January 12, 2005, Alpental (closed) Dawn Patrol
1/12/05
WA Snoqualmie Pass
7945
16
A fun pre-work day outing this morning up at the Alp. Our group of 9 departed the Alpental parking lot at ~6:45 am; skinned up "Debbie's Gold" and beyond up to the bottom of Edelweiss Bowl by ~8:30. The graupel was accumulating fast, but the total new snowfall overnight (~3" reported at Summit West) was far short of earlier predictions. Up near chair 2 we found ~6+ inches of fresh graupel over last weekend's fluffy snow; the fresh snow was notably denser (and heavier) and was easily movable on test rolls. Last week's surface hoar layer was noted ~18" beneath the top of the new snow surface with the mid-December crust slightly below, in a hasty pit dug at the base of Edelweiss Bowl.
We enjoyed a nice ~1,700 vert. foot descent in the fresh graupel from the bottom of Edelweiss Bowl back down the "Debbie's Gold" run to the parking lot; the protruding vegetation was fairly easy to avoid.
Returned back to the city by ~10 am; the slightly late arrival at the office un-noticed by co-workers/boss ;D
A few pics from this morining:
http://www.cascadesfreak.com/gallery/alpental-dawnpatrol-1-12-05
--Chris
We enjoyed a nice ~1,700 vert. foot descent in the fresh graupel from the bottom of Edelweiss Bowl back down the "Debbie's Gold" run to the parking lot; the protruding vegetation was fairly easy to avoid.
Returned back to the city by ~10 am; the slightly late arrival at the office un-noticed by co-workers/boss ;D
A few pics from this morining:
http://www.cascadesfreak.com/gallery/alpental-dawnpatrol-1-12-05
--Chris
What a perfect start to the day. Thank you Kam for putting this one together.
What a morning! Beautiful terrain, fresh snow! Only wish I didn't spend so much time with my face buried in it :)
Thanks for putting up with a novice like me!
Like I figured, I got back to work just in time for a crisis.
Thanks for putting up with a novice like me!
Like I figured, I got back to work just in time for a crisis.
Thanks also too all for putting up with the lone snowshoer of the group. The two classes missed were certainly worth it. Those sitting around me in my 10:30 Applied Math course were probably not too happy that I had to forego a shower in order to be on time.
After the dawn patrol run, I met up with khayak at his house and we decided to go back to Alpental for another lap - I told him there was already a good uptrack!
The heavy graupel had continued to fall, making me miss the skin track several times (and this where I had set it), so several inches had accumulated in, say, 3 hours.
The snow had also changed drastically in texture, the upper 6-8" was much denser - we got to within about 300 vf of the top (last steep face) and suddenly noticed distinct crack propagation with each uphill step, then heard 2 distinct "whoomphs" - decided to get off the hill ASAP, descended a couple of hundred feet w. skins on to lesser angled spot, de-skinned, and skied back down Edelweiss. Decent turns, a bit heavier than the early run.
khayak's wife (who works for the Summit) reports rumors of a skier buried on International this afternoon, patrol was reportedly attempting CPR . . .
Be careful!
(pictures to come, if they're any good)
The heavy graupel had continued to fall, making me miss the skin track several times (and this where I had set it), so several inches had accumulated in, say, 3 hours.
The snow had also changed drastically in texture, the upper 6-8" was much denser - we got to within about 300 vf of the top (last steep face) and suddenly noticed distinct crack propagation with each uphill step, then heard 2 distinct "whoomphs" - decided to get off the hill ASAP, descended a couple of hundred feet w. skins on to lesser angled spot, de-skinned, and skied back down Edelweiss. Decent turns, a bit heavier than the early run.
khayak's wife (who works for the Summit) reports rumors of a skier buried on International this afternoon, patrol was reportedly attempting CPR . . .
Be careful!
(pictures to come, if they're any good)
nothing like an early morning stroll to get the heartrate up, and then some breakfast afterwards [skier -- GregL">:
good news: the coverage is improving.
this morning's new graupel-like layer was interesting, but fun to ski. as Cass mentioned, the layer was more dense than what was below it. small (ft.^2-sized) chunks broke off with very little effort, sliding on the interface between the less-dense fluff and the 6-8" of graupel-like snow. at one point, one of us loaded a small (10'x5') area which released a "whoomph" noise, followed by a visible crack that ran around the perimeter to the loaded area. on low angle slopes (<25-degrees), the snow wasn't consolidated enough to be a problem, but i can't say much for steeper stuff.
here are some more photos. sorry about the quality -- the light was less than ideal, and i miss-exposed by at least a full-stop (idiot!). anyway, i tried to get a shot of everyone. again, thanks for coming out!
