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December 6: Timberline

12/6/14
OR Mt Hood
21590
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Posted by huskydoc on 12/6/14 7:51am
A brief report sans pictures because, well, there wasn't really anything to take pictures of.

Driven by a desire to a put a new hardshell through its paces and a need to slide on snow regardless of duration or quality, I headed to Timberline with hopes of getting above the 7500ft FL and out of the rain.
The white-out started at the parking lot, along with steady wind out of the southwest @ 5-10, spitting rain. The snowshoe/skin trail is nicely marked, leading up to the Silcox hut and beyond. Skinning was made quite difficult by the presence of a layer of glazed ice covering a soft, saturated crust. Even with crampons, the going was slow. I called it early @ 7600ft as conditions continued to deteriorate. Wind was now a steady 30 mph, gusting to 50-60, with freezing rain that never really quit.

The ride down was definitely IFR/ski-by-braille but with some occasional clearing.
The protected gullies skied surprisingly well with a 3-4 cm layer of saturated fresh. Definitely low-tide conditions with sharks lurking, but with a reasonably firmed-up base run-ins were easy to avoid.

26 months.
Think tomorrow would be worth it, if the weather clears and warms?

Depends on where your "worth it" threshold lies. If you have all day, head north: Crystal, etc.
If not, I mean it rode well enough while unfrozen & soggy. Can't say how it'll behave once everything sets up overnight. 

crystal is closed

author=flowing alpy link=topic=32974.msg137244#msg137244 date=1417983949]
crystal is closed


Yeah, I meant to hike. Not much around right now worth paying to ride.


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2014-12-06 15:51:05