January 14, 2006, West Ridge Notch (5,250')
1/14/06
2457
3
Day 28
West Ridge Notch (5,250'), Snoqualmie Mtn
13 inches new, 89-98 inch base
2,500 vf skied
Imagine the Perfect Ski Vacation. It would probably include a lot of snow. (How does 95 inches sound?)
The Perfect Ski Vacation would also have that snow fall at even intervals, not one chaotic Colorado upslope monster, but evenly spaced. Like a foot of snow every day for, say, 7 days. Start to finish - virgin powder snow. (OK.)
And there would have to be very few crowds, the quiet of the mountains the salve for the savages of modern civilization. Or at least downtown Kent, WA. A true Royal Flush would be seeing no one at all, the least of which would be a Guide that you barely tolerate, as some ski vacations would have you endure. (Try, a couple of brothers - one in heart and one in blood - and only friends to accompany and mingle with. Good company? A vacation all its own!)
The terrain would need to be varied and unique, the nuances of tours understood to reap every ounce of goodness from the bounty of the Powder Day. The weather would be known and understood, the safety of old stand-bys a retreat when otherwise a lift ticket would have been needed to be purchased in foreign terra firma on Avalanche Warning days.
Evenings would be in the comfort of your own home, with the associated accoutrements, sleeping in the warmth of your own bed, with no responsibilities except rest and fuel for the next days adventure.
Can there be such a ski vacation? Ever?
Indeed there can be, faithful skiers, as my last week of skiing will confirm.
When you put all the numbers together, heres how it looked:
1-08-06 Snoqualmie Mtn (6,278), The Slot Couloir - 2-11 new, base 54-59 (Alp.), 3,600 vf
1-09-06 Heather Ridge (5,447), Stevens Pass 2 X, 11 new, base 67 (Stevens top), 2,800 vf
1-10-06 Peak 6,800, Crystal Valley 2-12 new, 53-87 (Crystal), 2,400 vf
1-11-06 Mt Catherine (5,052), Hyak (3,765) 24 new, 78-84 (Alp.), 2,800 vf
1-12-06 Bailout Glades, Snoqualmie Mtn 11 new, 79-92 base (Alp.), 4,000 vf
1-13-06 Diamond Head (5,915), Blewett Pass 12 new, 61 base (Mission top), 2,000 vf
1-14-06 West Ridge Notch (5,250), Snoqualmie Mtn 13 new, 89-98 base (Alpental hit 100 the next day, 1/15/06, for the first time of the 05-06 season), 2,500 vf
95 inches of snow in one week. Damn, thats a ski season at some resorts back east.
7 straight powder days, 20,100 vf of hard, rewarding work. Knee and thigh deep trail breaking in the open.
My brother, Wayne, was visiting from Vermont and he simply could not have chosen a better week to come.
Well, besides the avy danger. That, unfortunately, was the other edge to the sword, but a challenge we were up for. Our remedy: low elevations, early rising, and destinations with optimal snow conditions based on real data. In healthy doses and chased with a reality check every 500 vf or so. Or whenever the terrain changed.
A sample of the trip, perhaps the coup de gras, a large avalanche spotted and confirmed, a huge 13 inch dump on a huge base, and skiing in my own backyard. Unreal.
+++
The "daily grind" started at 4:30 am, aptly enough, with a brew of special blend coffee beans. (no camper frost melting on your sleeping bag here, were talking two pots of liquid gold for now and for the day made in your PJs.) By 5:45 am wed eaten, gotten the latest WDOT traffic report on Pass conditions, the 5 am ski area reports, and of course, the round of telemetry data off the TAL site.
Wed more or less decided on returning to the Alpental Valley as the terrain was well known and wed been excited to sample more of the same. Especially with 13 inches of new. The avy danger was not impressive at all on the Pass, but there was a brief cold spell between storms that looked like decent skiing before the vicious cycle would begin again.
We climbed our usual spot up through the deep old growth, marveling at the difference in snow a week had made. At 54 inches the forest was passable, but at 90, well, everything looked ski able.
And it was.
We made slow but steady progress, Wayne and I taking turns to break trail, following the faintest memory of the trail.
Our original thoughts for the week was to return for the Not Slot, but that was a distant hope considering the avy danger up high now at the end of the week. Very large amounts of snow were on the left wall of the Not Slot, and I sure as heck didnt want to be the one to set it off.
We reached the notch by 10:30 am and the sun blotchy sky began to fill with whispy clouds and snow. The Notch looked fantastic. We reconnoitered on the rim of the chute and scanned the route. Down in the chute was a visible crown where an avalanche had broken away, and that was a good sign. Well, now its run, we thought. We had no idea how much snow had broken away until we examined the crown up close.
The directissima was what I had come to ski. And it looked choice. From our recon trip up earlier in the week, the route was in, so how was the snow now?
