Dec 19, 2004, Mazama Ridge/Back Bowl
12/19/04
WA Cascades East Slopes North
2051
1
David W and I ventured out of the Paradise parking lot at 10:30am in wind-driven sleet and foggy conditions. Nice! So nice that I decided to leave the camera in the car.
By the time we were half way up the ridge from Fourth Crossing, pockets of brilliant sunshine were breaking through revealing fleeting views of the surrounding terrain...truly nice and inspiring for return trips.
The wind was howling from the south on top of the ridge to the point it knocked us off balance a few times.
The snow on the lightly runneled back bowl was challenging (breakable crust), but some turns were had. By the second run the weather had cleared and the views in all directions were wonderful. We especially enjoyed watching the clouds roll through the Tatoosh Range at high speeds. It's alive up there.
Since we're practicing our avy skills we did dig a 24" pit in the east facing slope of the back bowl approx. 27 deg. pitch. It was rock solid. We did see a bit of movement on strike 27 about 10 inches down the column in what looked like a thin layer that was faceting. Finished off with a shear test and got no movement. Filled in the hole called it good.
We gacked our ways back down to the road in ungraceful fashion, but felt a little less silly once we saw others decending a bit farther west in equal form.
In the end "we got some good exercise" (euphemism for the skiing was less than stellar). And I wish I'd brought the camera because the quick transition from grey clouds and fog to brilliant views of huge mountain scenery is amazing. Wish we had a few pics to share.
By the time we were half way up the ridge from Fourth Crossing, pockets of brilliant sunshine were breaking through revealing fleeting views of the surrounding terrain...truly nice and inspiring for return trips.
The wind was howling from the south on top of the ridge to the point it knocked us off balance a few times.
The snow on the lightly runneled back bowl was challenging (breakable crust), but some turns were had. By the second run the weather had cleared and the views in all directions were wonderful. We especially enjoyed watching the clouds roll through the Tatoosh Range at high speeds. It's alive up there.
Since we're practicing our avy skills we did dig a 24" pit in the east facing slope of the back bowl approx. 27 deg. pitch. It was rock solid. We did see a bit of movement on strike 27 about 10 inches down the column in what looked like a thin layer that was faceting. Finished off with a shear test and got no movement. Filled in the hole called it good.
We gacked our ways back down to the road in ungraceful fashion, but felt a little less silly once we saw others decending a bit farther west in equal form.
In the end "we got some good exercise" (euphemism for the skiing was less than stellar). And I wish I'd brought the camera because the quick transition from grey clouds and fog to brilliant views of huge mountain scenery is amazing. Wish we had a few pics to share.