May 23, 2010, Alpental
5/23/10
WA Snoqualmie Pass
3025
2
Left the lot at about the crack of noon. Friendly denizens of the parking lot told me about good, untracked, and fast untracked snow in Upper Nash, sticky below. Skied off the top a little after one. Upper Nash was littered with soft sunballs/debris and getting heavy/sticky. Fresh wet slide in/near Adrenaline, possibly triggered from far above; I couldn't cut anything loose on the margin of the bed surface. Quite sticky below the cat track.
Snow was uniform and skiable schmoo for much of the mountain. Sun was frequently out and hot, so I skipped a second lap. You can still ski to the patio, but that'll change soon. Incipient holes abound near the base.
Pole penetration of at most a foot, pretty solid crust below. Booters sometimes punched through. Surprisingly good bonds and grip in the skin track. Worst bond was E facing and steepish. No appreciable propagation in the new- might change with a freeze.
Early birds got the goods!
------
I had time on my hands, so I took a quick tour around the rest of the pass. Skiable snow seems to start at 4+k on most peaks. Truly shady trees were still flocked with snow above 4k in the afternoon. Phantom looks skiable a couple hundred feet above the waterfall. Commonwealth looks snowy in the bowl. Only the avy chutes are consistently snowy on S. Granite. Long avy chutes off the north side of Rampart/Alta still have coverage; the rest of Gold Creek is fried below 4k. Much of the Folklife might still be possible? Non-Alpy ski areas are nearly bare.
Snow was uniform and skiable schmoo for much of the mountain. Sun was frequently out and hot, so I skipped a second lap. You can still ski to the patio, but that'll change soon. Incipient holes abound near the base.
Pole penetration of at most a foot, pretty solid crust below. Booters sometimes punched through. Surprisingly good bonds and grip in the skin track. Worst bond was E facing and steepish. No appreciable propagation in the new- might change with a freeze.
Early birds got the goods!
------
I had time on my hands, so I took a quick tour around the rest of the pass. Skiable snow seems to start at 4+k on most peaks. Truly shady trees were still flocked with snow above 4k in the afternoon. Phantom looks skiable a couple hundred feet above the waterfall. Commonwealth looks snowy in the bowl. Only the avy chutes are consistently snowy on S. Granite. Long avy chutes off the north side of Rampart/Alta still have coverage; the rest of Gold Creek is fried below 4k. Much of the Folklife might still be possible? Non-Alpy ski areas are nearly bare.
Monday morning update == YUK.
While the weather was nice, and skinning wasn't too bad (even with having brought the wrong, too-skinny skins), the snow was terrible. Extremely sticky. Actually worse higher up. For Edelweiss side C2 runs, there might have been a moment at 9 or 10 AM where a surface crust was soft enough on top yet strong enough to keep you above the foul isogoo, but I missed that moment. I made the mistake of going down Intl which was particularly awful at the top.
Was really hoping that the snowpack getting rained on a little would improve it, but anything but.
While the weather was nice, and skinning wasn't too bad (even with having brought the wrong, too-skinny skins), the snow was terrible. Extremely sticky. Actually worse higher up. For Edelweiss side C2 runs, there might have been a moment at 9 or 10 AM where a surface crust was soft enough on top yet strong enough to keep you above the foul isogoo, but I missed that moment. I made the mistake of going down Intl which was particularly awful at the top.
Was really hoping that the snowpack getting rained on a little would improve it, but anything but.
Bummer. I was surprised to note when I got home that there was an impressive inversion Sunday mid-day (just before the Chair 2 telemetry died :( ). It was 10 degrees F warmer up top than at mid-mountain.
[pre]
MM/DD Hour Temp Temp Temp RH RH Wind Wind Wind Hour Total 24Hr Total
PST F F F % % Avg Max Dir. Prec. Prec. Snow Snow
5400' 4300' 3120' 3120' 5400' 5530' 5530' 5530' 3120' 3120' 3120' 3120'
