TR Replies

I thought those prison guys all had to wear the same uniform.  Where are the bags of trash that they collected?

I see a motley crowd like that by the side of the road, I lock the doors, roll up the windows and hit the accelerator.  But I really like your first image, with all the competing diagonals against the fog.  

Thanks for the report.

Mark

Thanks for the report, snowslut.
Very helpful for the Sunday crowd.

Nice forward recon work, RKB.
Appreciate it.

yeah, the Silverstar Glacier side of Burgundy col looked like it would be a great ski descent!  I might have headed that way the last time I was up there if we hadn't been skiing in a white-out  :) The long steep couloir on the west side of the col may be nice as well, but that side often seems to melt-out before the highway opens, at least the lower section, making skiing a bit difficult to descend all the way to Early Winter's Creek  :)  

--Chris

I wrote the TR yesterday, but it just got uploaded a couple hours ago.  It's called "Mt. Baker Freshie-Fest"

http://www.neolectric.com/~justin/NWframe.html

Hey what happened to your post Paul?  Paul was asking where the TR was...

They did not access via Teanaway since this was the way I entered the basin and I did not see any machine tracks. I believe it was via a more southern route directly from Cle Elum. One of the four members came right up to me on the slope of north Ingalls Peak while I was traversing to Stuart Pass and he specifically stated that all members were Cle Elum residents. Most of the riders were very experienced and all of them had newer machines. He even went as far as telling me each of the members' n...

Speaking of Burgundy Col.  That little slot seemed like a great ski descent.  When I do get the time to spend an overnight in that area I think that a traverse to the col up high and then descent from the col would be a great descent route.  Just yo-yoing from the col down looked like it would be fun.

Alan

By any chance, do you have an idea which approach the snowmobilers accessed the area by?  Were there any fresh snowmobile tracks in the Upper North Fork Teanaway below Longs/Ingalls Passes?  I believe that this late in the season they use the Van Epps jeep road via the Cle Elum River, but I am not certain.
Thanks,
John

I think Eldorado Cr is more direct, and we hadn't really decided for sure about the exit via Boston Basin at the start.  You could certainly do it vice versa -- would be helpful to be familar wtih the Eldorado Cr route if exiting that way.

Had also considered an approach via Sibley Cr since it puts you higher at the start.  We didn't have a second car however (although could bike it).  Sibley Cr was also a concern due to its S aspect and a couple gullies with the warmer wea...

>:( Someday......

I also hope I did not make this trip out as a total bust, in fact for me the skiing through the larch forest was great.  However even here the snow was bottomless in spots, maybe just a bit more cohesive than up higher.  The driving was a kicker though!  I have no problem doing as nearly a long drive to do lesser elevation gain, such as the Cutthroat or on Cascade River Road.  Just my personal limit I guess.

Also, the other skiers with wider skis seemed to have a great...

Permit me to reframe my earlier, incautious statement:

Last year there was plenty of skiable snow in August and September, but relative to other years there was little of it, and its availability to those reluctant to hike long distances and climb suspect slopes on the Park Glacier was, shall we say, scant.  

Myself, I was satisfied with admiring your tracks a few days later while skidding around on the rather limited snowfields near The Portals.  Others crapped out comp...

Sounds like you skied the worst snow on the worst terrain during the worst weather (low altitude, shallow snow over boulders, warmest weekend of the year).  What's more, you woke up too early in order to walk a long way through the woods to access it.  Bummer.

To me, things are looking much like last year, which featured normal snow up high, less than normal snow down low, and a ferocious drought which helped corn up slopes which are normally problematic, thereby making heroes...

Jerry: Great set of pictures!

Ron: When is the next class? I'd like to participate . . .

gregL

nice pics Jerry, the angels shot ought to be made into posters and T-shirts.

We did it on Monday, Jeffey.
The Hogsback, bergy & PG chute were in about the same shape, 'cept the summit was enshrouded in a lenticular.
The ski down from crater rock was also about the same as you described, i.e., pure bliss.
'Course we did the "old timers" version...
pics at:
http://groups.msn.com/WildHeartsSkiing/_albumlist.msnw?pgmarket=en-us

Wow! Thanks for another amazing TR (I read it twice)! I love skiing on Shasta. ;D

I was going to let you do it Justin but it looks like Eric already got it.

here's the run from top of aasgard pass. expensive turns but worth every posthole.

You gonna write a TR Jim?  Mine is up on my site now anyhow.

I think I remember seeing a flying tent. ;) Bummer for the one's who lost it and had to sleep in the rain.

skiphotomatt and I were also doing the bday tour on saturday.  We left the trailhead around 8am, only to find out that the snow didn't really freeze enough overnight for our plans, so we only did the standard tour.  The upper 2/3's of the first run was excellent skiing, but after that the snow became extremely heavy and the skiing quality decreased.  We found similar snow conditions down from the second col.  The upper part of the run wasn't that heavy, but it got heavier as...

Thanks for the TR. Any day you can nap in the mountains is a good one!

I stopped below the Hogsback on Friday. I was tempted to go on but without an ice axe, climbing experience or a partner my common sense said 'stop'. Am planning to acquire an axe and the knowledge/experience to use it.

Well, it was about 2 miles by bike, and 15 miles 4800 vf  by ski.  Fabulous tour: magnificent scenery, wonderful snow, perfect weather, and no crowds.