January 16, 2005, Heather/Skyline Ridge
1/16/05
WA Stevens Pass
2756
4
Admittantly, I don't get out into the backcountry as much as I should but at least one a season, I do get out to play on Skyline. In one of the lowest snowpacks that I've been privy to up here, we also encountered the deepest powder on Skyline. Weird. The powder beneath the radio tower was about knee deep & beyond the tower was knee deep +. The temperature gradiant from the Hwy 2 hairpin up to the pass was rather impressive & the cold temps were somewhat stinging. Of course as the day went on, it started to warm up but seemed to stall around 31 degrees when we stopped at Skyline Lake.
About halfway up to the radio tower (4500'?), I took some time to dig a pit. At our location, the snowpack was only 4 1/2 feet deep & then the huckleberries started to appear. There was a slight surface crust, then mostly soft snow until you reached a very hard layer about 3' down. The only layer I could discern was that hard layer.
My shovel shear test was probably between an easy-moderate for the upper soft snow & then hard for the second portion with the harder layer. The shear for the upper soft snow seem to shear on a plane 2ish feet down (could just coincide with the depth of my snowsaw isolation).
Shovel compression was a little different. It started to move after 10 wrist taps. The thing that threw me was that it sheared only a foot down vs the deeper shear from the shovel shear test.
Anyways, I was hoping to do another series of tests including a rutschblock by the rock outcrop above Skyline lake but the diminishing returns of the day's weather stopped us at the lake. The ride back down to the lot was uneventful & nice but I felt a little at ease due to that surface crust. It was easy to break with a pole or your ski/snowboard but your sluff would just roll on it making a nice racket. I keep my head on a swivel to make sure nothing was sliding.
Afterwards, it sure felt nice to go in the lodge & get a hot cocoa but it instantly reminded me of why I don't go to the ski area- Crowds & chaos.
I also went to Heather Ridge along with chrispy and annie. I didn't post before because, let's face it, what good is our old data now?
We just went up to the high tower, did not go to Skyline. Our pit there facing the highway was not to ground, although close, as we hit that crusty layer, I'd say five feet of snow. We did shovel shear and ski stomp. Two feet plus of really soft stuff. Shovel shear really depended on how you did it. There was a layer of new snow, then another of soft but cohesive snow, then another more cohesive bit, then a crust layer with a couple of inches of sugar below. But the ski stomp, on one jump, released down more then two feet. Yikes!
We skiied a few turns in slow motion in the trees then climbed back out. In that snow, needed 40 degrees for any speed, and any such pitch would have been scary avy wise.
Back on the face headed to the parking lot, we dug another pit. Waist deep hit the ground! A difference of 2 feet plus of coverage for 20 minutes of skinning. The sugar layer was very obvious there. Kind of a cool ski for a couple hundred vert. a thin icy crust covering 18 inches of soft, just keep em pointed. Made a crinkly noise, other-worldly.
Temp differentials as described above. 9 degrees at road, but at tower, digging pit in just bibs and one layer. Freaky! I have a very cool 20 sec video (low grade, but shows the ski conditions and has audio), I'll see if I can find a friend to link it for me.
JimmyO
We just went up to the high tower, did not go to Skyline. Our pit there facing the highway was not to ground, although close, as we hit that crusty layer, I'd say five feet of snow. We did shovel shear and ski stomp. Two feet plus of really soft stuff. Shovel shear really depended on how you did it. There was a layer of new snow, then another of soft but cohesive snow, then another more cohesive bit, then a crust layer with a couple of inches of sugar below. But the ski stomp, on one jump, released down more then two feet. Yikes!
We skiied a few turns in slow motion in the trees then climbed back out. In that snow, needed 40 degrees for any speed, and any such pitch would have been scary avy wise.
Back on the face headed to the parking lot, we dug another pit. Waist deep hit the ground! A difference of 2 feet plus of coverage for 20 minutes of skinning. The sugar layer was very obvious there. Kind of a cool ski for a couple hundred vert. a thin icy crust covering 18 inches of soft, just keep em pointed. Made a crinkly noise, other-worldly.
Temp differentials as described above. 9 degrees at road, but at tower, digging pit in just bibs and one layer. Freaky! I have a very cool 20 sec video (low grade, but shows the ski conditions and has audio), I'll see if I can find a friend to link it for me.
JimmyO
Could that "thin icy crust" have been surface hoar? I noticed considerable amounts growing on the 15th. Very nice on top of the light, deep pow on runs down the north side of the ridge.
This was not surface hoar. It was a crust. At its most delicate, it was maybe a quarter inch thick, and like a fragile glass, breaking apart in plates and making a tinkling noise as it bounced downhill on top of other crust. At its thickest, it was closer to an inch thick, but never really that hard to ski through. Seemed like a melt-freeze layer due to the inversion.
Jim
Jim
Second that.
I only found the crust on the south slope. Beyond the radio tower, it seemed to go away..
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