May 27, 2010, Longs Pass

Can now drive to Esmerelda Trailhead. Trail is only snow free until the junction, but patchy snow in forest had me booting for a bit before changing to skins. My original destination had been Fortune, but I got frustrated with walking the postholey Esmerelda trail through all the stream crossings, and started uphill much too early, on wrong side of drainage that eventually goes to Ingalls Pass, and basically heading straight toward Longs following old postholes and sno mo tracks. Oh welll new destination. Thought I'd work my way over to Fortune later but eventually thought better of it as the cloud deck lowered, and just stayed at Longs.

In Longs Pass area, there was fresher snow layer on top starting at about the level of the old tailings piles. It varied from an inch or so to deeper depositations. It skied OK if there was just an inch of that new, but any more than that and it became troublesome. This layer was super self adhesive, making hissers and snowballs and generally sliding off the older more consolidated snow with ease if you initiated it with a turn. The layer beneath wasn't quite corn, but close, mostly decent consolidation but also some rotten spots that would slide just like the new stuff would.

First went up small peak lookers L of pass, but this was where that new stuff got too deep for fun. Next couple runs went on the lookers R where snow appeared dirtier. One of those rare times where the dirty snow was what you wanted.

Back side into Ingalls Creek looked similar but I did not ski it. Various wet slides had come down that other side, maybe started by cornice fails.

Was able but just barely to ski down to within 200vf of parking lot, right by the junction.

Teanaway Magic came through again - no rain and good enough visibility today, after driving through rain and fog on Snoq Pass both ways.

First photo for recon of Stuart Cascadian et al.

Second photo looking E of Longs from my first high point.