TR Replies
When you say that you took the Mountaineer trail, was it the one that starts by crossing the creek? If so, how easy is it to cross now?
Yeah, I shoulda thought of that.
So did you notice whether Alexandra was skinning the PB 100, the PB 200, or the PB 300?
So did you notice whether Alexandra was skinning the PB 100, the PB 200, or the PB 300?
Ron: If I've learned anything since I was a young, callow fellow, it's that Google.com will answer almost any question with ease (c.f., http://www.winnmarketing.com/parkbully1.htm).
Sorry to hear it Bill. Hope you have a speedy recovery.
Great report, Mark, and up to your general level of readability.
So what's this "Pisten-Bully" that these guardian angels... drive?
So what's this "Pisten-Bully" that these guardian angels... drive?
Hi Brent: Nice skiing, wasn't it? Sorry we missed you, although with your appetite for vertical you probably soundly thrashed the Swift Creek trees.
I'm wondering what you mean by "Herman Arm." The ridge which connects Mt. Herman to Mazama Dome? If so, was the surface snow getting crusty in Monday's sun?
Thanks.
I'm wondering what you mean by "Herman Arm." The ridge which connects Mt. Herman to Mazama Dome? If so, was the surface snow getting crusty in Monday's sun?
Thanks.
One sinificant detail Sam left out: The curse of the man who ate everything.
The night before I read an excerpt from a book where the author reasoned (using flawed logic) that he could eat more raw oysters if he gave up skiing because the risks injury from skiing far outweight those from eating raw oysters.
Well, those risks of skiing caught up me in a bad way after Sam and I completed our backcountry run. We headed over to Alps for a few runs after our backountry fresh...
The night before I read an excerpt from a book where the author reasoned (using flawed logic) that he could eat more raw oysters if he gave up skiing because the risks injury from skiing far outweight those from eating raw oysters.
Well, those risks of skiing caught up me in a bad way after Sam and I completed our backcountry run. We headed over to Alps for a few runs after our backountry fresh...
Greg, that's good to know about the descent out to Yodelin Place. I've been tempted to head out that way myself, but it looked a little as you described it.
So I'm not sure which one is Tye Peak, but I think I've been on it. Our tracks from Sunday were off the NE face of (Tye Peak?) down some steep glades and to the skin track below the boulder garden.
I want to ski the W side of that peak/saddle and drop down towards Tye Lake, that looks pretty good too, but not sure a...
So I'm not sure which one is Tye Peak, but I think I've been on it. Our tracks from Sunday were off the NE face of (Tye Peak?) down some steep glades and to the skin track below the boulder garden.
I want to ski the W side of that peak/saddle and drop down towards Tye Lake, that looks pretty good too, but not sure a...
what was the David Lynch line - "I don't like pictures, I want to remember things as I want, not how they actually happened." Or something like that!
Yeah, I know...rookie move. However, taking time to snap photos, can sometimes detract from the skiing experience. I've shot tens of thousands of photos... missing a trip here and there just forces me to write more detailed reports and enjoy the skiing more.
Sounds like a great trip, Greg.
Thanks for sharing it.
Thanks for sharing it.
Gregg,
Thanks for a great report. Timing is everything. I'll be touring at Roger's Pass later this season and touring over to Glacier Circle hut if conditions permit.
Zap
Thanks for a great report. Timing is everything. I'll be touring at Roger's Pass later this season and touring over to Glacier Circle hut if conditions permit.
Zap
I like to refer to it as the "Pooky Slot" ;D
Damn, it was awful!!!! Oprah never sounded better. ;)
Damn, it was awful!!!! Oprah never sounded better. ;)
Skykilo will try to refrain from posting as AlpentalCorey in the future, now that he has noticed the Logout link.
Skykilo will try to refrain from posting as AlpentalCorey in the future, now that he has noticed the Logout link.
AlpentalCorey has never skied the Slot Couloir, but skykilo skied it a week ago and it was really great. Conditions at the ski area were horrendous, rain crust action happening, but the couloir was just sweet pow.
Skykilo would like to second Sam's assessment: do NOT go ski the Slot Couloir! It is all mine! If I catch you there, I will sick Panama on you...
Skykilo would like to second Sam's assessment: do NOT go ski the Slot Couloir! It is all mine! If I catch you there, I will sick Panama on you...
Jim - boy, did we ever. It was sunny and beautiful all morning, and only until we neared Snow Lake did the snow really come down hard. But I don't think that was a bad thing at all, really.
