March 29, Mt. Lillian, Wenatchee Mtns.
3/15/06
WA Cascades East Slopes Central
2776
3
Today I ski toured and skied several aspects of Mt. Lillian in search of powder remants. Mt. Lillian is about half way between Blewett and Misson Ridge and has some small bowls and slopes. Anyone skiing the "Hog Loppet" from Mission Ridge to Blewett Pass contours Mt. Lillian for a few miles at around 5000'-5400'.
During March I had 12 nice powder days in the Wenatchee Mtns. so the addiction is stoked to a high degree! I found north facing powder last Friday, the last time out. No powder today. Instead, avalanches on north aspects.
Today I found no powder but had nice corn and potatoes on southerly aspects. On the northerly aspects from 5000' to 6000' elev. is maybe a foot of old powder, on top of more old soft snow, now with a thin, non-supporting suncrust and some wet snow on the surface. This afternoon, in a bowl beside the Mt. Lillian summer trail, the top elevation being 6080' per the map, I traversed around the top to check the north aspect for powder. On a bulge at the top of about a 38 degree slope angle northeast slope (40 degrees east magnetic aspect by my compass) I easily ski cut three loose avalanches that quickly entrained the soft snow beneath, creating a significant mass that could bury a skier or a snowmobiler. The avalanches traveled 200 ft. downslope or more to the transition to less steep slopes (L-AS-2-O). I was hoping to get it to step down further into the more dense but still soft snow beneath, or maybe down to other weaknesses, but did not. The third time that I ski cut, only a pinwheel started but quickly an area 10 ft. wide went a foot deep with the pinwheel. According to the telemetry it was as warm as 48 degrees at the bottom of Mission Ridge (the only functioning telemetry there) this afternoon. After that fun, I went over to the sun-drenched and much more solid southerly aspects and had nice potatoes and corn for a couple of runs.
On the snomobile ride out I came across a natural 15 ft. wide point-release avalanche from a NW aspect on Table Mtn. that covered the machine-groomed Road 9712 with maybe 3 ft. of debris on the uphill side, but very little went below the road (groomed wide). That avalanche released after I had ridden through and had been crossed by snowmobiles by the time that I saw it. The slope there is high marked extensively (it was good skiing 15+ yrs ago before the high-performance snowmobile developments), but the area that had the natural avalanche did not have snomo tracks and was steeper than surrounding terrain in the upper 30s degree angle. That natural avalanche was a point-release beneath a rock column, I would guess that snow fell from the rock and started it (I saw that and lots of tree bombs today).
A final note is that last Saturday while on Tronsen Ridge high point I observed that portions of the house-sized cornices on Tronsen Head (northerly aspect) had fallen and created two large avalanches.
I think that it is time for corn and potatoes on the southerly aspects.
During March I had 12 nice powder days in the Wenatchee Mtns. so the addiction is stoked to a high degree! I found north facing powder last Friday, the last time out. No powder today. Instead, avalanches on north aspects.
Today I found no powder but had nice corn and potatoes on southerly aspects. On the northerly aspects from 5000' to 6000' elev. is maybe a foot of old powder, on top of more old soft snow, now with a thin, non-supporting suncrust and some wet snow on the surface. This afternoon, in a bowl beside the Mt. Lillian summer trail, the top elevation being 6080' per the map, I traversed around the top to check the north aspect for powder. On a bulge at the top of about a 38 degree slope angle northeast slope (40 degrees east magnetic aspect by my compass) I easily ski cut three loose avalanches that quickly entrained the soft snow beneath, creating a significant mass that could bury a skier or a snowmobiler. The avalanches traveled 200 ft. downslope or more to the transition to less steep slopes (L-AS-2-O). I was hoping to get it to step down further into the more dense but still soft snow beneath, or maybe down to other weaknesses, but did not. The third time that I ski cut, only a pinwheel started but quickly an area 10 ft. wide went a foot deep with the pinwheel. According to the telemetry it was as warm as 48 degrees at the bottom of Mission Ridge (the only functioning telemetry there) this afternoon. After that fun, I went over to the sun-drenched and much more solid southerly aspects and had nice potatoes and corn for a couple of runs.
On the snomobile ride out I came across a natural 15 ft. wide point-release avalanche from a NW aspect on Table Mtn. that covered the machine-groomed Road 9712 with maybe 3 ft. of debris on the uphill side, but very little went below the road (groomed wide). That avalanche released after I had ridden through and had been crossed by snowmobiles by the time that I saw it. The slope there is high marked extensively (it was good skiing 15+ yrs ago before the high-performance snowmobile developments), but the area that had the natural avalanche did not have snomo tracks and was steeper than surrounding terrain in the upper 30s degree angle. That natural avalanche was a point-release beneath a rock column, I would guess that snow fell from the rock and started it (I saw that and lots of tree bombs today).
A final note is that last Saturday while on Tronsen Ridge high point I observed that portions of the house-sized cornices on Tronsen Head (northerly aspect) had fallen and created two large avalanches.
I think that it is time for corn and potatoes on the southerly aspects.
Hey Randonee, we should have joined up and headed for the same Lillian! Thanks for the snowpack info.
Yes, interesting timing of "Lillian" posts.
Today my wife accompanied me back to Mt. Lillian. We had a great lunch on the 6191' summit with great views despite the high overcast. The southerly ridge had nice corn at a moderate angle for 1k falline half on an open ridge and half through open forest with big old Doug firs and Tamaracks. My wife skied very well on her K2 Summit Superlight 8611 skis. She said that she enjoyed the tour.
It was more than 10 degrees colder today, so the snow was set up nicely.
It is a 10 mile road trip to Lillian, so my wife towed on skis behind the snowmobile (too small for two passengers). She tired of being towed, and asked to tow me out, so she got the quick lesson in driving the snowmobile and did fine driving the groomed road. I have not towed since the 80's on skinny tele skis, since I usually do the towing. Today soon after taking off behind the snowmobile I glanced down at my fat short FR 10s and got a vision of the water ski scene behind the river boat in Apocalypse Now. After that it was a fun 10 miles of carving turns back and forth on the piste on short fat skis while being towed by a snowmobile and loudly singing "Satisfaction." The whipping back and forth was much like water skiing, on one wide corner I managed to pass the snowmobile. Nice corn on the widely-groomed piste and a very similar feel to skiing the piste with the addition of managing the rope much like water skiing. A fun excursion.
It was more than 10 degrees colder today, so the snow was set up nicely.
It is a 10 mile road trip to Lillian, so my wife towed on skis behind the snowmobile (too small for two passengers). She tired of being towed, and asked to tow me out, so she got the quick lesson in driving the snowmobile and did fine driving the groomed road. I have not towed since the 80's on skinny tele skis, since I usually do the towing. Today soon after taking off behind the snowmobile I glanced down at my fat short FR 10s and got a vision of the water ski scene behind the river boat in Apocalypse Now. After that it was a fun 10 miles of carving turns back and forth on the piste on short fat skis while being towed by a snowmobile and loudly singing "Satisfaction." The whipping back and forth was much like water skiing, on one wide corner I managed to pass the snowmobile. Nice corn on the widely-groomed piste and a very similar feel to skiing the piste with the addition of managing the rope much like water skiing. A fun excursion.
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