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12/21/15 Hiway 97 Kings Creek Area

12/21/15
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Posted by avajane on 12/21/15 10:16am
Lots of snow for this generally low snow area! I went up this late afternoon and struggled to establish a skin track as I was up to my knees with my skis on (in open areas) I found the snow to be stable. There was up to two plus feet without any hard layers like is generally the case over here. I guess things could slide on the ground, but nothing was moving today. Parking was very difficult as all turnouts and  side roads are unplowed. I stayed in treed areas to be safe but had some difficulty figuring out how much speed I needed for smooth progress (not used to snow that deep).

Except for the difficult uphill skinning, this was a ten out of ten afternoon for me. The snow quality was exceptional! I hope to get much higher tomorrow using my skin track if there is one.
Hey AvaJane,

Where is King's creek?  I can only find one in Pierce county.

tx


After snow all day into the early evening, Tuesday had brilliant sunshine all morning. Clouds started moving in around 3pm. Punched the skin track another 500' up the ridge. Perfect powder in the open but lower tree skiing was "tree bombed" out. Two snow machines had been on the road. The pullouts were plowed. If your in the area you should take advantage of the track before it snows again. Good stability but the sunshine was making some crystals and crust.

Tronsen was great all day, as long as you knew where to avoid wind crust. Wind was gusting nicely on the ridges as usual. Much improved from yesterday, not that it was bad then either. Saw two other groups, we all took laps on Diamond Head. They continued while I looked elsewhere. Snow sluffed, no signs of propagation like the previous day. Good day with good sun.

No wind down valley until 2:00. Yesterday was still as well. Sure is nice to have that much snow up there..

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12-21-15-hiway-97-kings-creek-area
avajane
2015-12-21 18:16:06