Trim your toe nails, grab your skis...cuz it's on
10/15/12
2684
2
Mt Hood South side 10-22-12. First off, sorry for the trip title, but I couldn't resist.
I headed west from Timberline lodge at about 8:45am with the intent of getting in a winter tour, and maybe a possibility of a few turns in select areas. As we all know there is no base, and at T-line the total snow is about 10-14". On 10-21 there was a period of sun which created a weak trappy sun crust, which at the time of my tour was about 2" below the surface. This crust prevailed on all south aspects, but could be avoided by hugging the tree line, or obviously, skiing other aspects. Temps were in the mid 20's all day with a light NE wind early followed by SW light to calm conditions later in my day with some fog and snow showers.
The first photo is a spy shot of T-lines "new tech" snow cat. No more cushy heated cabs.
The second photo is on the tour.
The third photo is some turns in a sheltered bowl.
Some nice turns were gotten on NW aspects and the snow was surprisingly light and winter like. I did 4.5 laps, one low angle in the trappy crust, and the others in steeper terrain, where bottom strikes were common, and inconsequential until the last lap. On the tour out I crossed a nice little tree slot with good accumulation on a NW aspect that looked good, so I skinned to the top, peeled and ripped. Bad call. Today I have some epoxy and base weld to do before the next trip out. I was glad to be on rock skis.
Happy turns for the next 2 or 3 days.
I headed west from Timberline lodge at about 8:45am with the intent of getting in a winter tour, and maybe a possibility of a few turns in select areas. As we all know there is no base, and at T-line the total snow is about 10-14". On 10-21 there was a period of sun which created a weak trappy sun crust, which at the time of my tour was about 2" below the surface. This crust prevailed on all south aspects, but could be avoided by hugging the tree line, or obviously, skiing other aspects. Temps were in the mid 20's all day with a light NE wind early followed by SW light to calm conditions later in my day with some fog and snow showers.
The first photo is a spy shot of T-lines "new tech" snow cat. No more cushy heated cabs.
The second photo is on the tour.
The third photo is some turns in a sheltered bowl.
Some nice turns were gotten on NW aspects and the snow was surprisingly light and winter like. I did 4.5 laps, one low angle in the trappy crust, and the others in steeper terrain, where bottom strikes were common, and inconsequential until the last lap. On the tour out I crossed a nice little tree slot with good accumulation on a NW aspect that looked good, so I skinned to the top, peeled and ripped. Bad call. Today I have some epoxy and base weld to do before the next trip out. I was glad to be on rock skis.
Happy turns for the next 2 or 3 days.
Those turns look sweet.
It was pretty nice up there on Sunday, skinned up to Silcox and skied down. I liked the filled in gulleys and trees down to Magic Mile lift, didn't really hit anything. I was surprised they didn't open the lift, stating "Due to low visability, the lifts will be closed today." I could see all the way up Palmer, not sure why they never opened. Still got after it and checked off my first 12 month TAY!
B)
B)
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