June 10-Dawn Patrol Powder-Chinook Pass
6/15/08
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
4698
17
With the weather forecast being what it was, I contacted Snow Bell and Joedabaker and made arrangements for a dawn patrol at Chinook Pass. We also arranged to meet up with Samthaman, a visiting skier from Vermont and an infrequent TAY posted, JayHaymaker.
We left at 3.00 am and got to the pass about 5.30 am. Temp was 24 deg and the pass was covered in about 8-12" of light cold powder, snowing lightly and good visibility.
The new snow was on a firm frozen base and there appeared to be no slab and a decent bond. However, we decided to stick to some mellow slopes and put a skin track up. I got in two runs and then had to leave at 8.00 am to drive to work leaving the four of them to it.
They are going to have a really good day.
I got to work by 9.45 am after an incredible couple of hours powder skiing on JUNE 10TH!!
Snow was as light and low density as ever I have skied here. Unbelievable.
As I write this, they are still up there and I can't wait to hear how the rest of their day went.
I will post pics as soon as I download them and have a nap.
We left at 3.00 am and got to the pass about 5.30 am. Temp was 24 deg and the pass was covered in about 8-12" of light cold powder, snowing lightly and good visibility.
The new snow was on a firm frozen base and there appeared to be no slab and a decent bond. However, we decided to stick to some mellow slopes and put a skin track up. I got in two runs and then had to leave at 8.00 am to drive to work leaving the four of them to it.
They are going to have a really good day.
I got to work by 9.45 am after an incredible couple of hours powder skiing on JUNE 10TH!!
Snow was as light and low density as ever I have skied here. Unbelievable.
As I write this, they are still up there and I can't wait to hear how the rest of their day went.
I will post pics as soon as I download them and have a nap.
Some pictures
First is Jay, 3 pinning in the pow
Second is Sam with his DPS Wailers
Third is Snowbell hucking
First is Jay, 3 pinning in the pow
Second is Sam with his DPS Wailers
Third is Snowbell hucking
Nice work, and good trip! AND GREAT PICS!!! Can't beat June faceshots!
Chris, you and the crew are killing us! Well done.
Hey Korup, long time no ski. Pm me some time and we can hook up.
wow.
Nice! Glad to see you didn't find the same sub-powder goo we found near Snoqualmie.
My intentions were honorable but my execution was a weeee bit poor. I also went to Chinook Pass anticipating that others would arrive early and put in a nice uptrack in all that powder. But 5:30am, geeez. I arrived a bit later and followed some great up tracks and noticed some nice descent lines. Nice work guys. My initial runs were ;). Then, unfortunately, the clouds became fog, visibility decreased and the snow changed to snow/drizzle as noon arrived. After a few runs, I packed up and started driving down and noticed Joedabaker and the "boys" at the Tipsoo Lake pullout. Jay and Sam were melting snow for a warm brew. They left a car on hwy 123 and were cycling with a car shuttle. The early morning hours were the $$$$. I was surprised that I did not see any releases or pinwheels during my skiing. There appeared to be 8-12" in the open terrain and a couple of inches in the canopy. It was enjoyable to ski powder in June. Jill and I are heading out to the Straits to chase halibut for a couple days while the new snow consolidates and returns to corn by Saturday. ;D
You have much wisdom Zap! Glad you got some and enjoyed some of mine and "the boys" uptracks. Good luck with the fishing!
I woulda carried those fat skis for ya just for the report alone ;)
Just got back now from our ski, that 20 minute drive is killing me.
All I can say is the echo of others ""Wow".
After Scotty left, we skinned up to the false summit of Naches and into the bowl that leads to Upper Tipsoo lake, did a couple good ski cuts and the snow was stable in the bowl with good adhesion to the base layer. Went up again and did several car shuttles as Zap mentioned all the way to 123.
The best of the Pow was earlier, it got heavier, but I could not drink it so it must have been powder.
Sam offered to let me ski his DPS skis, they felt tempting everytime I pulled them off the truck.
Pretty light skis for their width.
Great day with some real fun ski partners.
Nice pictures Chris.
All I can say is the echo of others ""Wow".
After Scotty left, we skinned up to the false summit of Naches and into the bowl that leads to Upper Tipsoo lake, did a couple good ski cuts and the snow was stable in the bowl with good adhesion to the base layer. Went up again and did several car shuttles as Zap mentioned all the way to 123.
The best of the Pow was earlier, it got heavier, but I could not drink it so it must have been powder.
Sam offered to let me ski his DPS skis, they felt tempting everytime I pulled them off the truck.
Pretty light skis for their width.
Great day with some real fun ski partners.
Nice pictures Chris.
Chris, doesn't look like you'll have to go to Argentina for powder this year. You guys are true fanatics but I wish I were there instead of painting my bedroom. Had to pack a camera for that one. Nice. Corn this weekend.
author=ovrthhills link=topic=10289.msg41472#msg41472 date=1213146729] Had to pack a camera for that one.
True I rarely bring a camera but since turning 50 I have become much smarter as the only way I was going to get first tracks with this bunch of hooligans was the old " I'll just ski down first so I can take some photos of you guys" ruse. Worked just fine.
With age cometh wisdom. ;)
Wet corn on Monday, 8 " of powder bonded to frozen corn on Tue. Wow.
Did I say Wow? Wow!
What an epic day. I got to ski new (to me) lines, meet fun new folks, and ski w/o hardly putting in any skin tracks.
Thank you Joedabaker for keeping us out of the rocks and cliffs. So, w/ all the car shuttles and skiing off Naches and Yakima, how much vert did we pull?
Did I say Wow? Wow!
