February 26, Mt. Snoqualmie, Phantom
2/15/11
WA Snoqualmie Pass
4564
7
Yesterday we headed up Snoqualmie to take a look at the Slot, get the goods, and get skiing before Avy conditions deteriorated. We saw two people head into the Slot, but we decided to just ski the Phantom, because conditions were better anyways. We got one big lap and one tiny lap in for about 4,000 vert. Finally, on the second lap, Curt decided to check out the waterfall. As Chris said, "This isn't really skiing, is it?" Well, it WAS an adventure and you can check out the video for footage.
As for snow conditions, we had plenty of powder, with a bit of sun crust in places on the slide path. We experienced fabulous snow stability, with little sloughing and no sliding. The Slot also looked very stable, but very windblown at the top. Of course that's mostly irrelevant now with all that new snow. We were expecting feet of light powder, which would have been much more unstable. In reality, there were only 6in of light powder, on top of a few more inches of slightly heavier stuff.
It sure was a party up there with 10+ people in the area! I'd like to hear from the two who did the Slot...
Here's the video: http://www.youtube.com/embed/YYrilldwSx0
As for snow conditions, we had plenty of powder, with a bit of sun crust in places on the slide path. We experienced fabulous snow stability, with little sloughing and no sliding. The Slot also looked very stable, but very windblown at the top. Of course that's mostly irrelevant now with all that new snow. We were expecting feet of light powder, which would have been much more unstable. In reality, there were only 6in of light powder, on top of a few more inches of slightly heavier stuff.
It sure was a party up there with 10+ people in the area! I'd like to hear from the two who did the Slot...
Here's the video: http://www.youtube.com/embed/YYrilldwSx0
Good on you guys for scoring these lines! A group I skiied with the past 2 Sundays encountered knee-wrenching sloopy or refrozen mank!! Hoping to get more of your style of snow soon...
Nice TR and video edit, Ross... waterfall looked entertaining.
Oh yeah, it was :) Curt and Chris went directly down the gully which was a bit rocky. I took the cliff huck.
Great video Ross! That waterfall always intimidates me, great job skiing it! I was in the group of three just ahead of you on the first climb. Good to see you, Chris and Curt as well as some other familiar faces in the other groups. We ended up skiing the slot for our last run after talking with another party who had skied it earlier in the day. The top half was OK, the bottom half better but the snow was better on the phantom side. Overall some of the nicest snow I've skied in Washington. Thanks Tim and John for pounding out some vert with me!
Agreed! I dropped my daughter off at 9:30 for lessons, toured up 2,200' and skied great knee deep, occasionally blower back to the car with friends!
I went down the slot with my little brother Tony and Dave. There was another group of two who already had two laps and there were already two tracks in it before they got there. So, six tracks before we hit it.
It was definitely windblown on top, but opened up to what would have been really good snow (first tracks) well before the dog leg and awesome from the dog leg down.
We climbed out, gained a little more vert, and then dropped through the Phantom. Props for "skiing" the waterfall. We saw your lines. A little disappointed you didn't hit the last big cliff though...
;^)
It was definitely windblown on top, but opened up to what would have been really good snow (first tracks) well before the dog leg and awesome from the dog leg down.
We climbed out, gained a little more vert, and then dropped through the Phantom. Props for "skiing" the waterfall. We saw your lines. A little disappointed you didn't hit the last big cliff though...
;^)
Next time, next time :) There's a big ditch below that one though...
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