TR Replies
Personally I would love to see more reports from the backcountry of Mt. Hood as I frequent the area. "Locals" fear of the "secret" spots becoming over run are quite overblown. Given the nature of the climate it is rare for the snow quality to even last long enough for the generally lower elevation (not on Mt. Hood proper) "secret" spots to even become tracked out. The area could certainly benefit from a stronger community to tackle issues such as Mt. Hood Meadows ar...
Last 2 pics from McCully Basin
Pic 6: Cascadian Kim doing a little recon
Pic 7: Tree harvesting
Pic 6: Cascadian Kim doing a little recon
Pic 7: Tree harvesting
More pics from McCully Basin
Pic 3: Finally a sun break
Pic 4: 18th fairway
Pic 3: Finally a sun break
Pic 4: 18th fairway
Ha ha... Busted....Timing and the right conditions are everything for this zone though.
That's really the last "open" shot on the north end of the rim of Stemilt. It's above the "grassy knoll". I've skid it but it's kinda sketchy because if it did go you'd get strained through trees. I've never seen it slide though. It catches the first sun even this time of year and maybe that killed the surface hoar.
Little bit of the pot calling the kettle black? ;)
I would assume that for the most part the people who peruse this sight don't ski Meadows all that much, and even if they do, they're probably familiar with this area already from the many times they've glanced east.
I would assume that for the most part the people who peruse this sight don't ski Meadows all that much, and even if they do, they're probably familiar with this area already from the many times they've glanced east.
Every year when Stevens Pass has me do a survey, I say they should reinstate the ski train from Seattle to Stevens. Get on downtown, get off at the Iron Goat, and bus shuttle to the resort.
Let's bring this back:
http://digitalcollections.lib.washington.edu/cdm/ref/collection/imlsmohai/id/6832
Let's bring this back:
http://digitalcollections.lib.washington.edu/cdm/ref/collection/imlsmohai/id/6832
author=dromond link=topic=35514.msg145541#msg145541 date=1453676756]
Did you ski at all near the Furano ski area or mostly Tokachidake?
Just skied around Tokachidake and Furanodake.
Yuji, our lead guide, got a shot of me in deep powder:
Now I'm back in wet NW. As much as I miss soaking in hot springs, also miss those bul...
Too many posts like this and the Meadows area crowds will be here too.
We were there Sunday too, came up the summer trail early and did laps on the north side of the ridge above Snow lake. We waited until the shadow moved across the bowl before descending back to source lake as the loose slides were frequent during the peak heat of the day. The awesome cold days of December are behind us; from here on out getting early starts and timing are everything!
Aaron, not exactally sure from the picture, but it was the northern most east faceing part of the basin (closest part of the basin to Wenatchee Mt.)
Jaime,is this the slope that didn't slide and had tracks?
entire east facing slope slides naturally. I'm not sure we're all taking this seriously enough. Thanks for the report, Jamie. I'm curious who those tracks belong to.
That reminds me of a photo I saw recently...
Welcome to the TAY, Cody, quite an adventure.
Went all the way to Muir; from a bit above Pan Point to higher Pebble Creek area there was almost bulletproof raincrust which was hard to skin on when sloped; it was also a bit breezy and foggy. 1 K above that it was all gravy, all sunshine with hardly any wind. Snow was wind-affected but not too bad. Skiing down was pretty decent although icy spots required attention; this improved about 1K feet above Pebble Creek.
At the bo...
Went all the way to Muir; from a bit above Pan Point to higher Pebble Creek area there was almost bulletproof raincrust which was hard to skin on when sloped; it was also a bit breezy and foggy. 1 K above that it was all gravy, all sunshine with hardly any wind. Snow was wind-affected but not too bad. Skiing down was pretty decent although icy spots required attention; this improved about 1K feet above Pebble Creek.
At the bo...
i think they would have told us if there was poop in the skin track.
Probably ran into you at some point - we were out with the dogs for the big pup's 11th birthday. It was a one and done for us, but better snow than expected up high.
Glad to hear you got some nice turns!
There was a ton of solar activity with the new snow on the rain crust. Yesterday around 10:30/11 we observed a shedding cycle on S and SE slopes going up to the divide. Most of the steeper stuff slid. Three slides ended up entraining snow. Two, r1 d 2, went over the skin track that roughly followed the summer trail and the third, r2 d2, narrowly missed some snowshoers on the apron. It split just above those little trees lookers left of the bench (...
There was a ton of solar activity with the new snow on the rain crust. Yesterday around 10:30/11 we observed a shedding cycle on S and SE slopes going up to the divide. Most of the steeper stuff slid. Three slides ended up entraining snow. Two, r1 d 2, went over the skin track that roughly followed the summer trail and the third, r2 d2, narrowly missed some snowshoers on the apron. It split just above those little trees lookers left of the bench (...
Long drive but a fun race! Thanks Free Range!
