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Nov 4. Rock Mountain

11/4/13
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Posted by danpeck on 11/4/13 12:30pm
Ale Capone sent me a text to take me up on my bid for someone to ski with Sunday evening.  I woke up at 3:30 am to catch the 4:45 ferry.  I met Ale and Kololo (our trusty canine companion), at about 6:15 am.  The plan was to attempt Rock Mtn. from the north side if we could gain access on the forest road.  We made it up about 500 feet and turned around.  Plan B was to approach the mountain via the south side summer trail.

We found things to be quite boney€¦ as expected€¦ for the first 2500 feet.  But we were still able to skin at around 2800 ft (after about 500 feet of booting).  Snow conditions hugely improved at 4600 feet, skinning became quite pleasant and I felt like I was finally on a winter tour. 





I was able to throw in a quick lap at one point and discovered the snow was stable, a bit wind blown from a day or two before, with surface hoar on it.  The snow was fast and creamy.



After this quick lap we made our final approach to Rock Mtn.  What a day with amazing sun and views.  The clouds provided a stunning light show with the sun all day. 

This is definitely a fun play ground I want to come back to many times.



We summited. Put on warm layers, and enjoyed a marvelous descent€¦ again, very stable snow with surface hoar.  We skied the SE aspect off the summit on a wind loaded slope.  But the snow was already well settled and the surface hoar was evidence that the wind loading was at least a full 24 hours prior.





If you look closely you can see our tracks in this image.



More pictures and an unedited video clip on Flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/danpeck/sets/72157637330270604/ 
Rocks the best yo...nice jacket Kololo

Nice, Dan and Scott.  You're right - that looks like a great playground!  Thanks for the inspiration.  Good pictures - I've been wanting to get up there for a long time.

There are definitive seasonal milestones in this life.  Daylight savings time beginning in March heralds in the rock climbing season.  Hiway 20 opening signals alpine rock and skiing. And Ale Capone's first tour off Steven's Pass tells us winter touring is upon us.

Dang! Way to think outside of the box! No crowds here.

I think Ale Capone has an inner sensor for when the snow is ready… and for where the crowds will not be.  It was an excellent adventure and we were the only 3.

brilliant.  Nice work!

you are welcome everyone.... i spent last weekend in california so that the season could finally start in earnest!  rock is looking good.

author=bs. link=topic=29503.msg123912#msg123912 date=1383713926]
you are welcome everyone.... i spent last weekend in california so that the season could finally start in earnest!  rock is looking good.


Where? California rock always looks good!

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nov-4-rock-mountain
danpeck
2013-11-04 20:30:09