What an epic day. I got to ski new (to me) lines, meet fun new folks, and ski w/o hardly putting in any skin tracks.
Thank you Joedabaker for keeping us out of the rocks and cliffs. So, w/ all the car shuttles and skiing off Naches and Yakima, how much vert did we pull?
author=jhamaker link=topic=10289.msg41500#msg41500 date=1213195164]
Wet corn on Monday, 8 " of powder bonded to frozen corn on Tue. Wow.
Did I say Wow? Wow!
What an epic day. I got to ski new (to me) lines, meet fun new folks, and ski w/o hardly putting in any skin tracks.
Thank you Joedabaker for keeping us out of the rocks and cliffs. So, w/ all the car shuttles and skiing off Naches and Yakima, how much vert did we pull?
I would also like to thank joedabaker for showing us around, that "local knowledge" really helped. I've got a lot more pictures that i'll hopefully be able to put up later today. jhamacher - i'll call you in a little bit about the adams trip.
Scotsman and crew - nice work! I was just talking with my ski partner about teleporting between here and January - it looks like you did it!
So late Monday morning Chris calls me and says something in his creepy Scottish accent like: "I think that we should leave my house at 3AM tomorrow and ski a few hours of June pow-pow at Chinook before I go to work." to which I reply something like: "No, that's a stupid idea." He begs and begs: "But Joe, you're the coolest and best ski partner.." and so on and so forth but I reason that I will have to either drive solo two and a half hours each way to ski with him until 8AM or carpool with him and go to his lame job for the remainder of the day. Either way I'm not down.
Just after I'm finished ridiculing Chris' plan, Samthaman calls and says: "Were headed for White River now and will be staying the night. Come join us in the morning because you are so cool and so...." He went on and on but I was too busy connecting the dots which seemed to be drawing a possible powder plan.
Next thing I know, my wife is kicking me to turn off the alarm at 2AM. Chris sounded a little grumpy at 2:45 when he called but I figured a little powder up his nose would change that.
Chris calls Joedabaker around 4AM and seemingly fails to inspire his participation.
We don't see Sam and James at WR campground but we do find them stuck in the snow up on Chinook. Usually being stuck in the snow is bad but to me it meant that there was lots of fresh snow. We liberate James' chariot and begin to service our habit.
Oh what a day to service the habit. It was not just good powder for June. We had really good snow.
Some lonesome figure emerges form the trees near the bottom of our second run. James spots him and alerts us to the "poacher"
The "poacher" replies "No. I'm a local." indicating that Joedabaker was infact on the scene.
We traded Scotty for Joe at this very intersection and proceeded to follow him up and down the mountains, to and fro through the drainages and back and forth between the trees for the next eight hours. He was moving far too fast for any of us to take our bearings or recognize any landmarks. This is how he protects his stashes and shares the bounty all at once. (thanks Joe)
Joedabaker skis only in the fog.
(Unless free skis are the prize and they want to see him lay the tracks before they give them to him.)
We saw two skiers and a lone snowboarder.
We saw Zap.
We ran into Stimbuck and I was able to thank him for the road updates.
We ate energy bars.
We skied until we were done and then Sam and I dropped one last road switchback for good measure.
I caught a ride down with James (thanks again) and Sam. Sam crashed at my place before jumping a ferry today to his next adventure. Pick him up and show him around if you get the chance while he is in town. He is a solid partner and pretty darn polite. He caught some good pictures but none of the ones with Scotsman hucking turned out very well. Maybe we'll get another chance with the next powder dump.
Just after I'm finished ridiculing Chris' plan, Samthaman calls and says: "Were headed for White River now and will be staying the night. Come join us in the morning because you are so cool and so...." He went on and on but I was too busy connecting the dots which seemed to be drawing a possible powder plan.
Next thing I know, my wife is kicking me to turn off the alarm at 2AM. Chris sounded a little grumpy at 2:45 when he called but I figured a little powder up his nose would change that.
Chris calls Joedabaker around 4AM and seemingly fails to inspire his participation.
We don't see Sam and James at WR campground but we do find them stuck in the snow up on Chinook. Usually being stuck in the snow is bad but to me it meant that there was lots of fresh snow. We liberate James' chariot and begin to service our habit.
Oh what a day to service the habit. It was not just good powder for June. We had really good snow.
Some lonesome figure emerges form the trees near the bottom of our second run. James spots him and alerts us to the "poacher"
The "poacher" replies "No. I'm a local." indicating that Joedabaker was infact on the scene.
We traded Scotty for Joe at this very intersection and proceeded to follow him up and down the mountains, to and fro through the drainages and back and forth between the trees for the next eight hours. He was moving far too fast for any of us to take our bearings or recognize any landmarks. This is how he protects his stashes and shares the bounty all at once. (thanks Joe)
Joedabaker skis only in the fog.
(Unless free skis are the prize and they want to see him lay the tracks before they give them to him.)
We saw two skiers and a lone snowboarder.
We saw Zap.
We ran into Stimbuck and I was able to thank him for the road updates.
We ate energy bars.
We skied until we were done and then Sam and I dropped one last road switchback for good measure.
I caught a ride down with James (thanks again) and Sam. Sam crashed at my place before jumping a ferry today to his next adventure. Pick him up and show him around if you get the chance while he is in town. He is a solid partner and pretty darn polite. He caught some good pictures but none of the ones with Scotsman hucking turned out very well. Maybe we'll get another chance with the next powder dump.
Very funny and actually very accurate although my recollection was not" oh please come you are so cool" but more like" All the cool people can't come so I'm down to the dregs, you want to go?" ;D ;D
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