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Topic: Feg 13-14, 2008, Sasse Ridge (Read 1873 times)
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Larry_R
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I trust that this TR will be useful, but not for the reason you might think. 
It's just what we have all been waiting for; the Washington State Snowmobile Association annual convention is in Cle Elum this weekend. Perhaps not the best weekend to try the Cle Elum valley. Nonetheless, here is a bit of current info about Sasse Ridge. My snowpack model said that there was 4 inches new at Sasse on Wednesday morning, but on the drive through Roslyn there was eight. It turned out that the snowpack model for Sasse was correct. Very strange for that area.
The plows have had a hard time keeping up with the snow, but the road was plowed, barely, all the way to the barrier. Parking was very limited as a result, especially because the Snow Park had not been plowed recently. I gather that there have been funding issues. So once again I had a lot of shoveling to do to make a parking space, which set off both my old rotator cuff injuries. At least I can claim that I did not get hurt skiing.
The ski up to my campsite was better than I expected with all that recent new snow. At least it was OK for going up. Three to 4 inches new on top of granular spring like snow with no cohesion, other than the slight crust on that layer that would pancake fracture with every step. It would have been sub-prime skiing on Wednesday.
By evening the clouds dissipated and the temperature started to drop, something rather typical for this location this time of year. The overnight low was 14 degrees (19 at 6 am) which transformed snow I would have heavily discounted into some very nice conditions, just like the standard pitch from the ski areas: "4 inches new on a hard base". By the time I got to "Dawg Peak", 5760'+ the depth was up to eight inches of quite light snow. But what were really impressive were the cornices. See the first pic.
The second pic is of Jolly Mtn. from the decision point -- where you decide if your are going to Jolly or Dawg. I'm sure I've posted lots of pics of Jolly, but this one is for JM. John has been talking about skiing that west rib off the top for some time, and this year it looks very nice. There is only one problem; Jolly is way in there to begin with, and depending on how far you would ski down, you would then be faced with a long slog out through quite dense forest, plus maybe a substantial climb. But John has a lot of energy!
The third pic, not in chronological order, shows the first light on the Cascade crest. From left to right: Three Queens (behind the tree), Four Brothers, Chickamin, the rounded Point 6926 below which is a delightful meltwater pond in summer, not shown on the maps, and Lemah Mtn. showing all five fingers of the hand. Polallie Ridge is in the foreground on the right.
So I lucked out, and this trip was far better than I had hoped. Even if you are right there, I don't think you can predict these things this time of year. It's starting to be all about the nighttime lows (the freeze) and how much sun the snow has had. By the time I skied out at 1 pm, filtered sun had turned the morning's nice conditions back into wet snow on a somewhat breakable crust.
Larry
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skierguitarist
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NICE PICTURES -- Especially the last one!!!!!
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Marcus
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That last pic is a doozy Larry -- great view of Chikamin, et al. Never seen it from that side.
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Larry_R
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Thanks SG and Marcus!
Those pics were taken with my new 12 mp Cannon Elph with image stabilization. It's quite an amazing little camera.
Here's a full resolution crop from that last pic that gives an idea of the detail in can capture, even in low light, hand held with just the auto settings, flash off. For reference, Chikamin is about 13 miles away. Notice the snow blowing off the crest with the early morning easterly wind. There is a modest amount of .jpg artifact at 100% (from low light), but try 80 or 90%.
http://www.larryscascaderesource.com/pics/crestatdawn.jpg
Larry
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skierguitarist
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Thanks SG and Marcus! Those pics were taken with my new 12 mp Cannon Elph with image stabilization. It's quite an amazing little camera. Here's a full resolution crop from that last pic that gives an idea of the detail in can capture, even in low light, hand held with just the auto settings, flash off. For reference, Chikamin is about 13 miles away. Notice the snow blowing off the crest with the early morning easterly wind. There is a modest amount of .jpg artifact at 100% (from low light), but try 80 or 90%. http://www.larryscascaderesource.com/pics/crestatdawn.jpgLarry |
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wolfs
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What a great pic! (the third one)
You have certainly increased my desire to get to Chikamin and Lehah one of these days, from the side pictured, and while snow still on the ground. Might make a nice April-ish trip, a 2-1/2 dayer with a campout at Spectacle Lake.
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Larry_R
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What a great pic! (the third one)
You have certainly increased my desire to get to Chikamin and Lehah one of these days, from the side pictured, and while snow still on the ground. Might make a nice April-ish trip, a 2-1/2 dayer with a campout at Spectacle Lake.
Wolfs, I'm just looking at the full res picture again, plus the even sharper original, and it looks like it might be possible this year to ski off the summit of Lemah Mtn - Main Peak. I'll bet that would be a first. Or has it been done before?
I've drooled over all those big slopes in the pic for years, but they are *long* way in. Here's another possibility: drive as far as you can on Rd 46 and then ski to Cooper Pass. Just beyond the pass take spur road 130 to an old loading zone and then climb to the ridge leading to Three Queens Lake. I bushwhacked up there to the lake last summer, and provided the brush lower down is snow covered, this would work. (That was sure a hot sweaty trip, with the the evil brush trying to trap me in its lair forever.)
This gets you to the flank of Three Queens, from which you could ascend higher.
For me it's just a dream, but it would be fun to read about such a trip.
Larry
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Jim Oker
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FWIW, A hasty check of alpenglow.org did not turn up a reference to Lemah on the Alpine Lakes page.
A spring ski-crampon-assisted tour in via a route approximating the PCT from Snoqualmie Pass could also get you into that area via a spectacular route.
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silaswild
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Larry, thanks for the weekly update, interesting cornices. I found several unusual huge wind formations today near Snoqualmie Pass, the result of big wind and big snows the past couple weeks I suppose. Nice sunrise, thanks for sharing.
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Lowell_Skoog
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A spring ski-crampon-assisted tour in via a route approximating the PCT from Snoqualmie Pass could also get you into that area via a spectacular route.
Yes, that's part of the Snoqualmie Haute Route. A possibly quicker way in (but not as spectacular) would be to ski up Gold Creek, climb to Joe Lake, and then carry on over Chikamin Peak.
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