SNOW IN THE PNW 2010!

[hop]

Yep, that's pretty much what it looks like. I'm not sure where the old growth is but who knows? There are also some pretty giant crowns on Bill's Bulge (looks bigger and maybe more recent than ^^^^^) , White Salmon Glacier, Zed Line, and Table/Little AK.

Were you one of the five that punched the trail out to Elf and then supremely gaped down it? If so, you had quite the peanut gallery on top of 6 laughing/shaking their heads at your exposure mitigation tactics.

If it wasn't you, then no harm no foul. But seriously, wtf were those guys thinking? Three on the slope at once?

[ISL]

Bored at work - played with the contrast a little.

[Flash]

Alpental had a good vibe going yesterday, today promises to deliver the same.

Yep. Alpy delivered again today. Sunshine, creamy snow, and zero people. Although not as deep as other Cascade areas, still fun as hell.

[belgian]

Good christ that slide is HUGE. Two of my friends up in Bham always brag to me about how sweet Oys is and I always give them a long ass lecture about not ducking the ropes as they both have zero avalanche training and never carry any gear (beacon included). Maybe the dumb fucks will listen to me now, thanks for the pics.

[hop]

Good christ that slide is HUGE. Two of my friends up in Bham always brag to me about how sweet Oys is and I always give them a long ass lecture about not ducking the ropes as they both have zero avalanche training and never carry any gear (beacon included). Maybe the dumb fucks will listen to me now, thanks for the pics.

If they don't listen to you, maybe they'll listen to Gunder or Dean's set of wire cutters. I hope they have season passes.

[booner]

Bored at work - played with the contrast a little.

wow...i can't believe no one was in the valley. there's always people in there regardless of conditions

[IslandSnow]

Yep. Alpy delivered again today. Sunshine, creamy snow, and zero people. Although not as deep as other Cascade areas, still fun as hell.

Hell yeah, definitely exceeded expectations, so fun today.

I had to wait about 30 seconds to get on chair 2 at one point though.

[bakerpow]

That thing is massive. Scared the shit out of me.

[Eluder]

The debris is impressive but 100 feet deep is a little over exaggerated IMO.

There are also some pretty giant crowns on Bill's Bulge (looks bigger and maybe more recent than ^^^^^) , White Salmon Glacier, Zed Line, and Table/Little AK.

I was noticing that, lots of trees bent over near the bottom, Im guessing it went on the same layer just a day or two later because it certainly looked deeper.

Were you one of the five that punched the trail out to Elf and then supremely gaped down it? If so, you had quite the peanut gallery on top of 6 laughing/shaking their heads at your exposure mitigation tactics.

Watched from the chair... very unimpressed. Just kept watching the line move farther over until then. The kooks before them that stayed on the very far elbow side were perching up like idiots in the middle of the roll over.

[Gunder]

[QUOTE=rludes025;3216012]The debris is impressive but 100 feet deep is a little over exaggerated IMO.

/QUOTE]

Not really, if you think about this. Where the debire is 20 feet higher than the chair 8 run, was a water fall that is over 40 feet deep last week, that is gone, filled even to an elevation that is way way above where the top of the water fall used to be. That is area is covered under 40' I.E. where everyone normally stands at the exit to oye, so, 40 plus 40 plus 20 = 100. either way this thing is big.

There was also a fracture that we noticed on the backside of herman today. That thing is retarded deep, and ran a long fucking way as well. I'll try to post pics tonight. I did not make it over to chair 8 today as I was busy guiding a film project around. Will most likely head that way tomorrow. Also heard what sounded like another massive slide today some where on the back side of Herman, but cant confirm if it was that or just a shit ton of settling from Galena. Shit echos weird in the trees so tough to know. Either way I am staying away from table and Herman and anything else big right now.

[belgian]

If they don't listen to you, maybe they'll listen to Gunder or Dean's set of wire cutters. I hope they have season passes.

They do and to be honest ever since I heard that you guys do that I've hoped that someone from here would catch them. It is so disgustingly irresponsible for them to be back there on so many levels that I completely support vigilante pass clippers.

Not kidding, when I tried to show and explain the avalanche rose at the top of 8 one time all I got was blank, confused derp faces out of them. Having fucktard buddies can be grating at times, especially when they're so smart in other areas.

[bakerpow]

Numerous times just heading out the little traverse into the elbow i have seen gapers with no gear, by themselves and absolutely no idea where they are going. Anything for that powdah huh?

[hop]

When you see morons out there with no clue, it's in all of our (and their) best interest to tell them what they need to know to keep themselves and everyone else around them safe. Start out nice with your PSA and get progressively dickish if you need to, but it's ignorant people like them that are the root of many of the issues the rest of us gripe about at Baker.

