February 6, 2005, Alpental BC
2/6/05
WA Snoqualmie Pass
2715
5
Like others here, I thought the new fresh deserved a look. I mostly felt like touring rather than turning, and these thoughts were confirmed by the huge uncovered (or barely covered) rocks that lurked on every steep slope. I skinned up lower International, passed a couple of guys and then got passed by a very fit middle-aged dude (probably posts here). He kept going up upper Int, but I branched off onto the low traverse and headed for Piss Pass.
You know how the saying goes that on a bluebird day, dangerous stuff seems safe, when it isn't? Well, the opposite is true too, and on a misty, intermittent-visibility day, breaking trail through fresh pow alone under all those big cliffs felt kind of spooky. But there wasn't much to worry about, because even the wind-loaded slopes were well anchored by all those boulders sticking out in the low coverage. My biggest concerns were for my bases and knees (I'm on tele). I was originally planning on going up to Pineapple pass and maybe even beyond, but I didn't feel like doing any rocky scrambling above Piss pass, and upper pineapple basin was too rocky to risk. I cruised down to Big Trees, which was really great, and got some nice turns in there before battling the shrubbery back to the car. There was a big of sluffing in the steep gully entrace to BT.
That's it - a nice 3-hour tour that felt surprisingly wild.
You know how the saying goes that on a bluebird day, dangerous stuff seems safe, when it isn't? Well, the opposite is true too, and on a misty, intermittent-visibility day, breaking trail through fresh pow alone under all those big cliffs felt kind of spooky. But there wasn't much to worry about, because even the wind-loaded slopes were well anchored by all those boulders sticking out in the low coverage. My biggest concerns were for my bases and knees (I'm on tele). I was originally planning on going up to Pineapple pass and maybe even beyond, but I didn't feel like doing any rocky scrambling above Piss pass, and upper pineapple basin was too rocky to risk. I cruised down to Big Trees, which was really great, and got some nice turns in there before battling the shrubbery back to the car. There was a big of sluffing in the steep gully entrace to BT.
That's it - a nice 3-hour tour that felt surprisingly wild.
Hi DP. There's a good chance that was me you were skiing with - two ships passing in the mist...
"Middle aged dude" - that hurts ;) but rings true I guess...
Assuming that was you breaking trail most of the way up lower I and then I caught up with and broke trail from there to where the mid BC gate usually goes ~ 5000 ft. You've got a beard and I had black pants/blue jacket/AT skis?
I ended up de-skinning just 100 ft higher below a rock outcrop and did a little yo-yo on the lower part of upper I. The snow there was terriffic and no rocks were uncovered. Coservatively, I didn't feel too good about pushing into the steeper part of upper I solo even though the new snow seemed very well bonded as you noted.
Big trees? I'm a little surprised the coverage held up for you to the valley floor given the elevation - but it is further up the valley where the snow piles a little deeper... You were wise to not cross the ridge over to Pineapple - the SW side would have been completely void of snow except for the recent fresh. I've crossed over too late in the year and had to do the rock dance to get to the pass. Glad you had a good run.
Good runs were also had on lower I, below shot 4/5 while Debbies under Ch.1 was nothing to write home about given all the branches and obstacles. All in all a fun day of skiing in this sadly thin year.
Jan
"Middle aged dude" - that hurts ;) but rings true I guess...
Assuming that was you breaking trail most of the way up lower I and then I caught up with and broke trail from there to where the mid BC gate usually goes ~ 5000 ft. You've got a beard and I had black pants/blue jacket/AT skis?
I ended up de-skinning just 100 ft higher below a rock outcrop and did a little yo-yo on the lower part of upper I. The snow there was terriffic and no rocks were uncovered. Coservatively, I didn't feel too good about pushing into the steeper part of upper I solo even though the new snow seemed very well bonded as you noted.
Big trees? I'm a little surprised the coverage held up for you to the valley floor given the elevation - but it is further up the valley where the snow piles a little deeper... You were wise to not cross the ridge over to Pineapple - the SW side would have been completely void of snow except for the recent fresh. I've crossed over too late in the year and had to do the rock dance to get to the pass. Glad you had a good run.
Good runs were also had on lower I, below shot 4/5 while Debbies under Ch.1 was nothing to write home about given all the branches and obstacles. All in all a fun day of skiing in this sadly thin year.
Jan
I think those two you passed were my friend Scott and I. We followed your ascent route up lower international.
We crossed to the BC and dug a few pits for the heck of it. We got moderate shears (cant remember the number) that were not 'clean.'. There wasnt much of a slab at all with the layer coming off the pit in mostly unconsolidated pieces.The layer at the bottom of all that fluff might be something to watch when we get more snow. Seemed like a good bit of graupel or something - didnt have my lupe.
We skied into the backcountry following some of the ridges just as you enter the backcountry from International. We skinned back up and had some surprisingly good turns down Lower International. We followed Jan's traverse route and had the best turns of the day on the far side of Lower International (?) - not sure what it is called but it is a large moderate slope that is choked by slide alder in the middle (this year at least) and has nice open areas to either side. Had a good time slaloming down sessel. Overall a great day with some good scratches on the skis but luckily no core shots.
Michael
We crossed to the BC and dug a few pits for the heck of it. We got moderate shears (cant remember the number) that were not 'clean.'. There wasnt much of a slab at all with the layer coming off the pit in mostly unconsolidated pieces.The layer at the bottom of all that fluff might be something to watch when we get more snow. Seemed like a good bit of graupel or something - didnt have my lupe.
We skied into the backcountry following some of the ridges just as you enter the backcountry from International. We skinned back up and had some surprisingly good turns down Lower International. We followed Jan's traverse route and had the best turns of the day on the far side of Lower International (?) - not sure what it is called but it is a large moderate slope that is choked by slide alder in the middle (this year at least) and has nice open areas to either side. Had a good time slaloming down sessel. Overall a great day with some good scratches on the skis but luckily no core shots.
Michael
Sorry for the age crack, Jan! I guess those of us still clinging to our fading 20's need to distinguish ourselves from the over-35 crowd or something. For what it's worth, I was impressed... Thanks (and to Michael and Scott too) for sharing in the trail-breaking duties.
Hey Jan!
Good to hear you're out and about. The return trail from source lake isn't that bad.
$
Good to hear you're out and about. The return trail from source lake isn't that bad.
$
No worries DP.
Hey Stimbuck - hope all is well with the hwy crew - must be slow this year. Say hello to Gibb, Lee and Craig when you get a chance. Hopefully we'll see you soon up at Alpy.
Hey Stimbuck - hope all is well with the hwy crew - must be slow this year. Say hello to Gibb, Lee and Craig when you get a chance. Hopefully we'll see you soon up at Alpy.
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