April 28, 2011, - Hurricane Ridge Dusk Patrol
4/28/11
WA Olympics
4267
5
The 16" of new snow reported at the Ridge enticed Jan, Jeff, Chimnyboy, Stormking and me to make an evening tour yesterday.
What we found was very poor bonding between the storm snow and the smooth, hard bed surface underneath. A combination of hasty pits, observations of both natural and skier triggered soft slab avalanches and our own slope tests caused us to dial back our goals for the evening.
We enjoyed one mellow powder run on a north facing slope and a survival ski down a SE facing slope back to the truck.
Although our hopes for the evening were not totally fulfilled, we were satisfied with the time spent together in our beautiful back yard.
The attached photos are:
1. Tyler modeling his new spring touring wardrobe. Any chance he is attempting to set a new backcountry fashion trend?
2. One of the soft slabs we kicked loose
3. The Elk Mountain "Psycho Chutes" in a mixture of sunshine and snowfall.
Here is a link to some additional photos and details of our trip:
https://picasaweb.google.com/GaryJanH/20110428HurricaneRidgeDuskPatrol?authkey=Gv1sRgCJ6ZiIWg4Py8cQ#
Gary and friends
What we found was very poor bonding between the storm snow and the smooth, hard bed surface underneath. A combination of hasty pits, observations of both natural and skier triggered soft slab avalanches and our own slope tests caused us to dial back our goals for the evening.
We enjoyed one mellow powder run on a north facing slope and a survival ski down a SE facing slope back to the truck.
Although our hopes for the evening were not totally fulfilled, we were satisfied with the time spent together in our beautiful back yard.
The attached photos are:
1. Tyler modeling his new spring touring wardrobe. Any chance he is attempting to set a new backcountry fashion trend?
2. One of the soft slabs we kicked loose
3. The Elk Mountain "Psycho Chutes" in a mixture of sunshine and snowfall.
Here is a link to some additional photos and details of our trip:
https://picasaweb.google.com/GaryJanH/20110428HurricaneRidgeDuskPatrol?authkey=Gv1sRgCJ6ZiIWg4Py8cQ#
Gary and friends
Nice Gary! Glad you guys had a safe trip. I'm hoping my leg is healed up enough to warrant an escape from the desert to ski some oly corn in June!
awesome pix gary .. and dramatic too .. amazing how much fresh just fell since last weekend .. will it every end?
Wow, that soft slab in action gives me the willies... Thanks for the report Gary. Anastasia was out in your neck of the woods last week, on Ellinor. We still need to get together. Maybe in the next couple of weeks?
author=skier8484 link=topic=20697.msg88275#msg88275 date=1304160965]
Nice Gary! Glad you guys had a safe trip. I'm hoping my leg is healed up enough to warrant an escape from the desert to ski some oly corn in June!
Sounds like the Arizona sunshine is helping the leg to heal quickly. Looking forward to skiing with you again soon. Have you been working on your tan? 8)
author=kath link=topic=20697.msg88277#msg88277 date=1304173453]
awesome pix gary .. and dramatic too .. amazing how much fresh just fell since last weekend .. will it every end?
Thanks Kath ................... will it ever end, I hope not! ;)
author=Marcus link=topic=20697.msg88279#msg88279 date=1304180436]
Wow, that soft slab in action gives me the willies... Thanks for the report Gary. Anastasia was out in your neck of the woods last week, on Ellinor. We still need to get together. Maybe in the next couple of weeks?
I understand your feelings ............ the conditions certainly had our complete attention. I will be in touch about some potential dates.
Gary
Looks like it was very deep up there! Love the zoom of the elk chutes.
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