Snow in the PNW 17-18: Dropping!

[BeardMech]

I sadly got pulled off doing something else last weekend and I'm very disappointed I didn't go from how I heard the forecast turned out, and the tales I was told from fellow tourers on my way up a beautifully mediocre mix of different types of canned corn leftovers yesterday. I may have lost 40 to 45 lbs since June, but unfortunately I was way to sedentary after my last Chinook pass/naches trip early to mid July, so I ended up enjoying the cloudless sky and starting my descent around ~9000 ft instead of pushing forward for the final 1100 ft. I ended up skiing skiers left below moon rocks for some soft corny goodness, inadvertently with a group of frenchies. I thought for a second I saw Piper come down on his board a few min but must have been someone who looked quite similar.

Ill look through the dozens of pictures I took (certainly slowed me down a bit on the ascent), and pull out a few that I like a little later tonight
Edit 1: I saw 2 or 3 small cracks/signs of craveeses, but from what I saw, and a fellow skier who has been up there every week as of late said that through the main upper center field it was minimal in risk, with most worry more towards anvel. Below that, like I said just a sign or two that I made sure to keep my distance.

Edit 2: My thoughts are with the family of the snowboarders.

[Andyski]

Muir was decent today: edgable styrofoam mixed with icier stuff moving onto some corny stuff with the drop in elevation. Not a ton on top of the neve, so limited time offer if the warmth sticks around. Skiing is fun.

[pipedream]

I saw snow today, but nowhere near enough to ski. The upper reaches of Tahoma looked firm to say the least... it was 37 degrees when I returned to the car ~1830

[PNWbrit]

The Blob is back

[SkiLyft]

[emoji58][emoji22]


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[pipedream]

Ended-up doing shots w/ Nicolas Mueller last night after the Absinthe premier. Fittingly, my recollection of the film is hazy but like always it was rad and you should probably watch it if you have the chance. Also Brandon Cocard's band, Easy Giant, has gone way deeper down the psych rock rabbit hole - it seems like the next step is getting them to play a party in the hills when it's actually snowing.

[BeardMech]

I'm deciding on whether to play 9 holes of golf in North Bend tomorrow or head up to the North Cascades and do a 3-4 hour hike. I havent played golf or much less hit a golf ball in a few years, but I just managed to get some free clubs that are pretty decent. I will have to do a late start (10:30-11:00) setting off driving due to a doctor's appointment, so I would be pushing it for a hike up north with a 3 or so hour drive (from Issaquah), I believe. I havent ever been north of 2 and really want to explore more of what the cascades have to offer, just not sure on what trail to hike if I choose to go this route over some potentially frustrating 9 holes. Any suggestions on a hike that is the same difficulty or even slightly more difficult than the hike heading up to muir in terms of fitness level and commitment? Id appreciate some ideas as there are a lot of trails and Im not sure where to begin.

I have already hit muir twice in the last few weeks, and if the forecast is correct I will likely hit it again this weekend for some fresh snow if it isnt looking like white out conditions. I dont know anywhere else to go for a few hundred feet of vert of bottom of the barrel snow, and Im pretty satisfied/stoked with my recent muir tours so I can wait until this years snow pack starts building, if need be. Id say half or more of the fun with the muir tours was the hike up though. The skiing was awesome, especially last Saturday, but for over 6 hours of hiking/skinning I got just a few minutes skiing down 1600-1800 vert ft with one minor carry (10 feet traverse over rocks), it was just icing on the cake. It is probably the most beautiful hike Ive ever done, surpassing hiking down a few miles in the grand canyon. The sub-alpine peak fall colors definitely played a role in this, but man is it magical. I also skied every month but August (I am a bit skeeved with my wife on not being able to get a day in, in August), and am back at November for the start of the new season, so Im not needing to hunt the snow down anymore. I would like to find somewhere else other than muir to go hike and ski if there is decent high elevation snow accumulation. Ive checked TAY for ideas but not really coming up with anywhere else.

