 Turns-All-Year backcountry skiing in the Pacific NorthwestBackcountry Skiing and Snowboarding Trip Reports |
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| This old version of Trip Reports is no longer being updated. It is being kept as an archive of ~340 backcountry skiing trip reports posted from April 2001 through August 2002. The new version Trip Reports is where new trip reports are currently being posted; it also has copies of the ~340 older trip reports and is searchable. |
| February 2002 Trip Reports |
February 27, 2002 Lower Paradise Glacier, Mt. Rainier: "At Paradise it was apparent that the east wind on Monday had been strong, and at the top of Mazama Ridge it was obvious; the rim of the back bowl was smooth ice, the wind having blown the newest snow off down to the crust from Friday's rains. We poked around a little bit trying to find a good run into the bowl, but north-facing was variably crusted, east was breakable crust, and south was hard crust, so we went up into the Paradise Glacier valley, hoping to find wind- and sun-sheltered slopes. Above about 6500' loose snow which had escaped the east wind was powdery. Avalanche danger appeared low due to the crust and lack of substantial snow for transport, but there was a lot of debris from cornice failures from the earlier rain. We went to the Cowlitz Rocks saddle, then climbed up the toe of the Paradise Glacier to about 7800'. By traversing out across a wind scoured area we were able to find a little deeper powder covering the icy layer, but the run down was tricky because some areas looked like soft snow but were really a 1mm veneer over the crust. Descending the rest of the Paradise Glacier valley we found better turning in several areas. The descent from Mazama Ridge was, as usual, variable, and we tried to stay in the powdery snow in the shade, as any sun exposure had produced an unpleasant breakable crust. In the afternoon a strong west wind started blowing, with lots of snow transport, plumes, and even devils, working to scour the last remaining pockets of loose snow." There are some photos from this trip here. Charles (tay@turns-all-year.com) February 24, 2002 Paradise, Mt. Rainier: "With 12 inches of new overnight at 1 -- 26 degrees, we had to go. Low ceiling to start. So we did Mazama and back bowl (6 inches over crust)and then down the ridge to the glades (12-24 inches of new in the trees) real nice if you can ski heavy powder (my Super Stinx shown! :-). Then broke trail back up the ridge on the open slopes above Paradise Valley Road for another run down, powder flowing waist deep. Great! " Andrew Carey February 23-24, 2002 Crystal Mountain Backcountry: "At Bullion Basin in the CM bc it was old refrozen snow on Sat and about 3" of oootah pow (thanks Utah; we didn't borrow that much) on top of a bearable crust on Sun. Spent the night up there helping out with the annual SM ski mountaineering course overnight field trip. Lots of work be did manage to get a couple of runs in on the glorious pow on Sunday. We had a couple of 3 and 4 RB failures on west facing aspects... there's still a faceted layer a foot or two down in that snow pack. Pics at Wild Hearts Skiing for those that are interested. cheers..." Ron Jarvis February 23, 2002 Mt Hood Meadows: "Had bsnss in Portland on Fri, so we drove up to Welches and skied MHM on Saturday. 4" new overnight, temps 31-32, snowing, winds gusty to 50 mph. Stayed low :-) practiced parallel turns on my new Super Stinx (107-70-?) following lessons in Lito's book on shaped skis. Wettest day of skiing we've had in a long time! Snow quite tricky in the morning, nice in the afteroon. abc" Andrew Carey February 23, 2002 SomewherenorthofBellingham: "Six inches of rain in two days in my usual haunts, combined with a steep north-south temperature gradient, suggested that this was an appropriate time to head north of the border, to an area about which I was sworn to secrecy years ago. We met at an ungodly early hour in a giant parking lot, juggled skis and backpacks for a while, and were underway long before sunrise. A couple of hours later we arrived at the trailhead, met up with another party heading south from Rogers Pass, and got on our way. There had been no rain here: instead, heavy snow. We were an unusually large party, numbering 8 in all, but this turned out to be a very good thing in light of conditions. Trailbreaking ranged from perfectly reasonable (i.e. exhausting and debilitating) to virtually impossible in three feet or more of fresh, dry snow. 6 to 10 inches of low-density, unconsolidated powder covered a semi-crust of warmer snow, which in turn covered essentially bottomless, dry powder. In the worst sections it was possible to step out of line, change clothes, adjust gear, have a bite to eat and a cup of tea before stepping back onto the skin track, no more than a hundred vertical feet from the leader. The crowd was, it must be said, merciless, having little to amuse themselves while waiting for the uptrack to be extended in minute increments aside from tearing to metaphoric shreds those who were sucked into bottomless tree wells or who fell, beetle-like, on their backs in failed kick turns. Anyone doubting that human beings are genetically programmed for efficient predation would have quickly learned otherwise on this trip. Different techniques, strategies and abilities emerged. One of our party weighed significantly less than half of what I do, and when her turn came to break trail she just hopped up on top of the snow and glided on ahead, seemingly puzzled about what the fuss was about. Another, heavier than I and riding skinnier skis, devoted himself to grunting and groaning and thrashing around without making any apparent uphill progress at all. Quite a few of our members seemed to suffer mysterious equipment failures (which inevitably required stepping out of line to fiddle and adjust) within minutes of taking over the lead. One otherwise unremarkable skier somehow managed to take impossibly long strides up the hill, as if possessed of an ability to de-couple his hip joints at will; when he was out front breaking trail we almost seemed to make real progress. Eventually we did attain the windswept ridge, 1800 feet above the road, where consolidated snow made the going significantly easier. However, turnaround time came remarkably soon thereafter (that 1800 feet had cost us more than four hours), and we abandoned our hopes of skiing the bowl beyond. The token split-boarder in our midst had some trouble assembling his board, and most of the group collapsed into little sniveling heaps in the snow to wait for him. Myself and another, determined to salvage some actual skiing out of the day, dropped through the steep glades near our uptrack. Staying in the fall line was definitely the order of the day, since to lose forward speed was to risk sinking without a trace; failing to adequately weight the rear ski for even an instant resulted in long, slow but spectacular falls. Deep tree wells on all sides grinned evil grins and beckoned with bony fingers, but we managed to avoid them. I made the mistake of dropping perhaps 50 feet below our uptrack, and spent a good 15 minutes battling my way up the little steep roll that had enticed me. The two of us then climbed back up what was now a very unremarkable and straightforward skin track to the ridge, meeting the rest of the party near the top, then followed their tracks down to the highway with its giant snowblowers, vehicle fumes and (this was key) heated restrooms and changing room. We did not pay much attention to snow stability issues, being more concerned with our ongoing battles with gravity, but I cut a couple of steep rolls on north and east-ish aspects, finding nothing remarkable aside from a tendency for loose sluffs in the drier surface snow on steep slopes. These would have been significant on larger terrain features....had we been able to actually reach any larger terrain features. Most of the party reassembled for nachos, pizzas and beers back in Bellingham. I managed to stay conscious for long enough to finish an entire large pizza by myself (to the collective astonishment of the group) then retreated home and collapsed into a dreamless sleep. Enjoy," Mark February 17, 2002 Paradise, Mt. Rainier NP: "Longmire gate opened at 9:00 a.m. sharp. The weather was broken clouds, poor visibility from the Muir snowfield to the top, (forecast was for deteriorating conditions later in the day), stable snow conditions, and a very light dusting of new. With designs of a Nisqually chute to bridge ski, we quickly changed our minds as we got our first peek of the Nisqually Glacier moraine with the wind scoured surface and visibility quickly disappearing. It was a challenge to get to the base of Panorama point in the total white out conditions, not being able to see more than a ski pole length away. Since we had left our traverse poodle home, it was, extend the ski poles to their furthest length, take a stab in front, then to the left, then to the right, and move cautiously ahead avoiding the looming edges on top of Alta Vista. We made our way across to the Edith Creek drainage for the return to the parking lot by The Paradise Inn. Ron consulted with his GPS often, and we carefully navigated