Lucky #7 EC Roll Call 2013-14!

[FussyDutchman]

Shameless spam post, more like putting out a feeler. Trying to sell my bike, 2012 Specialized Camber Elite, 26, XL frame. About 50 days of riding over two summers, so still in great shape. PM if interested..

Attachment 155383

One of youz mags should jump on this, sweet deal and I'm sure a clean, well maintained bike knowing the seller. If it wasn't too big for my short legs it would be gone already.

Great to see the winter stoke still hanging on, even from the "older" crowd ;-).

[MyNameIsAugustWest]

To build on Bucket's post above....

The Beast delivered again on Sunday. Goniff, Buckethead, non-Mag Chris and I had an awesome day.

Once again, Goniff and I wanted to hike over to the K-1 area, Bucket wanted to ride the bullwheel. Chris decided to go with us

After an easy hike, Goniff and Chris re-hydrating. So nice of mountain ops to leave lift tower pads for us to use as sofas.


I had my own sustenance


Goniff harvesting some sweet spring corn on Cascade


Then it was my turn


Goniff has a great pic of Bucket on Superstar...hopefully, he will see this and post it up because it is spectacular.

A sweet day to be sure. Hoping for at least one more this coming weekend.

[therudeness]

Someone plz share some Parc National de la Gaspésie (chic chocs) beta. Since my long weekend plans went to shit with my expired passport, Gaspésie seems like a cool destination. But it's 1300KM. I really need to gather details quickly. No time to fumble around there to get my bearings.

my buddy skied mont lyall today and was able to skin all the way from the parking lot, and ski all the way back.. soooo yeah

[Cocximus]

^ whoa serious motivation thx

[therudeness]

^ whoa serious motivation thx

no prob i might be there this weekend

[MadPatSki]

5-8' base left at MSS? Crazy.

Similar to what they had last year at this time and they continued for an extra weekend. I'm not exactly in the know, but it would seem that MSS has decided to go on a fixed closing calendar. The May 11 was mentioned in late March. The ski area was host to two-weeks of ski racing camp everyday from 7-11 including midweek when it was closed to the public. On weekends, the hill would open to the public at 11am.

The last day (like last year) of camp was Sunday, however MSS gave people an extra weekend with normal hours.

This weekend MSS had two ski runs open, one of them (Nordique)'s middle part would have probably not survived the hot weather and rain this week, but West 70 still had feet of snow all over.

[Vt-Freeheel]

looks fun.

next time you're in the notch looking to climb, hit Steep Jugs! (2 pitches, 5.9), the climb my buddy and I put in last year. It needs more climbers!!

It dries out wicked quick, and has a nice setting with a great belay ledge. P1 is top ropeable. and if you're friend is willing to take on that fin, he's prolly got the climbing skills to lead P2... both anchors are bolted

I am just a dabbler in bouldering/climbing and 5.9 is way over my comfort level. I do like jugs and will look for them the next time I am in the notch. My interest in climbing has a goal of a bit of shallow ice and ski mountaineering and this may or may not happen.
I am trying to ride 4 or 5 days a week this summer, even if some of the rides are short. Having trail 36 seconds out the door helps make this happen.
"Fun in the backyard"

[lynchdogger]

Hey ECRC crew! Great stoke going on in here. Life has been busy. Good to catch up! Look forward to some last minute turns soon. Enjoy!

As you may know a good buddy of mine was seriously hurt skiing Diagonal on Mt Washington earlier this spring. He is a lucky man and doing well but has a long road ahead back to health.

He also has some redonkulous medical bills! In case you missed it please consider donating and helping out! Here is a link to a link for the full story! http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/s...78#post4249278

or the direct link to the fund: http://www.gofundme.com/8rofts

thank you!

[Jonathan S.]

Tuesday May 13 Mount Washington

Started hiking up from PNVC Tuesday morning at a leisurely hour, which was good, since the wx fx was spot on for . . .

Started raining very lightly.
Stopped to put on windshirt.
Started hiking again.

Stopped raining.
Stopped to remove windshirt.
Started hiking again.

Starting raining lightly.
Stopped to put on rain jacket.
Started hiking again.

Stopped raining.
Stopped to remove rain jacket.
Started hiking again ... and resolved not to stop again unless it started *really* raining.

Stopped at Huntington Fire Road jct in order to get out gear from pack to start skinning up the increasingly solid snow cover on the TRT.
Stopped gearing up to notice that LH winter route sign was gone.
Stopped to remember that I had checked the MWAC website & FB page that morning to confirm winter route still in effect, hmm?
(Now I see that Twitter feed had announced the summer rte opening the prior afternoon.)
Started hiking again up the TRT and then switched onto the LH summer route.

Stopped about a dozen times to pick up garbage.
(Drew the line at about half a dozen cig butts, and ditto later on for a ski pole in the Alpine Garden, plus what appeared to be a ski hung up in the shrubbery at the top of Center Bowl.)

