12-6 Dawn Patrol- Hyak
12/15/06
WA Snoqualmie Pass
4474
9
Nothing very exciting but I thought I would share snow conditions. MikeC and I headed up to Hyak this morning with the intent to tour Mr. Catherine. Got to Hyak at 6.15am, it was foggy!
Snow was frozen coral and breakable crust. Horrendous and the type you could hurt yourself in ( it might get soft during the day) so we contented ourselves with two trips up the Hyak cat track which was at least smooth and forzen courdroy.
Chugach the dog had fun and we got exercise!
No pictures today.
Scotsman
Snow was frozen coral and breakable crust. Horrendous and the type you could hurt yourself in ( it might get soft during the day) so we contented ourselves with two trips up the Hyak cat track which was at least smooth and forzen courdroy.
Chugach the dog had fun and we got exercise!
No pictures today.
Scotsman
Not a bad way to spend a Wednesday morning. We were up there on Saturday morning and it was fantastic. Two runs on the front side with only a 1/2 dozen tracks already, and one in the trees on the backside.
Downhill,
I bet it was good during our good snow period last week.It is, alas, back to the usual frozen snot to which we have become accustomed to here in the beautiful PNW. It was still invigorating and better than sitting in traffic like I usually do at that time. :D
I bet it was good during our good snow period last week.It is, alas, back to the usual frozen snot to which we have become accustomed to here in the beautiful PNW. It was still invigorating and better than sitting in traffic like I usually do at that time. :D
The snow is still passable higher up at the pass... In the Mt Snoqualmie/Snow Lake area today, it was decent above 4500ft or so. Let "wet powder" on sun-sheltered slopes. It was *horrible* below 4000ft - sounds like what you found on Hyak. Very strong microclimate going on right at the snow lake saddle though (4400ft)... very cold, the trees are still flocked with snow, it was the only place we encountered truly dry powder still (but only 2-3 inches on soft crust). So if you want powder, I bet the run from the saddle down to Snow Lake will fit the bill, at least until the cold east flow stops.
Thanks for the info Philfort. :D
I am new to the area so I have a question. Can you skin up inbounds at Hyak (and the rest of the mountain)? It sounds like you did but I just want to make sure. I went to Silver Basin at Crystal last weekend via skinning up the groomed stuff. This is very bizare to me because where I am from (Bozeman, MT) if you did this you would probably get gunned down by a sniper sitting at the top of a lift. Can you skin inbounds at all Washington resorts? Thanks for the help.
JN1010-- welcome aboard.
Hyak is closed M - F so as long as you don't get in the way of the Nordic center groomers, which operate out of the base, there is no one to give you the stink eye. Your own private resort w/o the crowds midweek. Hyak usually doesn't open until Christmas so you might get Sat and Sunday runs as well until it opens for the season.
When the resorts are open, it is generally frowned upon to be moving uphill while the paying public is moving downhill in all resorts in WAShington, but *certain* areas are more reasonable than others in this state when it comes to being on YOUR mountains when the lifts are running. General rule: Stay well away from downhill traffic and be courteous to all on the mtn. Be very cautious about being on ski areas when new snow has fallen, as avy work is the ski resort's first responsibility and you don't want to get in the way.
But if new snow has fallen, you shouldn't need to worry about ski areas, there's lots of BC next to almost all of Washington ski areas - enjoy!
Hyak is closed M - F so as long as you don't get in the way of the Nordic center groomers, which operate out of the base, there is no one to give you the stink eye. Your own private resort w/o the crowds midweek. Hyak usually doesn't open until Christmas so you might get Sat and Sunday runs as well until it opens for the season.
When the resorts are open, it is generally frowned upon to be moving uphill while the paying public is moving downhill in all resorts in WAShington, but *certain* areas are more reasonable than others in this state when it comes to being on YOUR mountains when the lifts are running. General rule: Stay well away from downhill traffic and be courteous to all on the mtn. Be very cautious about being on ski areas when new snow has fallen, as avy work is the ski resort's first responsibility and you don't want to get in the way.
But if new snow has fallen, you shouldn't need to worry about ski areas, there's lots of BC next to almost all of Washington ski areas - enjoy!
JN- as stated above, it varies a bit. Here's an old thread with some experiences-
http://www.turns-all-year.com/skiing_snowboarding/trip_reports/index.php?topic=3346
http://www.turns-all-year.com/skiing_snowboarding/trip_reports/index.php?topic=3346
NICE, thanks for the link Korup. I did a quick search for just that type of thread recently, to no avail. (Figgrd there had to be one out there like it tho.) ;) Might be posting in that one soon, depending on whether the stuff I was gonna ask/say is in there already...
Thanks guys all this info really helps a lot.
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