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Topic: 11-11-08 Heliotrope Ridge (Read 1826 times)
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ThePositive1
5Member
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Posts: 28
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The DingoAJ and I decided to spend our holiday up on the Heliotrope for some November turns. It was raining but we took the chance and drove up to the trailhead started in. It was wet and misty up to the Hogs back and then the wind picked up and the clouds cleared give us a good look at the snowfield. The Coleman Glacier was always to our left and very beautiful!The snow at about 6400 was knee deep in places; we had to probe our steps so we would find any hidden crevasses. The clouds closed in before we got to the top of the snowfield so we dropped in for some great turns on the fast snow. We had to do it again so we climbed up and stopped at the foot of a lil' crevasse opening, took some pics and dropped in again, but very carefully because we were stuck in some white out conditions. We negotiated thru the rocks back to the Hogs back and descended back down to the car. Along the way we got to hand feed some camp robbers that were following us most of the day. It was an incredible day for some November turns, a lil' wet at times, but it was worth it! Once at the car we had our traditional victory beer, boy oh boy did that taste good after some great skiing on the Heliotrope!
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bramvs
5Member
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Posts: 22
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Thanks for the TR! I'm just wondering where you saw this crevasse?? And also (sorry if this is a bit of a thread hijack) in general if people generally bother taking a rope when skiing on this part of Heliotrope ridge... I always wear a harness and carry a rope when on a glacier, but perhaps that's a bit too much for this part of Heliotrope Ridge?
I looked on some satellite photos of Heliotrope Ridge on Terraserver, and it appears that the area from roughly 6100 to 7100ft elevation west of this rocky outcrop (google map link) is separate from the main Coleman Glacier. Some of the satellite images show some small crevasses just west and northwest of this point, but a bit further west and beyond this point (google map link), there's only smooth snow and no bare ice or crevasses. The terraserver photos were taken end of July and early August, so perhaps later photos (anyone??) would show up more features.... All together it seems that this part might be a slow moving (thin?) glacier separate from the main Coleman Glacier, hence the much lower amount of crevasses.
Would be interested to hear what other people think.
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lordhedgie
Member
Offline
Posts: 338
WWW
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I've never seen anyone use ropes on Heliotrope unless crossing Coleman proper. We've had discussions here before on whether Heliotrope is truly a glacier or just a snowfield, without much conclusion -- but I think the overall feeling is it's a slow-moving glacier. Still, the crevasses tend to appear in the same places, and as long as you stick to the ridge on the west end, i think everyone agrees you're pretty safe. In July, knock yourself out going all over the ridge, but this time of year caution is required.
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Logged
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If you don't do it this year, you'll be one year older when you don't do it next year.
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Telemon
Member
Offline
Posts: 563
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Thanks for the TR! I'm just wondering where you saw this crevasse?? And also (sorry if this is a bit of a thread hijack) in general if people generally bother taking a rope when skiing on this part of Heliotrope ridge... I always wear a harness and carry a rope when on a glacier, but perhaps that's a bit too much for this part of Heliotrope Ridge? I looked on some satellite photos of Heliotrope Ridge on Terraserver, and it appears that the area from roughly 6100 to 7100ft elevation west of this rocky outcrop (google map link) is separate from the main Coleman Glacier. Some of the satellite images show some small crevasses just west and northwest of this point, but a bit further west and beyond this point (google map link), there's only smooth snow and no bare ice or crevasses. The terraserver photos were taken end of July and early August, so perhaps later photos (anyone??) would show up more features.... All together it seems that this part might be a slow moving (thin?) glacier separate from the main Coleman Glacier, hence the much lower amount of crevasses. Would be interested to hear what other people think. |
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Logged
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Git down, Brothers and Sisters of the Church of the Telemark..What do you mean it is a turn not a religion?
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