Stopped also to take some pictures:


















And of the course the State-mandated Summit Selfie:






Yes, just me up on there on the summit ... plus an excavator:





... and a Cog work train ... state park pick-up truck ... Auto Road van ... as well as some other very noisy construction equipment.

After a very casual hike down the summit cone (thank you paved road!), I was able to drop into the southernmost entrance to the NE Snowfield, only ~15' from the road.

NE Snowfield had perfect snow, and was in for its full ~670' vertical.
Might get truncated soon by all this upcoming wet wx, but I’m betting on at least ~500' vertical for Otto’s Opening.

Went up for another lap, this time traversing right/south until I finally reached a discontinuity.
Then hiked up to the top of the southernmost snow ribbon, which was continuous all the way into Tux via Chute for ~1,360' vertical:






Chute had good snow, but lots of annoying runnels.
Cover was good for traversing in (though as usual have to carefully distinguish between the ski traverse tracks vs the glide cracks), but the main entrance was gone.

Maybe a few more people than the six of us at Killington the prior evening, but not many (despite lots of cars in the parking lot).

Snow down low was nice (as it pretty much always is this time of year), with lots of crevasses / glide cracks opening up in the center (as they pretty much always do this of year), with Right Gully looking good for short laps (as it ... oh, you get the idea).

Up Left Gully (boot crampons essential for topping out), then skied down ~260' vertical into the adjacent low-angle snowfield before I reached the rollover (after which I didn’t want to deal with a potentially tricky transition on steeper terrain).
Here’s looking back on Tux from the snowfield’s rollover:






From there I hiked up gradually to the skier’s left entrance to Hillman’s, then skied down to meet my partner at the base.
Very nice snow (thanks in part to the single-digit attendance), and solid cover all the way from the entrance to top of the Irene Slide <> dogleg split.
Headed up for two more laps to the top of the skier’s right entrance (soft deep snow the whole way, so no need for boot crampons), which was good for something like over 1,200' vertical.

Here’s looking over at my partner in the skier’s left entrance from the skier’s right entrance:






After a short portage at the top of the Irene Slide <> dogleg split, skied all the way to the bridge, but that won’t last for long.

Then the long downhike over a mix of slushy snow, ice, dirt-infused ice, boulders, rocks, mud, dirt and various other unpleasant surfaces, yet still quite pleasant with such pleasant company and after such pleasant skiing!

And finally the long drive home, arriving to a most pleasant site – no, not another family picture, but instead the latest delivery from Mr. Ups:

[buckethead]

To build on Bucket's post above....

The Beast delivered again on Sunday. Goniff, Buckethead, non-Mag Chris and I had an awesome day.

Once again, Goniff and I wanted to hike over to the K-1 area, Bucket wanted to ride the bullwheel. Chris decided to go with us

After an easy hike, Goniff and Chris re-hydrating. So nice of mountain ops to leave lift tower pads for us to use as sofas.

as i got stuck on the lift after lunch i was thinking about how i should have joined you all on the hike. first major stoppage of the spring, it was a good 25-30 mins before we got moving again.
would have been a good break from bumping too...knees took a beating over the three days.

this one? straggler i am, only sweep was behind me at that point.
http://stk.tetongravity.com/forums/a...8&d=1400082892

[Binky]

That picture is fucking sweet!

[NoPostholio]

Tuesday May 13 Mount Washington

Started hiking up from PNVC Tuesday morning at a leisurely hour, which was good, since the wx fx was spot on for . . .

Started raining very lightly.
Stopped to put on windshirt.
Started hiking again.

Stopped raining.
Stopped to remove windshirt.
Started hiking again.

Starting raining lightly.
Stopped to put on rain jacket.
Started hiking again.

Stopped raining.
Stopped to remove rain jacket.
Started hiking again ... and resolved not to stop again unless it started *really* raining.

Stopped at Huntington Fire Road jct in order to get out gear from pack to start skinning up the increasingly solid snow cover on the TRT.
Stopped gearing up to notice that LH winter route sign was gone.
Stopped to remember that I had checked the MWAC website & FB page that morning to confirm winter route still in effect, hmm?
(Now I see that Twitter feed had announced the summer rte opening the prior afternoon.)
Started hiking again up the TRT and then switched onto the LH summer route.

Stopped about a dozen times to pick up garbage.
(Drew the line at about half a dozen cig butts, and ditto later on for a ski pole in the Alpine Garden, plus what appeared to be a ski hung up in the shrubbery at the top of Center Bowl.)

Stopped also to take some pictures:


















And of the course the State-mandated Summit Selfie:






Yes, just me up on there on the summit ... plus an excavator:





... and a Cog work train ... state park pick-up truck ... Auto Road van ... as well as some other very noisy construction equipment.

After a very casual hike down the summit cone (thank you paved road!), I was able to drop into the southernmost entrance to the NE Snowfield, only ~15' from the road.

NE Snowfield had perfect snow, and was in for its full ~670' vertical.
Might get truncated soon by all this upcoming wet wx, but I’m betting on at least ~500' vertical for Otto’s Opening.

