TR Replies
Mark, those four may have been us. As we were crossing the short steep slope approaching the pass, the snow settled a few inches with a big whomp. So we took a short run out, then climb back up to the main saddle. Looking into the basin from above, it looked still a little rocky anyway.
Here is Jason doing a little exercise:
Here is Jason doing a little exercise:
it seems I didn't miss much after all...
Good.
Good.
that picture reminds me of the time I tried to go to Yodelin too early in the season
I don't know who the would-be skier is in the photo, but the choices of skis (Trab) and bindings (Dynafit) are good ones ;) And the photo explains the name of Jim Hell.
What did you call this place sometime ago Mark? "The place eveyone goes".
I sometimes call Artist Point "The Place Where Everybody Goes," since that often seems to be its salient feature. I've also been heard describing a bowl quite close to Herman Saddle as "The Secret Bowl Where Everybody Goes," mainly because certain folks get so offended at finding anyone else skiing there. FWIW, one party of four w...
When I have days like that, I try to justify them by pointing out that I need the exercise. Which I generally do.
The return trip on the Porcupine Creek side of Cutthroat isn't even much fun on skis. The Cutthroat Lake side is preferable, but there are still a couple of miles of undulating traversing before you hit the forest road, where you could probably glide out if someone were to break a path for you. Neither side makes an ideal snowboard tour.
As you...
The return trip on the Porcupine Creek side of Cutthroat isn't even much fun on skis. The Cutthroat Lake side is preferable, but there are still a couple of miles of undulating traversing before you hit the forest road, where you could probably glide out if someone were to break a path for you. Neither side makes an ideal snowboard tour.
As you...
the snow was awesome - fluffy powder, first faceshots of the season, no wind affect...
lucky.
the four of us were dying to get up high to take advantage of the fluff, especially considering the low freezing level. we suspected that there was minimal wind effect too. boy, those new crystals were pretty under a magnifying glass... ;D
A friend and I spent three days in the parking lot at Baker Fri - Sun watching the avy conditions change. Markh is spot on.
Fri - new snow couple inches over crust with snow falling, nice tour with visibility in manky powder. temps in the low 30s
Sat - 24 hr sn: 8" and snow falling hard; temps still very warm. While climbing we distinctly hear settling noises in the new slab so cancelled our tour and stuck to mellower terrain. Then sat pm all hell broke loose. Wind picks...
Fri - new snow couple inches over crust with snow falling, nice tour with visibility in manky powder. temps in the low 30s
Sat - 24 hr sn: 8" and snow falling hard; temps still very warm. While climbing we distinctly hear settling noises in the new slab so cancelled our tour and stuck to mellower terrain. Then sat pm all hell broke loose. Wind picks...
We hit the ski area too... the snow was awesome - fluffy powder, first faceshots of the season, no wind affect. Just had to pick the right lines to avoid rocks/stumps.
Snow at Steven's was fluffy. There was 20" at the measuring station on top of Daisy Chair. I think last week there was 10". Snow was fluff. Real powder.
Just a bit unnerving with the low coverage.
Pretty much the path of least resistance is to skin up to Tye/Mill pass. Lots of folks with the same idea but still fresh tracks were found.
Just a bit unnerving with the low coverage.
Pretty much the path of least resistance is to skin up to Tye/Mill pass. Lots of folks with the same idea but still fresh tracks were found.
that was Michael and Corinne's white VW. you two were smart to ski the resort. the same idea crossed our minds on our drive back to Seattle. oh well, it was still fun to "walk" in the woods and get some fresh air.
how was the snow at Stevens? i bet it was fluffy. lucky.
-kam
how was the snow at Stevens? i bet it was fluffy. lucky.
-kam
I actually asked Elisa if we should join you guys (not knowing who it was but seeing the car parked at the
pull-out). I thought the road might be fun.
We managed to make some decent turns at the ski area.
Just a quicky on the way home from Wenatchee.
pull-out). I thought the road might be fun.
We managed to make some decent turns at the ski area.
Just a quicky on the way home from Wenatchee.
Looks like a great outing ??? I know you enjoy bush-whacking and all, but what the Jim Hell were you thinking!? ;)
You didn't miss much at Rainy Pass; just soft and fluffy knee-deep powder and no brush ;D
--Cass(hole)
You didn't miss much at Rainy Pass; just soft and fluffy knee-deep powder and no brush ;D
--Cass(hole)
The duct tape worked for awhile. I started to have some problems with my skins on the tour out as well - the clips don't fit very will with the tips of my pocket rockets. Thanks again for your help with the duct tape - your dog was great! So it sounds like the slope we were on was Tye Peak - thanks Juan.