I dropped in first this time, Wayne taking shots from the left side of the chute. I ski cut the top of the slope to the right side, conveniently a nice lead in to the steeps of the chute, a great rollover spot for an avy to break. Nothing. I jump turned and ski cut to the left side of the chute. Nothing. Looks pretty good, I said to Wayne, and let 'er rip.
The chute narrowed to 15 wide after a turn or two and I was in the zone for a couple of turns, pulling up to a stop on top of a rock bulge on the left side near the bottom of the business. I envisioned a small cliff drop into the powder below from my position, regardless, we were going to need to air it out as the only exit from this hanging couloir was a mandatory air, and luckily the choices looked pleasingly good.
I called safe up to Wayne and got out the camera for a few shots of him in the throat of the couloir. It was an awesome moment. Wayne plowed up next to me and we watched the slough cascade over the small cliff drop below us and down into the void of the bowl.
From up close, the crown of the avalanche that took out the bowl the day before was three feet thick, probably on the cold shear where the temp changed on Thurs/Fri. It was impressive. Somewhere down there, we couldnt see the bottom of the bowl because, yes, it was snowing again, was a humungous pile of snow. The snow it left behind, thankfully, was a treat to ski.
We cut a few turns down into the bowl, but the visibility was terrible. The eerie thought of the debris pile at the bottom of the bowl also detracted from continuing on, and we called it on the convenient rock outcrop halfway down the bowl. Man was it wild; snowing hard, fog, and the adrenaline of a steep ski behind us, the pleasure of powder the reward. But first, the hard part.
It was a short stroll up to the crux of the route, the steep exit chute, but the route ahead did not look fun. Above the crown, where the snow was still deep, the paranoia of the slope above us coming down was very real and unnerving. I felt glad we had skied from above as this comforted me knowing what the snow was like, but little comfort indeed. Wayne and I took short pitches stopping in safe zones and climbing one at a time until we were standing on the lip of the couloir. It was about this time that I breathed.
When Wayne hit the lip and he erupted in glee, I knew he felt it too.
The 2,100 vertical foot descent back to the car with 13 inches new deeeeevine.
West Ridge Notch (5,250'), Snoqualmie Mtn
13 inches new, 89-98 inch base
2,500 vf skied
Imagine the Perfect Ski Vacation. It would probably include a lot of snow. (How does 95 inches sound?)
The Perfect Ski Vacation would also have that snow fall at even intervals, not one chaotic Colorado upslope monster, but evenly spaced. Like a foot of snow every day for, say, 7 days. Start to finish - virgin powder snow. (OK.)
And there would have to be very few crowds, the quiet of the mountains the salve for the savages of modern civilization. Or at least downtown Kent, WA. A true Royal Flush would be seeing no one at all, the least of which would be a Guide that you barely tolerate, as some ski vacations would have you endure. (Try, a couple of brothers - one in heart and one in blood - and only friends to accompany and mingle with. Good company? A vacation all its own!)
The terrain would need to be varied and unique, the nuances of tours understood to reap every ounce of goodness from the bounty of the Powder Day. The weather would be known and understood, the safety of old stand-bys a retreat when otherwise a lift ticket would have been needed to be purchased in foreign terra firma on Avalanche Warning days.
Evenings would be in the comfort of your own home, with the associated accoutrements, sleeping in the warmth of your own bed, with no responsibilities except rest and fuel for the next days adventure.
Can there be such a ski vacation? Ever?
Indeed there can be, faithful skiers, as my last week of skiing will confirm.
When you put all the numbers together, heres how it looked:
1-08-06 Snoqualmie Mtn (6,278), The Slot Couloir - 2-11 new, base 54-59 (Alp.), 3,600 vf
1-09-06 Heather Ridge (5,447), Stevens Pass 2 X, 11 new, base 67 (Stevens top), 2,800 vf
1-10-06 Peak 6,800, Crystal Valley 2-12 new, 53-87 (Crystal), 2,400 vf
1-11-06 Mt Catherine (5,052), Hyak (3,765) 24 new, 78-84 (Alp.), 2,800 vf
1-12-06 Bailout Glades, Snoqualmie Mtn 11 new, 79-92 base (Alp.), 4,000 vf
1-13-06 Diamond Head (5,915), Blewett Pass 12 new, 61 base (Mission top), 2,000 vf
1-14-06 West Ridge Notch (5,250), Snoqualmie Mtn 13 new, 89-98 base (Alpental hit 100 the next day, 1/15/06, for the first time of the 05-06 season), 2,500 vf
95 inches of snow in one week. Damn, thats a ski season at some resorts back east.
7 straight powder days, 20,100 vf of hard, rewarding work. Knee and thigh deep trail breaking in the open.
My brother, Wayne, was visiting from Vermont and he simply could not have chosen a better week to come.
