April 14, 2005, Alpental Happy Hour
4/14/05
WA Snoqualmie Pass
2565
3
After a long afternoon meeting, I met Eric at the mercer island park and ride, and we headed out to Alpental and met Drew. When we pulled up, we met Jan, who was more than happy to give us some tips.
We skinned up the the groomer (Sessel), and continued up lower international following Jan's super steep skintrack - he was on skinny skies too! We then followed some avalanche debris up upper international After we made it about halfway up the upper part of international, it started dumping and the visibilty went to zero, so we turned around.
The snow was inconsistent - international was pretty tracked out from patrollers doing avy control. There was about 6" of fresh, heavy snow over a thin crust and a few feet of pretty light stuff under that. I traversed into the middle of lower international under the cliff band, where I proply fell through the crust down to my thighs. When I stuck my pole in, i had to reach down into the hole it fell into. Needless to say, the snow under the crust is pretty light. There were, however, quite a few good turns to be had.
We skinned up the the groomer (Sessel), and continued up lower international following Jan's super steep skintrack - he was on skinny skies too! We then followed some avalanche debris up upper international After we made it about halfway up the upper part of international, it started dumping and the visibilty went to zero, so we turned around.
The snow was inconsistent - international was pretty tracked out from patrollers doing avy control. There was about 6" of fresh, heavy snow over a thin crust and a few feet of pretty light stuff under that. I traversed into the middle of lower international under the cliff band, where I proply fell through the crust down to my thighs. When I stuck my pole in, i had to reach down into the hole it fell into. Needless to say, the snow under the crust is pretty light. There were, however, quite a few good turns to be had.
Yup, it was a fun little trip, the snow was pretty variable, but hopefully Sat will prove to better, although the pass cams look like rain.
cheers
Drew
Eli, Eric and Drew - nice meeting you guys up there. This time of year is great - watch the weather, wait for cool temps and a bit of new snow and split after work. A quick three hour tour, some fresh turns and be home in time to put the kids to bed.
The skiing turned out better over in Stokes bowl which had only seen about 4 other skiers. Boot top and pretty light too. Just before it got dark I toured back over to International and got one last run in.
The skiing turned out better over in Stokes bowl which had only seen about 4 other skiers. Boot top and pretty light too. Just before it got dark I toured back over to International and got one last run in.
Good to meet you too, Jan. Hopefully mother nature will provide a few more opportunities for post work freshies this season.
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