We were hiking the same valley on the 16th. Pretty cool hiking, right from the valley floor of Gunn Ranch Road. Too much snow for my collies though :O
Wonderful photos! I love that area. Did you ski at all near the Furano ski area or mostly Tokachidake?
Way to go Trevor and gang, that place looks deeeeeeluxe! We stayed in the yurts as well, way back, right after they opened - came in after yet more stupendous tree laps to find the chimney in the yurt stove glowing orange. Sorry to hear but not shocked in burned down. Awesome folks and terrain! Back then, we were as haphazardly freeform as the operation was. Bet Ymir is also more "grownup" now.
author=GregLange link=topic=35407.msg145420#msg145420 date=1453261773]
the runs were fog-free.
And dog-free, apparently!
Great report. I skied the slot in prime conditions a few years ago. One of the best lines in the Cascades.
author=AlwaysAscending link=topic=35418.msg145025#msg145025 date=1452401843]
Finally knocked this one off the bucket list!
Incredible day out in the Alpental/Snowqualmi backcountry! Started off with a low cloud/fog layer but rose above it at about 4,700'. Snow was very stable and we did not see any slides or tree bombs all day l...
Awesome - that's come a LONG way since we stayed in the yurt (as Zap describes), which had inadequate heat , garbage everywhere and a bunch of bear damage - the yurts had a pretty rough summer/fall that season. The new lodge looks awesome!
Great trip report and photos. It is nice that you had the lodge for the end of the day and the sauna. In the past, we did a self guided. The week before we arrived the other yurt burned down. BUT we slept in the yurt which had a smoking stove that had the stovepipe close to the yurt. Not good. Terrain was great. ;)
We saw a yellow plane on the 10th as well - circled Baker twice, then took off... beautiful day to be flying in the mountains...
Found the same on East Peak yesterday. Solar aspects held creamy safe stuff, minor sluff from cross/wind loading down low, nearer to the nose. Got it before the rains!
Great name, btw. Thanks for the post, and welcome!
Great name, btw. Thanks for the post, and welcome!
I'm curious if you did any hand shears what the results were like. Was thinking today that I need to get out into safe terrain on high avy days to dig around and see what my the results of my hasty hand sheers look like in high avalanche conditions.
You guys must not have got the memo about being early to work! The best laps to be had at West were between 5:45 & 7:30 AM. After that, the fog rolled in. Whilst on the lapping assignment, the sunrise was superb, and the runs were fog-free. Breakfast was a welcome repast...
Let's see some video of the ski flying!
Wow. Quite educational - thanks for the photos
Nice Jon, we had some good turns, but did not have the stable snow, I think I might have to go take a sample up that way, thanks for the report.
Surprisingly good turning snow with the exception of the heavily tree-bombed/dripped forest in the 4K-5K zone - I found the forest generally less bombed/dripped above, and softened enough by warmth below to also be quite fun. THe candyshell crust in the open made noise but was not too bad either. Good fun chasing the senior and his sitter all day; I was loving the light in the mid-afternoon; very layered cloudscape with great blues and grays.
author=kamtron link=topic=35516.msg145375#msg145375 date=1453217464]
So none of this, then:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1VqahPSEmk
Nope.
But we did see this on the way up the road:
Watch your back out there folks.
author=mikerolfs link=topic=35516.msg145373#msg145373 date=1453215138]
The valley in clouds with a skier above... So nice. Thanks for the report John!
Thanks Mike! Is it me or have we had am inversion pretty much all winter?
author=Pete_H link=topic=35516.msg145367#msg145367 date=1453184971]
You're poaching my pow stash!
That looks suspiciously a lot like the zone I've been hitting up a lot this year. In fact I almost went there today.
We probably recycled your skin track.
So none of this, then:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1VqahPSEmk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1VqahPSEmk
The valley in clouds with a skier above... So nice. Thanks for the report John!
author=avajane link=topic=35505.msg145358#msg145358 date=1453174388]
Those remotely triggered slopes didn't look very steep. What would you sat they were? Scary.
I wish we'd thought to measure the slopes. We didn't and I'm no good at guessing slope angles.
Nearby we found fog to 3500', blue skies with some clouds higher, east breeze (only on ridge crest), candy shell crust on open slopes below 4000', and soft but dense 6" powder above there on open south and west facing slopes. Tree bombs and drips had made craters and icy slopes. The views were nice in contrasty light! Nice illustrations Erik.
You're poaching my pow stash!
That looks suspiciously a lot like the zone I've been hitting up a lot this year. In fact I almost went there today.
That looks suspiciously a lot like the zone I've been hitting up a lot this year. In fact I almost went there today.
I did not dig deeply enough to find a layer "~50 + Sunday snow" down... pole penetration was much further than that, and quick visuals into those didn't reveal anything obvious, but I'd be surprised if that proved an effective method of looking for such a layer. I think our choice of aspect kept us away from the P.W.L., and the abundance of good snow kept us from seeking it out in isolated pockets where we might have found it. Small north facing steep rolls into creeks could...