Nov 24. Snoqualmie Backcountry
11/15/06
WA Snoqualmie Pass
2515
2
Got to parking lot at 7am just as 3 others were leaving their rig to go break trail for us up Phantom Slide. ;) Followed those animals up the regular approach just left of Phantom slide, and while they continued on to maybe ski Slot, we headed up the valley a little, just past the drop in to the NF Snoqualmie, to some great steep gladed skiing.
Breaking trail was a lot of work, as the snow was very deep and the underlying concrete layer found in the lower valley was either deeper or non-existant up here. We took the first run down, then kicked a trail up and took a few extra runs before trying to head down without getting cliffed out (as I have been in the past, trying to descend from this glade to the valley below). We'll we got cliffed out anyway, and eventually made our way down the skiers left side of the major cliffband. Just 100 yrds from the summer trail to Source Lake, we were booting down the final very steep slope when my friend Dan slipped and took a tumble. He sprained his ankle inside his ski boot (go figure!) but we got back to the trail and back to the car without too much trouble.
I took only a few pics with my phone, as we had left cameras at home. It snowed all day. It was light and fluffy - the kind of snow Snoqualmie gets like once a year. Bottomless. Don't fall!
Breaking trail was a lot of work, as the snow was very deep and the underlying concrete layer found in the lower valley was either deeper or non-existant up here. We took the first run down, then kicked a trail up and took a few extra runs before trying to head down without getting cliffed out (as I have been in the past, trying to descend from this glade to the valley below). We'll we got cliffed out anyway, and eventually made our way down the skiers left side of the major cliffband. Just 100 yrds from the summer trail to Source Lake, we were booting down the final very steep slope when my friend Dan slipped and took a tumble. He sprained his ankle inside his ski boot (go figure!) but we got back to the trail and back to the car without too much trouble.
I took only a few pics with my phone, as we had left cameras at home. It snowed all day. It was light and fluffy - the kind of snow Snoqualmie gets like once a year. Bottomless. Don't fall!
Did you notice any avy activity? I relegated myself to riding the lifts at snoqualmie because of NWAC's reported high avy danger. I presume you stuck to the trees... did it seem stable? Did you dig a pit or do any snow testing? I'm curious, since I'd like to get out there soon.
There were no natural releases and no skier triggered releases that we saw yesterday. It was cold all day, in fact it got a little cooler as the day went on. There was a bit of wind up high. I would imagine that once the cold weather lets up later in the coming week and it warms up/gets sunnier you'll see alot of slide activity especially on wind affected slopes. But as for Friday, only slight surface sluffs as we carved through the down pillows. We stayed in the trees initially (the great thing about that glade is its treed skiing on one end if you need it to be), once it became apparent that the hazard - predicted considerable and high on NE to SE aspects- was not really a concern in that area, we busted out and skied more open slopes.
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