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2/6/05 1:16am
Daniel
February 5, 2005, Alpental
I'm not sure when Paul and Hannah got there, but Mark, Sara and I arrived around 10:30. We had to push through deep snow to park and the Alpental/Snow Lake Trailhead lot, but it was drive able.

How the Guye? What route did you do? I was looking at that thinking of climbing options.
2/5/05 11:47pm
Eli3
February 5, 2005, Muir Snowfield
pictures:

http://community.webshots.com/user/emrosenb
2/5/05 9:17pm
jhamaker
February 5, 2005, Alpental
When did you drive in?
We were on our way to climb the Tooth but parked at Guye Hut (WAC) and hit Guye Pk because the rd was not plowed or traveled yet.  Were were up there at about 6:30.
2/5/05 8:57pm
philfort
February 5, 2005, Paradise
I'm sure the crust would be the weak interface.  But the only places we were able to get anything to move was on the lee side of obvious windlips/cornices.  Windslab seemed localized and not widespread (or maybe we just chose the right aspects).  Most places the snow wasn't too cohesive, and there was only 5-6 inches on the crust.
2/5/05 10:05am
TW
Feb 5, 05, Hood Meadows Pow - the closed portion
Jeff,
Wow, those photo's look pretty nice, all things considered.  I almost went today, but opted for more lame duties.  As a Portlander I appreciate your Hood reports.  Since the Patsies have it in the bag, and in light of your report, perhaps I will ski tomorrow and forgoe the chicken wings.  Thanks.....
2/5/05 9:03am
mjt
February 5, 2005, Paradise
Had a much better than expected day around Paradise.  The wind was howling, and the clouds coming in and out, so we decided against heading up to Muir, and instead did runs around Paradise valley and Mazama Ridge.

The wind had blown the snow around, so areas near ridges were scoured to ice, but most areas had about 5 inches of nice powder on a hard base.  Turns were really good considering conditions lately.  And it was sunny for much of the d...
2/5/05 8:59am
Sam Avaiusini
February 5, 2005, Paradise
One of us really should have packed a camera!  I just didn't expect the day to turn out so well... :)
2/5/05 6:56am
Paul Belitz
February 5, 2005, Alpental
Sidestepping doesn't count.  ;)
2/5/05 4:49am
tardigrade
February 2, 2005, Granite Mountain
looks like im going to have to try. Its only a 5 dollar ticket and it goes towards a good cause so im not to bend out about it.
2/5/05 4:45am
CascadeClimber
February 5, 2005, Alpental

Hannah did great considering this was her fifth time on skis ever, and her first runs ever on wild snow. :)


First runs on wild snow?


;D

-L
2/5/05 4:24am
CascadeClimber
February 2, 2005, Paradise Glacier, Mount Rainier
Just below Moon Rocks, I talked to two people who had been up on Gibraltar Ledges, and they said that up to Camp Muir there was even less of the newer snow left.


Eh, well, not quite onto the ledges. We had a little route finding issue in the dark and ended up climbing a steep, icy line (which we initially thought was Gib Chute) directly to the base of the beehive.

It was nice to meet you, Charles.

-Loren
2/5/05 3:52am
silaswild
February 2, 2005, Granite Mountain
Glad to hear that sometimes they are lenient, 'cause a friend of mine bought a day pass and forgot to put it out at Gold Creek last year.  He sent in a photocopy and explanation and got no sympathy.  Sometimes you win, sometimes not?
2/5/05 3:50am
Paul Belitz
February 5, 2005, Alpental
If you guys get me your emails, I'll send a link to the videos. "My username" @gmail.com.

I can't do dawn patrols; dusk patrols are an option if Alpental is skiable.  :)
2/5/05 3:27am
mjt
February 5, 2005, Alpental
A foot of fresh powder over 3" of solid base made for surprisingly good skiing on what would normally be the groomed runs.

We ran into Mark@/mjt (is that correct?) and his friend Daniel. We had a great run down Sessel, despite the snow snake that grabbed my ski and put me in one of my more spectacular cartwheels. Guess going fast on baseless snow is a bad idea after all....but it was still great fun. I feel sorry for the shrubbery that I killed.
2/5/05 2:42am
Daniel
February 2, 2005, Granite Mountain
I saw at the bottom of your TR that you got a ticket from the Fee Demo people. I hear they can be pretty lenient. A friend of mine got out of it once simply by buying the pass. If you had one in your car, maybe you can fax it to them or something. It couldn't hurt to call.

Thanks for the TR and pics. Looks like a good day out for views at least.

Hey Cass, you're back from Europe? How was it? When's the slide show? ;-)
2/5/05 2:36am
Daniel
February 5, 2005, Alpental
Hi Paul! I was good to meet you today! The snow sure was nice, even if the coverage was a little thin. Let's hope the snow keeps up! If you get a chance, I would love to see the video that you shot. I have a few pics that I'll post later too.

Have fun tomorrow, and I'll look forward to the TR. I'm now thinking dawn patrol on Monday if the snow keeps up, so if you're interested (or anyone else) send me some email.

Pictures:
2/4/05 11:45pm
skykilo
February 2, 2005, Paradise Glacier, Mount Rainier
Excellent Charles, sounds like you've got it pretty dialed. 8)
2/4/05 10:18pm
Charles
February 2, 2005, Paradise Glacier, Mount Rainier
Awww, I liked the step corn idea. It probably wasn't very "step" by your standards, and certainly not "really step", but I guess that's an advantage of never really skiing anything "really step" - it doesn't take much to give me that "stepping out" feeling!
2/4/05 9:31am
Jeff Huber
February 4, 2005, Broken Top
Hi Cem, I always enjoy reading your reports. I thought I'd respond to let you know the photo you are trying to post you did not post properly. It appears you are trying to link to the photo by providing the file's path on your computer. This will not work. You must first upload the photo to the Internet. A free and easy way to do this is to go to http://www.biglines.com/photos.php. Once you've uploaded your photo there (you do not need to register there first), right-click on the photo, s...
2/4/05 1:59am
alpentalcorey
January 30, 2005, Mt Blum
I decided to leave it since the root word it 'gallant'.  It's a linguistic form of civil disobedience.


Was this to tempt us also?   ;)
2/4/05 1:07am
Kenji
February 3, 2005, Nisqually Chutes, MRNP
The snowpack as a whole is solid, thanks for the rain we had.  My concern for tomorrow would be the steep frozen surface in the chute.  Depending on how much new snow they get, it could be hard bare crust, a nice few inches new on firm, or too much new to slide off.  Also, getting up Pan face may be tricky.  Everything under the new snow would be frozen solid.

Be carefull, have fun.  I might be up on Paradise Gl on Sunday.
2/4/05 12:49am
GregSimon
February 3, 2005, Nisqually Chutes, MRNP
I was thinking of heading up there tomorrow (Saturday).  I've never done the Nisqually chute in winter.  Any concerns about stability/avalanche risk on Thurs?  Thanks.
2/3/05 5:12am
skykilo
February 2, 2005, Paradise Glacier, Mount Rainier
And just in case anyone wondered, by step corn, I meant REALLY steep corn.  Yeah, that's it.
2/3/05 2:58am
skykilo
January 30, 2005, Mt Blum
I think it's only fair for Amar to cite it considering I made a point of editing the others.  Good eye, Amar!  I was actually aware of it, but I decided to leave it since the root word it 'gallant'.  It's a linguistic form of civil disobedience.
2/3/05 2:15am
cascadesfreak
February 2, 2005, Granite Mountain
Nice pics; good to hear there is some snow left somewhere in the Snoqalmie area; kinda crazy that all those rocky areas on the northern side of the mountain are usually still fully snow-covered in mid June.  
2/3/05 2:01am
David_Coleman
January 30, 2005, Mt Blum
I'd say that's petty to be complaining about that typo compared to some of the spelling both you and I have seen.
2/2/05 10:48pm
Amar Andalkar
January 30, 2005, Mt Blum
I made one more edit because I noticed two spelling errors upon review.  ....  Nevertheless, I aspire to some day achieve a certain level of mastery in both ski mountaineer-errantry AND scholarship, so I loathe to see the typos remain.


