11/12 Mt. Hood

[jonesy]

So how was the clinic? It sounds like fun. The hubby is going tomorrow. I am in an ankle brace

Only some of the terrain was open. I was hoping for a little more angle, we skied Heather which I guessed was 35*. Had some small sluff which was fun and watch out for the Ice patches. So yes it was a good time w/ small groups of skiers and a good price. Did an MA on Video @ the end. Dead action with a brace,get back on the Snow soon. I was incorrect on the slope angle of Heather,it is 43*.

[::: :::]

Only some of the terrain was open. I was hoping for a little more angle, we skied Heather which I guessed was 35*. Had some small sluff which was fun and watch out for the Ice patches. So yes it was a good time w/ small groups of skiers and a good price. Did an MA on Video @ the end. Dead action with a brace,get back on the Snow soon. I was incorrect on the slope angle of Heather,it is 43*.

wondering if you measured that personally, hillmap.com seems to put it in the 30-40 deg range
map of 35 deg terrain
map of 40 deg terrain

a real data point from you would be worth more than a map projection

[superstator]

Hit up SkiBowl last night. Almost didn't go after the forecasts, but it was actually pretty decent. I missed those laid-back weeknights when there's all of a dozen people working the upper bowl.

[jonesy]

wondering if you measured that personally, hillmap.com seems to put it in the 30-40 deg range
map of 35 deg terrain
map of 40 deg terrain

a real data point from you would be worth more than a map projection

Actually my first estimate must be closer than what I found on the Net. I use this method to get a slope angle.
Attachment 109207

[::: :::]

Actually my first estimate must be closer than what I found on the Net. I use this method to get a slope angle.
Attachment 109207

interesting, thanks

i always have big intentions of carrying my compass and sighting the angles, but, much like my aspirations for photos, i apparently like skiing too much to stop for other stuff

[spook]

interesting, thanks

i always have big intentions of carrying my compass and sighting the angles, but, much like my aspirations for photos, i apparently like skiing too much to stop for other stuff

i'm the same way with the TR thing. i just can't make myself stop to do it. i used my gopro a couple of times and found it so distracting that i haven't used it since. instead of just being where i was i was thinking about what i was doing, which is good in some instances, but not what i'm looking for on a regular basis.

my steeps clinic was interesting. the instructor was great -- very positive and patient with what i would consider not advanced riders, including myself. it was demoralizing at times to realize that my self-taught "technique" was even poorer than i thought. once i got over that, and quit being self-conscious about being observed, things improved. fortunately, i can still have a lot of fun even with my limitations. hopefully, i'll be able to put to use some of what i learned with more practice.

[spook]

just curious how many people carry avy gear riding in heather canyon?

i rode up the lift with a guy who suggested that meadows should have a runback to the heather chair that is, for example, 80 feet above the bottom and out of danger from avalanch coming down the canyon. that way they could open heather on a more regular basis despite avy danger. any thoughts?

[::: :::]

just curious how many people carry avy gear riding in heather canyon?

not usually, if i plan on PR tho, i do. now that you ask i think i will starting wearing no matter what...just seems smart

i rode up the lift with a guy who suggested that meadows should have a runback to the heather chair that is, for example, 80 feet above the bottom and out of danger from avalanch coming down the canyon. that way they could open heather on a more regular basis despite avy danger. any thoughts?

that might help avoid the big one, but does nothing for the slopes themselves

[spook]

not usually, if i plan on PR tho, i do. now that you ask i think i will starting wearing no matter what...just seems smart



that might help avoid the big one, but does nothing for the slopes themselves

have slopes other than the big ones above superbowl slid? probably a stupid question, but in the 7 years i've been at meadows i've only ever heard of slides coming down the canyon rather than down one of the bowls. is there any area that is more prone to slide? i haven't taken any classes yet --just read tremper and haven't really applied anything.

[::: :::]

as jonesy noted angles above, all of heather is in the ripe angles for sliding. so, just because they have opened the terrain doesn't mean it's perfectly safe...that's why the gates etc

[::: :::]

i have to admit that i unthinkingly rely on them to say it's safe
largely, that's reasonable
but it only takes one...

i'll be interested to hear what others think too...maybe i'm too conservative

[::: :::]

also, the only reason you've only heard about the big ones is because they've been unusually large

but you may have noticed in the NWAC reports that they occasionally refer to Meadows patrol reports of avi activity

[spook]

i've been a lot more wary after the big slide two years ago on a sunday night 3-4 hours after people were skiing in heather. just don't have funds in the budget for avy gear or time to take a class right now. never been overwhelmed by management in any manner, so i'd just as soon have my own knowledge and experience to rely upon.

