Excelsior Pass (Baker area) 2/26
2/15/09
WA Cascades West Slopes North (Mt Baker)
2212
2
Okay, so starting low was not a great idea, especially with this season's snow pack. Where is our new snow? It is up in the trees, waiting to fall on us, not on the ground. The snow pack is very thin and there is not much to ski starting at about 2000'.
After some transit delays Mosetick and I started at 2:20 and got up to 4800' before fading daylight turned us around, just short of the alpine. About 1000' of nice turns in the woods and linked meadows, then survival skiing by headlight the rest of the way down. We barely averted booting by skiing the bottom part with skins on , back down the up track.
Chris had the good camera, hopefully there is something worth posting, but it was all trees with snow in them and us imagining we would find the goods there. With some more snow and enough time to enjoy what's above, it could almost become a credible place to go this spring. Almost.
After some transit delays Mosetick and I started at 2:20 and got up to 4800' before fading daylight turned us around, just short of the alpine. About 1000' of nice turns in the woods and linked meadows, then survival skiing by headlight the rest of the way down. We barely averted booting by skiing the bottom part with skins on , back down the up track.
Chris had the good camera, hopefully there is something worth posting, but it was all trees with snow in them and us imagining we would find the goods there. With some more snow and enough time to enjoy what's above, it could almost become a credible place to go this spring. Almost.
Travertine's assessment is 100% correct. I too was expecting more snow than what we found, down lower at least. Also I should add that the northern sides of most tree trunks up higher were well covered with new snow leaving the rest of the trunk uncovered. Up higher in a more open area we even encountered a perfectly horizontal blowdown about 15ft long that was developing a mini cornice on it from the northerly winds. I think we were on the wrong side of the highway. ??? There was no time for snow science today, but the Avi hazard was very low on the upper part of our trip. Up higher than we traveled, it could have been very different... More time is what we really needed today.
Of course it was great to be out in the mountains.
The bottom of my skins have tiger stripes now too.
Of course it was great to be out in the mountains.
The bottom of my skins have tiger stripes now too.
Photos from the day are at:
http://www.the808.net/gallery/Excelsior-2-26-2009
Some highlights:
Travertine enjoying the view
blowndown with a cornice developing on it
The angle the camera was facing in this photo was approximately northwest.
http://www.the808.net/gallery/Excelsior-2-26-2009
Some highlights:
Travertine enjoying the view
blowndown with a cornice developing on it
The angle the camera was facing in this photo was approximately northwest.
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