couloir's aesthetics. I'm only mildly trying to harp on you Sam, because I can be prone to superlatives too. But it would be nice if we could definitively say, 'Th...
That looks intense.
With apologies to Josh. ;D
With apologies to Josh. ;D
Very nice trip report, Jerman.
Jim, you're the man; broke the code to the goods by sleeping in. Smooth move.
Jim, you're the man; broke the code to the goods by sleeping in. Smooth move.
...More impressive was the fact that Ron, Jeanette and Maureen skinned up that last section. So Ron, what makes you think you can skin up those angles? That was the steepest skin track I've yet seen...Doug, that was simply an example of being too old, lazy and stubborn to take the time to load up.
Sweet find, Sam.
Way to sniff out the goods in challenging conditions.
Way to sniff out the goods in challenging conditions.
Wild winds and rock-hard crust followed by a balmy Mazama Bowl and corn snow made for an interesting day in a bizarre weather year.
Jerry of the Jungle...watch out for that scree (obscure reference to an obscure 70's era cartoon):
The wind must have affected...
Jerry of the Jungle...watch out for that scree (obscure reference to an obscure 70's era cartoon):
The wind must have affected...
Stuff on the east side of Pan Point improved as the day progressed - we were on the late shift which seemed to work well. We almost headed down to where I think you guys were (bowl on east side of Mazama ridge that you get to first if heading up/over from the road) for some variety, but we decided to "ski here now." Instead of doing the rock scramble up over Golden Gate (again, I think I know where you mean...), we went for a traverse on the snow sliver still clinging to the summer tra...
A ski (old white Tua Excalibur with Silvretta 404's)) was buried at the base of one of the rolls at approximately 9200' a few years ago when we encountered a big wet slab break. If anyone, in this record low year, encounters this (and possibly a pair of skins) could they please pm me. I will probably try the trip at least twice before memorial day (not a whole lot else available soon) to see if it gets spit out. Thanks.
From the TR information above, it certainly sounds like we will be have to postpone our "Annual Crystal BC SkiFest" until next year. Also looks like the "Sourdough Chute Fest" will be put to rest until next year too. >:( >:( Ron, Jerry, and I had talked about the Crystal SkiFest earlier in the season, but the snow has been so sketchy, that the idea this year hadn't gotten any further than just talking about it. We'll see what happens next season, and m...
What a fabulous trip. Sun was warm, the snow was cool, and the coversations innane. Due to the difficulty in turning our nordic cambered skis we made frequent use of a German technique known as a "sitz" turn. It is an effective turn but given its radical dynamics it tends to damage the slope. We found that ones "butt" would tend to make a "hole" in the snow. On one unfortunate occasion Russ fell into his own "butt" "hole&...
Thanks to you both, Zap and Mike.
It's good to know what's going on in that area, coverage wise.
It's good to know what's going on in that area, coverage wise.
realistically, how steep can one glissade?
I have glissaded up to about 45 degrees, with ideal snow conditions. You don't glissade steep stuff on your ass, you have to stay on your feet. It's just about like skiing with very short skis-- lots of hop turns. Granted, skiing is more secure on steep snow than glissading but, concerning this gully, you can glissade through a narrow section that might be problematic on skis.
realistically, how steep can one glissade? in addition to slope angle, i imagine snow condition is pretty important.
http://students.washington.edu/ashwortj/NWMountains/images/NW/IceCrust.jpg
we were there Sat, but it was too embarassing to post a TR. Glad you beat me to it. We climbed up to top of Silver Basin by way of quicksilver lift. I couldn't believe how hard the snow/ice patches were under the lift. Continuous snow just below the lift. Nasty crust and thigh deep frozen mush underneath on slope to top of Silver Basin. We spent a lot of time at the top complaining about the lack of snow and enjoying the sun before deciding what to do next. We had originally intended to traverse...
Yeah, we lucked out that the park service was up there.
Doc said he's likely got a torn medial meniscus...hard to believe something so severe can happen just while hiking.
