December 5, 2009, Nordic Pass
12/5/09
2628
1
This was a hike, not a ski trip, but given lack of other reports maybe the snow info will be useful.
We expected hard crusty conditions, but actually found dust on crust and some skiable softer areas with a couple of inches of boot penetration in softened consolidated snow, getting better up higher in the trees and in the open in the sun. Maybe due to a combination of the recent inversion and the showers passing through yesterday afternoon adding some fresh. This area is still not in good shape for ski touring, though, due to low coverage. Too many logs, openings to ground and water, and little saplings to negotiate. It was fine in boots. I never put on the crampons I brought and others never used snowshoes. Yak traks were a convenience as it hardened up mid afternoon, for those who had them. Beautiful day to be out.
We expected hard crusty conditions, but actually found dust on crust and some skiable softer areas with a couple of inches of boot penetration in softened consolidated snow, getting better up higher in the trees and in the open in the sun. Maybe due to a combination of the recent inversion and the showers passing through yesterday afternoon adding some fresh. This area is still not in good shape for ski touring, though, due to low coverage. Too many logs, openings to ground and water, and little saplings to negotiate. It was fine in boots. I never put on the crampons I brought and others never used snowshoes. Yak traks were a convenience as it hardened up mid afternoon, for those who had them. Beautiful day to be out.
We were nearby, having toured up to the top of Hyak to enjoy views and at least some sport-specific leg workout, and then we dropped into the valley between Catherine and Hyak to commit ourselves to a little more work before the icy descent back to the car. Someone who works at the ski area warned us about "blue ice" everywhere - we did see some blue ice in openings where creeks were running, but otherwise it was more "frozen granular" in east-coast-speak. Turns were at least sort of fun in open areas that hadn't been previously tracked up, and we decided that our outing was a better choice than huffing up Mailbox or Si.
Looks like we need a few more feet to make most open wooded areas a bit more reasonable for touring. 50" on the Snoqualmie telemetry has always seemed like a good threshhold for areas such Nordic Pass. We sure do have a bomber base covering rocks and brush and at least some of the downed logs... now we just need some more snow on top of it.
Looks like we need a few more feet to make most open wooded areas a bit more reasonable for touring. 50" on the Snoqualmie telemetry has always seemed like a good threshhold for areas such Nordic Pass. We sure do have a bomber base covering rocks and brush and at least some of the downed logs... now we just need some more snow on top of it.
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