Nice day to be out, huh? Did you get some of the sunbreaks in addition to the squalls?
Gotta love the low snow level.
Gotta love the low snow level.
Nice trip.
Thanks for sharing it.
Thanks for sharing it.
Thanks, Jim.
That's exactly what we needed to hear!
That's exactly what we needed to hear!
Hey Big Snow! We'd love to get together with you and Little Snow for a trip sometime. More on this later, but we had a litter of 6 husky pups and by next year, we should consider a dog-supported midwinter trip into Pasayten.
Yes this is the northern Blue Mountains. This particular part is a really healthy beautiful forest whereas other parts have succumbed to pine beetle. Snow doesn't get crusty here very often. Great glade skiing too. You come out some...
Yes this is the northern Blue Mountains. This particular part is a really healthy beautiful forest whereas other parts have succumbed to pine beetle. Snow doesn't get crusty here very often. Great glade skiing too. You come out some...
Hey Dave,
Glad to see you were able to get the time to get out!
I am not exactly sure of the location, is this the Blues?
Any photos?
We are still hoping to get out your way, but with a new job it is hard to put many free days together.
Alan
Glad to see you were able to get the time to get out!
I am not exactly sure of the location, is this the Blues?
Any photos?
We are still hoping to get out your way, but with a new job it is hard to put many free days together.
Alan
Thanks for the clarity, Charles. FWIW, this keeps the TR board focused on what I'm looking for - routes, stories, and conditions that help me in my own BC travels, and that also help me daydream about more of them.
This seems like an appropriate moment to thank you once again for running such a fantastic resource for all of us!
This seems like an appropriate moment to thank you once again for running such a fantastic resource for all of us!
Good info, Scott.
I've been wondering what snow conditions were like up on the muir snowfield. Most folks have not been going up that far.
I've been wondering what snow conditions were like up on the muir snowfield. Most folks have not been going up that far.
My 2 cents is that it would never occur to me to use a site like this to glean avy info. Rather, my primary interest is in learning about routes that I was unaware of, be it front, back, or sideways country. In this, the board has from time to time excelled, but it seems not to be a stated use or purpose. Charles' latest TR about the hanging valley is a case in point.
Have a great holiday everyone...
David Lowry, aka Skijorer and Huskyrunnr elsewhere.
Have a great holiday everyone...
David Lowry, aka Skijorer and Huskyrunnr elsewhere.
With all of the suggestions and opinions, it is a little hard to know where to start. Maybe with an historical perspective: for a number of years, Brent H. ran a "Backcountry Skiing and Snowboarding Trip Reports" site for the Mountaineers. It was the only real source of backcountry conditions info for this area of which I was aware. Brent had announced his intent to turn over operation of the TRs to someone else well in advance, but when April 2001 came around there was no new Mountain...
Jim Hill revisited, Dec 21:
Our original plans to visit an East Side peak were thwarted by a miscalculation of snow depth and our inability to drive a crucial logging road in the not quite burley enough Subaru. As PH remarked, "We applied West Side gradients to the East Side." Standing in the road side pullout, I vehemently argued we should skin up the road anyway - after all, there was already a trail broken by a truck and we could make great time. In the end...
Our original plans to visit an East Side peak were thwarted by a miscalculation of snow depth and our inability to drive a crucial logging road in the not quite burley enough Subaru. As PH remarked, "We applied West Side gradients to the East Side." Standing in the road side pullout, I vehemently argued we should skin up the road anyway - after all, there was already a trail broken by a truck and we could make great time. In the end...
It's good to hear that you're finally getting out, Tim.
I could tell how antsy you were last year from your posts.
I'm glad no one got hurt on your first trip out.
I could tell how antsy you were last year from your posts.
I'm glad no one got hurt on your first trip out.
Thanks, Chris.
I've been wondering how conditions were back in there.
I've been wondering how conditions were back in there.
nice report, I have always enjoyed the "easier" sking / touring on the East side. Interesting that the freezing level had been still low, I had been thinking that though not as much precip, the east side had been protected a bit more by the what I presumed to be cooler temps.
So was that a "one corn dog day" or "two corn dog day" ;D
cw
So was that a "one corn dog day" or "two corn dog day" ;D
cw
Yes inbounds reports
some days these are the only ones and some information is better than none. I found the snow level info in the report above very useful.
