TR Replies

digging the vibe of safety chat and beta sharing in this thread-- looks like a nice day out to explore the mountain -- been meaning to get over towards the Wilson, and a little alder ain't that bad!

Thanks for the beta. Looks like another Mt. Hood trip tonight instead.

The glaciers are in good condition, and the Finger and Thumb looked smooth. There is a bergschrund on the Thumb but it looked passable. Two dudes were heading that way to attempt the Finger tomorrow as we headed out. However, I believe you are correct that the chutes will not have enough time to properly consolidate with the rapid warming on winter snow. So I can imagine some avy potential or at least unpleasant snow for climbing and skiing. Best to wait for a longer stretch of good weather or l...

Thanks for the post and the inspiration to keep the TRs coming, even if they're more general at times.  The NWAC cross-post idea has come up in the past - the technological solution is beyond me (and perhaps beyond the TAY software, not sure), but I've got some things in the (very slow) works that might help.

Went to explore and scout future lines in the kendall adventure zone, and found similar conditions skiing SE & SW lines off the Kendall ridge. Noticed evidence of large loose wet releases exposed East facing slopes, and the crown from a slab release on south facing aspect. Didn't get close enough to inspect closely.

Skiing was heavy as expected, but beautiful day so no complaints!

Thanks for the tour Sam. It was a good time with a couple of good turns, a couple of really chewy ones, and lots of exercise it a pretty place. Keep after it because in faster conditions I think it could be a really cool summit.

author=Zap link=topic=35711.msg146087#msg146087 date=1454947910]
It was great to read your report and the photos. Plus, 1hr40min Issaquah to Longmire with your boots on is a record.  ;)

Boots actually went just for the short Longmire > Paradise drive :).

Nice running into you today Lowell. We had a great day out. We ended up stopping short of our original goal of the first checkpoint beyond Yakima Pass and turned around above Mirror Lake. We dropped down to the Twin Lakes and made our way back to a car we left at Hyak. See you on race day.

In 2011 (?) we were surprised to find snowmobile tracks at the saddle between Silver and Abiel, and in the bowl to the north of Tinkham. We weren't quite sure how they got there either.

Yes, the beginning of the route had a little dirty snow - a true low elevation Northwest approach?  Fun skiing up higher. 

Love that route, and I never went over to the SW in the back of the valley.  Thanks for the report over there.

I had my splitboard, but this trail is pretty inconsistent for skinning. Snow free from the road until just before the log crossing over Lena Creek. The closer we got to Upper Lena, the deeper the snow became. Snow free at Lower Lena Lake. I always love hiking up trails to reach the snow level, so in that way this trail is pretty cool. If weather doesn't work out in the Enchantments next weekend I may try again as an overnight. This time we were close enough to see Mt Lena itself which made...

Great summary Charlie! Totally agree with everything you had to say. Thanks for taking the time to write that up--and all your postings.

Thanks to all who take the time and effort to write up a report and give depth and humor--and all things in between--to reporting that a forum such as TAY can provide.

Hi Charlie,

Thanks for all the great information and awesome pictures! I had the pleasure of getting to teach with WAC a couple times and i'm so impressed with that group.

i'd like to invite you to post your observations to the NWAC site. Keeping up on what goes on across the largest forecast region in the country is extremely difficult.Information like you provided here would be super helpful. Here's a link to the observations page.

http://www....

As Sunday's warmup hits its stride, the snow's character will change, very likely for the worse. If I'm skiing at the Pass tomorrow, it'll surely be inbounds, where the incipient mank's been groomed or pre-skied.

Glad to see you got out! :) The only people we saw today were snowshoers, though we crossed a few ski tracks, too. Quiet day in the neighborhood.

That looks fruity
.

"Hurricane" Hendrickson strikes again!

A few more photos...

author=cascadekid link=topic=35571.msg145969#msg145969 date=1454634251]
I'm with you in spirit because we all begin learning somewhere, but nowhere outside of the Mt Hood backcountry have I ever been privy to such blatant ignorance of safety for self and others.

Spend a weekend in the Wasatch, makes Mt. Hood look like an empty wilderness inhabited only by the competent and courteous.

Blackdog you can say in two sentences more then I can say in two paragraphs.

If you practice elitism on the skin track this is what you are going to sound like to me https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yclC6TzhMms
Dont be the backcountry Alpha! If you want change a little respect goes a long way.

author=Winter link=topic=35571.msg145966#msg145966 date=1454632274]
I think the "cool kids vs Meadows crowd" frame - "two distinct user groups" - isn't too helpful.  If folks are out in the backcountry mentally categorizing everyone they meet as either cool or lame (or maybe competent or gumbies - whatever), the whole experience will suck much worse for everyone. 

I'm with you in spirit because we all begi...

Seems  discussion comes up more and more both here and on nwhikers (which has "fragile alpine lakes routes" variant of this looping discussion) with increasing frequency, presumably thanks to the ever-growing firehose of skiers and hikers who might be directed by TRs, Instagram photos, Facebook trophy selfies, etc. As blackdog suggests, it's up to each of us to decide how we want to participate. In any case, I hope we won't see a trend toward hammering on folks in their trip...

Another source for aerial photos of the cascades

http://www.pbase.com/nolock

There are a few things guaranteed for a revisit every season on TAY:1) snowshoeing in the skin track 2) an epic 30 page thread on whether someone has a high risk tolerance or is just ignorant, and 3) the ground covered in this thread.

People are going to share.  It's what we do as a society electronically these days.  The reasons for this are varied and evolving.  The answer for me is simple: go farther, go further.  Often times the objective just needs to be a ridge or clearing...

I was up on Newton Saturday too. Saw a group that was digging a pit, recognized the wind loading and instability along the ridgeline, and the proceeded to ski right over the skin track with people skinning on it...twice. Oh yeah, and this group of 6 or so was skiing simultaneously, and most of them were pretty bad skiers. I was on the skin track both times they skied by. I believe @cascadekid was skinning a few hundred vertical feet above me both times.

Equipment is not necessarily p...