3-29-08, Heather Ridge - highway runs
3/29/08
WA Stevens Pass
3035
3
This is my first post. Sorry that I don't have pictures; the light was amazing and would have made for perfect photography. The snow on the other hand was a little sketch. Normally I wouldn't post this report without pics...
A friend and I left Seattle at 6:00 with the goal of getting one quick lap at Heather Ridge and being home in time to make my wife happy by making progress on the remodel project. We left the Stevens pass parking lot at 8:00 and my ski partner Erich broke trail past the first tower and west to the little lake (the name escapes me).
The snow was amazing; about 9-12" of blower on top of a very firm layer that varied from impenetrable to almost breakable. I was a little concerned that there would be no bond between the new powder and the old crust layer.
We skied the slope just west of the pass. At the top we dug a pit and determined that there wasn't a bond between the new and old snow but the new snow wasn't consolidated at all so we weren't worried about the whole slope sliding. We decided to ski it.
The skiing was amazing. Unfortunately, one turn caused an entire swath to sluff away and run to the flat area a long way below. I skied second and skiing over the area that had sluffed was like skiing a groomer inbounds while skiing in the fresh was amazing but a little unerving because of all the sluff. I would have been totally freaked out but by all the sluffing snow but given that it was unconsolidated and all of the terrain that we were skiing fanned out.
I'm definately not an expert but with the sun that was breaking through the clouds, I would expect the powder to consolidate quickly and create a fairly dangerous situation in that area tomorrow.
A friend and I left Seattle at 6:00 with the goal of getting one quick lap at Heather Ridge and being home in time to make my wife happy by making progress on the remodel project. We left the Stevens pass parking lot at 8:00 and my ski partner Erich broke trail past the first tower and west to the little lake (the name escapes me).
The snow was amazing; about 9-12" of blower on top of a very firm layer that varied from impenetrable to almost breakable. I was a little concerned that there would be no bond between the new powder and the old crust layer.
We skied the slope just west of the pass. At the top we dug a pit and determined that there wasn't a bond between the new and old snow but the new snow wasn't consolidated at all so we weren't worried about the whole slope sliding. We decided to ski it.
The skiing was amazing. Unfortunately, one turn caused an entire swath to sluff away and run to the flat area a long way below. I skied second and skiing over the area that had sluffed was like skiing a groomer inbounds while skiing in the fresh was amazing but a little unerving because of all the sluff. I would have been totally freaked out but by all the sluffing snow but given that it was unconsolidated and all of the terrain that we were skiing fanned out.
I'm definately not an expert but with the sun that was breaking through the clouds, I would expect the powder to consolidate quickly and create a fairly dangerous situation in that area tomorrow.
Was up there today too. Lots of faceshots, but I agree the (cohesionless) snow was not well-bonded. The sluffs were running pretty deep. Didn't see any windslabs, but there were large point releases on aspects getting sun.
Anything on the south half of the compass got pretty sun-baked and has a crust now. West-facing stuff might have fared better than east-facing (e.g. moonlight bowl = baked) since the sun was out more in the first half of the day.
Anything on the south half of the compass got pretty sun-baked and has a crust now. West-facing stuff might have fared better than east-facing (e.g. moonlight bowl = baked) since the sun was out more in the first half of the day.
The lake you went by was Skyline Lake, and the face you skied is called the Diving Board. We saw your tracks from the ski area.
The snowpack at Stevens is quite variable depending on subtle changes in aspect right now. Things that get even a little bit of sun are acting very differently from true north slopes.
I know it's obvious that sun exposure will affect what's happening in the snowpack, but the combination of unseasonably cold weather and storms with strong spring sun is making for some unique conditions. People would do well to follow your example and dig everywhere they go. Things should be interesting pretty soon here.
The snowpack at Stevens is quite variable depending on subtle changes in aspect right now. Things that get even a little bit of sun are acting very differently from true north slopes.
I know it's obvious that sun exposure will affect what's happening in the snowpack, but the combination of unseasonably cold weather and storms with strong spring sun is making for some unique conditions. People would do well to follow your example and dig everywhere they go. Things should be interesting pretty soon here.
Glad you had a safe day. The sloughing would make me nervouss too. We were at Yodelin across from you, wondering what it was like. Now we know.
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