Well, besides the avy danger. That, unfortunately, was the other edge to the sword, but a challenge we were up for. Our remedy: low elevations, early rising, and destinations with optimal snow conditions based on real data. In healthy doses and chased with a reality check every 500 vf or so. Or whenever the terrain changed.
A sample of the trip, perhaps the coup de gras, a large avalanche spotted and confirmed, a huge 13 inch dump on a huge base, and skiing in my own backyard. Unreal.
+++
The "daily grind" started at 4:30 am, aptly enough, with a brew of special blend coffee beans. (no camper frost melting on your sleeping bag here, were talking two pots of liquid gold for now and for the day made in your PJs.) By 5:45 am wed eaten, gotten the latest WDOT traffic report on Pass conditions, the 5 am ski area reports, and of course, the round of telemetry data off the TAL site.
Wed more or less decided on returning to the Alpental Valley as the terrain was well known and wed been excited to sample more of the same. Especially with 13 inches of new. The avy danger was not impressive at all on the Pass, but there was a brief cold spell between storms that looked like decent skiing before the vicious cycle would begin again.
We climbed our usual spot up through the deep old growth, marveling at the difference in snow a week had made. At 54 inches the forest was passable, but at 90, well, everything looked ski able.
And it was.
We made slow but steady progress, Wayne and I taking turns to break trail, following the faintest memory of the trail.
Our original thoughts for the week was to return for the Not Slot, but that was a distant hope considering the avy danger up high now at the end of the week. Very large amounts of snow were on the left wall of the Not Slot, and I sure as heck didnt want to be the one to set it off.
We reached the notch by 10:30 am and the sun blotchy sky began to fill with whispy clouds and snow. The Notch looked fantastic. We reconnoitered on the rim of the chute and scanned the route. Down in the chute was a visible crown where an avalanche had broken away, and that was a good sign. Well, now its run, we thought. We had no idea how much snow had broken away until we examined the crown up close.
The directissima was what I had come to ski. And it looked choice. From our recon trip up earlier in the week, the route was in, so how was the snow now?
I dropped in first this time, Wayne taking shots from the left side of the chute. I ski cut the top of the slope to the right side, conveniently a nice lead in to the steeps of the chute, a great rollover spot for an avy to break. Nothing. I jump turned and ski cut to the left side of the chute. Nothing. Looks pretty good, I said to Wayne, and let 'er rip.
The chute narrowed to 15 wide after a turn or two and I was in the zone for a couple of turns, pulling up to a stop on top of a rock bulge on the left side near the bottom of the business. I envisioned a small cliff drop into the powder below from my position, regardless, we were going to need to air it out as the only exit from this hanging couloir was a mandatory air, and luckily the choices looked pleasingly good.
I called safe up to Wayne and got out the camera for a few shots of him in the throat of the couloir. It was an awesome moment. Wayne plowed up next to me and we watched the slough cascade over the small cliff drop below us and down into the void of the bowl.
From up close, the crown of the avalanche that took out the bowl the day before was three feet thick, probably on the cold shear where the temp changed on Thurs/Fri. It was impressive. Somewhere down there, we couldnt see the bottom of the bowl because, yes, it was snowing again, was a humungous pile of snow. The snow it left behind, thankfully, was a treat to ski.
We cut a few turns down into the bowl, but the visibility was terrible. The eerie thought of the debris pile at the bottom of the bowl also detracted from continuing on, and we called it on the convenient rock outcrop halfway down the bowl. Man was it wild; snowing hard, fog, and the adrenaline of a steep ski behind us, the pleasure of powder the reward. But first, the hard part.
It was a short stroll up to the crux of the route, the steep exit chute, but the route ahead did not look fun. Above the crown, where the snow was still deep, the paranoia of the slope above us coming down was very real and unnerving. I felt glad we had skied from above as this comforted me knowing what the snow was like, but little comfort indeed. Wayne and I took short pitches stopping in safe zones and climbing one at a time until we were standing on the lip of the couloir. It was about this time that I breathed.
When Wayne hit the lip and he erupted in glee, I knew he felt it too.
The 2,100 vertical foot descent back to the car with 13 inches new deeeeevine.
Just make sure Wayne tells everyone back east how wet and heavy our snow is, and how you have to bushwack through a jungle to get to all that wet snow.
Sounds like a good week off. Last time I had a friend visit from NH, it was a clear week in June with perfect corn on the big peaks (and I don't mean Snoqualmie ;)). It's nice when things work out like that.
Sounds like a good week off. Last time I had a friend visit from NH, it was a clear week in June with perfect corn on the big peaks (and I don't mean Snoqualmie ;)). It's nice when things work out like that.
sweet, represent!
Just missed you guys at Blewett. We skied in Scotty Creek, on the other side of the road, but it would have been cool to run into one of the Vermont boys. I've never skied with the Ogre of Camels Hump, but many close ski buds have. Maybe next time.
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