TR Replies

Too funny...I guess elevation and timing is everything (I left at 7 am).  Across the road and 1,000' higher sounds like you had the goods.

Where in the Sierra you heading?  (Don't worry, I won't be going there - I feel like the great "no snow" god lately - my brother in VT says big storm for him moving in, a week earlier and maybe I could have had a foot of fresh for my trip!)

A remarkably complete and coherent trip report from Zap, posted in all sorts of random and widely-scattered places (e.g., Couloir, Telemarktips, RSB, Turns-All-Year).  I find I've got hardly anything to add...although I did want to clarify certain events which transpired during our descent to the cabin that second day.  Despite published reports to the contrary, I was not trying to pick my nose with my ski tip; rather, I was executing a wondrously graceful and complex aerial maneuver w...

Great report - sounds like you guys had fantastic conditions for the trip. I was up there several years ago after a big storm cycle so we had lots of great powder our day and a half (during which we managed to yo-yo the wonderful descent of the Granite Glacier from Unicol), then the wind picked up and cooked the snow anywhere at all open. Though there were still some nice pockets here and there for turns, for the most part we turned to "mountaineering objectives" for the remainder of t...

Nice report, Zap.
Thanks.  It was the next best thing to being there.

Very informative post.

Funny, was up at Stevens Pass today (Yodelin) and we had a similar experience even there.  18" must have been the magic # b/c that's where our column broke as well, on a similar denser snow resembling graupel.  

Same snow wheels, same winter conditions in the shaded trees, but did have a little "crust" at lower elevations until the warm temps took care of it.  Pretty good skiing (well, snowboarding really) all things considered....

Greg - I actually don't ski that much, sometimes the trips just come in bursts!

Jim - Well, my memory seems to be failing...I know it is somewhere in the Wentachee NF. Oh yeah, it's near Easton, that's it. It is a very beautiful place. A while back I read a description of it as one of the few watersheds which has never seen logging, so I took a hike one fall and realized that it could be a great place to ski. It is not mainly a place for turns, but it nonetheless provides a number of back...

Charles: How DO you do it? You are my envy, doing a few trips a week! Oh, well, when my little ones start "uphill skiing", as my son says, I'll be yanking them out of school for some REAL education! (I'm a teacher, so I know what I'm talkin' about!!)

Sounds like a good trip. Looking forward to a trip with you maybe later this spring...Greg Lange

Great report, Skinut.
Thanks.

Mad Dog: The last gatewait I did was in November. Left at 4:30 AM, sure to be on snow by 7:30. Nope; it was 9:15 before it happened, and we had the same experience - "Where's the !@#$%^&* snowplow? It's not needed!" As I said, we had a blast in the variable condiitons/snow.

Hope to tour with you and Ron this summer. My next gig is in Italy for 6 days, just west of the Dolomites. Hut time!!...Greg

Nice report Greg.  It's always a toss of the coin as to where to go when the snow level is suppose to be low, either the Snoqualmie area or Paradise.  As you know, the snow at Snoqualmie can be really great, or not so great, but then again you have to deal with "gate wait", at Paradise.  When the gate finally did open at Paradise, we were grumbling all the way to the parking lot since the road to Paradise was clear and wet and had been clear wet, with a very clear parkin...

Yep! See my reply to your TR...Greg

ski_photomatt,

Thanks for the TR, and especially for the beta about the ventillation tunnel parking area.  ???  I was thinking about heading up to those parts soon. Guess I'll try and make some phone calls to see what is going on...

-If anybody finds out more, please post.

Thanks,

-Tom M.

I love "Rain Flakes"

Glad to know I wasn't the only late riser. When no one else said they wanted to hook up with Yanna and me, the alarm was turned off and I must admit that we hit the trailhead pretty late ourselves. Sounds like we found similar snow - the stuff up in the higher trees was worth the treck in my book. We'll have to hook up another day.

Greg, that must have been you that I talked to on the XC trail?

I second that! Thank you for the mid-week reports, and the useful details you include - it helps a lot for weekend planning to have them. And...keep 'em coming!

Nice report, Skinut.

Brent, just the mention of Battle Abbey puts a huge grin on my face, glad you guys had a good trip.  From your description it sounds ad if you triggered a slide on the green room run?  From what I recall, to the skiers left of this run, the slope decreases quickly into the open bowl-and skiers right wraps around the nose of the ridge.  IN what direction could you see the slide propagating a 1/4 mile?  did it extend over to the bowl on the skiers left?  

that while...

mw8+,
re: climbing partners, check out the forums on cascadeclimbers.com if you haven't already. do not be put off by the amount of junk on those forums compared to this one, just goes to show bc skiing breeds more character than climbing  ;) ;)

My friend Skip always tells our CO friends that their state is full of "mere gravel bars." He can go on for hours on this topic (and he is always looking for what he calls "belay slaves," by the way). The best part is, the magazines seem to not notice how much great skiing we have here!

Ahh, indeed, when it becomes time to get out and ski some of the BIG tours in the Cascades! I'm getting excited just thinking about it. Check out Burgdorfer (book mentioned above) for getting psyched to try out some of WA's great spring/summer skiing after everyone in CO has turned to mountain biking (and the day after your big tour, head out to mountain bike for some active rest!). So many mountains, so little time...

Indeed.  I must admit that in my years of skiing in Colorado I became quite spoiled.  If I didn't have a day of untracked light and dry powder, it was an off day.  But isn't that the way it is everywhere??  The problem with Colorado is that deep powder days are rare indeed, and even when it does fall, the constant threat of hidden depth hoar makes even the best powder days a victory only after the fact.  To play it safe, I found myself skiing at three areas over and over...

Great report Brent - glad you all returned safely. How did you "remotely" trigger the first avalanche you mentioned? (always trying to learn..)

could see myself returning on a day of fresh powder when I could thoroughly enjoy the widely spaced old growth forest of the Northwest rib.

Been there, done that, it's awsome.  

Makes me smile to think of the day when the snow conditions are just right and you too are able to enjoy some of the best widely spaced old growth skiing.

You nailed one of our classics; a really fun glades ski... maybe the best in the Snoqualmie.  Nice way to indoctrinate yourself to the area and welcome!