July 5, Elk Mt ONP, misty corn

Skier8484 and I hit the trail at about 7:45am under nearly cloudless skies. Views of the Olympics were great on the 5 mile ridgewalk out until the clouds really started to build at about 10. Since the clouds kept the snow frozen we took a 2 hr nap and dropped into the E bowl of Elk at noon to find super smooth corn snow, with visibility being good if we timed our descents with the sucker holes. We dropped the central chutes at about 130 with good visibility for the first 10 turns before we dropped into the thick clouds which only allowed about 50' of sight. At the bottom of the chutes it was misting heavily and very dark, so we climbed back to the top and waited for a break in the clouds. It never really came, so we bailed, running into stormking and local ripper Alex who had just skied Maiden Peak in similar low visibility conditions.

The snowpack was thick, smooth, and consolidated out at Elk. Should make for a great ski in the next few weeks for those willing to make the hike.

All apologies to Brian for forgetting the beer cooler at my house.

Central Chutes:


The hike out:


Clouds taking over the hurricane ridge/Klahane Ridge area: