TR Replies
I've been wearing my knee pads. This new snow is heavy.
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).
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.
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.
... 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.
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.
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
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
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
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?
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...
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...
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
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
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)?
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
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?
Way to go Charles ! ya kept us hangin there for a while.
Hmm !wonder the where the new snow blew off to?
Hmm !wonder the where the new snow blew off to?
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!
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 ;)
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 ;)
Wow, Charles, you and Paul definitely qualify for "Tourture points" on that outing. Glad you made your October turns even though it was below your standard threshold of what you consider countable vf. Remember desperate people will do desperate things ;D
Thanks for your report, we've all been waiting for you to check in so we can plan our next strategy for November. ???
Thanks for your report, we've all been waiting for you to check in so we can plan our next strategy for November. ???
Oh yeah, we've found some really great stuff, but then we have also found some really bad stuff, in fact I remember Ron marking a spot up there on his GPS with a skull and crossbones. Good thing we found out about that section now instead of later when it was all covered with snow and we were flying down the hill. (no pun intended) ;D ;D ;D
Sounds like you got your October turns nailed :-)
I've been doing my own version of the snow dance and haven't figured out why it hasn't worked yet, maybe I have the dancing shoes on the wrong feet.
Now let's all hope November brings the goods so we don't have to stuggle so hard.
Thanks for your report.
I've been doing my own version of the snow dance and haven't figured out why it hasn't worked yet, maybe I have the dancing shoes on the wrong feet.
Now let's all hope November brings the goods so we don't have to stuggle so hard.
Thanks for your report.
There's a muir snowfield thread going on at:
http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=4;t=000194,
might shed some additional tibits of info...
http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=4;t=000194,
might shed some additional tibits of info...
There was also a light dusting of snow on Blewett this morning too. It's getting closer ;)
Hey, when we got to Mt Hood and purchased our lift tickets, the same thing happened as us as to you, Charles with your call to Paradise. Except this was at the ticket counter. The gal asked if I had ever skied here (Mt Hood) in the fall before, "No" (I said) oh, then you need to know that the conditions are very different than at any other time of the y...
Hey, when we got to Mt Hood and purchased our lift tickets, the same thing happened as us as to you, Charles with your call to Paradise. Except this was at the ticket counter. The gal asked if I had ever skied here (Mt Hood) in the fall before, "No" (I said) oh, then you need to know that the conditions are very different than at any other time of the y...
Hmmm... looks like the photo inserted into the post also updates real time with the DOT web cam. The original post was a 0826/29 shot, now it shows it at 10 something and its melting!! Bummer.
I called MRNP yesterday ( 10/28 ) to see if there had been any new snow out of the storminess Sunday-Monday. Paradise VC is closed weekdays now, so I talked to a ranger at Longmire. They said that some hikers had reported about 3" of new snow just above the parking lot; when I asked if there was any info for above Pan Point, and mentioned skiing, I was told, "Oh, we are closed for skiing, and you can probably understand why." I said I didn't understand, as people ski up on the per...
I think Charles may be heading up that way sometime this week. You might keep an eye tuned for his report when he gets back. Might be getting some snow up there today... White Pass has snow on the roadway:
Anyone been up there in the last week??? Where is the snowline sitting at??? Got some new toys to try out and tweak and can't make it to Hood....
Yes, thanks for the great report, David. So I guess with everything frozen up now and the FL staying low, there may be no good skiing anywhere until we get some new snow? Bad news for me, since I haven't yet skied in October!
"Earn your turns" has brought a whole new perspective to BC skiing in the PNW this fall.
Thanks for the update. Let's hope that November will be more effortless.
Thanks for the update. Let's hope that November will be more effortless.
Now I know what I have to look foreward to! Thanks Greg
Way to go Greg ! Sounds like a tough October for everybody.
Robie
Robie
Way to "take one for the team" there, Greg.
8)
8)
Congrats on your 60 month achievement. :D
Amar ,Thanks for posting the 3 reports. The Sulphide sounds particulary interesting.
Nice report, Amar.
You guys are animals.
You guys are animals.
Sounds Like you had some sweet snow to work with, Amar.
VERY good info, Amar.
Thanks.
Thanks.
Thanks Ron - it looks like the skiing was great!
Charles, we DID miss you. There was a lone AT skier that climbed up thru the rocks and then skined up the glacier. Hardly seemed worth the effort for one run tho.I I do believe the majority of your questions will be answered by either the Pics (http://groups.msn.com/WildHeartsSkiing/mthoodroadtour102002.msnw), or their accompanying legends.
Pray for snow for November turns!!
Pray for snow for November turns!!
It was a great road trip with over 6,000 vf of skiing for the day. It sure felt good to link those turns, and head back up for more. Felt more like spring skiing than October ;D
I knew you all would have a good time if I didn't go! I'm interested in additional details about the snow and skiing conditions - how dirty, how soft, what the runs were like as far as coverage and length?
Andy said that Regine flew over Hood a couple of days ago and that it looked "horrible", and when I asked him for details he wrote, "She said the Palmer Lift skiing area looked very dirty. :-(
I flew over Mt Adam's a couple of weeks ago, and it looked terrible too, but what mountain doesn't looks terrible at this time of the year. Yeah it would be fun to go and ski new snow, but it's not always about the dest...
It sounds like there are some options for getting "backcountry" turns in, then. But here's some new info: Andy said that Regine flew over Hood a couple of days ago and that it looked "horrible", and when I asked him for details he wrote, "She said the Palmer Lift skiing area looked very dirty. :-( " But presumably it is not hard suncups as well. So I'm still thinking...
BTW, what's a lift? ;) ;)
There's a couple of different kinds...
one is Brit speak for "elevator",
another is something you get off of "those little pills" :)
I think you can also buy a one ride lift ticket to the top of the Palmer.
BTW, what's a lift? ;) ;)
Baloo and I hung out up there long enough to get in four runs on the lower 500vf of the muir snowfield on saturday...although I had hoped for better coverage...just to get the skis on new snow for the first time in many months was so nice. The far eastern edge of the lower snowfield above Pebble Creek was decent...one could ski the whole thing and only scratch through to old neve a few times.
By mid afternoon when we hiked down there was already signifigant melting of what little...
By mid afternoon when we hiked down there was already signifigant melting of what little...
If we were going to hike up to the bottom of the skiable snow, does anyone know how much vertical it would be to get there? Given the conditions right now, it seems like it might be worthwhile to get to that groomed snow just so we're not skiing on those limestone suncups.
Timberline is at 6,000. The top of the Magic Mile (bottom of the Palmer) is at 7,000. The top of the Palmer lift is at 8,500.
Of course you could skin on up to Illuminati...