our way back to the car. All and all it was a good day, lots of chuckles, practiced the basics of side slipping, wedge skiing, skiing so slow you are hardly moving, but feeling like you are skiing at mach 3, then, while standing still, falling over like a couple of drunken sailors, finally getting THREE consecutive turns on the Northeast side of Edith Creek, where we happened to find the best light and ski conditions for the day. We encountered all kinds of snow conditions, from wind scoured areas, frozen glazed sections, crust traps, occasional velvet areas, white out and flat light. Other than that, it was a perfect day :-)" Jeanette February 17, 2002 Mt. Bachelor backcountry : "I was part of a Tacoma & Seattle Mountain Rescue response to assist the Deschutes Co. Oregon Sheriff's search for snowboarder missing on W side Mt. Bachelor. On Feb. 9 a young woman was boarding with two friends in an ungroomed, mostly moderate terrain, open/gladed/forested area accessible from the NW Express chair. Her friends lost contact with her and reported her missing. Looking for tracks Ski Patrol verified she had not crossed area boundary. After eight days of intensive searching/probing by 100? searchers of >3 square mile area, no sign. Indicates how important it is to ski in contact with others. BTW skiing was poor as no new snow in a week: Up top icy (one of our boarders broke finger in tree collision), wind affected; lower melt-freeze trap crust. No avalanche hazard." Brent H February 16-17, 2002 Paradise, Mt. Rainier: "Saturday we skied Mazama Ridge and the back bowl (breakable crust on the E facing) nice snow on south-facing 9-1-1: Regine and the boys from Tacoma did it; I was shaky on my new skis. Sun we skied the back bowl (o.k.) and the gully to Reflection Lakes (here my new crud skis shined, but the boys from Olympia were somersaulting). Slope down to the road from the avalanche bypass was really nice, tho. abc" Andrew Carey February 16-18, 2002 Elfin Lake Hut, British Columbia: "Our annual 3 day trek north was again to Elfin Lake Hut. We were hoping to try a new hut even further north, but got last minute cold feet when told that a tent and stove would be in order. We've been to Elfin many times and have grown quite comfortable with its spacious 33 bunk confines, complete with a gas furnace, stoves and propane lights - and friendly Canadians. To venture farther without adequate intelligence seemed sheer madness. The main problem with this area is its proximity to the coast - and thus clouds and general moist conditions. The trailhead is accessed via a 10 km/3500 foot drive departing highway 99 just north of Squamish. After a two hour hike up a logging road (the snow was firm so we packed our skis), Red Heather warming hut was our lunch stop and our first glimpse of the hordes. Then about another hour to the top of the ridge (5000-5500 feet) and the fun began - a gradual descending approach to Elfin Lake Hut along this ridge which on this day took 1/2 to 1 hour (though it could take much more in icy conditions). The trail was well marked both by tracks and orange poles - this is a popular route! We were pleasantly surprised to find open bunks even on a Saturday night (and being among the last parties to arrive at around 5 PM). I must mention that the bunks are precisely 6 feet in length and it can be somewhat sardine-like attempting to get a good night sleep - depending on one's height (I'm 5'11"). We depend on good spirits:) The hut is located at the base of the Mt. Garibaldi massif and there are many options for day travel. Because the weather was socked in and snowing hard on this Sunday, we felt our way about halfway up to the Gargoyles and skiied back (flat light but about 8 inches of new snow to plunge through). I elected to spend the afternoon reading while Nick attempted an afternoon run. Monday morning was much better (see photo) so we got to ascend the Gargoyles and have an enjoyable run back to the hut before our ski out - which only took us an hour and a half - then back to Seattle." Mike February 16, 2002 Mt. Baker Backcountry: "A vast and impressive panoply of "interesting" snow awaited this weekend. Two of us skied up the north side of Table Mountain on varieties of wind-affected powder, slab, sastrugi, crust and (occasionally) actual skiable snow, booted up the 50 degree wind scoop at the Inner Glacier schrund, and tagged the quote summit unquote in light snow and gentle breezes. Then, being possessed of an abundance of adventurous spirit and a paucity of common sense, we set off down the west side despite the unequivocally problematic snow. After a section or two