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Topic: Nov. 22, 2006; Alpental (dawn patrol) (Read 2071 times)
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cascadesfreak
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Posts: 353
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Powder for breakfast made waking up at 4 am worthwhile! Kelvin, Daniel and I started skinning from the Alpental parking lot by headlamp in ~8-to-12 inches of fresh fluff. We broke trail up to around 4,400-ft (top of the Express lift) and decided to stop there.
The coverage was much improved from about a week and a half ago with generally about 10-to-12 inches of low density/low cohesion snow overlying Sunday’s rain crust. However, there are still plenty of holes and creek crossings to watch out for. Wind effects were notable around the top of the Express chair (aside from this being an intended short outing, we decided not to venture up to Edelweiss Bowl as windloading seemed likely higher up and the new storm snow hadn’t much time to settle yet). A hasty pit on a wind-loaded north aspect at about 4,400-ft (slope angle about 35 degrees) revealed about 2 feet of low density snow overlying the thick rain crust. Denser consolidated snow below the rain crust extended down at least another 4 feet (still didn’t reach ground after digging 6 feet deep). Quick compression test revealed a rough shear (likely a storm layer) within the new snow at about 12 inches deep (at 5 taps from elbow); a second rough shear was noted slightly above the rain crust (at 5 taps from shoulder). The snowpack was generally much shallower elsewhere below ~4,400 ft(about 2-to-3 feet deep).
Enough of the technical stuff and onto the skiing: the powder was light and fabulous! Kelvin led off down the slope, but on the second turn we heard a sound like ripping velcro: one of Kevlin’s new homemade foam core skis had delaminated. It didn’t take long for the top sheet of the second ski to peel off as well. Daniel and I tried our best to hide our excitement of the ski conditions as we carved deep powder turns down the mountain while Kelvin trudged down the skin-track muttering “this sucks” (though still with a smile on his face). Daniel reminded us of a particular creek crossing on the way down, and shortly after decided to inspect the creek bed up-close  .
Upon return to the parking lot, we found a new use for Kelvin’s skis: archery.
Other photos are posted here.
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BillK
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Posts: 96
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Sounds like a worthy way to start the day...sorry about those homemade skis, though. I respect the effort put into making such a worthy tool. BTW, I keep seeing Kelvin's name in these posts: is that the same Kelvin that is a University of Colorado grad, circa 1990? Curious to know....we may have common friends.
-Bill
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Daniel
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Posts: 27
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It was an awesome morning out. Beautiful to skin up at dawn as the clouds cleared and while skinning in the fresh was work, it made us super excited for the ride down. What a way to open my 06-07 backcountry season!Pow before Thanksgiving!
Kelvin, those boards sure looks cool and were way light. Can't wait to check out version two.
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mjt
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Posts: 17
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Well, bugger all. Looks like a beautiful day out, ski delamination notwithstanding. I'll be keeping my eyes on the weather and looking to get out as soon as I'm not wearing the pager...
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skip
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Posts: 218
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Way to get it, Wipe! I was looking down at the pass from the plane wondering how your day was turning out. By the way, it was sunny and almost 60 degrees today in Minneapolis. My but it's an odd season thus far.
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Eric Lindahl
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Posts: 94
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The archery picture is a classic. It has made many laugh already. How does it work for snow snakes?
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It pays to be avid
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Benk
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Posts: 12
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Sky and I were up on the other side of the valley and found simlilar conditions.
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scumbag
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Posts: 26
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rad photo.....first time you look at it its hard to get perspective....
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Lurkin hard and hardly workin on hwy 2
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kelvin
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Posts: 7
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BillK,
You must be thinking of someone else, I've never been to Univ. of Colo. Sorry.
-kelvin
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kam
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Posts: 472
WWW
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nice report, Le Cass.
deer hunting and powder skiing: nice idea, Kelvin.
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What do you mean you didn't bring skis?
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