[astralboy15]

i have to admit that i unthinkingly rely on them to say it's safe
largely, that's reasonable
but it only takes one...

Speaking of....in my formative years I had the diamond bowl cornice break out from under a friend and I - and nearly on top of another friend. It was a big snow year (it was probably late February) and it broke LARGE - probably about the size of a school buss. When that hit a large portion of the bowl slide all the way down to the cat track. Two friends caught, were slid about neck deep the entire way, not buried - I got spit out up top. We told ski patrol - I don't think they gave two s***s about what a couple of teenagers had to say (but this was back in the day when Heather was actually good - read: it seems ski patrol would keep lower down through jacks open even in a storm). A million things can be said about what we did wrong - but bottom we were young and we got lucky. I also fell into a "faux crevase?" off in Clark where Clark and Heather merge - luckily I landed on a snow bride deal and didn't end up in the stream.

Moral of the stories? Heather is generally a safe place, but it's a big place, hazards exist and stuff happens. But honestly, when it's open (and good), I never think twice about going in there.

[jonesy]

Very lucky indeed astra. You can usually tell prior to dropping in how snow conditions will react. BUT different parts of the mountain produce different situations. I have been in a few circumstances/slides that were unnerving which taught me to proceed with caution. You first usually works.

[SgtSkidmark]

i've been a lot more wary after the big slide two years ago on a sunday night 3-4 hours after people were skiing in heather. just don't have funds in the budget for avy gear or time to take a class right now. never been overwhelmed by management in any manner, so i'd just as soon have my own knowledge and experience to rely upon.

I think about that slide all the time. If it happened a little earlier in the day, people would have died and not been found until Spring. Beacons would only help your family get your body sooner if another huge one goes off above the permit area. I try to beep in PR with buddies, but not usually if I'm in Heather. It's just more open and more crowded, seems like less risks to manage. I feel like a real dumbass when I put my beacon on and realize I have no buddy with me, so leave the shovel/probe/pack in the car. At that point my beacon is a body recovery device, not a tool for saving a friend. I guess something is better than nothing.

Never personally seen anything more than a big sluff in Heather, but seen some decent slabs in PR, among other objective hazards (holes in Yoda, running water, downed trees, gullies to nowhere in S&R, cliff-outs). I remember a storm day when Tnthor ski-cut the top of GW proper and set off maybe a 20' slab with a 12" crown into the trees. Gates were open. I'm glad MHM seems to be liberal with opening gates in PR, but I worry about the people I see go in there. They just see an open gate and figure it's as safe as that HRM groomer they were just on. Once I thought I was doing a guy a favor when he was following me on the traverse into GW and I had already observed his pizza-french fry style up the hill. I asked him if he'd ever been in this area before. You'd think I called him a poser douche-faggot the way he responded. "You ever hear of Glen Plake? I skied with him growing up. I skied in Tahoe." I took off but have always wondered if that guy enjoyed his run. And I wondered how the hell he could ski like that if he ever took even a single run down Gunbarrel with Glen Plake.

[Patarero]

have slopes other than the big ones above superbowl slid? probably a stupid question, but in the 7 years i've been at meadows i've only ever heard of slides coming down the canyon rather than down one of the bowls. is there any area that is more prone to slide? i haven't taken any classes yet --just read tremper and haven't really applied anything.

Check NWAC daily and check the user info exchange. MHM patrol posts some snowpack info and pics. A few pics of a nice one in Absolute Magnitude from Jan 20.

http://www.nwac.us/photos/view/avalanches/current/

[jonesy]

I think about that slide all the time. If it happened a little earlier in the day, people would have died and not been found until Spring. Beacons would only help your family get your body sooner if another huge one goes off above the permit area. I try to beep in PR with buddies, but not usually if I'm in Heather. It's just more open and more crowded, seems like less risks to manage. I feel like a real dumbass when I put my beacon on and realize I have no buddy with me, so leave the shovel/probe/pack in the car. At that point my beacon is a body recovery device, not a tool for saving a friend. I guess something is better than nothing.

