Jan 8, 2011, - ONP - Hurricane Ridge
1/8/11
WA Olympics
2285
3
Jan, Jeff and I headed to the Ridge with minimal expectations following several days of the thermometer bouncing up and down around the freezing mark and precipitation falling randomly through this period. What encouraged us was a sharp drop in overnight temps on Friday and a few inches of new snow.
We elected to explore some new route variations in some familiar terrain. We started the tour by descending the ever steepening slope west of the lodge. We found a couple inches of dust over a supportive, edgable crust, this actually skied pretty well. :) Instead of skiining back up our descent, we elected to cross the creek and climb up the steep opposite bank to the ridge line. Once on the ridge, it was a mellow skin back to the summer road.
We proceeded west to the base of Hurricane Hill. Our original plan was to climb to the summit and explore a new route back down into the Little River Drainage. Finding the upper part of the Hill shrouded in dense fog, we elected to ski the mellow terrain down into the Little River Drainage. Again we found enjoyable turns on "dust over crust".
From the bottom of this descent, we short cut the climb back to the ridge line. We have had our eye on a SW facing slope near the end of the road for some time, conditions appeared right to check it out. This is a gladed slope with constantly increasing steepness. Again we found a few inches of light snow over a skiable crust. We descended about 800 vf until suddenly the crust started breaking down and we went into survival mode :(. It was an easy call to head back up to the ridge line and back to the refreshments waiting for us at the truck. ;)
Here are a few photos from the day and a link to several more: http://picasaweb.google.com/GaryJanH/20110108HurricaneRidgeTour#
1. Jan playing peak-a-boo
2. The variety of weather we experienced through the day are captured in this shot
3. Olympic weather dynamics
Gary
We elected to explore some new route variations in some familiar terrain. We started the tour by descending the ever steepening slope west of the lodge. We found a couple inches of dust over a supportive, edgable crust, this actually skied pretty well. :) Instead of skiining back up our descent, we elected to cross the creek and climb up the steep opposite bank to the ridge line. Once on the ridge, it was a mellow skin back to the summer road.
We proceeded west to the base of Hurricane Hill. Our original plan was to climb to the summit and explore a new route back down into the Little River Drainage. Finding the upper part of the Hill shrouded in dense fog, we elected to ski the mellow terrain down into the Little River Drainage. Again we found enjoyable turns on "dust over crust".
From the bottom of this descent, we short cut the climb back to the ridge line. We have had our eye on a SW facing slope near the end of the road for some time, conditions appeared right to check it out. This is a gladed slope with constantly increasing steepness. Again we found a few inches of light snow over a skiable crust. We descended about 800 vf until suddenly the crust started breaking down and we went into survival mode :(. It was an easy call to head back up to the ridge line and back to the refreshments waiting for us at the truck. ;)
Here are a few photos from the day and a link to several more: http://picasaweb.google.com/GaryJanH/20110108HurricaneRidgeTour#
1. Jan playing peak-a-boo
2. The variety of weather we experienced through the day are captured in this shot
3. Olympic weather dynamics
Gary
Thanks for the skin track!
Al and I ran into your track after a run though the fog on the SE shoulder of the Hill. Breakable crust made for some challenging turns. I cartwheeled at least two times on the lower end. Another 5 inches of fluff would have been perfect! We were wondering about those tracks on the SW. The mystery has been solved :)
Looks like plenty of new snow is on the way!
Al and I ran into your track after a run though the fog on the SE shoulder of the Hill. Breakable crust made for some challenging turns. I cartwheeled at least two times on the lower end. Another 5 inches of fluff would have been perfect! We were wondering about those tracks on the SW. The mystery has been solved :)
Looks like plenty of new snow is on the way!
way to have get out there for some turns .. looks beautiful up on the ridge
author=runcle link=topic=18955.msg80157#msg80157 date=1294681805]
Thanks for the skin track!
Al and I ran into your track after a run though the fog on the SE shoulder of the Hill. Breakable crust made for some challenging turns. I cartwheeled at least two times on the lower end. Another 5 inches of fluff would have been perfect! We were wondering about those tracks on the SW. The mystery has been solved :)
Glad you found our track useful, it certainly saved some time and energy on the way home. We debated climbing the Hill, but decided our time was better spent doing some reconnaissance on the way back, sounds like we made the right choice . ;)
author=kath link=topic=18955.msg80214#msg80214 date=1294706598]
way to have get out there for some turns .. looks beautiful up on the ridge
Thanks Kath,
Saturday was a fun day.
On Sunday I patrolled in the ski area in mostly foggy conditions. As the day ended, the skies began to clear. I snapped this picture of Mt Angeles on the way down the road. We are so fortunate to have such beautiful surroundings in our back yard. :D
Gary
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