TR Replies
Those are nice shots IMHO, Kam, especially the one of Greg. I can't do dawn patrols, but I can do dusk patrols (out of class at 11:30 most days). Now if this stupid hoar layer would just disappear....
I'm very glad that you guys are OK, Greg. I'm scared for the skiing community, everybody has powder fever despite the avy danger. I won't be at all surprised if someone gets killed.
I'm very glad that you guys are OK, Greg. I'm scared for the skiing community, everybody has powder fever despite the avy danger. I won't be at all surprised if someone gets killed.
khayak's wife (who works for the Summit) reports rumors of a skier buried on International this afternoon, patrol was reportedly attempting CPR . . .
From
http://www.king5.com/topstories/stories/NW_011205WABavalancheaxSW.727275.html:
SEATTLE - A male skier was caught in an avalanche at Alpental at Snoqualmie Pass on Wednesday afternoon.
Two skiers were skiing in a closed area when the avalanche occurred at about 12:30 p.m. One...
nothing like an early morning stroll to get the heartrate up, and then some breakfast afterwards [skier -- GregL">:
good news: the coverage is improving.
this morning's new graupel-like layer was interesting, but fun to ski. as Cass mentioned, the layer was more dense than what was below it. small (ft.^2-sized) chunks broke off with very little effort, sliding on the interface...
good news: the coverage is improving.
this morning's new graupel-like layer was interesting, but fun to ski. as Cass mentioned, the layer was more dense than what was below it. small (ft.^2-sized) chunks broke off with very little effort, sliding on the interface...
After the dawn patrol run, I met up with khayak at his house and we decided to go back to Alpental for another lap - I told him there was already a good uptrack!
The heavy graupel had continued to fall, making me miss the skin track several times (and this where I had set it), so several inches had accumulated in, say, 3 hours.
The snow had also changed drastically in texture, the upper 6-8" was much denser - we got to within about 300 vf of the top (last steep face) and sudde...
The heavy graupel had continued to fall, making me miss the skin track several times (and this where I had set it), so several inches had accumulated in, say, 3 hours.
The snow had also changed drastically in texture, the upper 6-8" was much denser - we got to within about 300 vf of the top (last steep face) and sudde...
Thanks also too all for putting up with the lone snowshoer of the group. The two classes missed were certainly worth it. Those sitting around me in my 10:30 Applied Math course were probably not too happy that I had to forego a shower in order to be on time.
No, I guess it's called Baker BC. Table Mtn and Mt Herman are connected to the valley that the upper parking lot of the Mt. Baker Ski Area is located.
What a morning! Beautiful terrain, fresh snow! Only wish I didn't spend so much time with my face buried in it :)
Thanks for putting up with a novice like me!
Like I figured, I got back to work just in time for a crisis.
Thanks for putting up with a novice like me!
Like I figured, I got back to work just in time for a crisis.
What a perfect start to the day. Thank you Kam for putting this one together.
The Bird-Master footage alone is worth the price of admission!
Wich pk-ing lot. Hannegan Pass? Somewhere on Baker Lk? Inquireing minds need to go there this wk-end.
Ok, this one is seriously lacking in ski footage.........
Even though we were having so much fun filming the birds and finding new areas to ski, I was able to get a few ski shots here. :D
http://groups.msn.com/WildHeartsSkiing/tatoosh1905.msnw
It was still good Sunday. 16" of powder above the crust. Some places on E facing slopes in trees and in narrow glades had a slight easily breakable crust down about 6" that would trap my fairly narrow skis sometimes, but nothing moved on us on any face. I was there with Peter, Baldwin and Charlie the dog, hooking up via this site. They wore me out in the NE facing basin over the ridge from Skyline Lk. I should know better that to go out with guys from the Rockies with fat skis, half my...
It was fun to run it you and the snow in the "Back Bowl" was pretty sweet after the second turn. I had one of my finest runs ever! ;D
I was going to chide our gaper competitor for not enduring the full 5k race division, but the comprehensive graph and commentary more than compensate for the shortened course -- nice job!
Nice report. After sleeping all of Sunday away I think I might finally be shaking this head cold
Cass: what in the Jim-hell were you thinkin'?
it looked like nice snow. ;)
-kam
We are very sick. The snow was ever so fluffy, but it was a cruel ruse.
I can't wait to go back.
Charles- Looks like you had much better snow coverage there last spring ;) I'd agree that there'd be some nice big-tree forest runs available; Currently, at least an additional 2-to-3 feet of snow cover is probably needed to adequately cover most of the rocks and fallen logs on the upper portion of the ridge.
