January 17 and 18, 2004, Cave Ridge and Snow Lake
1/17/04
WA Snoqualmie Pass
2322
0
On Saturday I was really psyched to chase the sun after one week of rain and misty weather in Seattle. Snowqualmie Pass was in clouds but the weather cam of Mt.Baker looked promising this morning . I hoped it would be the same for Cave Ridge. The freezing level was right on the Pass creating a nice shiny layer of ice. It gots stronger with gaining altitude. So it was really easy to glide on speeding up the ascent rate quite a bit until it got steep. Ski crampons came into my mind, which is not really a help if you have them only there. Below Cave Ridge it was getting better as the icy crust was topped with new snow. The view from Cave Ridge was striking as the blue sky and sun. I had my sunglasses in use for the first time skinning up in T-Shirt further up. I got on the ridge above Commonwealth Basin. The slopes in the bowl opposite to Cave Ridge showed some avalanche activity from the days before. Looked like the soaked top layer caused it. Along the ridge the new snow was softened by the sun turning it into nearly corn conditions. I did one run down and headed back "enjoying" the tree skidding (right spelling ?) in the steep parts.
On Sunday I went together with Corey to Snow Lake. The icy crust made it hard to traverse so mostly we tried to tackle the slope straight forward. Along the Snow Lake Trail we crossed several avalanches from the days before. Skiing down to Snow Lake was fun. The newly lofty snow provided some better skiing than it would have been on the blank crust. Edging made the difference on this run. At the bottom we skated on Snow Lake for a while. On the way back the snowfall changed into rain, making the snow softer and heavier. It improved the skiing on this icy crust a bit. The visibility was not perfect, so Corey took an unprepared jump. But nobody was hurt. Skiing out from Snow Lake was fun even with the rain.
On Sunday I went together with Corey to Snow Lake. The icy crust made it hard to traverse so mostly we tried to tackle the slope straight forward. Along the Snow Lake Trail we crossed several avalanches from the days before. Skiing down to Snow Lake was fun. The newly lofty snow provided some better skiing than it would have been on the blank crust. Edging made the difference on this run. At the bottom we skated on Snow Lake for a while. On the way back the snowfall changed into rain, making the snow softer and heavier. It improved the skiing on this icy crust a bit. The visibility was not perfect, so Corey took an unprepared jump. But nobody was hurt. Skiing out from Snow Lake was fun even with the rain.
Reply to this TR
Please login first: