December 5, 2015, Grassy Mountain, Manning Park

My touring partner and I had a very difficult time choosing between a trip to Mt. Baker and Manning Park.  Both areas looked promising, had positive beta and telemetry, and were approximately the same drive time for us (from Vancouver, BC).  Ultimately, we decided on Manning Park because of the $10 single ride ticket, the lower amount of riding pressure on the area, and avoiding the border on the first big powder day of the season.

We arrived at the resort around 8:30 AM, purchased our tickets, and geared up.  We took the Orange Chair up and rode along Horseshoe to the Poland Lake trailhead.  After a 30 minute tour (thanks, in part, to the trailbreaking by our new comrade, Ken), we made it to the peak of Grassy Mountain.  A quick pit test showed 40cm of unconsolidated storm snow on top of a 5cm crust and heavy, consolidated snow below.

The 140m descent down the north face was fantastic with light, fluffy powder and no signs of any avalanche activity.  The ascent back to the peak of Grassy Mountain was tough and took nearly an hour.  With the snow and wind picking up, we decided against another run.  We ate our lunch and rode back to the resort along the trail we had taken to get there.  We skinned back to the top of the Orange Chair and rode a resort lap back to the car, which had excellent snow in the early parts of the run.

Overall, we observed excellent snow and added another tour to the library.

Some short video clips from the day:

https://www.instagram.com/p/-70BkElMJ7/
https://www.instagram.com/p/-70fZyFMLB/
https://www.instagram.com/p/-71FI1lMMc/