of 40 degree boilerplate (which my partner skied with his heel lifts raised in an attempt to inject a bit of levity into the situation) and a hair-raising descending traverse of even steeper icy slopes interspersed with avalanche debris, we finally located the goods: FOUR CONSECUTIVE TURNS on reasonable, boot-top snow. After that brief but glorious interlude the situation deteriorated rapidly, as we descended a long gully consisting of wall-to-wall breakable melt-freeze crust. My partner, heel lifts down, offered repeated demonstrations of a special descent technique involving full-body barrel rolls executed parallel to the ground while completely airborne; I, alas, was not so inventive. I am ashamed to admit that we turned back before quite reaching the bottom, climbing back up the breakable crust gully, making quick work of the four-turn snow patch, booting the steep, icy avalanche debris and frightening me near to death skinning up the 40 degree boilerplate pitches. Then we skied what turned out to be entirely reasonable snow-heavy powder marred in places by work-hardened snowboarder tracks-back down to Bagley Basin....or rather, my partner skied. I suffered an inexplicable separation from my ski (TRP releasing as it is designed to do, but G3 leash also releasing for no apparent reason), and descended the final 500 feet on one ski. Far be it from me to belabor the point, but this is more difficult that one might think. WAY more difficult. We took one last run in the Blueberry Chutes to finish out the day, in steep, cut-up heavy powder. Aside from a short but deep, vertical trench in the snow (which I dug with my forehead), we both acquitted ourselves well on this pitch, and returned to the parking lot sated. The day was actually thoroughly fun for its challenging skiing, astonishing scenery and incredible variety of conditions and landforms, and we both agreed that, while the actual skiing was not terribly good, the tour itself was a blast. Anyone venturing out in this neighborhood after the next significant snowfall will want to be aware that there is currently serious suncrust on many east, south and west aspects, with windcrust in a lot of other areas. As windslab forms it will probably slide readily on those surfaces. Enjoy." Mark February 15, 2002 Silver Creek, Wenatchee National Forest: "One of us, who will remain unnamed, failed to sufficiently study his alarm clock operating manual, turning our 6am start into something close to 8am. We were going to go do some exploring in the Baker backcountry, but changed our plans to Silver Creek, about 15 miles east of Snoqualmie Pass, which I have always done as a spring trip with a snow-free trail approach. We 4-wheeled a bit on a snowmobile-packed logging road, then skied about half a mile across a clear-cut to get to the trailhead, under about 3' of snow, and the start of the 1200' climb up into the hanging valley of Silver Creek. We hiked for about half of the climb, then skinned when the snow got deeper. Climbing up, it was obvious that we were going to get to experience a big range of backcountry snow conditions: walkable sun-crust, tree-drip hardpack, breakable crust, rotten sun-warmed mush, but also sun-softened semi-corn and, in a few choice locations, cold loose snow (often known as powder around here). The recent warm, sunny weather had triggered a lot of pinwheels and small avalanches on sun-exposed slopes the previous day or two, but there was no activity while we were there. After gaining the lip of the hanging valley, we skied about one and a half miles up the valley, admiring the forest and looking for a place to make some turns. Most of the forested slopes of the valley sides looked a bit too dense with tree trunks, given the quality (and variability) of the snow. We did get in a few turns upon reaching the first slide path; due to morning sun exposure, left turns were in powder and right turns in breakable crust. We decided that we'd had enough fun doing turns and headed back down the valley, an enjoyable glide on the fast forest snow. Upon reaching the lip of the valley, we picked our way back down, traversing, side-slipping, doing kick turns and lots of garlands, and getting in a few more true turns. All in all, not a good trip for turning but a great trip for skiing. There are some photos from this trip here." Charles (tay@turns-all-year.com) February 10, 2002 Tatoosh Range, Mt. Rainier National Park: "Intending to head for the Tatoosh, Jeanette and I noticed Steve Andreasen waiting around in the parking lot for his flock to gather for a Mountaineers trip of equal destination. After some discussion, we decided