skiing through the summer???

kam
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03 Feb 2005 03:51 #170754 by kam

skiing through the summer??? was created by kam

with all the talk about this year's low snowpack, do you guys think that it will be difficult to ski through the upcoming summer months? i'm not asking for people to reveal their stashes, but i'm curious how difficult it will be, especially come August and September... -kam

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hankj
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03 Feb 2005 04:08 - 03 Feb 2005 04:18 #170755 by hankj

Replied by hankj on topic Re: skiing through the summer???

no problem -- Anywhere in South America is 40k FF miles roundtrip late August and September. There are better known spots but I like Pucon in Chile -- awesome small resort town full of friendly backcountry sports drop-outs and their dogs (and their dogs' dogs). On Vulcan Villarrica in late August you'll think you are in the central Oregon Cascades in late February! here is a photo from their summer: earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewIm...rica_13feb03_15m.jpg

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Jim Oker
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03 Feb 2005 04:08 #170756 by Jim Oker

Replied by Jim Oker on topic Re: skiing through the summer???

Not for skiers who will hike, say Winchester, to find an 8-turn snowpatch! Anyone who does that can find something somewhere, but it might pay to bring well-sharpened edges... ;D

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jimjar
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03 Feb 2005 04:17 #170757 by jimjar

Replied by jimjar on topic Re: skiing through the summer???

I will just follow you to the sand dunes. They are good all year right?

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kam
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03 Feb 2005 06:34 #170763 by kam

Replied by kam on topic Re: skiing through the summer???

hankj: that image is awesome. it's so green and pretty. what's that big patch of white...?.. oh wait, that's snow. i almost forgot what it looks like. ;D jim_oker: Winchester is a possibility, but i doubt we'll find anything come September. the low snowpack might not be a bad thing. it just means that we'll have to be more creative. i can't wait to see what creative idears people will have...

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Jim Oker
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03 Feb 2005 06:42 - 03 Feb 2005 07:16 #170765 by Jim Oker

Replied by Jim Oker on topic Re: skiing through the summer???

I wasn't suggesting Winchester for late this summer, but rather recalling a TR (forget who posted) with an awesome photo (one of my all time faves) of a skier turning on a small summer snowpatch on Winchester. With that level of effort, there will always be possibilities. Edited to add a link to that TR, though unfortunately the photo link no longer works: www.turns-all-year.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB...m=1064953735;start=0 .

Sorry - no great ideas from me, I tend towards hiking once the approach:ski ratio is much greater than 1, so I haven't gathered much useful data.

Edited further to add that with sharp edges, the blue ice at Killington (Sunday River, Stowe, Sugarloaf, Loon, etc.) is eminently skiable, so there must be some reasonably smooth ice somewhere that will serve the purpose this summer.

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kam
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03 Feb 2005 07:26 - 03 Feb 2005 07:37 #170767 by kam

Replied by kam on topic Re: skiing through the summer???

jim - that's Skip carving it up:

here's the TR for that day . ;D the ice patch we skied on the north side required sharp edges! did i mention the 24" diameter suncups??

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Jim Oker
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03 Feb 2005 08:12 #170769 by Jim Oker

Replied by Jim Oker on topic Re: skiing through the summer???

Inverse moguls, you mean.

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skip
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03 Feb 2005 08:56 #170771 by skip

Replied by skip on topic Re: skiing through the summer???

I wouldn't be surprised if it looked about the same up there now...

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hankj
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03 Feb 2005 09:01 - 03 Feb 2005 09:39 #170772 by hankj

Replied by hankj on topic Re: skiing through the summer???

Kam -- yep -- the white/blue stuff is snow. But what about the red dot in the middle of it? Red hot magma! Say it like Dr. Evil in Austin Powers ...

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Jeff Huber
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03 Feb 2005 10:04 #170775 by Jeff Huber

Replied by Jeff Huber on topic Re: skiing through the summer???

I've got to be honest, lately I've been kind of craving spring and summer. Snow coverage in the summer is about the same as now but at least then we have more sunshine, longer days and easier access. I'm sure once our winter really starts (remember I'm an optimist) my cravings will go away.

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sean
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03 Feb 2005 13:15 #170777 by sean

Replied by sean on topic Re: skiing through the summer???

i know it is a long far away, but if you ever get the chance try New Zealand. I was there last August and I recomend anyone who can swing it go there once in thier lifetime. Both the North and South Islands have skiing, but the South Island is far better. I recomend the area around Queenstown. There is plenty of skiing right around town for the inbounds or outabounds skiier.

