December 28-29, Shuksan attempt, Table Mtn instead
12/28/13
WA Cascades West Slopes North (Mt Baker)
2862
2
On Saturday we tried to make a run at Mount Shuksan via the White Salmon route but we found that after leaving the Baker ski area (below chair 8 ) that there was very little snow in the forest. After slogging for 20ish minutes we gave up and turned back figuring that it would take us way too long to make it through.
After bailing we got in the car and drove up to Heather Meadows and skied around the Artist Point area (snow depth at Artist Point was 220 cm). We saw a few small slides on the north facing slopes going down to Bagley Lakes. Also saw a small slide on the south face of Table Mountain. On Sunday we climbed up the east side of Table Mountain and skied down via the saddle. Terrible visibility but "decent" skiing above 5000'.
We certainly wish there was more snow out there but it was good to be in the mountains and higher up, on north faces, it skied better than expected.
photos if you want to check out conditions
After bailing we got in the car and drove up to Heather Meadows and skied around the Artist Point area (snow depth at Artist Point was 220 cm). We saw a few small slides on the north facing slopes going down to Bagley Lakes. Also saw a small slide on the south face of Table Mountain. On Sunday we climbed up the east side of Table Mountain and skied down via the saddle. Terrible visibility but "decent" skiing above 5000'.
We certainly wish there was more snow out there but it was good to be in the mountains and higher up, on north faces, it skied better than expected.
photos if you want to check out conditions
author=mattgoyer link=topic=30144.msg126236#msg126236 date=1388374026]
We saw a few small slides ...
Thanks for the report Matt. Good call to not travel the White Salmon valley without much snow.
I am curious what you mean about the “small” slides? Were you referencing the existing slides on the north side of Table (which are not small)? These slides broke at the base of the cliff bands on much of Table’s north side and traveled essentially to the valley. They occurred sometime before Christmas Eve day. The same level of avalanche activity occurred on north facing slopes in other valleys nearby, thankfully getting rid of some of the rotten snow developed in the cold spell.
Or did you witness some small sides occurring on your tour. Thanks for any clarification.
re: slides
Ah, the ones we saw must have been the Christmas eve slides you describe. We assumed they were fresher. There are one or two photos in the linked photo album...
Ah, the ones we saw must have been the Christmas eve slides you describe. We assumed they were fresher. There are one or two photos in the linked photo album...
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