Home > Trip Reports > 3-17-09, Heather Ridge / Yodelin

3-17-09, Heather Ridge / Yodelin

3/17/09
WA Stevens Pass
2762
5
Posted by cmosetick on 3/18/09 9:18am
Skybum and I made a fresh track up to the top of Heather Ridge on St Patrick's Day.  The powder was deep from top to bottom.  It was truly tough to get up there and we frequently had to switch breaking trail.  Upon reaching the top we decided to drop the front side facing the highway for fear of having to break another waist deep trail to the top again.  (It was me who didn't want to) We found that the snow was TOO DEEP for us to get any real momentum.  Shame on me for saying "too much", but even Skybum was having trouble with flotation on a splitboard.  Of course, I didn't have "powder" skis but I doubt they would have helped much.  We went over to Yodelin later on in the day to find more of the deep stuff.  We followed a relatively fresh skin track to the top of where the forest fire was.  We dropped from their and enjoyed some legitimate gravity for a minute before finding ourselves in too mellow of terrain for how deep the fresh snow was. We eventually had to ski down the uptrack once we got back to it due to fading light and seeing as how the terrain was not steep enough for how much snow there was.  Skybum dug a pit on top of Heather Ridge near the tower and we found pretty stable conditions.  During our way down the front side of Heather Skybum said he saw one crack as I descended in front of him but there were no scary moments during the trip as far as I'm concerned.  It was great to ski all day on my Birthday, and Skybum was an awesome ski partner to share it with!!


Snorkel session at Heather Ridge (thanks to J.D. for the film strip idea)

More photos to follow soon.
Good day out. I had fun.

I really wouldn't have called the conditons stable at all. It's why we wallowed in low angle trees.


I didn't intend to make it sound like you gave your seal of approval on the snow pack we encountered.  Sorry, if it came out that way. ;)  I admit that one particular column you isolated using my ski caught my attention when it seemed to slide on the crusty layer about 4ft down.  Regardless, I would like to think that we could have skied the other side of the ridge, or perhaps something a little steeper than that and still avoided a slide, but perhaps I'm dreaming.  The area right below the burnt trees was probably the steepest terrain we were in all day, and seemed stable to me.  However, we didn't dig a pit over there on the north facing slope, so the layering could have been a little different.

It's interesting how a pit test can be interpreted so differently by people in one party. It's certainly not an uncommon occurance.
I guess it's just the difference of comfort levels, terrain, familiarity with a spot and conditions. I see it a lot amongst my friends and find it interesting in a clinical sort of way. Both of you seem to have had flags go up, and it sounds like you adjusted your itinerary accordingly. Which is the appropriate response. 

That's why good communication is key.  I know Skybum is familiar with the lingo and understands how to apply the knowledge.  One of the last times I went out with him (3 people total) we all split up along the trail and each did compression tests in different types of terrain that we planned on riding.  It was a great way to collect a lot of data in a short amount of time.  But without good communication skills and knowledge this is all pretty usless.. 

Afterall, if you say, "I did a compression test and found CT3, Q1 and my ECT showed complete propogation on a Q1 fracture plane" and the person you are talking to just pretends to understand what you are saying, you all might have problems.

Communicate, learn, apply, live (hopefully)....  Make some great turns along the way!


author=mosetick link=topic=12738.msg53086#msg53086 date=1237450445]
I didn't intend to make it sound like you gave your seal of approval on the snow pack we encountered.  Sorry, if it came out that way. ;)  I admit that one particular column you isolated using my ski caught my attention when it seemed to slide on the crusty layer about 4ft down.  Regardless, I would like to think that we could have skied the other side of the ridge, or perhaps something a little steeper than that and still avoided a slide, but perhaps I'm dreaming.  The area right below the burnt trees was probably the steepest terrain we were in all day, and seemed stable to me.  However, we didn't dig a pit over there on the north facing slope, so the layering could have been a little different.


No worries, I just didn't want anyone to get the wrong impression. NWAC Avi forecast for the day was pretty spot on. I thought the ingrediants where there, and more so on Heather. Slope aspect and wind direction being the biggest factors. Lots of windloading, and the sun was making some appearances.

Good words to LIVE by RFBL.

I think I could work on my vocal end of the communication equation of talk/listen.







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3-17-09-heather-ridge-yodelin
cmosetick
2009-03-18 16:18:55