Most people posting inbounds reports know what kind of info the board is looking for. Move the ones that vaguely recap heroics without addressing environmental conditions.
As far as the transferability of information to the BC and avalanche safety issues (the snow compaction factor, etc): seems to me a...
some days these are the only ones and some information is better than none. I found the snow level info in the report above very useful.
Most people posting inbounds reports know what kind of info the board is looking for. Move the ones that vaguely recap heroics without addressing environmental conditions.
As far as the transferability of information to the BC and avalanche safety issues (the snow compaction factor, etc): seems to me a...
Nice troll off of MW88888888's TR, Charles!! Wish I could do that :D
Charles, while you've done and outstanding job of organizing and administrating this forum to provide us with the best bc planning tool we've ever had, I think that blue blood in your heritage tends to lean you a bit too far towards the rule making/organizational side of things for my style (which is proly why the forum is such a great tool) :)
I tend to agree with the more laid back approach to this subject, fo...
Charles, while you've done and outstanding job of organizing and administrating this forum to provide us with the best bc planning tool we've ever had, I think that blue blood in your heritage tends to lean you a bit too far towards the rule making/organizational side of things for my style (which is proly why the forum is such a great tool) :)
I tend to agree with the more laid back approach to this subject, fo...
Mark, I'm sorry for overreacting in my earlier post. I think I misunderstood what you were trying to say. I value and respect your opinions and your wonderful contributions to this site and the backcountry skiing community.
As I may have started to say earlier, I think that these types of reports would, in general, be limited to the time of year we just passed through, where the ski areas are not yet open and the coverage might be questionable away from the clear cut "run...
As I may have started to say earlier, I think that these types of reports would, in general, be limited to the time of year we just passed through, where the ski areas are not yet open and the coverage might be questionable away from the clear cut "run...
I see that there has been some discussion! I'm too tired to digest all of this right now (skied today), but I appreciate all of the input and hope to find time tomorrow to give it a good reading.
Hmmm. An interesting range of perspectives here. I'd like to reinforce and elaborate on a couple of points.
First, my opinions are only my opinions; I don't expect that they carry more weight than the opinions of others. Second, I did not, in my earlier post, take any sort of moral stand; I just stated what I find useful in a trip report. Third, I have absolutely nothing against "crowing," provided it is accompanied by a certain amount of useful information (he...
First, my opinions are only my opinions; I don't expect that they carry more weight than the opinions of others. Second, I did not, in my earlier post, take any sort of moral stand; I just stated what I find useful in a trip report. Third, I have absolutely nothing against "crowing," provided it is accompanied by a certain amount of useful information (he...
Mark I've read many of your entertaining and informative reports both here and on TT'S, and if I'm not mistaken I've heard a 'crow' or two from you from time to time. If the skiing is great and your havin' a good time 'crow' about it! Like the Ravens at 10,000' they 'caw,caw,caw' cause they can or they feel like it! On a Summer day the Muir snowfield is anything but BC, or was that PC, with 300-400 people on it, i've had quietier more solitary days at any ski area on a weekday. I did check...
Phil forgot to mention that this tour is not recomended for snowboards ;)
He used his split board yesterday and while it proved invaluable for trailbreaking due to it's width, the trees forced him to use them as skis on the exit as well. ;D
That snow was pretty nice up there! No sign of any other tracks in the bowl. I guess that shouldn't surprise anyone after last weekend.
He used his split board yesterday and while it proved invaluable for trailbreaking due to it's width, the trees forced him to use them as skis on the exit as well. ;D
That snow was pretty nice up there! No sign of any other tracks in the bowl. I guess that shouldn't surprise anyone after last weekend.
Limiting TAY reports to BC trips is silly. Yes, the BC reports provide oodles of information about snow and avy conditions. There is more to TAY that that, however. Info on a secret stash at Crystal or what the snow is like at Alpental are helpful to those who ski BC but also need info that doesn't come straight from the corporate area websites. Isn't skiing or boarding just as much about getting out with friends and loved ones as the turns themselves? I guess the r...
We bashed our way through Jim Hell but still made some good turns. Rain crust was present to near the top of the logging roads, but seemingly less so in the forest near the margins of the rain-snow line; it was as if the snow covered trees soaked up the rain before it could hit the ground. We didn't see any signs of instability either, despite venturing onto some moderately steep slopes. We followed our skin track out the log roads and down Arrowhead's clear cuts via head lamp....
Reports on snowflakes which have been run over repeatedly has less value to me than what the conditions are in the wild snow. The whole point of grooming is to ensure uniformity. It blunts the effects of wind, temperature and precip quite a bit.
I'm glad I hit refresh! I was about to bring up the same point about "frontcountry" area such as the Alp BC or Crystal north & southback having a different snowpack structure because of skier compaction.
However, I have a slight objection to this statement:
However, I have a slight objection to this statement:
Without value and perhaps dangerous: reports which assume that conditions within avalanche controlled areas or areas which are heavily ski cut all winter can be assumed t...
Personally, I check in here primarily to learn about backcountry conditions. I appreciate reports about lift-serviced skiing which have obvious bearing, but only if they contribute something which is not otherwise on offer. I am not enthralled by reports which take the form of crowing about what a blast it was yesterday on such-and-such a run at Crystal (or Baker, or wherever) unless the effort is made to correlate this to backcountry conditions.
In other words, for my...
In other words, for my...
Charles
I, for one, would not be opposed to some 'in bounds' reports during the 'ski season'. That may be because I spend most of my time in the winter riding lifts. So perhaps an 'in bounds' board might be in order? Although skiing Alpental, Stevens, Crystal is a world away from BC it certaintly allows plenty of time to work on your technique which translates to the BC, and with the early season supply of snow we've had I can't complain! ;D I've been at Stevens 5 times since day b...
I, for one, would not be opposed to some 'in bounds' reports during the 'ski season'. That may be because I spend most of my time in the winter riding lifts. So perhaps an 'in bounds' board might be in order? Although skiing Alpental, Stevens, Crystal is a world away from BC it certaintly allows plenty of time to work on your technique which translates to the BC, and with the early season supply of snow we've had I can't complain! ;D I've been at Stevens 5 times since day b...
A good discussion and I'm glad to see I'm not the only one concerned. Interestingly, I debated which area to post the info and decided on the TR board because of Jim O's reasons:
1. I did climb the mtn
2. The snow conditions were really what I wanted to share because I had questions about what the rain would have done to the BC snow.
3. I'm like Jim in that I go to TR reports to see what is happening at different elevations and different locations.
If I h...
1. I did climb the mtn
2. The snow conditions were really what I wanted to share because I had questions about what the rain would have done to the BC snow.
3. I'm like Jim in that I go to TR reports to see what is happening at different elevations and different locations.
If I h...
It seems useful to leave it in the trip reports, because it gives an idea of conditions at different elevations at that spot, and it was human-powered too...
Just for yuks, it occurs to me that there are a few potential factors here:
1) Was it human powered? My trip wasn't, MW88888888's was.
2) Was the ski area open for the season? Seems like folks hitting the ski areas before season opening was unquestioned, but MW8888888 hitting the ski area during the season (but before opening for the day) was.
3) Was it real backcountry, or a lift area that just happens to be closed ? Precedent here suggests that this doesn't matter, though some questio...
1) Was it human powered? My trip wasn't, MW88888888's was.
2) Was the ski area open for the season? Seems like folks hitting the ski areas before season opening was unquestioned, but MW8888888 hitting the ski area during the season (but before opening for the day) was.
3) Was it real backcountry, or a lift area that just happens to be closed ? Precedent here suggests that this doesn't matter, though some questio...
I think my posting posed the same dillema. I'm not all that concerned either way, but my logic for posting of my alpental lifts report here was that I tried to only include some detail on likely BC coverage from what we saw (that glades up higher in the Snoqualmie area might be getting enough coverage to be worthy) rather than a detailed description of what trails I skied on the lifts and how amazing the semi-tracked was and so forth, combined with the fact that I tend to surf only the trip repo...
My goal has been to have these monthly TRs boards be for backcountry trips only. That's why I recently moved Jim's Alpental lifts-running report. This report, however, presents me with a bit of a dilemma, because although the skiing took place entirely within a lift area, it does have some information which could be useful to bc skiers (new snow and crust conditions). Because of this, I am inclined to leave it in this board. But, to help me in my future decision-making, I am interested in...
Yeah Robie, you got it right. It's a nearly east facing aspect. I'm sure you've skied that chute before. From the top of the bowl, standing right in the middle, you just traverse to skier's right and up a small bump to access the top of this short chute. Bob said he heard it release before Don even started to tumble and he thinks he about ruptured his vocal chords by shouting so loudly. Although we didn't go back over to look at the crown, I'm sure it was the new sn...