2/16/06 Arrowhead
2/16/06
2522
2
Nice turns on soft snow for nearly 1500 vertical today from Arrowhead summit. Brilliant, warm sunshine and epic views during lunch on the summit. With the stable cold weather, it should be good for the weekend. Get some.
The 70 year old Bavarian, 13 yr old Black Lab avy dog, and four month old Black Lab avy dog in training went with me up Arrowhead from Hwy 2 today. It was a nice trip.
The new 3" of snow above 4500' on the 30 degree slopes ran down on the higher density but soft snow beneath (maybe a bit of crust there, hardly noticeable) and flowed around me as I turned.
The snow below the upper clearcut was a bit more breakable crusty, I quit turning and traversed out to the road a few turns beneath the single old-growth Mountain Hemlock left in the highest logged unit visible from the highway below. Down lower at about 3000-3500' the crust was frozen strong and there is a little new snow on the crust. Basically, it seemed best (easiest) to just use the road below the highest logged unit at around 4500' elev.
The Bavarian brought his '70s skinny rando skis with Isers so he did not get a lot of turns, and he has an injured arm also and skis carefully right now. He should have brought his Karhu Jaks. Perhaps he thought he could convince me to go to his lower elevation corn tour so he brought his skinny old skis, but I knew it was soft and turnable up high and did not want corn touring. I will always take soft snow, especially since we have a good snowpack and will have corn to ski into the summer. It was pretty effortless turning the FR 10s.
A good day and worth a trip over the weekend for those seeking turns.
The 70 year old Bavarian, 13 yr old Black Lab avy dog, and four month old Black Lab avy dog in training went with me up Arrowhead from Hwy 2 today. It was a nice trip.
The new 3" of snow above 4500' on the 30 degree slopes ran down on the higher density but soft snow beneath (maybe a bit of crust there, hardly noticeable) and flowed around me as I turned.
The snow below the upper clearcut was a bit more breakable crusty, I quit turning and traversed out to the road a few turns beneath the single old-growth Mountain Hemlock left in the highest logged unit visible from the highway below. Down lower at about 3000-3500' the crust was frozen strong and there is a little new snow on the crust. Basically, it seemed best (easiest) to just use the road below the highest logged unit at around 4500' elev.
The Bavarian brought his '70s skinny rando skis with Isers so he did not get a lot of turns, and he has an injured arm also and skis carefully right now. He should have brought his Karhu Jaks. Perhaps he thought he could convince me to go to his lower elevation corn tour so he brought his skinny old skis, but I knew it was soft and turnable up high and did not want corn touring. I will always take soft snow, especially since we have a good snowpack and will have corn to ski into the summer. It was pretty effortless turning the FR 10s.
A good day and worth a trip over the weekend for those seeking turns.
Thanks for sharing news of Stevens area conditions, just as Charles has done for the Snoqualmie Pass area; now all we need is for some of the Baker lurkers to fess up (please? :))
You mean, maybe even a teeny bit more than "skied up, skied down, had fun, saw views?" But w/o 10+ photos?
;)
;)
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