We actually hit skinnable snow at ca. 4800ft. The trip was great fun up in an alpine environment, even if the snow up high was horrifying. The snow in the trees along the ridge was fluffy and nice, so we got some good turns in. The skating on Rock Lake was fun too.
The wind slabs did form quick, but the layers that worry me are all the stuff above the rain/rime crust (Thanksgiving) and a (sun?) crust underneath the (inch) of snow that fell last wk. At 5kft on N aspects facing Rainier in the Tatoosh, I found a very weak layer on Sat one inch down. - Had a great circumnavigation of Pinnacle, Castle, and a ski up Hall Foss. In Pinnacle trail (barely enough snow to skin up on) and out the drainage on the NE? side of Castle. Not a...
sounds like you were skiing off Tye peak? guess i should have headed out there, sounds like a good day. thanks for the beta.
Hey Rob-
Thanks again for the highway heading to the top of the peak; it made the trip up a snap for Sonya and I. What a great couple of runs!
Did the duct-taped skins make it through the rest of the day?
Thanks again for the highway heading to the top of the peak; it made the trip up a snap for Sonya and I. What a great couple of runs!
Did the duct-taped skins make it through the rest of the day?
Well the good news is its better than last weekend, but the bad news is we still need some more. Conditions off the cat-track are lossely consolidated powder over a punchy crust. On steeper terrain, the new snow is sloughing off atoop the ground cover. I went up to the top of skyline ridge above moonlight bowl, and the descent back to the trail was fairly treacherous. We need some consolidation of the existing pack and some new. Hopefully both these things will happ...
What did you call this place sometime ago Mark? "The place eveyone goes". Well since you were there I guess so. Yes Silas, many of the usual suspects (Brent H's favorite catchall) were present. Saw lots of steep tracks off Table. Surprising that nothing slid as we found very weak layer under the Fri nite/Sat wet dump. Lots of folks actually read weather reports. Our group of four was also there on Saturday and stayed in Mteer lodge that night. Only seven total in the lodge with s...
We spent the day focusing on breaking our rule of "never leave perfectly skiable snow in search of better snow".
We did a pretty good job of it, too 8)
We did a pretty good job of it, too 8)
Thanks Gaper J ,consider it done. I didn't know that it was possible to edit post post.
Wondered where you'd gone to, Silas. You missed the widely-broadcast invitation to the goods...which seemed to be located mainly in the steep glades on the back side of Herman Saddle. We skied a couple of the usual runs near the ski area, then followed the trailsetters (keeping a judicious distance, lest they take offense) through the boulders, over the saddle into the land of stable, knee-deep, dry, unconsolidated powder. Best skiiing, for what it's worth, was between 4800 and 5700 feet o...
Nice TR Robie, but you need to edit your subject!
Thanks for the report. Could you say a bit more about snowpack, the fresh snowfall, and what specific stability concerns you had?
When we dug a pit on a 35 degree slope, the icy layer was directly underneath about 6-8 inches of unconsolidated snow with 2 inches of fresh on top of that. When I side slipped the slope, I was able to get some snow to slide as well. This in itself was not the reason we turned back, it was the one person w/o a beacon...
Snoslut, Thanks for the update at Crystal. I also invested in a midweek pass. We'll have to share some lines in the backcountry.
Zap
Zap
Thanks, Tim. I'm going to head out and camp overnight in the rain, just to get psyched for the Chugach experience. Maybe see you up there.
Note that the precip guage at the telemetry site is out of order, so it'll claim precipitation whenever the temperature warms to above freezing. On the other hand, WA DOT claims wet snow. One of those days with great skiing up high, then a band of breakable crust, then deep slop down low?
Enjoy,
Mark
Note that the precip guage at the telemetry site is out of order, so it'll claim precipitation whenever the temperature warms to above freezing. On the other hand, WA DOT claims wet snow. One of those days with great skiing up high, then a band of breakable crust, then deep slop down low?
Enjoy,
Mark
was it windy up there today?
There were occasional gusts, but that Mt. Baker filler paste wasn't moving much. Keep in mind, we left early to save some leg for tomorrow, so there could have been wind in the afternoon and evening that I do not know about. It is even possible that it might have rained a bit after I left. The telemetry site shows a bit of moisture between 3 and 5 pm with no increase in snow depth. It was raini...
I anticipate tomorrow to be one of those rare Baker "Chugash" days where nothing is too steep to be skied safely.
Hee hee. Guess I made the right decision by staying home to try to get things accomplished today. Hey Tim, was it windy up there today?
Thanks,
Mark
We skied one run in area Friday, and found the conditions best described as hideous -- what few lines were skiable were soon scraped to the underlying crust by beginning boarders. So we spent the afternoon in the BB Chutes. We found a surprisingly good bond between the latest snowl ayers (Monday) and the rain crust. We could get nothing to move up to 40 degrees, and just minor sluff above that.
Today was different. We spent several runs in area testing different equipment setup. It was...
Today was different. We spent several runs in area testing different equipment setup. It was...
Thanks for the report. Could you say a bit more about snowpack, the fresh snowfall, and what specific stability concerns you had?
You'll note that this sub-forum is for backcountry trip reports, and that there is a separate page on which to report ski area conditions.
Thanks,
Mark
You'll note that this sub-forum is for backcountry trip reports, and that there is a separate page on which to report ski area conditions.
Thanks,
Mark
;D ha, ha, me too....
The path you wanted to follow was just to the left, off to the road to nowhere, just after it starts, across from where you entered it. It's part of a trail that used to be used for Mt. biking when the bike center was open at Central.
The path you wanted to follow was just to the left, off to the road to nowhere, just after it starts, across from where you entered it. It's part of a trail that used to be used for Mt. biking when the bike center was open at Central.
ahh yes, that logging road to nowhere near Ollallie Meadows -- that sucker's fooled me twice in two years (so shame on me).
Very nice report, Greg.
Great Info and great shot of the chutes.
Great Info and great shot of the chutes.
Phew - thanks for not picking the face plant/foul language picture :)
Yeah, Kevin, Very nice camera work. And thanks for the stats.
It has occured to me that no one had taken advantage of our one photo quota for this thread;
who better to appear than Amy - Master TR Writer:
photo: Warren Miller (aka Jerry White)
It has occured to me that no one had taken advantage of our one photo quota for this thread;
who better to appear than Amy - Master TR Writer:
photo: Warren Miller (aka Jerry White)
Hi Greg, sounds like you had an enjoyable ride down "The Chutes." Hopefully this weekends snowfall will increase our roaming range.
Hi Zap, that was us parked next to your van in the burgundy Subaru -
gregL
gregL
For those who are interested, we did 2221 vert ft of ascent, 2254 vert descent, according to my Suunto S6. And we were out for 5:17.
Or should I say, we all did at least the above...everyone else climbed a bit higher for their 3rd and/or 4th runs.
Kevin
Or should I say, we all did at least the above...everyone else climbed a bit higher for their 3rd and/or 4th runs.
Kevin
Here's a link to my pics from this adventure. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.
http://community.webshots.com/album/225875766UWolRV?905
Kevin
http://community.webshots.com/album/225875766UWolRV?905
Kevin
Hmm a hot sake tour might be nice. i could bring my stove. Hey while you mentioned helmet ,early skiing on shallow cover a helmet is good item. Funny late summer skiing i usually wear one.
:)
Look who's talkin'...
Markharf, the master of the great read;
the master or the prolific TR.
I have serious doubts you'd shy from anyone in a battle with words. I think you are simply a courteous chap that gives deference and respect to senility and old age.
Whatever the reason, I thank you.
;)
Look who's talkin'...
Markharf, the master of the great read;
the master or the prolific TR.
I have serious doubts you'd shy from anyone in a battle with words. I think you are simply a courteous chap that gives deference and respect to senility and old age.
Whatever the reason, I thank you.
;)
such an instance sometimes justifies the breach of our society's narrow and fragile boundaries of censorship in favor of the maintenance of some semblance of positive self image on the part of the disgraced subject...
No way I'm arguing with this guy. He's way too loquacious...errr...erudite...naw, uhhh....GLIB!, yeah, that's it: way too glib.
Mark, you're just WAY too smart for your own britches.
And besides, you know how frustrating it is to be head-down/slippery side-up in Utah pow so cold you can't even gasp a breath of clear air.
As you are surely aware, such an instance sometimes justifies the breach of our society's narrow and fragile boundaries of censorship in favor of the maintenance of some semblance of positive self image on the part of the disgraced subject.
As I'm also sure you would agree, it was the onl...
And besides, you know how frustrating it is to be head-down/slippery side-up in Utah pow so cold you can't even gasp a breath of clear air.
As you are surely aware, such an instance sometimes justifies the breach of our society's narrow and fragile boundaries of censorship in favor of the maintenance of some semblance of positive self image on the part of the disgraced subject.
As I'm also sure you would agree, it was the onl...
I'm glad you got some use out of what was left of our Saturday skin track once the postholers got through it. We ended up booting from the top of that to the summit of the ridge and finding a nice chute with a narrow exit to the skier's right of Rock Garden. Lots of dust on crust up high. Here's to more!