December 5, 2004, Table Mt (Baker)
12/5/04
WA Cascades West Slopes North (Mt Baker)
3658
8
Several groups of tay-ers were in attendance today. Nick D and a group of five or six, markharf and ema, myself with three others, and maybe more? Speak up and be heard the rest of you....
The groups all headed off in separate directions it seemed (perhaps to secret stashes?) As for us, we had heard that the north side of Table had the best coverage, and since we chose not to bring our rock skis, plus the short approach, it was our best choice.
There was a fair bit of wind effect over the previous 24hrs, we experienced it on our first run in the wide open, then headed off in search of sheltered runs nearby. Luckily we found a few and had a pretty good day for so early in the season.
On the way out some wet areas got our skis sticky enough that we could climb back to the cat track without skins. Every cloud has a silver lining!
The groups all headed off in separate directions it seemed (perhaps to secret stashes?) As for us, we had heard that the north side of Table had the best coverage, and since we chose not to bring our rock skis, plus the short approach, it was our best choice.
There was a fair bit of wind effect over the previous 24hrs, we experienced it on our first run in the wide open, then headed off in search of sheltered runs nearby. Luckily we found a few and had a pretty good day for so early in the season.
On the way out some wet areas got our skis sticky enough that we could climb back to the cat track without skins. Every cloud has a silver lining!
Hey that's not in Patagonia! ;-)
Wondered where you'd gone to, Silas. You missed the widely-broadcast invitation to the goods...which seemed to be located mainly in the steep glades on the back side of Herman Saddle. We skied a couple of the usual runs near the ski area, then followed the trailsetters (keeping a judicious distance, lest they take offense) through the boulders, over the saddle into the land of stable, knee-deep, dry, unconsolidated powder. Best skiiing, for what it's worth, was between 4800 and 5700 feet on south-ish aspects. Of course, getting back out of there at the very end of the day we were waylaid repeatedly by hidden rocks in the flat light.
Snow was remarkably stable considering it featured a highly-suspect pattern of layering (light powder covered by heavier, covered again by light...all over a refrozen crust), and it refused to sluff except on very steep slopes and near windswept ridges. Visibility was mainly pretty good, too, with a mix of clouds, flurries, sucker holes, and a brief episode of blowing graupel to weed out the riff-raff.
Quite a few present who post here, and more who lurk regularly. I'll leave it to them to identify themselves or not.
Fun day. Hope others fared similarly.
Enjoy,
Mark
Snow was remarkably stable considering it featured a highly-suspect pattern of layering (light powder covered by heavier, covered again by light...all over a refrozen crust), and it refused to sluff except on very steep slopes and near windswept ridges. Visibility was mainly pretty good, too, with a mix of clouds, flurries, sucker holes, and a brief episode of blowing graupel to weed out the riff-raff.
Quite a few present who post here, and more who lurk regularly. I'll leave it to them to identify themselves or not.
Fun day. Hope others fared similarly.
Enjoy,
Mark
What did you call this place sometime ago Mark? "The place eveyone goes". Well since you were there I guess so. Yes Silas, many of the usual suspects (Brent H's favorite catchall) were present. Saw lots of steep tracks off Table. Surprising that nothing slid as we found very weak layer under the Fri nite/Sat wet dump. Lots of folks actually read weather reports. Our group of four was also there on Saturday and stayed in Mteer lodge that night. Only seven total in the lodge with so many freshiez flying. Mighty fine day in spite of my bad core shot. Anyone have epoxy suggestions for repair?
A friend and I spent three days in the parking lot at Baker Fri - Sun watching the avy conditions change. Markh is spot on.
Fri - new snow couple inches over crust with snow falling, nice tour with visibility in manky powder. temps in the low 30s
Sat - 24 hr sn: 8" and snow falling hard; temps still very warm. While climbing we distinctly hear settling noises in the new slab so cancelled our tour and stuck to mellower terrain. Then sat pm all hell broke loose. Wind picks up and temps drop into the 20s.
Sun - 24 hr sn: 16" (yup, that's 24" since we parked the car) of very fine over a dense pack. Stability now quite good, dispite recent events. regardless, the wind hinted of windslab, cornices and other ills so stuck to the terrain near the ski area which, to the testiment of others here, was quite choice.
Fri - new snow couple inches over crust with snow falling, nice tour with visibility in manky powder. temps in the low 30s
Sat - 24 hr sn: 8" and snow falling hard; temps still very warm. While climbing we distinctly hear settling noises in the new slab so cancelled our tour and stuck to mellower terrain. Then sat pm all hell broke loose. Wind picks up and temps drop into the 20s.
Sun - 24 hr sn: 16" (yup, that's 24" since we parked the car) of very fine over a dense pack. Stability now quite good, dispite recent events. regardless, the wind hinted of windslab, cornices and other ills so stuck to the terrain near the ski area which, to the testiment of others here, was quite choice.
What did you call this place sometime ago Mark? "The place eveyone goes".
I sometimes call Artist Point "The Place Where Everybody Goes," since that often seems to be its salient feature. I've also been heard describing a bowl quite close to Herman Saddle as "The Secret Bowl Where Everybody Goes," mainly because certain folks get so offended at finding anyone else skiing there. FWIW, one party of four was seen heading up there yesterday, but apparently it was not to their liking.
Saw lots of steep tracks off Table. Surprising that nothing slid...
Those tracks on Table Mtn. look steep, but are actually no steeper than the glades we (and you, I assume) were skiing. I'm still surprised at the stability we found; the minor sluffs I saw were very localized on slopes steeper than 45 degrees.
When I think about it, I remain astounded at the variety of backcountry available within an hour or two of that expansive, painstakingly-plowed ski area parking lot. I sometimes get alarmed at the thought that they might someday take offense at the increasing numbers of non-customers who take advantage, but they seem quite agreeable so far.
Good luck with your base repair. Glad I brought my rock skis (which also happen to be my powder, groomer, corn, ice and meltwater porridge skis).
Mark
Mark, those four may have been us. As we were crossing the short steep slope approaching the pass, the snow settled a few inches with a big whomp. So we took a short run out, then climb back up to the main saddle. Looking into the basin from above, it looked still a little rocky anyway.
Here is Jason doing a little exercise:
Here is Jason doing a little exercise:
Hey -thanks for the viddy Tim. Good to re-live the runs. (Ah...winter IS here!) Thanks again to all the powder pigs (et. al.) for the "ride". My email is here and I'll be in touch if when I come up again.
cheers,
Jim
cheers,
Jim
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