TR Replies

Thanks for the report Charles.  Nice to know it's finally skiable in there.  Which way did you go back out - the road or backtrack?

Some scary stuff out there today in a lot of places! -Glad to hear you made it out!  :)

Good Skiing, Darin

Don_B, russ - did you see any activities related to the reported avalanche on a SW-facing slope, 2' x 300', which carried a skier over cliff bands, with minor injuries? It sounds like they were also somewhere on Skyline Ridge.

Thanks for the reports, and glad you found great snow.

Don,

Thanks for the report.

If that's backcountry trees you mean, just remember any treed slope open enough to make fun turns in when the snow is this deep is also open enough to slide (so sayeth the instructors I've learned from, and they've pointed to pretty tight but turnable trees as an example).

I'm going for lifts tomorrow, and am watching to see what the east side looks like for the weekend for a (hopefully) little lower hazard level.

Thanks for the inspiring report from Crystal!

Many fine runs in the Colpiti (sp?) creek drainage, in fact! And some great photos in the low light up on that opposite wall from where you entered. And the finest midnight ski I've ever done up to the edge of that drainage. That does it - I'm going to start doing the research to book a week next year!!

I've done 4 trips into those GAH huts you flew over, and the skiing was awesome each time, ranging from late January through early April. The folks we went with said they've gone 7 additional years, and never had a bad line. The terrain is low enough that it tends not to get quite as hammered by wind as places like Fairy Meadow, and the tree skiing is generally awesome, which is great for storm days but nice for other days as well! I don't know about Sentry, but the only lack at GAH is the big g...

Yep, I remember you guys, Peter.  Thanks for the kind words.

As far as your partner Rick's email goes, I don't have it, but if he is Rock Randall you can send him an instant message using this forum's IM feature.

Next weekend should be memorable, eh?

Wow. Nice report, Zap.
That's another one to put on my list.  Thanks.

:)
Never fear, Robman.  We're saving some special lines for you and maddog for when each of you get back into the action... and we might even get Kam and his gang to ski with you!

Now if I can just remember to let you know when I'm within about 15 minutes of my fun limit.... ;)

Rain pelted the windshield as we drove through Skagit Valley early Sunday morning on our way up to Mt. Baker. The weather seemed pretty grim (at least compared to sunny skies the day before). Going to see a movie in Bellingham was even suggested. The lure of snow won, though. Even marginal snow is better than most movies (well, sometimes). We skinned up towards Herman Saddle in crusty, icy conditions. Visibility ranged from clear broth to pea soup (say, what movies are playing anyway?). Deciding...

Greg,

Thanks for your report. We ( 2 telemarkers and 1 AT skier) got off to a leisurly 9 am start after a delicious, hot and very filling breakfast at the Mountaineers Baker lodge. Saw your tracks, but we spent the "early" part of the morning on the N. side of Table Mountain. Very nice powder over there, avy report was right on, bomber snowpack. We got up to the saddle about 1 pm. Yes, anything that got sun Saturday was pretty crusty on the way up. It made for easy trailbreaking...

Sounds like a good move to me.  Our little group has a saying, "Why leave good snow to look for good snow?"

Leave it to the Brentman to find the goods in the worst of times.  Thanks for the report, Brent.

Thanks for putting this up after you got home, Brent.
Good decision making info for us Sunday skiers.
-rj

Ned: With all that snow, why, pray tell, didn't you score some rental skinnies and do some roof jumps?!  Greg Lange

It's always very interesting to see how each beacon works, and even the different range findings that are able to be picked up.  The improved technology of the newer beacons makes finding the "hidden" beacon an easier target, as long as the owner knows how to operate that particular unit.  Hopefully in a real case scenario these skills and beacons would provide a quick find. Our students did a great job.  

Will do. Might even be smart to post to the partner board here to scare up a few more folks - it would be nice to have enough to have a few folks to do setup and a nice small crowd to do the rescue, and then rotate at least once.

Thanks, Jim.  Yeah, I agree, it's a real eye opener to go through the mock "avy disaster" for the first time.  Now every time I watch others go through it I learn more.  

Andy - the slab was at the very top of the west-facing slopes of Mazama Ridge - probably what you are calling the "front" - right below the fringe of trees which runs along the whole west edge of Mazama Ridge.  It was probably about 100 yards to skier's left (south) of the standard uptrack/trail on the "front". The run would naturally lead right down to the Paradise valley road. I'm glad that things had become more stable for you!

That's quite a haul for February.
Well done.

I'd add that the big clearcut Kendall Knob nearly always seems to be exposed to sun and wind, so I've only ever found really nice skiing there in corn snow conditions (though in the woods off the upper ridge there are some nice spots), but the cover seems a bit thin up there to hope for great corn experience this season - the small trees are still sticking out fairly far up the slope at least from looking at it from the highway so by the time we get much warmth I think it will be pretty tight up...

I might add that I was up in the kendall knob area on Monday and was pretty disappointed with the snow below 4K. It was a mixture of sun rain and wind crust, and from what I could tell the entire E facing portion of the knob had some kind of crust all the way up. I was there early in the morning tho and it is quite possible that crust will soften up every day around noon. Also, I could tell that it was going to get better (at least in the trees) once above 4K but unfortunately I ran out of time...

Nothing wrong with being a BB adict, Silas.  Lots of great terrain up there.  Great report.

Looks like a great trip, Brent.
Thanks for sharing it.