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kam
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03 Feb 2005 14:28 #170778 by kam

Replied by kam on topic Re: skiing through the summer???

Jeff: i'm an optimist too, and i'm craving turns, of any kind. but lucky for me i spent last weekend in the Wasatch range, carving on some white. it was good, except the part where my friend busted his collar bone (compound fracture), and a few hours later came out of surgery with 6 new titanium screws, see .... sean: New Zealand huh? i'm intrigued. so, when is a good time to go you think?

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sean
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04 Feb 2005 04:05 #170781 by sean

Replied by sean on topic Re: skiing through the summer???

I would say the best time to go would be August. August seems to be there January but any month during our summer would work. By october most ski areas close down, but anyone with backcountry experiance could proably get turns made near the Crest of the Southern Alps long after. the Alps act like the Cascades in the sence that that the storms hit the crest and unload tons of snow. The high Alps get a 20 foot base each year so I imagine thier like Rainier and Baker in the sence that anyone with the motivation knowledge could ski Year round. Anyway i could ramble on for hours about how great of a place it is so I'll stop. Sean

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Charles
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05 Feb 2005 06:08 #170788 by Charles

Replied by Charles on topic Re: skiing through the summer???

I've got to be honest, lately I've been kind of craving spring and summer. Snow coverage in the summer is about the same as now but at least then we have more sunshine, longer days and easier access.

I've been feeling the same way lately. Just a little new snow right now simply hides the rocks that are waiting to provide a core shot - to skis or body. I just picked up my skis from Pro Ski - repaired a core shot courtesy of Silver Basin fluffy snow over hidden rocks - and got to see some amazing damage on other skis due to rocks (huge core shots, blown out edges). If we start getting sustained dumps, things will improve, but right now the days are short, gates are still closed, and there's very little snow in the woods. Ullr willing, I will get my 100th month next month, but if we're to September conditions in April or May, I may retire the streak. As Jim suggests, the mountains will still be there and there should be some good early season hiking.

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cascadesfreak
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09 Feb 2005 09:00 - 09 Feb 2005 09:32 #170843 by cascadesfreak

Replied by cascadesfreak on topic Re: skiing through the summer???

i know it is a long far away, but if you ever get the chance try New Zealand.

I'd highly recommend New Zealand as well...though I was there trekking/climbing in the "off-ski season" (March), the possibilities for great backcountry skiing seemed endless...even in March, the approximate equivalent of September here in the Cascades, many of the places we hiked/climbed would have offered amazing corn skiing; if I had brought skis of course; though the approaches would have scored some high torture points (the steep and occasionally exposed approaches seemed brutal enough without skis, but the experiences were all worth it

). Skiing year-round on the South Island seems very feasible. I'd like to go back and ski the Mt. Aspiring area sometime: www.cascadesfreak.com/gallery/newzealand

Anyway, back here at home I may be trying to find some more sand dune stashes this summer ;) or chasing those remnant snow patches like Winchester while they last (though as Skip mentioned, there may be less snow on Winchester now than there was in September '03).
--Chris

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Jim Oker
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09 Feb 2005 13:59 - 10 Feb 2005 04:06 #170845 by Jim Oker

Replied by Jim Oker on topic Re: skiing through the summer???

Geez, no one can suggest anything closer than New Zealand (great info, by the way - thanks!) or more inspiring than the small patch on Winchester?

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allyson
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09 Feb 2005 16:48 #170846 by allyson

Replied by allyson on topic Re: skiing through the summer???

Geez, no one can suggest anything closer than New Zealand (great info, by the way - thanks!) or the small patch on Winchester?

good point jim_oker! alright everyone, give it up...

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skip
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10 Feb 2005 03:59 #170849 by skip

Replied by skip on topic Re: skiing through the summer???

Your badgering has worn down my resolve; I've been keeping this one a secret, but there's a little stash the Casshole showed me a few clicks from Snoqualmie. I don't have the right quad to tell you exactly, but if you can find Big Rock Candy Mountain there's a glade on the north side that gets dumped on all summer long . So, so nice. I've said too much.

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cascadesfreak
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10 Feb 2005 04:33 #170851 by cascadesfreak

Replied by cascadesfreak on topic Re: skiing through the summer???

"...but if you can find Big Rock Candy Mountain there's a glade on the north side that gets dumped on all summer long. So, so nice." Oi! The secret's out! So much for our summer powder stash

--Casshole

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ron j
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10 Feb 2005 05:09 #170852 by ron j

Replied by ron j on topic Re: skiing through the summer???

