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TR: Jailbird, Bluebird, Freebirds...

12/15/07
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Posted by snoslut on 12/10/07 10:49am
Well this adventure started just like any, usually browsing the weather and avi conditions at work.  With Baker being the best ticket in state, I knew it would be a zoo.  Just like the Muir Circus, only at Baker.

Stugie with our tracks in the foreground...


Stugie again...


Stugie and I left the southern hemisphere by 7:00pm and soon found ourselves in Seattle traffic.  Once in the express lanes, it was smooth sailing to Bellingham.  By 10pm we arrived at Grahams.  Being good patrons, we thought it only appropriate to close down the bar.



By 3am we were in the upper lot and crashed out in the front seats.  The sounds of cats woke us up a few hours later, and while we got our gear together, 2 other cars showed up.  We hit the trail and after crossing past the designated BC sign that Baker has posted, we tried to maneuver through a skin track that had been slaughtered by boot packers.  Thankfully, the carnage to the trail only lasted until the BC sign was no longer visible.  We skinned out towards Coleman Pinnacle, and as we skinned around backside of Table Mountain, we noticed a decent crust on the surface of the snow that was just beginning to get the sun.  There was evidence of slide activity, but most of the chunder was buried and easily navigable.

We dropped our first line by 8:15am.  Was nice not having to break any trail.  Thanks Aaron!  Only thing missing from the skin track highways were directional signs.  On our ascent we bumped into Cody, a solo splitter and Baker local.  We all decided to take some runs together.  The gully line was sick but holes with water pouring over and minimal coverage convinced us not to travel any further down.  Instead be lapped some mellow stuff, over and over and over and again.



Damn!  A skintrack!  Where do I go? (photo by Stugie)


Laying some strokes on the white canvas...photo by Stugie


Eventually the clouds started appearing high above and our day was coming to a close.  On the skin out we met up with photog Grant Gunderson and his photo slut for the day, Dean Collins.  While skinning out the backside of Table, there was 2 new slides from the cliffs above.  The frozen chunks were solid and some pieces about 5-6ft in diameter.  Otherwise no avi concerns on any other slope aspects except on south facing near rocks.  Just 6 to 12 inches of some of the sugary'est snow I've ridden.

On the way down, Preston and Alex pulled in front of us at the lower lot.  We met at Grahams, ate and chatted about our days experience and were off.

Stugie has a viddy from our most recent outings...
here's a vid for ya'll to check if you have 6 minutes...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CC-kIvTymw

Hope you like it.

sweet movie.  peace Dustin

What day was this? Today (monday) or Sunday? Looks like you had nice blue skies and light fluffy stuff to keep you company.  Good work accosting the drunk and even better work accosting the Baker backcountry.

See you next time.

Chris


We were there on Saturday.  The fluffy stuff was a treat...lol, and as far as the drunk, you gotta laugh at the way those kinds of things play out.

dustif2 - Thx, glad you liked the movie.

...sweet turns...

and, you know... sleep is underrated. 

You can sleep all you want when your d e d.  Yup dead. ;)

Otherwise sleep is only necessary when conditions are epic.  Add another 2 feet of pow with that bluebird, it would have been epic.

You might not have known but sleeping is my other hobby.

really, you sleep?  when?

and BTW, when I'm on the slopes, every day is epic.  when the snowgods see me coming, they bow and promptly puke.

Savegondor wrote:
really, you sleep?  when?


Sometimes in my car at work, the toilet at work and sometimes I curl up underneath my desk. ;D

Savegondor wrote:
when I'm on the slopes, every day is epic.


Hmmm...even when its whiteout with an inche of punch crust/trap crust with few inches of pow underneath???

How about a whiteout in a mine field???

If so I do admire your criteria for epicness. ;D  Mine pales in comparison.

<antijinx>When the snowgoddess (Mother Nature) sees me coming she lifts her skirt, I mean the clouds part and the sun tends to shine.</antijinx> ;D

Of course after it dumps uncontrolably.

Okay I gotta go back to work, this is cutting in on my sleep.

It was a good day to be out on Ptarmigan Ridge for sure.

It was a very good day...for sure.  If you want to see some more pics and some footage, check the vid link below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CC-kIvTymw

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4547
tr-jailbird-bluebird-freebirds
snoslut
2007-12-10 18:49:57