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5 24 1200 41 51 59 0 0 -0 39
5 24 1100 42 53 44 0 0 -0 39
5 24 1000 40 47 61 0 0 -0 41
5 24 900 37 43 71 0 0 0 39
5 24 800 32 39 77 0 0 0 40
5 24 700 32 37 85 0 0 0 41
5 24 600 31 34 97 0 0 0 41
5 24 500 30 32 97 0 0 0 41
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5 24 400 30 33 98 0 .04 0 41
5 24 300 30 32 98 0 .04 0 41
5 24 200 31 33 99 0 .04 0 41
5 24 100 32 33 98 0 .04 0 41
5 24 0 32 33 99 0 .04 0 41
5 23 2300 32 33 98 0 .04 0 41
5 23 2200 33 33 98 0 .04 0 41
5 23 2100 33 34 96 0 .04 0 41
5 23 2000 33 36 95 0 .04 0 41
5 23 1900 34 38 90 0 .04 0 41
5 23 1800 34 40 84 0 .04 0 41
5 23 1700 35 41 84 0 .04 0 40
5 23 1600 33 35 41 85 93 0 0 242 0 .04 0 41
5 23 1500 37 35 43 73 82 0 0 238 0 .04 0 40
5 23 1400 41 35 44 74 78 0 0 235 0 .04 0 40
5 23 1300 41 35 43 80 75 0 0 241 0 .04 0 40
5 23 1200 41 34 40 85 78 0 0 235 .01 .04 1 41
5 23 1100 39 34 40 89 78 0 0 235 0 .03 1 41
5 23 1000 36 33 39 90 89 0 0 248 .01 .03 1 41
5 23 900 31 32 37 96 94 0 0 247 .01 .02 1 42
5 23 800 30 31 36 95 95 0 0 241 0 .01 1 42
5 23 700 27 31 35 97 97 0 0 239 0 .01 1 42
5 23 600 26 30 33 99 98 0 0 234 .01 .01 1 42
5 23 500 25 30 33 99 98 0 0 241 0 0 1 42
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5 23 400 25 30 33 99 98 0 0 238 0 .82 1 42
5 23 300 25 30 33 100 98 0 0 238 0 .82 1 42
5 23 200 25 30 33 99 98 0 0 243 0 .82 1 42
5 23 100 26 31 33 99 98 0 0 244 .04 .82 1 42
5 23 0 28 32 33 99 98 0 0 247 .06 .78 0 41
5 22 2300 27 32 33 99 98 0 0 244 .08 .72 0 42
5 22 2200 28 33 33 99 99 0 0 238 .08 .64 0 42
5 22 2100 29 33 33 99 99 0 0 236 .12 .56 0 42
5 22 2000 29 33 33 97 99 0 1 250 .19 .44 0 42
5 22 1900 30 33 35 96 98 0 0 258 .16 .25 0 41
5 22 1800 28 33 37 94 100 0 1 269 .08 .09 0 41
5 22 1700 30 36 41 81 98 0 0 257 0 .01 0 41
5 22 1600 34 36 43 64 83 0 0 244 0 .01 0 41
5 22 1500 33 36 44 67 86 0 0 244 0 .01 0 41
5 22 1400 32 35 43 67 91 0 0 265 0 .01 0 41
5 22 1300 31 35 43 70 94 0 0 276 0 .01 0 42
[/pre]
[pre]
MM/DD Hour Temp Temp Temp RH RH Wind Wind Wind Hour Total 24Hr Total
PST F F F % % Avg Max Dir. Prec. Prec. Snow Snow
5400' 4300' 3120' 3120' 5400' 5530' 5530' 5530' 3120' 3120' 3120' 3120'
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5 24 1200 41 51 59 0 0 -0 39
5 24 1100 42 53 44 0 0 -0 39
5 24 1000 40 47 61 0 0 -0 41
5 24 900 37 43 71 0 0 0 39
5 24 800 32 39 77 0 0 0 40
5 24 700 32 37 85 0 0 0 41
5 24 600 31 34 97 0 0 0 41
5 24 500 30 32 97 0 0 0 41
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5 24 400 30 33 98 0 .04 0 41
5 24 300 30 32 98 0 .04 0 41
5 24 200 31 33 99 0 .04 0 41
5 24 100 32 33 98 0 .04 0 41
5 24 0 32 33 99 0 .04 0 41
5 23 2300 32 33 98 0 .04 0 41
5 23 2200 33 33 98 0 .04 0 41
5 23 2100 33 34 96 0 .04 0 41
5 23 2000 33 36 95 0 .04 0 41
5 23 1900 34 38 90 0 .04 0 41
5 23 1800 34 40 84 0 .04 0 41
5 23 1700 35 41 84 0 .04 0 40
5 23 1600 33 35 41 85 93 0 0 242 0 .04 0 41
5 23 1500 37 35 43 73 82 0 0 238 0 .04 0 40
5 23 1400 41 35 44 74 78 0 0 235 0 .04 0 40
5 23 1300 41 35 43 80 75 0 0 241 0 .04 0 40
5 23 1200 41 34 40 85 78 0 0 235 .01 .04 1 41
5 23 1100 39 34 40 89 78 0 0 235 0 .03 1 41
5 23 1000 36 33 39 90 89 0 0 248 .01 .03 1 41
5 23 900 31 32 37 96 94 0 0 247 .01 .02 1 42
5 23 800 30 31 36 95 95 0 0 241 0 .01 1 42
5 23 700 27 31 35 97 97 0 0 239 0 .01 1 42
5 23 600 26 30 33 99 98 0 0 234 .01 .01 1 42
5 23 500 25 30 33 99 98 0 0 241 0 0 1 42
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5 23 400 25 30 33 99 98 0 0 238 0 .82 1 42
5 23 300 25 30 33 100 98 0 0 238 0 .82 1 42
5 23 200 25 30 33 99 98 0 0 243 0 .82 1 42
5 23 100 26 31 33 99 98 0 0 244 .04 .82 1 42
5 23 0 28 32 33 99 98 0 0 247 .06 .78 0 41
5 22 2300 27 32 33 99 98 0 0 244 .08 .72 0 42
5 22 2200 28 33 33 99 99 0 0 238 .08 .64 0 42
5 22 2100 29 33 33 99 99 0 0 236 .12 .56 0 42
5 22 2000 29 33 33 97 99 0 1 250 .19 .44 0 42
5 22 1900 30 33 35 96 98 0 0 258 .16 .25 0 41
5 22 1800 28 33 37 94 100 0 1 269 .08 .09 0 41
5 22 1700 30 36 41 81 98 0 0 257 0 .01 0 41
5 22 1600 34 36 43 64 83 0 0 244 0 .01 0 41
5 22 1500 33 36 44 67 86 0 0 244 0 .01 0 41
5 22 1400 32 35 43 67 91 0 0 265 0 .01 0 41
5 22 1300 31 35 43 70 94 0 0 276 0 .01 0 42
[/pre]
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