There were a couple of parties skiing on Herman today, right around 1300 when the temps were somewhere around 32º. Hmm. I guess everyone has their comfort levels.

[SchralphMacchio]

What's funny is that I see people here in CA popping their heads out the ropes without much knowledge but a lot of times the terrain doesn't have tremendous consequence, like Firebreak at Heavenly or Strawberry Fields at Sugar Bowl. Kirkwood sidecountry is now more popular than before, but I haven't really seen throngs of complete clueless tards dropping into the high consequence areas of Thunderbowl etc.

I've never been to Vail (to compare to East Vail gongshow?) but I have never seen so much complete blatant disregard for resort boundaries and snow safety knowledge/practices/respect as I saw at Mt. Baker Resort during a deep storm cycle. I saw a lot of gear on people at White Salmon during lunch, but I also saw a lot of people doing what appeared to be pretty dangerous stuff just outside the ropes. What's crazy is that it sounds like it's been going on for a while and just part of the culture there?

[ACH]

Chair peak just North of Alpental had three separate fracture lines on it yesterday that were visible from the top of Chair two. I'm guessing the second was a sympathetic as a result of the fracture that happened at the saddle just shy of the peak. From that distance given how distinct the crowns were, I would guess up to 5 feet perhaps? I didn't get close enough to Source lake to see how far they ran but assume it went all the way as that is a considerable amount of snow on a pretty decent pitch.

[brown9]

Probably not. As any patroller up there will attest, no matter how many warnings, how many signs, or ropes, there will always be people who push the envelope and risk their neck for "just one slash."

Good christ that slide is HUGE. Two of my friends up in Bham always brag to me about how sweet Oys is and I always give them a long ass lecture about not ducking the ropes as they both have zero avalanche training and never carry any gear (beacon included). Maybe the dumb fucks will listen to me now, thanks for the pics.

[Jumper Bones]

Xtal stuff

It seems Xtal is extending their season, but not honoring this season's passes...I'd feel sorry, but the last name of the patroller writing that makes me lose any sympathy.

Isn't honoring current season passes during an extension kind of an industry norm?

[regct]

Xtal stuff

It seems Xtal is extending their season, but not honoring this season's passes...I'd feel sorry, but the last name of the patroller writing that makes me lose any sympathy.

Isn't honoring current season passes during an extension kind of an industry norm?

Seems like a pretty damn good deal to buy a pass for next season and be able to use it for this spring season. So will next years regular season pass be good for this spring, next winter, and next spring?

Or henceforth will the regular season pass only honor the spring session prior to it? Is this just an awkward transitional year? Regardless I'd be stoked for lift access spring skiing.

On another note. I've been google earthing the backside of Cowboy at Stevens Pass tentatively planning a route and am curious if anyone has any beta on that zone that would be helpful. Would like to come out right at the switchback corner on 2.

[Nick_C_123]

the backside of Cowboy at Stevens Pass tentatively planning a route and am curious if anyone has any beta on that zone that would be helpful. Would like to come out right at the switchback corner on 2.

Finally enough snow for it as compared to to the last couple years. But a little wet down low at the moment. Also know that it's technically illegal to hitch from there back up.

[Nick_C_123]

Bored at work - played with the contrast a little.

Definitely close in size to the v day slide. Anyone know where this one intitiated? Witness it? My guess would be the thin spot above and left the beast, then propagated across to lookers left.

Glad no-one was caught this time. Avy gear wouldn't help you too much if you're below that thing when it pops.

On the dumb people - that's been going on at baker for a long time, and will continue. It just seems that with more people these days you see more of it. People doing dumb stuff in storm snow/ wind deposits is a constant. And I feel that these days there is less hazard on the arm as it often gets pounded with tracks between storms or even midstorm. It's certainly not risk-free but is by no means a backcountry snowpack from a stratigraphy standpoint, except for far out or in a few select areas. And the fact that people see a lot of other people constantly crushing it on the arm in considerable to high hazard gives them the perception of less risk.

The tricky thing with this event is that is a deep slab instability which is harder to wrap the mind around. That rain was effectively a backcountry layer with a bunch of snow, tracked and not, sitting on top of it. And the combination of heat, wind and just enough load tipped the scales at that particular time. I think that it's pretty much luck that no-one was caught, and more realated to the bad weather for hiking and the fact that there was plenty of good snow elsewhere at the time. I highly doubt that the general populace up there was avoiding the arm because of perceived risk at the time.

[hop]

I think that it's pretty much luck that no-one was caught, and more realated to the bad weather for hiking and the fact that there was plenty of good snow elsewhere at the time. I highly doubt that the general populace up there was avoiding the arm because of perceived risk at the time.

