February 26, 2006, The Ditch
2/26/06
4330
12
Jeanette, Ron, Darryl and I shuttled from Narada Falls to Paradise and then headed out along Steven's Canyon Road. We assessed the snow conditions via the "snowboarder thump test". 2 unidentified boarders reported launching themselves off a ramp over the edge of Steven's Canyon Road onto the east facing slope 10 times without triggering a slide. Further checks verified consolidated snow conditions.
We climbed to Mazama Ridge into strong winds with cloudy skies. The evidence of the previous week's windy days was impressive. Our skiing went in the ditch as we headed south towards Reflection Lakes through scenic treed slopes that held a thick layer of heavy snow. We met up with Jerry W. at Reflection Lakes and took the marked trail to the ridge where we skied the Refrigerator and reached the car in plenty of time to get in a crevasse rescue practice.
We climbed to Mazama Ridge into strong winds with cloudy skies. The evidence of the previous week's windy days was impressive. Our skiing went in the ditch as we headed south towards Reflection Lakes through scenic treed slopes that held a thick layer of heavy snow. We met up with Jerry W. at Reflection Lakes and took the marked trail to the ridge where we skied the Refrigerator and reached the car in plenty of time to get in a crevasse rescue practice.
Skiing in the ditch was a great trip.
I thought we would witness a Darwin award event while the boarders bombed a 35 degree slope during considerable avalanche conditions. But they lived to bomb other slopes on another day.
I'm glad we were able to rescue Ron's pack from a terrible fall into the Narada Falls parking lot.
I thought we would witness a Darwin award event while the boarders bombed a 35 degree slope during considerable avalanche conditions. But they lived to bomb other slopes on another day.
I'm glad we were able to rescue Ron's pack from a terrible fall into the Narada Falls parking lot.
A short trip for me after some alarm issues, but still nice to get out and also to witness firsthand the dramatic pack rescue 8)...Jerry
It was a great day even though the snow was quite heavy. "Mr. Pack" was very lucky we came across the "accident" scene when we did and helped him out of that nasty situation ;).
that sounds fun! crevase rescue class starts tonight - timely :)
Nice report, Maureen.
Yes, I agree, Darryl, it's always a relief, when you suspect snow pack instabilities, to round the first corner and see a nice kicker at the edge of the Paradise Valley road. It is a strong indication that the voluntary snow stability testers are diligently "on duty", and unselfishly, and with total abandon to their own personal safety, pounding the slope relentlessly, trying to find where and when is would fail, in their charitable effort to make the world a better place for the rest of us.
Oh, and Darryl, I think the slope angle where they were conducting the tests was actually closer to the magical 38 degrees, which is, of course, the exact angle that any self respecting stability tester would search out.
A casual inquiry to one of the busy testers as to how many times they had pounded the slope elicited a proud reply of "At least 10", which was good to know.
Thank you, Paradise Volunteer Snow Stability Test Patrol, whoever you are. You will never know how valuable your efforts are to our backcountry touring experience.
I do hope, however, that your selfless drive to provide others with valuable test results doesn't get one of you hurt sometime. Please be careful.
Yes, I agree, Darryl, it's always a relief, when you suspect snow pack instabilities, to round the first corner and see a nice kicker at the edge of the Paradise Valley road. It is a strong indication that the voluntary snow stability testers are diligently "on duty", and unselfishly, and with total abandon to their own personal safety, pounding the slope relentlessly, trying to find where and when is would fail, in their charitable effort to make the world a better place for the rest of us.
Oh, and Darryl, I think the slope angle where they were conducting the tests was actually closer to the magical 38 degrees, which is, of course, the exact angle that any self respecting stability tester would search out.
A casual inquiry to one of the busy testers as to how many times they had pounded the slope elicited a proud reply of "At least 10", which was good to know.
Thank you, Paradise Volunteer Snow Stability Test Patrol, whoever you are. You will never know how valuable your efforts are to our backcountry touring experience.
I do hope, however, that your selfless drive to provide others with valuable test results doesn't get one of you hurt sometime. Please be careful.
that sounds fun! crevase rescue class starts tonight - timely :)
It does start on the 28th, but March 28th :D.
Re the ditch
how many of those big pesky holes were still there??
Sounds like the usual good time.
kinda unusal for JW to sleep in ?
how many of those big pesky holes were still there??
Sounds like the usual good time.
kinda unusal for JW to sleep in ?
Robie: I now have a reason 8)
Robie: I now have a reason 8)
What's this JW? Do our reasons share the same first name?
My other reason is that I've been knocked out of commission by a nasty cold...seriously jonesing for some turns at this point.
ronj...give us the falling pack story. Sounds like it could be a good read. Inquiring minds want to know.
What! Both JibberD and JW had a relationship with Darren? Wow, that guy is a real heart breaker!
Re the ditch
how many of those big pesky holes were still there??
Still some BIG ones loomin in there Robie, had to do a couple of "pop-outs" to stay away from the nasty ones. We missed ya.
What! Both JibberD and JW had a relationship with Darren? Wow, that guy is a real heart breaker!:)Hehe, nice one, Darryl. Yeah, that Darren's a real heartless cad, eh? ;)
ronj...give us the falling pack story. Sounds like it could be a good read. Inquiring minds want to know.I dropped it in the parking lot at the foot of the snow bank so Darryl and Maureen climbed up on top of the snow bank and rescued it with the deft use of a medley of hauling systems.
Re the ditchThey're all pretty well filled in... at least the ones with running water in the bottom of them. There were two sets of tracks following the route. We postulated that Gary and Dorothea may have skied it the day before.
how many of those big pesky holes were still there??
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