As we left yesterday, they were plowing the last of the mowich lake parking lot, so its totally plowed out by now, but there was a layer of compact snow-ice on the last stretch that will probably still take a week of warm weather to melt out cause a lot of it is in the shade. But you could still bike all the road to th...
Doc said he's likely got a torn medial meniscus...hard to believe something so severe can happen just while hiking.
As we left yesterday, they were plowing the last of the mowich lake parking lot, so its totally plowed out by now, but there was a layer of compact snow-ice on the last stretch that will probably still take a week of warm weather to melt out cause a lot of it is in the shade. But you could still bike all the road to th...
Hey Pete, thanks for the report. Sorry to hear about Ry - how is he doing? That was fortunate that NPS happened to be up there. I think bikes would be the way to go with so much of the road snow free - actually makes the return trip enjoyable. Interesting to note that although the road will soon be cleared to the end (or is now), the MRNP site shows a projected opening of the gate for May 22! Should be some good hiking then. >:(
We climbed around a waterfall on some easy class 3 kinda rock for about 50 vertical feet very low in the thing. Other than that it was all continuous.
Luckily the gully we skied to the SW/WSW off the summit was just as cool. I got a picture from the road below Rainy Pass, maybe I'll post it in a couple days after I get my slides developed.
Luckily the gully we skied to the SW/WSW off the summit was just as cool. I got a picture from the road below Rainy Pass, maybe I'll post it in a couple days after I get my slides developed.
Early season climbers on Whistler commonly descend by that route.
Dude, epic! ;D
Pretty cool lookin' chute; I recall scoping it from Hwy 20 last Sat. w/ Kam, but also now can't recall if the snow was continuous in the lower portion...it definitely looked tight in places (I recall seeing several bare sections on that chute last year when we viewed it from near the Blue Lake Trailhead on May 1st).
in Chris's photo, a tree obstructs a portion of the lower 1/3.
That's the spot that looked unskiable last year (April 20th) with substantially more snow on the ground . . .
http://homepage.mac.com/mpobrien/bluelake5.jpg
realistically, how steep can one glissade? in addition to slope angle, i imagine snow condition is pretty important. i once watched a friend try to glissade a benign chute off Mount Ramond in the Wasatch Range and lost control about 1/3-way down. the angle must have been about 35-degrees. at first he was sliding in control, but relatively fast, and then he slid over an icy patch and that was it. he tumbled out of control, then to a stop after bounced over some rocks that were stickin...
happy b-day Kam, who knew we shared a b-day.
hey sag, happy birthday too! March is a kool month!
Thanks Kam. In that photo by Chris, the couloir is the obvious one headed to the col just to the right of Whistler, the peak furthest left. Do people really glissade that? I remember reading a story somewhere about Fred Beckey glissading stuff that was making people freak.
I hate glissading. If I can glissade it, I should definitely have my skis. And a wet ass is no fun. And the incidence of cuts and bruises from glissading seems high. What do...
I hate glissading. If I can glissade it, I should definitely have my skis. And a wet ass is no fun. And the incidence of cuts and bruises from glissading seems high. What do...
Tim, you're probably referring to Chris's photo. I think the couloir is to the right of Whistler Peak (left peak), starting at the saddle.
Tim: I don't see it in any of Kam's photos. Care to enlighten me? Oh yeah, and which one's the glissade gully? The one toward WaPass side, or the one toward Rainy Pass side? I wouldn't want to glissade either one of them. Those climber guys are badass.
Michael: I'll have some photos, but not until I get my slides developed. Maybe later this week.
Michael: I'll have some photos, but not until I get my slides developed. Maybe later this week.
Makes me nervous, Sky, having you look at one of "my" chutes. For the past three years I have been hoping to do that as soon as ther road was open, and for the last three years it had holes in it by the time access was easy. I had pretty well decided that I would have to sled to it in early March some year to get that sucker, but since this year had no March, I didn't even go look. From Kam's photo, it looked like it has held more snow than I expected it would.<...
Did I see that right or is Kam really carrying his skis up?? He must be getting really old ;D
yes, i am getting old, and i had skin issues.
btw, i've posted more photos (click here to view).
Nice report! Any pictures? ;) I think I know which line you guys climbed, looks very nice!