There were many people that were avoiding the Arm AND Oi because of the perceived risk at the time. Avoiding the Arm was a no-brainer because you couldn't see more than about 50' in front of you, but Oi is basically all the risk of the Arm with 1% of the reward. Four turns and then a long flat path out in a mondo terrain trap under 1000' vert with steep rollovers covered by 15'+++ of new snow? Are four turns really worth that risk? Not for me nor my partners on that day.

Also, just because nobody was hiking UP doesn't mean people don't go into Oi Valley from the top of Chair 8 or anywhere else along the ropeline. El Kanone called it the "Retards Traverse" for a reason. Just because you're not going up doesn't mean it's necessarily safer, you just minimize your time in the danger zone. Even the skier's left side wall that is thought of as "safe" was pretty much obliterated. There were plenty of people (the debris covered "a hundred tracks" according to El Kanone) dropping into Oi from many different entrances on Monday, getting "plenty of good snow" in there because Chair 6/Pan was closed and when that happens, the Chair 5/8 side of the hill is often destroyed by noon.

Anyways, most of the people I have talked to around town (Glacier) seem to think that the luck you're referring to is directly related to Chair 6 opening around noon more than any other factor. If that hadn't happened we probably would have been going to some funerals this weekend.

[brown9]

Seems like a pretty damn good deal to buy a pass for next season and be able to use it for this spring season. So will next years regular season pass be good for this spring, next winter, and next spring?

Or henceforth will the regular season pass only honor the spring session prior to it? Is this just an awkward transitional year? Regardless I'd be stoked for lift access spring skiing.

I think the blog posted below has sound logic. When you bought your pass last summer, you were not buying this spring skiing. To recover that added service the cost is 150 for just this spring, or you buy your pass for next year, now.

I could see how people would be chapped about this, but you gotta pay to play.

[Nick_C_123]

Didn't realize 6 had just opened. That explains a lot. My heart sank when I heard about it and I was truly surprised that there were no cars in the lot later and no-one reported missing. It seems like there's someone down in that gully at any given minute the mountains open, regardless of conditions.

Good to see where the slide was. Will definitely be an area to keep an eye on as when the rest of the arm is pretty much bridged, this bed surface might prove to be a repeat offender after a couple more storm cycles.

And I didn't mean to imply that no-one up there was avoiding the area or uses standard precautions. There's plenty of smart people doing smart things. Just seems that in recent years the powder frenzy that occurs on the arm is driven entirely by the lust for turns with close to no regard for avalanche safety. Mostly seems to be younger kids. I hope that this incident will be a wake up call and instill some respect for that area in the new generation. A lot seem to have the fat skis and avy gear but aren't thinking about weather and snowpack enough, let alone travel techniques.

To me avalanche beacons are like seatbelts on an airplane - if it gets to the point of needing them, you fucked up big time, shits already gone really wrong, and you don't stand much of a chance anyway - especially if you're 30 ft deep in the bottom of the gully, with the tube on your avalaung crushed flat, and your partner also buried right behind you. But of course accidents happen to experienced people who are doing everything right. It's pretty much close to impossible to ski good quality snow on fun, steep terrain with no chance of dying. So you have to accept that you're rolling the dice a little bit each time. You just have the option to load them in your favor, or not. Stay safe out there.

[farmguy]

Good christ that slide is HUGE. Two of my friends up in Bham always brag to me about how sweet Oys is and I always give them a long ass lecture about not ducking the ropes as they both have zero avalanche training and never carry any gear (beacon included). Maybe the dumb fucks will listen to me now, thanks for the pics.

You might not have to give them lectures very long, just saying, avalanches don't give a crap about the odds.

[counterfeitfake]

Xtal stuff

It seems Xtal is extending their season, but not honoring this season's passes...I'd feel sorry, but the last name of the patroller writing that makes me lose any sympathy.

Isn't honoring current season passes during an extension kind of an industry norm?

I understand them wanting to charge, but charge or not, that's an obnoxiously written article. It comes across as hurt, petty, and unprofessional.

By now most of you are probably aware of Crystal Mountain’s plans to open for spring skiing in late-April, May and June (another benefit to having a direct base-to-summit gondola)! However, with the recent comments from pass holders we’re reconsidering our decision to operate beyond April 17th. For the past 8 years we’ve closed mid-April and that was it. No spring skiing.

"Oh you don't want to pay? Fine, nobody gets it, now are you happy?" Seems like PR could have been managed better to avoid this. It also seems like taking a hit on the very first spring season to see how things shake out would have been smart.

Does anyone know what portion of operations is paid for by daily tickets, versus passes, versus crappy $10 hamburgers?