Yeah, I know the place; that's up in that area where the dogs all have rubber teeth and the hens lay hard boiled eggs. I fear, my skippery friend, that you have failed to "say too much" and you have also NOT complied with Allyson's simple and logical plea (BTW, Allyson, welcome! Nice to see your name in print here.). To make matters worse your partner in the enjoyment of our miseries, Mr. Casshole, has collaborated with this unkind and cruel deception. Were you and your cohort old and stricken with dementia (like mysef) and unable to remember where you went from day to day, I could understand the, nonetheless unkind, game. But when two young robust mentally sharp and professional backcountry travelers make light of other's misfortunes, it is truly heinous.

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skykilo
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10 Feb 2005 05:31 #170853 by skykilo

Replied by skykilo on topic Re: skiing through the summer???

Here 's a stash. Perfect step corn on the Dusty Glacier, Glacier Peak, July 27, 2003... I'll bet it's skiable well into the summer this year too. I dare somebody to prove me wrong.

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ron j
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10 Feb 2005 06:10 #170854 by ron j

Replied by ron j on topic Re: skiing through the summer???

Now THAT I believe to be a REAL stash. I wish those other guys would follow your lead, Sky. Unfortunately I might have a couple of birthdays getting in and back out of there... & I don't think I have too many extras to fritter away

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cascadesfreak
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10 Feb 2005 06:58 #170856 by cascadesfreak

Replied by cascadesfreak on topic Re: skiing through the summer???

Ron- I think the intent of the joke (hopefully providing some comic relief in this very low snowpack year) was lost somewhere in the post, possibly by myself assuming a review of the photo would indicate that it was obviously not a summertime stash. There is no "Rock Candy Mountain" near Snoqualmie that I know of. The reply was not intended to make light of other's misfortunes, but I can now see how it could be interpreted as such...sorry Ron and others who may have taken offense. Getting back to the point of this post and in response to Allyson's request, while I don't have any specific summer "stashes" to reveal, I'm hoping there will be sufficient coverage up high on the volcanoes later this season, such as Sky's suggestion of the Dusty Glacier. I'm not sure how the coverage will be later this summer, but the SW chutes of Mt. Adams (a generally very well known "stash") could provide some decent vertical for turns. (SW chutes Adams June 20, 2004)

www.cascadesfreak.com/gallery/backcountr...MtAdams_Ryan_6_20_04

-Mr. Casshole

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skip
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10 Feb 2005 07:16 #170857 by skip

Replied by skip on topic Re: skiing through the summer???

A little reverse psychology to throw them off the trail? Cass, you're brilliant.

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ron j
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10 Feb 2005 07:27 #170858 by ron j

Replied by ron j on topic Re: skiing through the summer???

Guess I should use more smilies. I was being facetious, too, Chris. Now I feel bad to have inadvertently bullied you into an unneeded apology. Or else you double got me. I'm the one who should be giving up stashes (if I could remember where in the hell they were). Ain't this internet great? A never ending source of surprise turns and blind sides, eh? We need some more snow ???

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cascadesfreak
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10 Feb 2005 07:42 #170859 by cascadesfreak

Replied by cascadesfreak on topic Re: skiing through the summer???

Guess I should use more smilies. I was being facetious, too, Chris. Now I feel bad to have inadvertently bullied you into an unneeded apology. Or else you double got me. I'm the one who should be giving up stashes (if I could remember where in the hell they were). Ain't this internet great? A never ending source of surprise turns and blind sides, eh?

I should have known

, I mean yeah I double got you

Skip probably didn't fall for it. That's the great thing about the internet: it being often difficult/impossible to depicher sarcasm from sincerity in the text (without smilies)

I had thought such as reply was odd coming from the "stash master" himself ;D --Chris

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kam
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10 Feb 2005 08:07 #170860 by kam

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... give it up...

well, if you don't mind the "hike", there might be snow this summer here: - Spickard/Redoubt area ( TR and more photos ) - Ruby Mnt.

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Jeff Huber
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10 Feb 2005 08:16 #170861 by Jeff Huber

Replied by Jeff Huber on topic Re: skiing through the summer???

The problem with New Zealand is it's expensive to get there. South America is cheaper. So how about a TAY trip to South America? For the sake of TAYing we'd have to have it stradle two months.

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Charles
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10 Feb 2005 08:47 #170862 by Charles

Replied by Charles on topic Re: skiing through the summer???

If you're talking South America, you need to talk to Silas - oops, silaswild, that is. He's got it all worked out for Patagonia skiing, and is always looking for partners. As a matter of fact, starting next Monday there will be a bunch of photos on TAY home page from Silas' last Patagonian adventure.

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