TR Replies

Nice job on the photos Ron.

Andrew Carey

Right--Regine's old catamounts on Kirstin (they were too long for Regine) and mine on Pete (I replaced them with Karhu Pavos). abc

11/18/02 2:59am

ron j

That musta been the couple on the catamounts getting a late start up Mazama Ridge?

11/18/02 2:29am

Andrew Carey

November 14, 2002, Chinook Pass to American Lake

Heard you ran into my stepdaughter Kirstin (tall 30-yr old blonde) and her husband up there Sunday--she said she saw someone who looked like my brother Darrell ...

11/18/02 2:13am

jhamaker

More comments:
I used something similar to the Karhu xcd-gt's. Double cambered w/ fish scales. I never needed my skins, the trail was very flat. It took me 4 hrs to ski to Americain Lake (one quarter of the traverse distance)

The traverse Chinook to White is 27 mi on the PCT. I think this could be done in 2 or 3 days, especialy if we get a party of 3 or more to break trail and use all of the available daylight.

White Pass *just* got some snow, I would do...

11/18/02 1:00am

ron j

Don't let Robie kid you...
He got plenty of turns in.

We all did. We averaged two to three feet of coverage. Could have been better but we were happy to get it. I didn't hit even 1 rock! (although there were plenty of big ones showing).
More pics can be viewed here:
http://groups....

11/17/02 10:02pm

paul_smith

November 17, 2002, Rainy Lake area, N. Cascades

Charles I imagine that this trip would pale in comparision to our epic jaunt on the Muir snowfield :D Reading the TR's it seems like folks had some nice turns this past weekend, I was restricted to town with other activities. At least there's some new snow.

11/17/02 7:26pm

ron j

Great report, Phil, Thanks.

11/17/02 5:37pm

J-Lady

The turns in the bowl were great, the trip out was humbling. It was survival skiing at it's best with the temps warming just enough to create the ominous "Cascade Cement" effect. We all laughed and said, is this the same group that skied the SW Chutes at Mt. Adams this past year ;D

11/16/02 12:23am

peaceriver

I felt my skis make a turn or two ... even three in a row I think !!! so I'm calling it a sucess and a fun trip. The trail and woods back certainly looked liked nice sking with a bit more of the cold white stuff. Robie thanks for giving Charles the idea. I look forward to a spring trip up in there.

Getting up there even with such a low snowpack and having a good ski certainly makes one think of the other possibilities with this window of good road access and the...

11/15/02 10:54pm

JMor

November 14, 2002, Chinook Pass to American Lake

You qualify for November turns! With this snowless, bleak streak we are having, any turns on snow are qualifying turns. Just enjoy!!

11/15/02 3:19am

Robie

JAmes ,Charles I'm plotting . That trip has always been in the back of my mind. I always thought about doing it in the spring and from White pass to Chinook or Crystal. I have a good friend who is on SKi Patrol at White pass and could give likely suspects a lift.

11/15/02 3:11am

Robie

November 14, 2002, Chinook Pass to American Lake

IMHO You betcha ! Especially if you navigated back down the trail on skis at all. Great info. Charles. I think in our haste for steep downhill thrills we have left behind some soulful tours. As you know there are some smallish slopes off to either side of Grand park.I thought about going with ya but I was given a crew at work and had to show up there. I've watched James Hammaker and Dorothea just have a hoot on that return trail. :)

11/15/02 12:54am

Charles

I just got out my maps and had a look at your route - great trip! What kind of gear did you use?

The Chinook to White Pass route looks very interesting. I'm wondering how many days you expect that to take if it can be done soon? It looks like American Lake is about 1/4 of the way to White Pass.

I'm also wondering about the Bumping River valley. It looks like the route would have to descend to about 4000' crossing the valley near Fish Lake, which probably means no snow right now. Wo...

11/12/02 10:16pm

JoshK

November 10, 2002, Pinnacle Saddle MRNP

mad_dog, since we stayed on the trail for the decent most of the way, we had no problems with underbrush. The trail, while not huge, was definitely wide enough to ski easily and was good fun. Skiing off the trail lower down would have definitely presented underbrush problems.

11/12/02 4:17am

ron j

November 10, 2002, Pinnacle Saddle MRNP

Sounds like you made a good call, Josh.
Might even be better next weekend. Might be a good time to nail Plummer and go right on down the Pinnacle col if there's enough snow and it's stable.

11/12/02 1:55am

JMor

November 10, 2002, Pinnacle Saddle MRNP

Sounds like you had a good day.

Was the underbrush covered enough not to give you any surprise snags on the ski out?

11/11/02 8:56pm

David_Lowry

Old Inuit saying:

Good dogs, mountains close.
No good dogs, mountains far away.
:)

11/11/02 4:44pm

JMor

And don't forget that some of those long approaches qualify the "approachie" for some major torture points. ;)

11/11/02 3:36pm

ron j

What you're probably thinking about is the 'long approaches' can lead you to 'short goodbyes'.

11/11/02 6:40am

Robie

Hmm ? "long approaches " is that the far opposite of "short good byes"

11/11/02 2:23am

JMor

All in all a good day for someone less ambitious about long approaches like me.

Amen to not liking those long approaches :D

11/10/02 8:38pm

ron j

November 10, 2002, Snoqualmie Pass - Mt Cathrine

Nice report, Hank.
Thanks.
It won't be long now...

