Feb 20, 2012, Delancey Ridge west of Mazama

My 15 year old son and I did an afternoon outing on Delancey Ridge on President's Day.   He stopped ski racing around the first of the year after 6+ years, and this was his first backcountry trip, so I involved him in the planning and we took time to discuss things and simulate good decision-making.

In a previous year, he'd be at Bachelor this week focusing on 2 Super G and 4 Downhill runs in 6 days.  So, instead of going 60 miles an hour plus in a downhill, he got to go about 20 miles an hour plus being towed the 8 miles in from Mazama in the initial run of my 95 Yamaha snowmobile... (see below for how we did the tow rope based on input from knowledgable folks in the Methow...).

Though I've been up Delancey two times before (on nasty breakable in December), we took the trip planning seriously - looking at the Danger Rose on NWAC.us and discussing different aspects and why NE and N might not be great places to ski.  Monday showed Moderate danger at the elevations we were skiing, so we consciously chose to x-country ski on Saturday and Sunday after the big dump - when danger levels were higher.

After mucking with the snowmobile for the maiden voyage (and learning from a friendly x-country skier to pull up the On/Off button - after I pulled the start rope probably 50 times...), we got a bit of a later start than desired, so our climb was a bit limited.  Other folks coming down had told us the bottom 500 feet had the best snow anyhow.  After the 8 mile drive in from the road closure at Mazama, we had the ridge pretty much to ourselves.

Conditions were surprisingly dry snow at the bottom, considering that Delancey is south facing and the base is approx 3800 feet (though my watch was not calibrated well).  I think that the large mountain directly south across Hwy 20 blocks the sun effect well on the lower part.  I'd put the fresh snow depth about 4" on top of a very hard crust.   You really had to try hard to puncture that crust with a ski pole, and at 200 pounds, I would break it climbing and skiing down only when I exerted a heavy push.  My 130ish pound son could feel bottom coming down, but couldn't break through it.

In terms of route finding, the skin track I've used is to the left of open slope (looking up), through the trees. You angle left and then slightly right to stay out of the narrow gully (which I used as an example of a terrain trap to my son - as it opens up into a pretty wide avvy run further up).  We chose to ski down the left side of the open slope, as there were fewer rollers/trigger points and the escape area to the left was better if anything went wrong.   I've heard from experienced skiers in the Methow that Delancey's lower aspects are more likely to run in the Spring with a warming trend, but I want my son to understand the basics of backcountry skiing:  (1) Plan ahead, (2) Make good and safe choices on terrain, and (3) don't get greedy for a 40-45 degree slope when the avvy conditions mandate a 25-30 degree slope.  This last point is a hard sell to Resort skiers who routinely ski 40-45 degrees and think anything less when there is fresh stuff is a waste of their time.

Overall, a good day out there, and no incidents coming or going on the snowmobile.  I did see 3 snowmobilers with packs (possibly for camping) heading up Hwy 20 about 6 miles in as dusk approached. Looking at NWAC and seeing the Tues Feb 21 forecast as High Danger from 4000-7000 feet makes me hope they came back last night in the dark - or at least looked at the report before they went in....

By the way, the tow rope set-up we used is based on advice from Dave Betts at North Cascades Heli and Larry Goldie of North Cascades Mountain Guides.  I cut a long piece of old climbing rope - probably 50'.  I put an old Mountain Bike tire around my son's waist, put a carabiner on it, and ran the rope through. Then, I tied in another carabiner on the rope between my son and the sled - leaving about  5'-6' of rope doubling back to him. This gave him shock absorption (mountain bike tire) and little tension to hold. Also, if he wanted to release, he could just let go of the rope, and it would run through the 'biners.

Now, I need guidance (any plans out there?) for cutting plastic tubes for my Manaslus and mounting them on the snowmobile in a secure way that leaves room for my feet.   My approach of securing my pack behind me, strapping my skis to the pack, and putting my heel on the tail of the skis doesn't cut it.