1.28.2007
Mount St. Helens Worm Flows
5700 vertical rise; 11 miles roundtrip
Top Elevation: 8365 Feet (2550 meters for our Canadian & Euro friends)
Today's pain train: Squirrel99, Zbo, Snoslut, Boarder John & Greg
It's no secret we've had a nice little warm up in the PacNW. Temps spiked last week with a bit of moisture, and then came crashing down. No, that is not the thunderous applause you hear below you from the chair, it is the screaching yelps of skiers and snowboarders trying to dig in their edges
Earlier in the week, I had a feeling it might end up this way. We adjusted our game from powder to corn. But where would the sun bake the most? 8000 foot freezing levels pointed toward the Southern Cascades.
With no restriction on permits for winter access, and ample sunshine- the South facing Worm Flows were the obvious choice.
Might as well paint a big red target on that plume
Mount St. Helens
After a leisurely stroll through the forest, the magic carpet is about to crank up the pitch a notch
The obligatory hazard photo
Note how much those warnings must have fazed Snoslut and Zbo
5700 vertical feet in a couple hours. After kicking it on the summit, the pain train arrived. While everyone else endured the icy bootpack, I kept the skins on and found softer snow about 100 yards to the looker's right.
Boarder John and Zbo preparing to jump from the caboose to the engine
Snoslut
Hmmmnn...smoking crater
Illegal chutes dropping into the active crater
View from the Top - looking over Spirit Lake toward Mount Rainier
And Mount Adams to the East
This guy is core- check it out! Ever run into touring skis like this anymore?
These faces continued to beg for tracks
We shall gladly oblige
My turn ~ 5700 vert of corn skiing to be slayed, starting now...
Snoslut str8line for Mount Hood
Cornucopia continues
the pitch on St. Helens is quite nice ~ with fundegree fall line
soft carving ahead
Snoslut again
onwards to the finish line
tracked...
and happy!
see ya in the spring...
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