11/10/02 7:44pm

ron j

Another good dump and we should all be happy campers (or, er... I guess that would be skiers. 8)

11/10/02 7:44pm

J-Lady

November 10, 2002, Snoqualmie Pass - Mt Cathrine

Nice ;D

11/10/02 4:57pm

Andrew Carey

November 10, 2002, Mazama Ridge MRNP

Regine & I went up on Muir--wind-packed with a little crust but still skiable (all the way to the parking lot) but lots of hidden rocks below pebble creek; I walked the last 1/2 mile or so just cuz the NP doesn't like you skiing in <2 ft of snow. Saw Bud (pete) & friend having a good time. abc

11/10/02 3:05pm

JMor

November 10, 2002, Mazama Ridge MRNP

We had a good hike yesterday at Snoqualmie. Were very excited to be walking around in the snow ;D and talking about the great new ski lines we found up there! So much to do, so little time ;)

(As soon as I get my e-mail up and running again, I'll have a report)

11/10/02 4:43am

ron j

November 10, 2002, Mazama Ridge MRNP

Way to take one for the team, mate.
Our STR hike yeilded good info... Mad Dog's gonna report on it.

11/10/02 4:08am

Robie

November 9, 2002, Chinook Pass MRNP

I've been wearing my knee pads. This new snow is heavy.

11/9/02 9:03pm

Charles

November 9, 2002, Chinook Pass MRNP

Gotta keep a good eye out for those hidden snags 8) those can really tear up a good pair of skis.

A good pair of knees, too, if you are a tele skier (I know, yet another reason to go AT).

11/9/02 4:10pm

JMor

November 9, 2002, Chinook Pass MRNP

Thanks for the report Robie. Ron and I are hiking today and still checking out new areas for skiing. Heading up to Snoqualmie and will hike around Mt Catherine.

Everyone is getting very excited about the new snow. Gotta keep a good eye out for those hidden snags 8) those can really tear up a good pair of skis. Maybe the snow won't be as wild next weekend.

11/6/02 7:57pm

ron j

November 2, 2002, Eagle Peak, MRNP

Sounds like a workout, Andy

11/6/02 8:38am

ron j

... and the photos of the luge run are hard to believe. Do they keep pushing snow down that little gulley with the groomers to keep it filled?

Yep.
That's exactly what they do. In fact they park the snow cat in the ditch at the bottom of of the "pushed down" snow after its done grooming.

11/6/02 12:44am

Charles

I finally got a chance to look at all of your photos, Ron. Great photo essay on the approach - I got a good idea what it is really like up there right now. Those photos from the first chair make it look like there isn't really any skiing to be had up there, and the photos of the luge run are hard to believe. Do they keep pushing snow down that little gulley with the groomers to keep it filled? But you obviously got a LOT of turns in, and the spring conditions looked great. Thanks for the photos.

11/4/02 5:02am

Robie

I'm " "*

*speechless

11/3/02 10:19pm

JMor

Ahhhhhhhhhhh, what a great spring day for November. Wonder where to next for December, isn't New Zeland heading into spring now to? 8)

Hate to say this, but the skiing was even better than the pictures showed. One of those, you had to be there to believe it trips ;D

11/3/02 4:49pm

JMor

I feel kinda sheepish about yesterday...

Hey Ron, I'm feeling that way too. Can't wait to see your photo's from our "tourtue" trip yesterday. ;D ;D

11/3/02 4:45pm

Robie

Charles from the look of the new Muir pics you guys hit deep powder campared to what we found at FLett. Also no Crevasses open below Observation and Echo.Did see a shady line and side stepped it. Ron ,sometimes it's better to stay with the flock. Hey let's hear that Road trip story to the Palmer.How many Dairy queens and beer pubs did it take to get home?

11/3/02 4:34pm

ron j

Yep.
Robie wins for torture points... musta logged 500 or more on that one.
Great bonding experience though, and just think about the experience one gets on a trip like that. You can't BUY that kind of experience.
I feel kinda sheepish about yesterday...

11/3/02 9:02am

Charles

It looks like we are all trying to outdo each other in the torture points category. You win (so far)! Now that you've gone, you might want to see what it looked like two weeks ago in this climbing report.

And if bad snow is not dangerous enough, it seems that simply driving up the Mowich Lake road is even worse, as evidenced by this recent

11/1/02 3:28am

Charles

Ian, you got a bunch of good shots of me, and I have a lot of good shots of everyone else. I'm working the photos up for Monday. Will you send me (e-mail or IM) your and Jeremy's last names so I can include them (unless you want first names only)?

11/1/02 1:22am

paul_smith

My best recoilection of the trip, misery loves company ;D, great views to Helens, Adams, and Hood, beautiful clear blue sunny skies 8), and suprisingly, few people ;)? I'd have to echo Mad Dog's words, desperate times require desperate measures, but whadda ya gonna do? Some new snow please! Nice T.R. Charles

11/1/02 12:20am

big_ian

Nice shot of those 2 Rock’n snowboarders. I can’t wait to see the rest of the Shots. Did the Photo’s of you come out?

11/1/02 12:11am

Robie

Way to go Charles ! ya kept us hangin there for a while.
Hmm !wonder the where the new snow blew off to?

10/31/02 11:43pm

Charles

Well, like I said, the skiing could have been much worse, and the good weather and (relatively) easy access was nice. I definitely don't want to leave it until the last day of the month too often, though. It is pretty discouraging that late summer-early fall conditions have become so bad the last couple of years, and especially after getting such a good snowpack this past winter. If this trend continues, I might have to give up my streak in protest!

10/31/02 10:09pm

ron j

Wow.
Charles, Thanks for the pic. Perfect shot to convey the grim realities.
That's even more barren than last fall, which was the worst I'd ever seen.
Nice job hopping out of the corner tho ;)

10/31/02 9:21pm

JMor