Feb 14, 2018, Hyak - Early Morning- Fluff on crust

author=jbmccrar link=topic=39681.msg159823#msg159823 date=1518650519]
Not a back country report, but we still earned it. ;)


We started skinning just before 6am and headed up Hyak face. On the steep sections we tried to do some side hilling but the snow was not bonding well to the crust. We found it easier to just climb straight up rather than fight the loose snow.

Thanks for the skin track.  It saw a lot of use today.  Really didn't add much new snow throughout the day as forecasted.  Just showery.

Haha. You're welcome. Thanks for the info!

Thanks for the report :)!

I was there from late morning into  mid afternoon. Chose to  ascend via one of the  blue runs that  tops out at the Rampart chair instead of on the face, as I figured the tracks  up  the  face would all be steep at points even for the  high lifters, and that I'd see few to  no people out along the blue runs.  I  took  one run  down Hidden  Valley around 12:30 and the little sunbreaks had already done their work there - it was wet heavy snow. Did three more laps on the front side - two on said blue run that I had climbed (fun turns on the steeper bits but the heavy-ish snow on  the  flatter bits made for straightlining) and one under the Rampart Chair which no one had skied all day - more crust contact there  but I  had fun by stringing together  lower angled fall lines back and forth under the  chair, down to the  cat track an back to  the  car on very hard fresh groomed. There was some cracking of snow and sliding on little steep rollovers particularly up high under the Rampart chair but I didn't test any larger steep slopes. Ended up wishing I'd gone elsewhere nearby to ascend mellow slopes  up to significantly higher elevation, in  a spot where I could mostly follow "green/blue" type open slopes back down (I'm not a fan of skiing steep slopes when we only have 6-10" on  top of walkable crust even  if it's stable, as it feels more  like skiing crust than powder...) with some colder snow, but as usual Hyak offered a very  efficient workout and some nice views as the  clouds broke open a  bit later in the  day.

We may have got a glimpse of you Jim. Too bad we didn't get a chance to talk. Noticed your skin track.  Those skied nicely, too.  My teles didn't scrape on the lower angle stuff when pointed down.

Yes, would have liked to have made the connection in person. With careful edging I didn't even get to much crust contact on a moderate line down the Rampart chair.