Home > Trip Reports > April 13, 2005, Alpental Dawn Patrol

April 13, 2005, Alpental Dawn Patrol

4/13/05
WA Snoqualmie Pass
9097
22
Posted by gregL on 4/12/05 11:20pm
Powder and shirtsleeves!


When Kam tapped me on the back last night at Glacier Travel class and suggested I'd never pass the course if I didn't get up at 5:00AM and meet him and Cass at Alpental, I figured I'd better go . . . turned out to be a good thing.

Drizzle and overcast skies in Seattle turned to bluebird with anywhere from 4" to 10" of wind-deposited pow and graupel - did a quick run for a photo op in Edelweiss Bowl, and chatted with Scott and Adam from Pro Ski, who broke trail the last 500 vf to the top (the guide ALWAYS breaks trail, right?).

Nash was the real deal, about 10-12" of soft stuff to cushion the icy bumps underneath - the season's just starting!






oops, i just made the following post and then discovered that gregL beat me to it.  anyway, i'll just add my comments to this thread.  what a nice morning!

the following pretty much sums up the snow this morning

this morning cascadesfreak, sheispiste, gregL and i started skinning on a 2-3" layer of new dry powder on top of a somewhat firm and crusty base.  as we gained elevation, the depth of new snow slowly increased to about 6-8" at the top of Edelweiss chair.  when the sun came out, we noticed pinwheels and several point-releases tumbling from steeper terrain.  we dropped into upper nash, and to our surprise, found 8-10" of tasty unconsolidated dry powder!  it was a treat.

photos:
1. glow.
2. cascadesfreak and sheispiste.
3. sheispiste. but how can she be, especially when she's smiling!? :)
4. not bad for April.  skier: cascadesfreak.  nice t-shirt dude.
5. gregL soaking in the sun, i mean powder.
6. klown patroller

Nice job.....I was up there yesterday in a hail/snowstorm.....blahhh
I was wondering if you guys got a look at snoqualmie mt while you were up there.....what's the coverage on it......Has anybody popped a track out on it?

Well, it looked like this . . .

Cascadesfreak & sheispiste with Snoqualmie Mt. in background

Not terribly inviting, at least on the S/SW side. The Phantom does not look like a continuous ski down . . .

A fine breakfast with champions! Great to join you all for a beautiful morning. Kam and Greg: nice photos. Thanks!

SPICOLI: Greg's right.   Phantom is boney, but there should be enough snow to ski elsewhere on the mountain.  Skip and i were on the lower part of Snoqualmie last Friday, approaching via Commonwealth Basin, and the coverage looked good along the west ridge (visible in the photo of cascadesfreak and sheispiste).  here, read skip's trip report.

Wow, nice photos Greg and Kam. That looks delicious.

Thanks for the info...I don't think the phantom was ever really filled in this year. Maybe I should head over to chair peak. I'm sure whatevers up on snoqualmie will be raveged as soon as  the sun peeks out. I must say though that is the most snow I've seen on the south ridge all year. Has anybody cycled runs off the north facing aspects of the small knob between snoqualmie and guye? That seems like fun and fairly safe on avy days.

nice form, weepay!


You know it, dude...too bad you weren't actually there to see/ski it  ;)

A very fine morning indeed at the Alp.  

Ohhhh man. Me predicts your TR will trigger a serious run for the goods tomorrow as well. Hope it lasts. Also hope that Patrol saves working on the hill for Friday and won't do any catting and blasting tomorrow.

Ohhhh man. Me predicts your TR will trigger a serious run for the goods tomorrow as well. Hope it lasts.


Ah, I wouldn't  bother.  All that sun and heat (telemetry is showing temps 40+ this afternoon) will leave nasty crusts and turn all the snow to mank before tomorrow..

looks like a good morning guys!  i've been making different kind of turns down here in the sunshine state, but i'll be looking forward to some of those soft fluffy conditions when i get back...make it happen for me, will ya? ;)

Nice!! You guys timed it perfectly...can't believe this work thing is in the way...
Was it really that warm, or does Cass just want to show his strong forearms?  ;D

Nicely done! Great photos! Thanks 8)

Sweet.
Nice call, you guys. Way to score on the goods.

Actually, the lifts will be running at Alp Friday.

...can't believe this work thing is in the way...
 
Work thing?  oh yeah, almost forgot about that after such nice 'pre-work thing' turns  ;)  The powder spray while wearing a T-shirt seemed to provide a much better wake-up jolt than caffeine  ;D

A few additional pics:

Kam's Karving

sheispiste skins-up near the top of the Alp

Kam the Klown

The Karving Kamel

Cass.
Photo kuddos to you too!
Thanks for the great morning.

klowns and kamels. sounds like a cirkus.

a few more photos:
gregLcascadesfreaksheisreallyreallypiste ;D ">

Very nice, thanks for sharing such great photos.

Great ski and quick turn around on the pics guys!
Really nice shots (face and pics)!
Is that picture posted of Casshole skiing down Analvice?
Great ski shot!

Casshole skiing down Analvice?


;D

Sorry, all the Cass pics are on International . . .

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2005-04-13 06:20:33