April 21, Slot Couloir
4/15/11
WA Snoqualmie Pass
4155
1
A buddy and I skied the Slot on Snoqualmie today in fine Apruary conditions. The approach (trees lookers left of Phantom) was several inches of dry new on a variable crust; the new snow got deeper but crust harder as we got higher. Ski crampons were invaluable (and the skinning was still a bit of a pain in the ass).
The Slot itself was nicely filled in with boot to occasionally knee deep very dry but slightly dense snow. It was only a touch slabby and generally well bonded to the firmer crusty base below. The only issue was fairly sizable sluff running on the surface. The snow was less deep once on the apron below but still skied well enough that we skied pretty much all the way to the basin below.
Skiing down the Phantom was dust on crust, but skied pretty well all the way to the car. The crust softened enough from solar radiation through the clouds to be carveable and was much more fun than I expected. Down low the new snow warmed enough to be reactive but was only a few inches deep so a non-issue.
If the temps stay cool tomorrow I think it should still ski great. It never warmed up that much today--only 37F at the car ~ 2pm--but the the sun effect was quite noticeable even though we were in the clouds pretty much the entire tour. I wouldn't want to be up there, especially on the Phantom, if it warms up enough to melt the crust completely. There was tons of debris from previous wet slides on all aspects.
Unfortunately I forgot the camera, so no photos to share. But I can tell you it looked more like mid-winter than late April.
The Slot itself was nicely filled in with boot to occasionally knee deep very dry but slightly dense snow. It was only a touch slabby and generally well bonded to the firmer crusty base below. The only issue was fairly sizable sluff running on the surface. The snow was less deep once on the apron below but still skied well enough that we skied pretty much all the way to the basin below.
Skiing down the Phantom was dust on crust, but skied pretty well all the way to the car. The crust softened enough from solar radiation through the clouds to be carveable and was much more fun than I expected. Down low the new snow warmed enough to be reactive but was only a few inches deep so a non-issue.
If the temps stay cool tomorrow I think it should still ski great. It never warmed up that much today--only 37F at the car ~ 2pm--but the the sun effect was quite noticeable even though we were in the clouds pretty much the entire tour. I wouldn't want to be up there, especially on the Phantom, if it warms up enough to melt the crust completely. There was tons of debris from previous wet slides on all aspects.
Unfortunately I forgot the camera, so no photos to share. But I can tell you it looked more like mid-winter than late April.