I'm in love with backcountry skiing from my experiences doing my rinky dink tours, and am a bit more comfortable in doing it. Ski touring/ski mountaineering is insanely intimidating, which it should be to make you cautious and prepared as the consequences can be extremely high. I look forward to planning some tours for this hopefully long and snowy winter, and will make sure I finish procuring the rest of the gear I need. I have to take an avy 1 class as well - I know I need to do this ASAP, especially if I want to tour with other people as I can not be a risk factor and potentially hold their lives in my hands. I just have fallen in love with touring and even skinning inbounds at hyak. Id like to do more than kendall knob and hyak this winter, and really learn how to navigate safely in higher risk zones. One step at a time, so I need some patience in getting out there.

I forgot to post some pictures from my tour last Saturday, which I said Id do. I just need to go through the 150 or so pictures and pick our a few solid ones. It was so gorgeous out there that I got a lot of amazing shots, and two pictures of me on skis finally, thanks to a group of French skiers who were taking group photos at a quick stop 1000 feet below the camp at the line or rocks up the middle. No action shots of myself, but a few of other skiers.

Sorry for the long blog post, I haven't been around much so I figure Id unload a long single post on you guys. Enjoy, especially you PWNbrit

[riff]

One of my favorite early options is to go up to glacier basin from the white river campground, on the north side of rainier. Its a three mile walk on a decent trail to the toe of the Inter glacier, and you can snag a few thousand feet of vert. In my experience there hasn’t been any issue with crevasses, but I haven’t been up there yet this year. I know you were thinking the north cascades and they’re absolutely off the chain, but I thought I’d throw it out there anyway.


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[BeardMech]

Well for the North Cascades I wouldnt be bringing skis unless I knew of a pace holding snow. Well, I guess I could always just have them in my car and see if my eyes can spot a patch of snow worth while. I have a decent GPS backcountry app (BackCountry Navigator TOPO GPS PRO) on my phone that you can download maps to see trail routes and what not that I should pull put and take a look. I do need to play with the app a bit more so I am a bit more comfortable with it while on a tour as I was either spending to much time messing with it while heading up to muir, or I wasnt using features that I wanted to (like tracking my location, and not just setting waypoints). It lets you download maps for offline use so you can navigate no matter if you have no service, with GPS still of course running no matter if you have zero cell service/data (With AT&T, I get really shitty service were I lose it pretty much everywhere Ive gone in the Cascades. Makes me slightly nervous going solo and not having the ability to even make an emergency call.

Ill seriously consider checking out that route next instead of heading back up muir for my ski itch. I showed up late to my doctors appointment so Im now just sitting and waiting for who knows how long until Ill be seen, so heading to Rainier for some skiing is off the table. I rather not have to worry about cutting it close with the earlier sunsets and getting back to the car right at dusk. Ive seen most of what you can see while heading up skyline to muir, so time for something different. I dont have any crevasse training so I need to be very careful if there is the prospect of having to navigate around them solo. Is this route a lot quieter in terms of the number of skiers and hikers heading up compared to muir? I generally like there to be other folks out just in case the worst case scenarios happen since like I said, I dont really get any service on Rainier or deep in the Cascades.

I need to re look at the Washington ski tour route book I have by Martin Volken and see what may be viable options.

[riff]

I’ve always seen few people out there, definitely a lower traffic spot than Muir.
If you are looking for a great hike in the north cascades, maybe check out Sahale peak area? I was up there a bit ago, even just going to cascade pass is amazing.


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[Ale_capone]

The Blob is back

it will be good for the base.

[ACH]

it will be good for the base.

We need a "rim shot" emoji

[plugboots]

We need a "rim shot" emoji

Bad visual.

[plugboots]

Well for the North Cascades, lah blah blah

Do you mean Washington Pass? There are many well-known hikes, even to Mexico. Go soon.

[CascadeLuke]

Anyone going to see All In ski movie at 20 Corners Brewing Friday in Woodinville? It’s practically free. I’ll be there