December 2, 2018, Cascade River
12/2/18
2029
4
Dusting of snow around 3.5k, probably-skiable snow at 4.5k, proper-skiable at 5k+.
Traveled mostly southerly aspects, finding 10-15cm of soft snow atop a supportable 1F/Pencil crust. We were surprised to find that "Mostly Sunny" manifested as light/moderate graupel showers around noon. Graupel was small (1-2 mm), and 1-2cm in depth.
Finally, there were remarkable glide/climax slides prior to the arrival of the soft snow. Several cliff faces had released, but the real show was on the ground. Shown below are three instances. A ridgeline slab, in comparatively low-angle terrain. an incipient glide crack, and finally, a large slab that had released but not run. When we climbed over this feature on the way up, I had thought that it was consolidated debris from above, not the failed stauchwall of an impressive slab.
Those of you lucky enough to go hunting in the alpine this week -- ski lightly and leave margins for error; lotta rocks showing. It's going to be a beautiful week!
Traveled mostly southerly aspects, finding 10-15cm of soft snow atop a supportable 1F/Pencil crust. We were surprised to find that "Mostly Sunny" manifested as light/moderate graupel showers around noon. Graupel was small (1-2 mm), and 1-2cm in depth.
Finally, there were remarkable glide/climax slides prior to the arrival of the soft snow. Several cliff faces had released, but the real show was on the ground. Shown below are three instances. A ridgeline slab, in comparatively low-angle terrain. an incipient glide crack, and finally, a large slab that had released but not run. When we climbed over this feature on the way up, I had thought that it was consolidated debris from above, not the failed stauchwall of an impressive slab.
Those of you lucky enough to go hunting in the alpine this week -- ski lightly and leave margins for error; lotta rocks showing. It's going to be a beautiful week!
Wow. Fantastic photos. That first one is scary.
Is she wearing snowshoes?
Thanks for the report Charlie,
Can you confirm how far you can drive on the Cascade River Road & if you need high clearance.
Thanks. Jake
Can you confirm how far you can drive on the Cascade River Road & if you need high clearance.
Thanks. Jake
Indeed we were, though the snow was soft-enough that we each made a few turns, after a fashion. The pow/crust bond was a little too weak to make steep snowshoe turns forgiving. Snowshoes were the right tool for our day, with an uncertain snowline, a long haul up from the river, and a lower-elevation objective.
If we were to head back with skis this week, we'd be aiming to get as far above 5k as we could.
@Jake: We didn't go terribly far up the road, and conditions were pristine. With the 3.5k snow-dust line, I would be rather optimistic about the road's condition in general.
If we were to head back with skis this week, we'd be aiming to get as far above 5k as we could.
@Jake: We didn't go terribly far up the road, and conditions were pristine. With the 3.5k snow-dust line, I would be rather optimistic about the road's condition in general.
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