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| | |-+  May 27, 2011 WA Pass
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Author Topic: May 27, 2011 WA Pass  (Read 2045 times)
Jeff_Ward
5Member
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Posts: 96
May 27, 2011 WA Pass
« on: 05/27/11, 06:33 PM »
The Pass is open.  Ski conditions are reasonably good.  We picked up 3 to 4 inches of new over the last 2 days.  Yesterday (Thursday) the new snow was sitting on wet snow that made for less that perfect skiing.  Today the wet snow has partially refrozen so the ski conditions have improved.  We skied Liberty Bowl and climbed the SW Couloir on South Early Winter Spire today. 

The bowl has seen a fair amount of traffic, but there are plenty of slopes around that haven't seen any skiers.  On Thursday we skied up the hairpin and didn't see any tracks (other than the large avalanches that hit valley bottom during that last rain event).

Parking, as usual is an issue, but there is good parking at the Blue Lakes trail head and just east of the hairpin.  Carpool if you can.  There isn't a ton of room. 

Freezing levels are forecasted to stay low so all of the precip should continue to fall as snow.  We'll try to post pictures soon at www.ncmountainguides.com.

Enjoy
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Larry Goldie
1Member
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Posts: 2
Re: May 27, 2011 WA Pass
« Reply #1 on: 05/28/11, 12:44 PM »
Here is a link to a trip report from the Southwest Coulior on SEWS from 5/26/2011.
http://www.ncmountainguides.com/permalink.asp?id=641


Enjoy!

Larry
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wood_Ster
5Member
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Posts: 32
Re: May 27, 2011 WA Pass
« Reply #2 on: 05/28/11, 01:38 PM »
The above post is Vertigo inducing excellence!
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samthaman
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Posts: 237


WWW
Re: May 27, 2011 WA Pass
« Reply #3 on: 05/28/11, 03:02 PM »
thanks for the update, I might head over that way to dodge some of this rain.
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lrudholm
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Posts: 241
Re: May 27, 2011 WA Pass
« Reply #4 on: 05/28/11, 11:41 PM »
Just got back from the easy pass area, not a great day with mostly bad visibility and mush. Lots of broken trees at the bottom of the north face of Kitling peak from Wednesday. Also plenty of slide activity from today and yesterday on super steep aspects running into the typical avy paths. Amazing how much 3-4 inches of new accumulates into a large debris pile at the bottom.

Skinning was tough traversing but great for heading straight up. And the snow had a punchable crust (into mush). Really slowed the booting process. The crawl worked though.
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Leyland
Jeff_Ward
5Member
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Posts: 96
Re: May 27, 2011 WA Pass
« Reply #5 on: 05/30/11, 08:20 AM »
Reasonable overnight freeze on Sunday produced some good corn skiing in the morning.  There has been a fair amount of skier (and even snowshoer traffic) up the hairpin valley over the weekend but there are plenty of smooth, untouched slopes in that area.

I was surprised to see a lot of people starting their day at 10 or even 11 in the morning.  They would probably disagree with my description of the ski conditions.  Things transitioned pretty quick from good corn to water skiing.

Heads up, there are a ton of large, gravity-defying cornices hanging over the east facing slopes in the hairpin valley and elsewhere in the WA Pass area.  Things could get a little spicy with the rise in freezing levels. 
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freeskiguy
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Posts: 171
Re: May 27, 2011 WA Pass
« Reply #6 on: 05/31/11, 05:05 PM »
A rather large wet slide was seen that ran the whole of Spire Gully and deposited 15 feet. Saw this monday morning so it may have come down on sunday. Food for thought for anyone who was in that gully that day. These paths usally all slide in the spring, they do when they want to.
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Mofro
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Posts: 226
Re: May 27, 2011 WA Pass
« Reply #7 on: 05/31/11, 05:21 PM »
I think this guy and his dog may have kicked it off.
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not always bad
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