Never personally seen anything more than a big sluff in Heather, but seen some decent slabs in PR, among other objective hazards (holes in Yoda, running water, downed trees, gullies to nowhere in S&R, cliff-outs). I remember a storm day when Tnthor ski-cut the top of GW proper and set off maybe a 20' slab with a 12" crown into the trees. Gates were open. I'm glad MHM seems to be liberal with opening gates in PR, but I worry about the people I see go in there. They just see an open gate and figure it's as safe as that HRM groomer they were just on. hill. I asked him if he'd ever been in this area before. You'd think I called him a poser douche-faggot the way he responded. "You ever hear of Glen Plake? I Once I thought I was doing a guy a favor when he was following me on the traverse into GW and I had already observed his pizza-french fry style up the skied with him growing up. I skied in Tahoe." I took off but have always wondered if that guy enjoyed his run. And I wondered how the hell he could ski like that if he ever took even a single run down Gunbarrel with Glen Plake.

Some people are way to cool for me. I keep my mouth shut and let the skiing do the talking. Then they will approach you.

[spook]

Check NWAC daily and check the user info exchange. MHM patrol posts some snowpack info and pics. A few pics of a nice one in Absolute Magnitude from Jan 20.

http://www.nwac.us/photos/view/avalanches/current/

gracias!

[TBS]

For anyone going up tomorrow, check out the slide on the south side of Marmot Ridge. Just stand next to the Patrol building at top of MHX and look up. Patrol released it this AM with a hand charge. Good sized crown and the shear was pretty clean. A good reminder of how the winds the last few days have loaded the slopes. Both Pluto and Silver were heavy and wind-slabby today, despite being on leeward aspects.

[noparking]

Yes you should have avy gear, you should know how to use it, and you should ALWAYS ski with a partner while skiing in either heather or PR area. If you don't it's 100% on you for what ends up happening. There is NO way that everything can be controlled in those areas and all it takes is one wrong turn on your part and you could be in a very bad situation. For those of you talking about how gear is so expensive do you think of your life being worth a little more then 200 dollar beacon, 30 dollar shovel and a 30 dollar probe?

[spook]

Yes you should have avy gear, you should know how to use it, and you should ALWAYS ski with a partner while skiing in either heather or PR area. If you don't it's 100% on you for what ends up happening. There is NO way that everything can be controlled in those areas and all it takes is one wrong turn on your part and you could be in a very bad situation. For those of you talking about how gear is so expensive do you think of your life being worth a little more then 200 dollar beacon, 30 dollar shovel and a 30 dollar probe?

i wasn't complaining about how expensive the gear is, just noting that i haven't budgeted for it, in part because i haven't decided what to do about it. i've been contemplating a splitboard and getting into bc riding, but that requires more commitment than i can make right now, even if it's just for heather/pr. it doesn't do any good to have the gear and not know how to use it. or know how to avoid having to use it. if i were smarter, i probably wouldn't ride in there if i have to do it alone. unfortunately, i'm not, but i try to ride within my skill level and not take (other) risks. i ride alone the vast majority of the time and i accept responsibility for the outcome.

[::: :::]

For anyone going up tomorrow, check out the slide on the south side of Marmot Ridge. Just stand next to the Patrol building at top of MHX and look up. Patrol released it this AM with a hand charge. Good sized crown and the shear was pretty clean. A good reminder of how the winds the last few days have loaded the slopes. Both Pluto and Silver were heavy and wind-slabby today, despite being on leeward aspects.

i pointed that out to my son today; you can see the blocks that the snow broke into. it was cool to see since it was so close - not some distant peak

[ski_pdx]

i wasn't complaining about how expensive the gear is, just noting that i haven't budgeted for it, in part because i haven't decided what to do about it. i've been contemplating a splitboard and getting into bc riding, but that requires more commitment than i can make right now, even if it's just for heather/pr. it doesn't do any good to have the gear and not know how to use it. or know how to avoid having to use it. if i were smarter, i probably wouldn't ride in there if i have to do it alone. unfortunately, i'm not, but i try to ride within my skill level and not take (other) risks. i ride alone the vast majority of the time and i accept responsibility for the outcome.

Two things. I bet there are guys here that would head out with you most times you would want to go. And you can borrow my full set-up anytime you want. pm me whenever.

[Southeast Maggot]

Two things. I bet there are guys here that would head out with you most times you would want to go. And you can borrow my full set-up anytime you want. pm me whenever.

Yep, Patatero and I are out touring just about every weekend,usually just to do a lap or two in Newton or White River. If you ever want to join, just let me know.