Um, Sky, I hate to go around correcting anyone's spelling, but since you've brought the subject up, "gallavanting" is still misspelled. The preferred spelling is gallivanting, with galavanting as a v...
2/2/05 7:42pm
kam
February 2, 2005, Granite Mountain
tardigrade:  welcome!  thanks for the post.  glad to hear you found some snow.  your photos are nice, and way to be resouceful with those "poles"!

kam
2/2/05 7:33pm
skykilo
February 2, 2005, Paradise Glacier, Mount Rainier
Hooray for step corn, whatever the duration!
2/2/05 9:32am
skykilo
January 30, 2005, Mt Blum
Here is a photo from a highly esteemed bushwhacker-errant who bears the seal of the Rhinoceros, a strong sturdy beast if ever there was one.  His celebrated sorties and picaresque adventures canvass the Cascades in a most inimitable fashion.  Thanks for the photo, Dr. John Roper!



David,
You remember correctly, there was a photo with Jeff and me drinking Tecates at the car after a climb of the Kennedy...
2/1/05 7:31am
mej
January 30, 2005, Paradise
The computers in the UW Atmospheric Sciences department have cool data sets of weather readings taken by airliners on their approach to Sea-Tac.  The readings are taken very often, giving quite good resolution as to the vertical structure of the atmosphere.  From this information you could figure out where cloud decks may start or end, although I need to look into it more to find out exactly what obervations they take.  Also, I do not know where (or even if) on the open internet they can be retr...
2/1/05 6:29am
Larry_Trotter
January 30, 2005, Paradise
JibberD - I was thinking exactly the same thing... How can we tell where the cloud layer ends?  I want to try to research that a little.  I am sure it must be buried in weather reports somewhere.... especially reports for aviators.  I can receive weather channels on my Motorola FRS radio, Model T6300.  I never paid much attention to it, but now I think I will check it out more.

We were flying somewhat East across the North side of Rainier.  All of Little Tahoma an...
2/1/05 2:02am
David_Lowry
January 30, 2005, Mt Blum
No, the Mexican equivalent of PBR!  I vaguely recall a photo of Sky holding one in one of the TR's on his site- before it was refurbished.

Of course, I could be going off on another flight of fancy...
2/1/05 1:47am
gregL
January 30, 2005, Mt Blum
High-end truth serum derived from blue agave?
2/1/05 12:25am
David_Lowry
January 30, 2005, Mt Blum
PBR?  What happened to Tecate? ;D
2/1/05 12:09am
gregL
January 30, 2005, Mt Blum
That's what I love about this forum . . . the erudition, the literary references, the self-deprecating humor . . . any idiot can post misspelled IM-like blather on TGR or Biglines . . .
1/31/05 11:34pm
Sam Avaiusini
January 30, 2005, Mt Blum
Hmm, Jason invited me on this one, but I had a flight to Reno for 3 days of skiing at Squaw...

I'm not too sorry I missed-out on this particular suffer fest.
Very glad it all worked out though!

Sky, this was a very nice read indeed!
1/31/05 10:59pm
skykilo
January 30, 2005, Mt Blum
Lowell,

I understand that you concur with the Cervantes-influenced theme.  Don Quixote was not only a comedy, but also a tragedy.  C'est une comedie, et une tragedie...

More seriously, your points certainly have merit, as always.  In the same vein I can tell you that I don't think I would have bivouacked even if I had either of the two ultralight bivy sacks I own.  One of our big rushes was to get through the cliffy sections in the vicinity of where the r...
1/31/05 8:07pm
Lowell_Skoog
January 30, 2005, Mt Blum
Dear Sky, Jason and Josh,  

I'm glad your trip to Mt Blum ended safely.  I hope we know each other well enough that you will accept some critical comments from me.  I sent these comments to Jason in response to his email.  In this day of public trip reports and public congratulations, a dissenting viewpoint may be warranted.  

I think you made some bad decisions during your trip.  The biggest one was not bivouacking during your descent in the woods....
1/31/05 7:06pm
Paul Belitz
January 30, 2005, Mt Blum
Good lord, Sky, can't you be a bit more verbose? Your erudite trip report/thesis needs a bit more loquacity.

Sounds positively miserable, glad you enjoyed it. But where are the photos?
1/31/05 6:39pm
Matt
January 30, 2005, Mt Rainier, Muir Snowfield
Thank you!! I needed a report like that.  I gave up last weekend and resorted to mountain biking.  It was a good time but that TR does not belong here.... ;D
1/31/05 5:51pm
skykilo
January 30, 2005, Mt Blum
Thanks for the good words, my fellow esteemed ski mountaineers-errant.  I truly believe the order of ski mountaineer-errantry we profess here in the northwest is as honourable as any gallant form of chivalry witnessed to date on this little planet of ours.

Sorry for the edit.  I had said something inaccurate about Pioneer Ridge; hopefully history will show me to be a better ski mountaineer-errant than geographer.  Maybe that wicked wizard was trying to do me dishonor yet by...
1/31/05 4:52pm
ron j
January 30, 2005, Mt Blum
Nice read, Sky.
The obvious effort that went into it representative of the effort and creativity of the destination.
Keep up the great work, you guys, you're making ski mountaineering history!  ;)
1/31/05 8:39am
SquakMtn
January 30, 2005, Mt Blum
Great prose from what sounds like an excellent trip considering our meager year.  Conditions read like a great report from July!
Alternate title for the trip report, "Mt. Blum...another January 05 act of desperation."
1/31/05 8:26am
markharf
January 30, 2005, Mt Blum
Any trip report which features nonchalant use of words like "picaresque" and "temerity," plus extravagantly alliterative riffs like "deadfall, devil's club and daunting debris" gets my vote, regardless of content.  If it also entertains at exorbitant, exuberant length, so much the better.  Thanks for setting the standard.
1/31/05 8:04am
Jeff Huber
January 30, 2005, Mt Blum
Wow - how pleasant sounding!

My favorite lines:
"The top of it was too narrow to sidestep.  It was also a dogleg, so straight-running the top posed the peril of maiming oneself on the rock and ice at the side of the chute.  I was considering climbing down it, when Jason solved the problem in short order.  He hurled himself in a thirty foot drop"

"we were walking as if drunk and falling due to some bedeviled branch every third step"

"We were...
1/31/05 6:34am
philfort
January 30, 2005, Mt Blum
Ok, I'm a bit jealous  ;)

Way to make the best of conditions!
1/31/05 3:43am
JibberD
January 30, 2005, Paradise
RUX...  that's an interesting observation about the blue sky clearing beginning at 8000'.

We were above Paradise on the 29th but decided  not to go any higher than 6500' because the weather was getting consistently thicker the higher we went.  It was actually intermittently snowing and blowing pretty hard at 6500'.  From our perspective it was only going to get worse up higher, so we dropped to the lower edge of the cloud deck at Alta Vista.

I'm wondering if the...
1/31/05 2:25am
Larry_Trotter
January 30, 2005, Paradise
I was airline flying past Mt. Rainier, Saturday Jan 29th, 12:00 noon.  The cloud layer cut off at about 8,000 feet.  I was thinking how great the top of the mountain looked in clear blue and sunshine ... and hoping someone was getting up there.  
1/31/05 1:55am
curmudgeon
May 22, 2005, Mt. Baker Backcountry
Uh, Mark ...

Under TAY ordinance #1023 regarding the non-publication of secret stashes in order to preserve the resource for the worthy locals, I hereby declare all TR's referring to the environs of HWY 520 to be illegitmate, illogical, illegal, and ill advised.