to join them. An early gate opening at Longmire caught us all dawdling so away we went for Narada. For the second week in a row we had a great trail broke by returning snow climber/campers on snowshoes; these providing us with added benefit of what sounded like competent beta on the snowpack. Observed little evidence of natural releases during the climb but our RB near Castle Saddle failed at 2 on the first 1 foot layer and a 3 on the second foot layer, bombproof below that. Skied lower angle slopes and noted no other hazardous snow conditions." Ron Jarvis February 9, 2002 Mt. Rainier National Park: "Scott and I drove to Paradise after awaiting the gate at Longmire for about an hour. (road opened about 10am) Left the car at 10:45 and motored up the snowfield. We encountered several VERY icy sections on the way up where ski crampons would have aided, but of course, we didn't bring them. It is odd that after all of this seasons snowfall, Moon Rocks are still exposed! They should be covered up in normal years, but obviously the place gets more than it's fair share of wind! Made it to Muir in 3 hrs. Very windy there, but mostly clear skies. Scott and I had debated the entire day whether or not to ski the chute to the Nisqually and then on to the brige. Originally, we had decided that the the chute would be too wind-loaded. We gave it a look on the way down and it looked too good to pass up. I gave the slope a few hasty hops on my edges...good enough! It ended up being a real sweet run all the way to the bridge. Within 20 minutes I got a hitch back up to Paradise, grabbed the car and headed back to the bridge to pick up Scott." Sam Avaiusini February 9, 2002 Mt. Baker backcountry: "Ah, well: another week, another deep, powdery tour in the secret heart of the Mt. Baker backcountry. In the end, three of us went chugging up the ski area cat track toward the scenic viewpoint we all know fondly as The Usual Place. Snow was unmistakably wind effected, with ten inches of low-density powder over another couple of feet of fresh snow from earlier in the week (on top of what is now well over 200 inches of seasonal snowpack). My compadres indicated an interest in accessing the secret ridge, gully and bowl which figured so prominently in recent trip reports, so, upon reaching the high point of our tour, we made the necessary preparations. First, incantations were muttered, magical substances scattered in the prescribed manner, and burnt offerings were, err, offered. Then, all in attendance were sworn to eternal and unremitting secrecy. This being done, we dropped down the ridge, thrashing on the flats and bounding with varying degrees of finesse down the steep sections, wrapping the corner down a gully and across a bowl surrounded by weird, swirling cliffs. The skiing was very, very good, sometimes verging on outstanding. We stopped at the bottom to skin up, snack and rehydrate and grin beatifically at each other. No sooner had we spread ourselves out in glorious solitude than a loud and crazed cackling was heard, and across the slope came a pack of sled dogs and a triumphant skijorer yelling that he'd tell the world about the secret ridge run, and that this would sure teach us Pugetopolites a thing or two about....oh wait, sorry: wrong storyline. I was saving that version for the television pilot. Actually, out of the woods came the only other person I know who has ferreted out and skied this line and who, though normally limited to skiing in blizzard conditions by moonlight, happened to be in the neighborhood and thought he'd drop by. Introductions were made, and our guest, who is, at minimum, three times as energetic as myself, was delicately maneuvered into taking on far more than his share of trailbreaking for the remainder of the day. This was a remarkable stroke of luck for the rest of the party. In all, we skied north, east and south aspects to about 45 degrees steepness. There was lots of apparently stable powder virtually everywhere we looked, with loose sluffing of the surface snow consistent on slopes greater than 40 degrees, but no deeper releases. Of course, there are obvious areas of windslab, obvious fresh and unstable cornices, and obvious recent natural releases to size 3 scattered all over the place on a surprising variety of aspects (one of these was on a west/southwest aspect; it broke 5 or 6 foot deep a couple of days ago, ran close to a thousand vertical feet then across a flat valley floor and started up the opposite side). We made reasonable route choices, skied to exhaustion in relative safety, quitting about 5:00. On occasion, the clouds broke open and we actually