January 25, 2008, sun and hoar, West Fork Miller River, Washington
(Click any of the photos to view large versions)
Main Miller River road
around 1200 feet | 
Snowshoe and ski tracks
on Miller River road | 
Hoar crystals on branch,
West Fork Miller River | 
Waterfall ice on rocks and tree | 
Ski tracks through forest
around 1800 feet | 
East-facing slopes near
Lennox Mountain | 
Furry snow lit by reflected sun | 
Surface hoar crystals,
West Fork Miller River | 
Surface hoar crystals | 
More furry snow,
West Fork Miller River | 
Sparkly furry snow | 
Looking over my tips
down the big slope | 
A turn! | 
Snow mushrooms in
West Fork Miller River | 
More furry snow | 
Hoar crystals on branch | 
Close-up of hoar crystals
on branch | 
Everything was coated
with hoar crystals | 
A sparklier, icier, bubblier day
couldn't be had | 
Surface hoar in
black and white | 
Close-up of surface hoar
feathers in sunlight |
Photos by Charles Eldridge
| Backcountry skiing trip report:
January 25, 2008, sun and hoar, West Fork Miller River, Washington
I finally got my "holy grail of telemark skiing" gear set up and ready to test: step-in bindings with frictionless pivot located at just the right point, no duckbill projections out over the ski edges, very lightweight, and releasable (if one pulls hard enough, anyway). No, not the new NTN system - that's way too heavy - but rather the amazing SNS-BC system. REI was practically giving SNS-BC bindings away last spring ($10 a pair - that's only five dollars each!) so I bought an armload of them. I paired these bindings with some brand new Fischer BC-X4 boots (the gaiter attachment loop was included, not a pay-for option as on so many boots these days) and a pair of brand new Atomic Sierra waxless high-performance touring skis. Metal edges (tip-to-tail, both left and right edges on EACH ski!), very lightweight, just the right flex for hardcore backcountry skiing, and with a side cut of 10mm (that's also for EACH ski, not the total for both).
I decided to head to Miller River, a tributary of the Skykomish River, off Highway 2 in the central Washington Cascades. The plowed road ended at only 1000 feet, but with the cold winter we've been having there was about three feet of snowpack at that elevation. The weather was sunny but quite cold, and even snow that was in the sun was staying in good shape. The first 1.5 miles were on some nice established tracks up the Miller River road, which continues up the East Fork Miller River and eventually to the trailhead for Lake Dorothy. The stride and glide performance of my new gear was great! The placement of the binding's pivot point and its nearly frictionless movement led to a very natural feeling gait as I skied up the road.
Right before the main road crosses the West Fork Miller River on a bridge, an old unmaintained road branches off to the west, climbing up a bit to enter the West Fork Miller River valley. This road was somewhat overgrown in places and there were a few spots where side creeks had eroded the snowpack during rains, but everything was passable on skis except one spot. My new skis climbed well enough by fishscales that skins were not necessary. At about 1800 feet the valley leveled off and, aside from the trailbreaking in 6-12 inches of loose snow over a crust, the cross-country skiing was good. The snow was much deeper here - probably 5-6 feet. The West Fork valley initially runs southwest and is bounded by steep mountainsides, so there was no sun in the valley at first. Combined with the stiff down-valley breeze, this made for some pretty chilly conditions. After a bit the valley starts to turn south, and my first goal was to reach some sunshine in which I could take a lunch break.
I did make it to sunshine, but got delayed by the amazing displays of surface hoar crystals along the way. Areas of open snow looked furry with their surface of hoar feathers, which reached up to 1 inch in height. Once I reached the part of the valley that was receiving sunshine, I couldn't stop taking photos of the crystals. They were everywhere: on the snow surface, on every tree branch, and even on clumps of snow still caught up in the trees.
Finally I stomped out a sunny lunch bench on the edge of a large clearing and enjoyed the warmth, but soon the nearby slope beckoned for me to come make some turns with my new gear. And what turns they were, with that musical surface of hoar crystals underlain by powdery snow that had had all of its free moisture sucked out by the clear cold weather. As I was skiing down it felt like the turns would never end! (although when I got to the bottom of the slope and looked back up at my tracks, I counted three turns - it sure felt like more). With that excitement behind me, I decided to try to make it up the valley to where Coney Creek comes down from above (very nice looking terrain up there around Lennox Mountain). I think I made to this creek, or at least to a creek just short of Coney, but it was now turn around time so I headed back, eager to further test the performance of my new gear.
On the return the valley was fairly flat at first, with just little glides every once in a while, but where the valley drops to join the main Miller River valley things got more exciting, with more gradient combined with various obstacles. I was impressed with the new gear! The bindings have a ridge that runs underfoot from toe to heel which engages the entire boot when heels are down. This made snowplowing, and a few quick parallel turns, more doable than on comparable weight duckbill gear. Back on the well tracked main Miller River road the snow was fast and it was mostly double-poling and simply gliding back to the car. I'm very impressed with this new "holy grail" set up and can't wait to get out again!
Charles |
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