Went up for another lap, this time traversing right/south until I finally reached a discontinuity.
Then hiked up to the top of the southernmost snow ribbon, which was continuous all the way into Tux via Chute for ~1,360' vertical:






Chute had good snow, but lots of annoying runnels.
Cover was good for traversing in (though as usual have to carefully distinguish between the ski traverse tracks vs the glide cracks), but the main entrance was gone.

Maybe a few more people than the six of us at Killington the prior evening, but not many (despite lots of cars in the parking lot).

Snow down low was nice (as it pretty much always is this time of year), with lots of crevasses / glide cracks opening up in the center (as they pretty much always do this of year), with Right Gully looking good for short laps (as it ... oh, you get the idea).

Up Left Gully (boot crampons essential for topping out), then skied down ~260' vertical into the adjacent low-angle snowfield before I reached the rollover (after which I didn’t want to deal with a potentially tricky transition on steeper terrain).
Here’s looking back on Tux from the snowfield’s rollover:






From there I hiked up gradually to the skier’s left entrance to Hillman’s, then skied down to meet my partner at the base.
Very nice snow (thanks in part to the single-digit attendance), and solid cover all the way from the entrance to top of the Irene Slide <> dogleg split.
Headed up for two more laps to the top of the skier’s right entrance (soft deep snow the whole way, so no need for boot crampons), which was good for something like over 1,200' vertical.

Here’s looking over at my partner in the skier’s left entrance from the skier’s right entrance:






After a short portage at the top of the Irene Slide <> dogleg split, skied all the way to the bridge, but that won’t last for long.

Then the long downhike over a mix of slushy snow, ice, dirt-infused ice, boulders, rocks, mud, dirt and various other unpleasant surfaces, yet still quite pleasant with such pleasant company and after such pleasant skiing!

And finally the long drive home, arriving to a most pleasant site – no, not another family picture, but instead the latest delivery from Mr. Ups:

Nice tour JS -

[strawjack]

Chute had good snow, but lots of annoying runnels.
Cover was good for traversing in (though as usual have to carefully distinguish between the ski traverse tracks vs the glide cracks), but the main entrance was gone.

the line for me was starting skiers right then cut left above exit to avoid the glide cracks and the deep runnels as much as possible. tight turns skiers left at exit stayed completely out of the runnels...clock is ticking on that. peeps were skiing chute variations, but it was more of a pick and slide your way thru instead of clean ski.

Needs a good groom.

[Vt-Freeheel]

Make it big!



Last man standing

[retirwntm]

Ok Jonathan, I know that helmet is made of a perfect mix of unobtanium and helium and can stop wolves from attacking, but you look like an orange storm trooper.

[Jonathan S.]

Ok Jonathan, I know that helmet is made of a perfect mix of unobtanium and helium and can stop wolves from attacking, but you look like an orange storm trooper.

It's even worse than it looks in that picture.
Really.
The Petzl Sirocco is nearly weightless, nicely ventilated, comfortable, and durable for tours that entail lots of flopping around on the pack and against carried skis.
But the crystal dome effect is horrendous.
And something about the orange hue -- or maybe in combination with the rough finish? -- is just all wrong, as shown in profile here yesterday:






By contrast, the BD Vapor weighs only a little over an ounce more, yet looks normal, with a minimal crystal dome effect by being surprisingly thin on tap, and coming down fairly low on the sides.

Fortunately my partner took this picture of me in Hillman's skier's right all the way from skier's left so that the Sirocco public embarrassment factor isn't as apparent:






Also looks okay in low-quality video grabs:

[MyNameIsAugustWest]

Make it big!



Last man standing

That's the one I was talking about! FKNA!

Too many !!!! ??

[ex-powderbroker]

VTF attaches himself to the skis+boots after postholing up like a real mountaineer.



ISBD, last run of the season? Probably not with snow like this.



JS said he would carry this up the TRT for me next week, see you guys there!

[Jonathan S.]

JS said he would carry this up the TRT for me next week, see you guys there!

Let's just wait until we can drive that up Otto!

[vt_ski]

Any Stowe area mags around this weekend to join me for a skin on the migthy Nosedive glacier? Weather on Sunday looks better..

[ex-powderbroker]

There was a lot hanging around. Some more ski pics....





Another view of the pro technique that's coming over from the whites:

[ex-powderbroker]

Ah, GP, thanks for the tips about climbing in the notch. The boulders really looked like the place to be with the condition of the rock right now, but I'll look up Steep Jugs next time I'm around. We ended up doing the Workout Boulder for awhile, those are the greatest V0's ever.

[NoPostholio]

Pretty amazing how much snow is left on ND - even today it skied from just downhill of stone hut to within 500' of bottom fairly continuous. But going quick... Def worth the walk for few more days.

[MrsG]

Superstar still looking good at Killington . . . have two tics left - make me an offer . . . they are direct to lift and I'll meet you near the lift

[FussyDutchman]

Way to get after it Bucket, great shot.

Thanks for the report nopost, thinking about a trip that way in the next hour or so before the skies open up tomorrow.