March 15, Jim Hill Mountain
3/15/08
3016
4
Disclaimer: No pictures, no video, yet. Sorry. But take my word for it - there is a TON of powder up there for anyone who goes again soon. We only got in one lap, and even those tracks are probably covered up by today. This is proabaly too long...
It begins: We left Seattle at 6:15. After dropping off my family to ski/ride the Stevens lifts, Joe - (Big Smooth), Brad - (Moscawulf) and I took on Jim Hill. Parking was easy, since the access road a few hundred yards west of the ventilators was plowed to the ground, with lots of room for the TAY Vanpool.
The climb: We climbed up the Henry Creek route. The lower section, under dense small trees, was frozen solid, with very little new snow, but the skins gripped allright, and climbing was easy. As we climbed higher through some clearings, and into the bigger timber, the fresh snow and our hopes got got higher. The geezers looked strong on the way up, but the tele-buck did most of the trailbreaking. Thank you Brad!
Powder, powder, everywhere...: By the time we got to the bottom of the upper basin, we were giddy. 12-18" of powder pretty well bonded on top of a firm crust layer. We had lunch and climbed on to the ridge at about 6300. Shovel test required several hits to knock the fresh powder off the crust. R/B test took several stomps to collapse, so we thought we were good to go. Incidentally, it was the geezers that did all the digging...
Visibility Deteriorates: Brad climbed to the top of the false summit, about 6800, while Joe and I got ready to drop in off the ridge. Then the visibility went bad. The light went flat and we couldn't see any terrain features. The skiing went from flash to thrash. :(
We waited about a half hour, and when it didn't improve we headed down, carefully. All that wonderful powder, wasted. Waiting. Wanting.
Wind Slab: The first drop in for me, and also for Brad up higher, caused a pretty good slab release below us, with a 40 foot long crack shooting out, and 12" deep sluff that broke loose and went down 30 to 40 yards before stopping. That was unnerving, but also was at the steepest most wind loaded part of the slope. After that, there were no other instabilities.
Great Skiing: At about 5800 feet (bottom of the wide open section) the visibility improved and all the way back down, the skiing was great! Through the small trees down to the lower basin, the powder was good. Below that, through the several small clearings, the snow was heavier, but very nice. Even down the ridge to the road the snow had softened up enough to edge.
Tele Geezers vs. Tele Buck: Through the lower trees, Joe and I were too tired to be effective, and ended up hiking down the last few hundred feet to the road. But Brad skied to the road, to the highway, and would have kept his skies on across the highway, but we told him we were already suitably impressed, so he relented and walked with us to the car.
Epilogue: Don't be two hours late picking your wife up at a ski resort. The bed that night was as cold as Jim Hill powder.
It begins: We left Seattle at 6:15. After dropping off my family to ski/ride the Stevens lifts, Joe - (Big Smooth), Brad - (Moscawulf) and I took on Jim Hill. Parking was easy, since the access road a few hundred yards west of the ventilators was plowed to the ground, with lots of room for the TAY Vanpool.
The climb: We climbed up the Henry Creek route. The lower section, under dense small trees, was frozen solid, with very little new snow, but the skins gripped allright, and climbing was easy. As we climbed higher through some clearings, and into the bigger timber, the fresh snow and our hopes got got higher. The geezers looked strong on the way up, but the tele-buck did most of the trailbreaking. Thank you Brad!
Powder, powder, everywhere...: By the time we got to the bottom of the upper basin, we were giddy. 12-18" of powder pretty well bonded on top of a firm crust layer. We had lunch and climbed on to the ridge at about 6300. Shovel test required several hits to knock the fresh powder off the crust. R/B test took several stomps to collapse, so we thought we were good to go. Incidentally, it was the geezers that did all the digging...
Visibility Deteriorates: Brad climbed to the top of the false summit, about 6800, while Joe and I got ready to drop in off the ridge. Then the visibility went bad. The light went flat and we couldn't see any terrain features. The skiing went from flash to thrash. :(
We waited about a half hour, and when it didn't improve we headed down, carefully. All that wonderful powder, wasted. Waiting. Wanting.
Wind Slab: The first drop in for me, and also for Brad up higher, caused a pretty good slab release below us, with a 40 foot long crack shooting out, and 12" deep sluff that broke loose and went down 30 to 40 yards before stopping. That was unnerving, but also was at the steepest most wind loaded part of the slope. After that, there were no other instabilities.
Great Skiing: At about 5800 feet (bottom of the wide open section) the visibility improved and all the way back down, the skiing was great! Through the small trees down to the lower basin, the powder was good. Below that, through the several small clearings, the snow was heavier, but very nice. Even down the ridge to the road the snow had softened up enough to edge.
Tele Geezers vs. Tele Buck: Through the lower trees, Joe and I were too tired to be effective, and ended up hiking down the last few hundred feet to the road. But Brad skied to the road, to the highway, and would have kept his skies on across the highway, but we told him we were already suitably impressed, so he relented and walked with us to the car.
Epilogue: Don't be two hours late picking your wife up at a ski resort. The bed that night was as cold as Jim Hill powder.
Where did you park the car? Are the no parking signs still there by the ventilation shaft?
There is an access road a few hundred yards west of the Ventilators, north side of the highway. We parked there two years in a row.
The "No parking" and "This area under video surveillance" sings are still posted at the Ventilators.
The "No parking" and "This area under video surveillance" sings are still posted at the Ventilators.
How was the going through the lower trees? Last time I was there we went skiers left of the creek and it was tough navigating through them. Is there a better way to go or did we need more snow the day I was there?
If you keep high above the creek (climber's right) it isn't too bad, but the first bit is always the hardest, and worse in low snow.
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