The Xmas TR - 2006, Dec 22, 23 and 25
12/15/06
2447
1
Merry Xmas from the land of powder! I can't right a full tr since I'm leaving again to chase powder again. So here's a few teasers until I return next week.
Eli ho ho ho'ing down the way on the 25th in the Crystal bc...
Stevens Pass bc from the 22 & 23...
Pillow...
- Framed!
- We found a somewhat consolidating snowpack but temps appeared to be inconsistent throughout. ~14'' down was a 3-4'' layer of low density snow that Eli was able to hollow out with little effort. He was also able to brush away 7'' or so of low density off the top. That left a 7'' layer of high density/wet snow that could be felt with each step while skinning. Even though the layers were colapsing underneath there were no cracks and obvious sounds of settling. What really got our attention is how easily the columns sheared, after a few attemps, on the lower density snow layer. The slicing of the snowsaw was enough to get the 14'' to slide on this layer. All this on a w/sw aspect, 25 degree slope at about 5700ft. What confused me is how the snow could shear so easily while isolating columns but not while we switchbacked up. We turned around here and proceeded to board and ski cut but without any results. On the way in we saw what appeared to be a 1ft plus crown on a w/nw aspect. On the way out the fracture line went further across. Damn!
Eli ho ho ho'ing down the way on the 25th in the Crystal bc...
Stevens Pass bc from the 22 & 23...
Pillow...
- Framed!
- We found a somewhat consolidating snowpack but temps appeared to be inconsistent throughout. ~14'' down was a 3-4'' layer of low density snow that Eli was able to hollow out with little effort. He was also able to brush away 7'' or so of low density off the top. That left a 7'' layer of high density/wet snow that could be felt with each step while skinning. Even though the layers were colapsing underneath there were no cracks and obvious sounds of settling. What really got our attention is how easily the columns sheared, after a few attemps, on the lower density snow layer. The slicing of the snowsaw was enough to get the 14'' to slide on this layer. All this on a w/sw aspect, 25 degree slope at about 5700ft. What confused me is how the snow could shear so easily while isolating columns but not while we switchbacked up. We turned around here and proceeded to board and ski cut but without any results. On the way in we saw what appeared to be a 1ft plus crown on a w/nw aspect. On the way out the fracture line went further across. Damn!
Good times on the 22nd. I'll second that yikes though!!. That whole was a monster.
You gotta send me some of the pics from that day. :)
You gotta send me some of the pics from that day. :)
Reply to this TR
Please login first: