Home > Trip Reports > Jan 9, 2009, Hurricane Ridge

Jan 9, 2009, Hurricane Ridge

1/9/09
WA Olympics
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Posted by SkiPrince on 1/13/10 12:19am
Telemack and myself played around at Hurricane Ridge last Saturday.  The conditions were pretty junky.  I will leave the area names for telemack to identify because I don't know any of them except Lodge Run.

So in reverse -- the last run of the day was at the Lodge on skiers right down the tree line.  I stopped at the usual place and Telemack dropped for another 100 ft of sludge.

We did a couple of runs on skiers left of Lodge run.  It was flat and with the heavy snow if was almost like skiing downhill with your skins on.

We did four runs off some pretty peaks that had hard crusty snow.  Following up the lifts and then back into the runs there.  Telemack thought to tease me on one drop (40 degrees) until he hit the snow himself and realized how bad it was.

There had clearly been some avalanches in the area in the past but the day was pretty firm/cement all around.
Thanks for the report, it's so sad to see what has happened to the snowpack in the PNW.  Way to get what you can!

ugh.... when is it going to snow?

was up there that day taking an Avy class, we roved about in the rain and wind  for the weekend,but was at least thankful for what I learned up there. I was going to take the run you spoke of but it doesn't sound like I missed anything! I have a great idea though that I think might work; do a simultaneous snow dance

Surprised we missed you guys. As Splitgirl mentioned, we spent most of the weekend slogging around the area doing an avalanche course. It was incredibly fun and a great learning experience. The bright spot out of this last week of miserable weather seems to be that the warm, wet cycle has done an effective job of breaking down a couple pretty reactive layers that were present in our snowpack at Hurricane. All of the pits we dug showed much less evidence of the two major crusts and adjacent weak layers that were evident a week ago.

The  photo shows Splitgirl rushing to dig out a "victim" in one of our rescue scenarios.

Gary

Ah, members of the silver lining club, I like it ; )

We did 2 runs each on the NW and NE sides of the high point of Sunset Ridge (NE bowl in the third photo), three on the east and west Lodge Runs.  Lots of surprisingly good corn and mush, but also some manky crust and old soft-slide boulders.
We passed your class in the PM!  But I felt lame interrupting so we skinned on by.   
Probably would have lost a lap if we had stopped   ::)

author=telemack link=topic=15144.msg63528#msg63528 date=1263629497]
We did 2 runs each on the NW and NE sides of the high point of Sunset Ridge (NE bowl in the third photo), three on the east and west Lodge Runs.  Lots of surprisingly good corn and mush, but also some manky crust and old soft-slide boulders.
We passed your class in the PM!  But I felt lame interrupting so we skinned on by.   
Probably would have lost a lap if we had stopped   ::)


You guys covered some ground given the challenging conditions, good effort.

Probably best you didn't stop to chat, about that time we were looking for recruits for the live burial rescue scenario. We certainly would have offered you the opportunity to "volunteer"  ;D

Gary

:D  A whole new meaning to being buried by your work. 

I presume you all saw that the road to Hurricane Ridge has been closed due to a wash out.  Seems it is closed even for walking.

Yes, saw the pictures. Very sad about this and they are talking about 6 weeks before they will have the road fixed. Seems like there could be a quicker temporary fix but too soon to say. I also thought there was an old access road that dumped out just after the toll booth, I was going to scout it out. Actually going up there tomorrow thru an old trail that leads you into the parking lot of the Heather Meadows and Lake angeles trail head. Going up that way to snow camp for a few days. Atleast there won't be a crowd !

This is the Park's most recent official statement on the road repair plan. The contractor they have hired is a local firm with years of experience. They are very good at what they do and the families also ski at the Ridge. Any support this forum can provide to encourage the Park to move ahead swiftly with reopening the road would be appreciated. Please send your comments to the Superintendent of Olympic National Park, Karin Gustin. Her e-mail address is;
   This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
She has been proactive in addressing this issue and has been good to work with on other issues.
Thanks,

Gary

From: <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date: Fri, Jan 22, 2010 at 5:11 PM
Subject: Olympic NP News Release: Hurricane Ridge Road Contract Awarded Today to Port Angeles-based Bruch & Bruch; Work Already Underway
To:



Olympic National Park News Release
January 22, 2010
For Immediate Release
Barb Maynes  360-565-3005

Hurricane Ridge Road Contract Awarded Today to Port Angeles-based Bruch &
Bruch; Work Already Underway

This morning, the National Park Service awarded a contract to repair the
Hurricane Ridge Road landslide to Port Angeles contractor Bruch & Bruch
Construction Incorporated.  Bruch & Bruch employees have already begun to
move equipment to the landslide site just north of the Heart O’the Hills
entrance station and will begin repair work as soon equipment and materials
are in place.

At this time, the contractor has been authorized to spend up to $1.4
million to repair the road; the final contract amount will be finalized
within several weeks.  Federal Highways Administration engineers have
estimated the final repair cost to be over $2 million. About 30 workers
will be employed by this repair project, all from the Forks, Port Angeles
and Sequim area.

“We are extremely pleased to have a contract in place so quickly,” said
Olympic National Park Superintendent Karen Gustin.  “A federal contract of
this size usually takes four months to complete – I’m very grateful to both
park staff and our Federal Highways partners for their work in making an
award in only four days.”

The contractor will work twelve hours each day from Monday through
Saturday.  Preliminary estimates by park and Federal Highways
Administration engineers indicate that repairs will take approximately six
weeks to complete.

“We understand the importance of this road to our region, and restoring
access to Hurricane Ridge as quickly as possible continues to be the park’s
top priority right now,” said Gustin. “We have looked thoroughly at several
options for providing a bypass around the slide, but given the size,
schedule, cost and location of this project, an alternative route is simply
not feasible.”

The contractor will first remove over 2,000 truckloads of the remaining
fine-grained fill and build a firm foundation with rock and gravel.  A
six-foot diameter culvert and additional drainage will be installed and the
road rebuilt.

The Hurricane Ridge Road is closed about one-half mile north of Heart O’the
Hills entrance station.  The combination of an active construction zone and
unstable slope create an extremely hazardous situation, and public entry,
including foot and bicycle access, is prohibited.  Local access to Lake
Dawn area residences remains open.

The road has been closed since Monday when a slope below the roadway slid
downhill, taking with it most of both travel lanes along a 100-foot long
section of road.  The damaged site is just below the Heart O’the Hills
entrance station, approximately five miles south of Port Angeles.

For information about alternative destinations within Olympic National
Park, people may consult the park's website at www.nps.gov/olym or call the
Olympic National Park Visitor Center at 360-565-3130.  The recorded Road
and Weather Hotline is updated throughout the day with changes and can be
reached by calling 360-565-3131.

                                 --NPS--

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jan-9-2009-hurricane-ridge
SkiPrince
2010-01-13 08:19:11