--Chris
--Chris
Hey, good trip! And thanks for the snowpack info. Matt and I had a nice tour out Polallie Ridge last spring (here) and I want to go back, but was thinking that the snowpack might still be pretty marginal. With a better snowpack there are some nice big-tree forest runs available, as well as endless long touring possibilities. It is nice to be able to go into the heart of s-mobile country and still (mostly) escape them.
Cass: what in the Jim-hell were you thinkin'?
it looked like nice snow. ;)
-kam
it looked like nice snow. ;)
-kam
That was some fantastic powder (on the rocks)!. At least no rocks were hit in that short glade that we yo-yo'd 3 times. I think this is the only tour I've been on where the snowpack actually got THINNER up high ??? (the additional branches of the denser forest up higher on the ridge seem to have captured much of the new snow before it could reach the ground).
Suprisingly no core shots needed; just some major "touch-up" work on some long but shallow scratches. ...
Suprisingly no core shots needed; just some major "touch-up" work on some long but shallow scratches. ...
Kam - Jerry's proly out fabricating award winning cabinetry by now...
The pit was on a north aspect, about 5200. No wind slabs to speak of, the snow was pretty much layed in there as it fell. The shear layer was mashed down buried surface hoar that presumable formed during the cold, dry wx between this most recent precip at the end of last week and the precip of the week before.
The pit was on a north aspect, about 5200. No wind slabs to speak of, the snow was pretty much layed in there as it fell. The shear layer was mashed down buried surface hoar that presumable formed during the cold, dry wx between this most recent precip at the end of last week and the precip of the week before.
Nice work, Jeff. Perhaps I'll see you at the Alpental event!
hey Jerry, nice report. just curious, what aspect was the slope where you found the sheared hoar-layer? did you notice much wind effects (in terms of slab formation)? did you by any change get a look at the crystals?
looking forward to your photos and video.
-kam
looking forward to your photos and video.
-kam
Wow -- what a neat event!.... I plan to do more of these in the future--the race division next time, rec is too short.
Jeff :)
Way to go Gaper Jeffey!! ;D Thanks for sharing your TR and graph. Now that you are "into" this sort of thing, you should sign up for Lowell Skoog's Patrol Race Ski Tour. You can find out more info in the "Planned Trips" section under March 5th 2005 Patrol Race Sk...
Thanks for the report, its good to know they went back to the one way ticket.
Checking in with the ski patrol is always a good idea no matter which direction (at All ski areas ) you head into backcountry. Local knowledge rules, Ive even had patrollers give me direction to the goods!
Checking in with the ski patrol is always a good idea no matter which direction (at All ski areas ) you head into backcountry. Local knowledge rules, Ive even had patrollers give me direction to the goods!
The top of Nash was pretty wind hammered on Wednesday and I think a lot of the surface hoar on it got destroyed. Edelweiss had a bit of hoar because it is more wind protected. We skinned up Edelweiss and skied down Nash this afternoon. The bond to the surface hoar layer is better than I expected. The warm temps helped a bit, as does the lack of a clean sliding surface. The surface hoar is at the top of a fairly deep layer (~8") of facets and sugar snow above th...
hankJ:
We skied 'Nash today, got to the top at the crack of 11:30 AM and somehow were first to ski it (there was a skin track all the way to the top, apparently a patroller who was ensconced in the patrol shack at top of #2). The "drop" in was no problem at all, just stomped out the fresh little cornice and traversed in.
The impressive hoar crystals from a couple of days ago seem to have been buffeted by wind/temp/natural settling; the foot or so of fresh was well bonded...
We skied 'Nash today, got to the top at the crack of 11:30 AM and somehow were first to ski it (there was a skin track all the way to the top, apparently a patroller who was ensconced in the patrol shack at top of #2). The "drop" in was no problem at all, just stomped out the fresh little cornice and traversed in.
The impressive hoar crystals from a couple of days ago seem to have been buffeted by wind/temp/natural settling; the foot or so of fresh was well bonded...
It's really AJ that deserves the thanks - Jah was conspiring against me this am and everytime I took point something would go wrong. First discover both lights are on the dashboard when we leave the circle of light around the baselodge, then my skin comes free because of the wonderful job my new re-glue has done in stricking to the new wax job from last night. Oh well.
I'll be seeing all on the powder filled slopes this weekend. But be safe out there - the wind is really...
I'll be seeing all on the powder filled slopes this weekend. But be safe out there - the wind is really...