saw our own shadows-not as common as one might think during the dark months of the PNW winter-and backlit snow plumes went leaping, swirling and dancing all along the ridges. Enjoy. " Mark February 3, 2002 Castle Peak, Mt. Rainier NP: "Pleasant hard to believe it's Washington weather on Sunday led to a great day. As noted gates opened at a somewhat painfully late 1000 to arrive at the Narada falls parking lot with a full crowd of snowshoers and nordic skiers but few with their eyes looking to loftier slopes. Cool in the mid 20's and snowshowers allowed a quick skin to Reflection lakes. A group of overnight campers indicated only a inch or so of fresh snow overnight at Reflection lakes. Following a nicely laid uptrack by a certainly younger and more spirited group of four, the three of us made pleasant time in blue sky and brief snowshowers up to the east side of Castle Peak. Allowing for their hard work we enjoyed lunch expecting them to make first tracks down through the 18 inches or so of untracked snow only slightly windblown. They disappeared east as we floated downward in blue sky, light winds, dusty snow and a big mountain painting the background. Slightly more windblown on the southwest facing aspects we suspected and noted a bit of windloading on the northeast aspects of the bowl. Overall the fresh laid over a two inch slab with a couple of feet of firm snow beneath. After a couple of return runs we shared the slope with another group of four from below. Lowering skys and gray clouds followed us down as snowshowers returned to close the day. Another great day in the Northwest." Charles Wiley February 3, 2002 MRNP - Paradise, Mazama Ridge "Super" Bowl: "It was another great day in the PNW. Longmire gate opened at 10:00 a.m. today, after the snow removal cleared the road from the additional 6 to 8 inches of fresh that had fallen on Paradise. Arrived at Paradise to 26 degrees, light wind and snowing, forecast was for clearing late morning/early afternoon. Ron and I decided to ski down the lower Paradise road to the Paradise Valley drainage where we would skin up to the Mazama ridge and bowl. We were able to take advantage of a great snowshoe track from a group of snowshoers, on their way out, who had spent the previous night on the ridge. It was quite amazing, since it had snowed so much the night before, the only tracks on this side of the mountain were the ones laid down from this group of snowshoers. There would be no trail breaking for us as this track took us to within 100 yards of our desired destination. With the recent 3 feet of snow from the previous week and the additional 6 - 8 inches of fresh snow overnight we skied the bowl on 30 degree slopes, staying away from the steeper aspects. There had been only one natural release on the northeast side of the bowl from a broken cornice chunk that released the top 3 inches with no significant runoff. Our first run was fantastic on the 6 inches of new light snow, cleared skies, stable conditions, and no other tracks. We ended up yo-yoing this bowl 5 additional times. On our last climb back up, the snow started to fall again and swept away all our tracks. Temps remained a constant 26 degrees all day, skied out the Paradise Valley drainage to the lower Paradise Valley Road and skinned back up to the upper Paradise lot. We did not encounter any other skiers all day, enjoying our own private "bowl" party. FYI, a call to MRNP communications headquarters (Sat 2/02) did confirm that the previous week (Jan28-Feb1) all vehicles, INCLUDING 4 wheel drive were required to chain up." Photos from this trip can be viewed at Turns-All-Year and also at Wild Hearts Skiing. Jeanette February 2-9, 2002 Campbell Icefield: "W slope Canadian Rockies (Golden, BC). Considerable avalanche hazard; 60cm new during week; Snowpack had significant layer at 1.7m, prior to storm Rutschblock 6; post storm Rutschblock 4. Excellent powder; fair to poor weather and visibility. Helicopter from Donald Station 20km NW of Golden. No other parties; no nearby heli-skiing operations. Self-guided and self-catered; see www.mountainphoto.com/about/skigolden/Chaletinfo.html. A nice set-up that will be far more fancy on completion of the new three-story chalet; excellent sauna/showers; water piped to near the hut; present hut is crowded for 12 (8 is more like it), but this will be the guide hut next year. Terrain in the hut bowl is relatively tame, but there are certainly challenges nearby (including Mt. Alan Campbell) if you have the visibility/stability to visit these places; sufficient and good quality tree/glade skiing for those low-vis days." Brent H Back to top |