May 23-26 Obstruction Point Olympic Ntl Park
5/15/08
WA Olympics
2724
2
With weather looking bad in the cascades and the front coming from the East we decided the Olympics would be the safest bet. Friday after work Dan (crstlextrm from TGR) and Kyle (kjkrow from Splitboard.com) and I drove out to Hurricane ridge. Our plans were to spend the weekend at obstruction point.
We arrived at sunset and skinned 6.5 of the 7.5 miles in the dark. At about 1 A.M. we decided to put up camp for the night near the summit of Eagle point and skin the rest of the way the next morning.
The next morning we packed up and made the final mile out to obstruction by 8 A.M. When we arrived to obstruction point we dug out the bathrooms and stored most of our gear before heading towards the slopes.
Our main focus of the day was the Northern chutes of Elk point but before that we did a warm up run in the badger valley. The slopes were rather stable with the occasional slow moving wet slide but there were some rather big cornices that had broken off. The corn was smooth and sinkable for only a few inches so while riding cautiously we were able to open up on the slopes. After three runs that day we went back to base camp for some food and rest then finished the day off with the sunset from observation point.
The next day we decided to head south towards the Grand Valley and hit the North facing slopes on our way back. We rode about 700 vert into the grand valley then skinned back up to the north facing bowls. We had passed by three bowls on our way out and out of all three only one looked like an easy skin out. The first run dropped around 1000 vert and gave us access to a lake in which we stocked up on water. The next run was steep and it looked like a sketchy skin back up (avi danger from the main face) so we rode it all the way down to the Badger valley. We skinned up to base camp rested for a little bit then did our final run of the day back down to the badger valley.
The last day we woke up to rain so we bagged plans of a steep chute off observation point and skinned the 7.5 miles back to Hurricane ridge in the rain. Luckily it was a light drizzle but minutes after we arrived back at the car we were greeted with a massive down pour of both Hail and rain.
Conditions: the road seemed melted out occasionally on SW slopes but the snow pack is still deep in quite a few areas. The S face of elk point has no ski able lines from the summit and the snow pack is melting fast. The weather turned out to be Cloudy with constant breaks of blue sky on both Saturday and Sunday but rain on Monday. We spotted Deer, Elk, marmots and some two bobcats while touring. According to the Hurricane ridge visitor center there total seasonal snowfall was 496 inches.
For a full report and many more picks check out http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=124020
As for the pics here the links work but the thumbnails wont show up. ??? ???
We arrived at sunset and skinned 6.5 of the 7.5 miles in the dark. At about 1 A.M. we decided to put up camp for the night near the summit of Eagle point and skin the rest of the way the next morning.
The next morning we packed up and made the final mile out to obstruction by 8 A.M. When we arrived to obstruction point we dug out the bathrooms and stored most of our gear before heading towards the slopes.
Our main focus of the day was the Northern chutes of Elk point but before that we did a warm up run in the badger valley. The slopes were rather stable with the occasional slow moving wet slide but there were some rather big cornices that had broken off. The corn was smooth and sinkable for only a few inches so while riding cautiously we were able to open up on the slopes. After three runs that day we went back to base camp for some food and rest then finished the day off with the sunset from observation point.
The next day we decided to head south towards the Grand Valley and hit the North facing slopes on our way back. We rode about 700 vert into the grand valley then skinned back up to the north facing bowls. We had passed by three bowls on our way out and out of all three only one looked like an easy skin out. The first run dropped around 1000 vert and gave us access to a lake in which we stocked up on water. The next run was steep and it looked like a sketchy skin back up (avi danger from the main face) so we rode it all the way down to the Badger valley. We skinned up to base camp rested for a little bit then did our final run of the day back down to the badger valley.
The last day we woke up to rain so we bagged plans of a steep chute off observation point and skinned the 7.5 miles back to Hurricane ridge in the rain. Luckily it was a light drizzle but minutes after we arrived back at the car we were greeted with a massive down pour of both Hail and rain.
Conditions: the road seemed melted out occasionally on SW slopes but the snow pack is still deep in quite a few areas. The S face of elk point has no ski able lines from the summit and the snow pack is melting fast. The weather turned out to be Cloudy with constant breaks of blue sky on both Saturday and Sunday but rain on Monday. We spotted Deer, Elk, marmots and some two bobcats while touring. According to the Hurricane ridge visitor center there total seasonal snowfall was 496 inches.
For a full report and many more picks check out http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=124020
As for the pics here the links work but the thumbnails wont show up. ??? ???
Nice job guys,
Thanks for the pics on TGR. It really gives an idea on the snowpack of a tour we are planning.
Way to hit it hard! Keep digging out the outhouses and Park Service should give you a season pass to the parks for that work.
Thanks for the pics on TGR. It really gives an idea on the snowpack of a tour we are planning.
Way to hit it hard! Keep digging out the outhouses and Park Service should give you a season pass to the parks for that work.
Dude, I'm bummed I missed it. I swear though Kyle, you have yet to get hooked on surfing and climbing! ;) Glad Dan got to get out too, and get a new face on Team Cascadia. Nice pics! Climbing in vantage and Rush concert this weekend, then we're in the thick of it again!
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