MW88888888: it was nice to meet you and your friend! again, thanks for the uptrack on Sessel. it was a nice surprise to see fresh skin tracks early in the morning. ;)
hankj: MW88888888's comment about the hoar-layer being "alive and well" is smack on. i'm no expert, but from what i've seen and with the addition of new snow, something is bound to go. anyway, if you're venturing into the BC, look for the hoar-layer and also the Dec raincrust. when ski...
hankj: MW88888888's comment about the hoar-layer being "alive and well" is smack on. i'm no expert, but from what i've seen and with the addition of new snow, something is bound to go. anyway, if you're venturing into the BC, look for the hoar-layer and also the Dec raincrust. when ski...
Heya MW88888888! Thanks again for setting the up-track that we used on "sessel" :) The clouds on the upper mtn looked thick from our vantage on Lower International. That fresh sugary pow sure was great! Though I'll be sticking to low-angle mellow terrain this weekend.
thanks guy --
sounds like playing it safe this weekend won't be much of a compromise fun-wise!
sounds like playing it safe this weekend won't be much of a compromise fun-wise!
Tony and I were the "dawn patrol" party that came down lower Edelweiss, Cascadefreak. We actually turned around b/c I had a deadline today, but it worked out great b/c the skiing in Edelweiss was really difficult. Both Tony and I were flailing around trying to ski by brail - the clouds were thick and a misty snow fell randomly. Any higher than we got wouldn't have improved anything...at least when we were there.
We started smiling when we hit the top of Quad......
We started smiling when we hit the top of Quad......
hankj- We didn't ski nash...a different "dawn patrol" party that we saw back at the parking lot said they tried to ascend up near Chair 2, but didn't go all the way up owing to poor visibility. We ascened via "sessel" up to near the top of Lower International, so we didn't really scope out the Chair 2 area. We didn't go all the way up to the saddle at the top of Lower International as the somewhat steep and open slopes were a bit un-nerving in the current conditio...
Did you ski Nash? If so can you give a little more detail on the snow conditions? It looks inviting but the words "step down" in the avi report make me think twice ... How did the mellower routes down around chair 2 look?
Great shots Kam! That sugary powder breakfast was definitely worth it for waking up at ~4:30 am! The bosses didn't seem to notice my slightly late arrival at work today ;)
--Casshole
--Casshole
January 07 (dawn patrol II):
Skip, Cass and i went to alpental for an early morning stroll and found the pow that dropped last night to be very tasty! as of this morning, the new snow is fairly light and unconsolidated, but it will move over the buried hoar-layer on relatively steep and convex terrain. we ran into a handful of other dawn patrollers.
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Skip, Cass and i went to alpental for an early morning stroll and found the pow that dropped last night to be very tasty! as of this morning, the new snow is fairly light and unconsolidated, but it will move over the buried hoar-layer on relatively steep and convex terrain. we ran into a handful of other dawn patrollers.
You have to go to "Guest Services" just left of the ticket booths to get the $5 ticket. They'll give you a ticket to hand to the Quicksilver lift operator after making sure you have transeivers, shovel, etc. They may ask you to check in with the ski patrol. They didn't ask us to on Sunday, though. I think it depends on whether or not they are doing avy control work in the in-bounds backcountry areas. Have fun. Might see you down there depending on wh...
When I've done this in past years -- you could buy it at the ticket booth -- but you had get checked-out by the ski-patrol first. So you might want to start by visiting the ski-patrol room. As I recall it's accessed from the ground level on the west side of the main lodge.
Might be heading to that area this weekend. Where/how do we purchase the $5 quicksilver lift? We attempted once 2 seasons ago and failed. So, we had to just hike up under the lift which wasn't so much fun. Would gladly pay the $5 to not have to hike up a ski run.
Thanks.
Thanks.
Hey Kam - Looks like you were lookin' out towards us in the N. Cascades (shhhhh). ;)
wow Matt! those are some really nice photos, as usual. the surface hoar exposures are my favorite, with the warm morning back-light. thanks for sharing.
kam
kam
It was a great day up there! Tons of snow isn't always an elixir for covering up rocks. Just last week I managed to blow out an edge at Alta on a true dumpage powder day, when they had a 90" base. Here are some more pretty pictures for your viewing pleasure in Kam style links:
moon surface hoar 1
moon surface hoar 1
GregL, its actually $34 Canadian, with the current exchange rate (which isn't what it used to be) I think it works out to about $28 US. Saves you about 2 hours of skinning, if you wanted you could access the same area by climbing the Singing Pass Trail, which we used to ski out.
Wow those shots make it look like a great day. I went out that afternoon and skinned up to the top of international. Unfortunately the crust action made the international turns pretty crusty. Lower International would be great except for all those rocks lurking just below the surface. The snow is so light and sugary that you go right through it and hit rock. From the bottom of Lower I to half way down Sessel was okay, not too rocky, fairly skier packed. From h...