Michael Cass (Cascadesfreak) Baldwin Charlie mej mjt jimjar Jeremy
good news: the coverage is improving.
this morning's new graupel-like layer was interesting, but fun to ski. as Cass mentioned, the layer was more dense than what was below it. small (ft.^2-sized) chunks broke off with very little effort, sliding on the interface between the less-dense fluff and the 6-8" of graupel-like snow. at one point, one of us loaded a small (10'x5') area which released a "whoomph" noise, followed by a visible crack that ran around the perimeter to the loaded area. on low angle slopes (<25-degrees), the snow wasn't consolidated enough to be a problem, but i can't say much for steeper stuff.
here are some more photos. sorry about the quality -- the light was less than ideal, and i miss-exposed by at least a full-stop (idiot!). anyway, i tried to get a shot of everyone. again, thanks for coming out!
Michael Cass (Cascadesfreak) Baldwin Charlie mej mjt jimjar Jeremy
khayak's wife (who works for the Summit) reports rumors of a skier buried on International this afternoon, patrol was reportedly attempting CPR . . .
From
http://www.king5.com/topstories/stories/NW_011205WABavalancheaxSW.727275.html:
SEATTLE - A male skier was caught in an avalanche at Alpental at Snoqualmie Pass on Wednesday afternoon.
Two skiers were skiing in a closed area when the avalanche occurred at about 12:30 p.m. One man was buried, the other went for help.
The man was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center.
Both men were wearing avalanche beacons, which helped rescuers on the scene.
The 28-year-old man was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. His condition was not immediately known.
Alpental has a vertical drop of 2,280 feet and over 300 acres of skiable terrain.
A winter storm warning was in effect for the Cascades through Wednesday evening. Snow accumulations of around a foot of snow were expected this evening, with a few locations receiving up to 18 inches of snow. The heaviest snow amounts were expected to be between Stevens and Snoqualmie passes. "
Those are nice shots IMHO, Kam, especially the one of Greg. I can't do dawn patrols, but I can do dusk patrols (out of class at 11:30 most days). Now if this stupid hoar layer would just disappear....
I'm very glad that you guys are OK, Greg. I'm scared for the skiing community, everybody has powder fever despite the avy danger. I won't be at all surprised if someone gets killed.
I'm very glad that you guys are OK, Greg. I'm scared for the skiing community, everybody has powder fever despite the avy danger. I won't be at all surprised if someone gets killed.
Here's a few more pictures, not as good as Kam's - sorry to lose your head, Jim!
. . . it was really this dark
cascadesfreak
Most of jimjar taking air
A lineup of TAY'ers
The group by the light of day
. . . it was really this dark
cascadesfreak
Most of jimjar taking air
A lineup of TAY'ers
The group by the light of day
Greg, I just heard word of the Avalanche and I am glad it wasn't you. Good thing we turned back where we did.
I'm done w/class at 10:30 on Tuesdays pBelitz, if you are interested.
Argh, I'd be interested, but Tuesday is the one day that I don't have time. >:(
Greg, glad you didn't try to ski International...I'd agree with Jim that we picked a good turn-around point this morning.
Greg: i'm glad you stopped and turned around.
i'm glad we stopped and turned around too...
i'm glad we stopped and turned around too...
We made a good choice. I was a bit sketched up there by the time we turned around. Damn.
Bad news...
Link
Skier dies in avalanche at Snoqualmie Pass
04:26 PM PST on Wednesday, January 12, 2005
KING5.com Staff
SEATTLE - A male skier died after being buried in an avalanche at Alpental at Snoqualmie Pass on Wednesday afternoon.
Two skiers were skiing when the avalanche occurred at about 12:30 p.m. One man was buried, the other went for help.
KING
The man was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center.
Though the ski area was closed, skiing was allowed with the understanding that it wasn't patrolled and no avalanche control work would likely have been done.
Both men were wearing avalanche beacons, which helped rescuers on the scene.
The 28-year-old man was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
Alpental has a vertical drop of 2,280 feet and over 300 acres of skiable terrain.
A winter storm warning was in effect for the Cascades through Wednesday evening. Snow accumulations of around a foot of snow were expected, with a few locations receiving up to 18 inches of snow. The heaviest snow amounts were expected to be between Stevens and Snoqualmie passes.
Link
Skier dies in avalanche at Snoqualmie Pass
04:26 PM PST on Wednesday, January 12, 2005
KING5.com Staff
SEATTLE - A male skier died after being buried in an avalanche at Alpental at Snoqualmie Pass on Wednesday afternoon.
Two skiers were skiing when the avalanche occurred at about 12:30 p.m. One man was buried, the other went for help.
KING
The man was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center.
Though the ski area was closed, skiing was allowed with the understanding that it wasn't patrolled and no avalanche control work would likely have been done.
Both men were wearing avalanche beacons, which helped rescuers on the scene.
The 28-year-old man was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
Alpental has a vertical drop of 2,280 feet and over 300 acres of skiable terrain.
A winter storm warning was in effect for the Cascades through Wednesday evening. Snow accumulations of around a foot of snow were expected, with a few locations receiving up to 18 inches of snow. The heaviest snow amounts were expected to be between Stevens and Snoqualmie passes.
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