Thursday, January 6, 2011
Changes in weather
Well, the clear skies and fluffy snow had to change sometime. That sometime was yesterday. After super cold temperatures for this part of the cascades last week, the freezing level has risen and it is currently raining on the passes. Alison and I went up for some night skiing (her first time on skis in over 10 years) at The Summit and were surprised at the quality of the conditions. It was only misting, not all-out raining as it was at lower elevations. And the snow was soft but not mushy as I would have expected. All-in-all a fun, if not wet, night.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Old/New Years skiing 2010/2011
Hooked up with Tim and Justin on Friday 12/31/2010 and headed to Red Mountain for some touring. The temps were around 15 degrees when we left the car at 10:30 and it was a blue-bird day. Absolutely gorgeous! Tim built a kicker and he and Justin took a turn at throwing some 360's. As I was manning the camera I decided to refrain from such antics. The snow was deep and soft above a rain crust. The layer above the crust wasn't slabby but from the quick hand sheer tests I did it had a tendency to want to slide both above and below the crust. I didn't have my magnifying glass with me so it was hard to see and significant faceting but I imagine it was there. The crust was about 12"-14" beneath the surface. We opted to stay on fairly mellow terrain, which was still great skiing. The skin track we were following led across a pretty sketchy slope that was facing the warm sun and led directly into a deep and steep gully. Even more surprising than the owners of the tracks opting to skin across this slope was their decision to ski right down the gut of the gully. Not a chance in hell you would find me skiing there on the day we were there. I spotted a pretty aesthetic lookin' cliff that I convinced Justin and Tim to drop. Unfortunately I didn't get Tim's air on film for some reason. The even was rounded out be Tim throwing an unexpected (by Justin and I) backflip off the kicker. Then the alpenglow descended upon the valley and basked us the amazing golds, pinks, and reds that always surprise and enliven my spirit. Oh ya... and my Fritschis broke, again. I managed to get them to hold for most of the day but as we began our ski out it became clear they were not going to be much good at keeping my skis attached to my feet. Skied out one footed. Justin, thanks for carrying my other ski! It was fully dark by the time we got back to the car and put on our cold shoes that had been in the car all day. Beautiful.
Day 2. January 1st, 2011
Woke up to Tim's text proclaiming his extreme hunger and desire to grab breakfast at Endolyn Joe's. Hell ya. Ate a delicious breakfast after a late night hanging with Alley, Lana, Lena, Meredith, Schoe, and Jody at Chris Alley's house. Oh so tasty. I realized I had left my wallet in Justin's glove box so I was going to have to head up to Lynnwood to do a retrieve. We concluded that it would be fun to head up to Stevens for some afternoon turns after grabbing my personal belongings. I drove home, threw another filed-down screw in my bindings and hoped for the best. Tim arrived shortly after and we loaded up the Suby. Grabbed the wallet at Justin's house where we found Justin unable and unwilling to come with us. Saturday provided an opportunity to clean the dirty martini glasses that were left from the night before.
As we stepped out of the car we instantly recognized that it was significantly colder that either of us was expecting. Upon getting home I looked up the temps on the telemetry and it indicated a massive inversion with the temp around the elevation of the parking lot never getting above 7 degrees. Only a thousand feet higher and the temp as mid 20's. No wonder I was freezing in the parking lot and roasting once we starting gaining some altitude. Another beautiful day. Snow was great. It seemed a little more stable even though crust still existed. We made two laps, the last of which was possible by Tim's awesome boot pack up the last 100 ft of steep and deep snow. The gully that is usually filled in enough to use as a life line through the slide alder and dense trees at the bottom proved to be little more than running water under a foot of unconsolidated snow. No luck there. As is turned out, we were able to pick our way through the maze of open shots all the to the road grade. Once again it was dark by the time we reached the car in the freakin' feezing parking lot. My gloves froze within minutes of skinning into the parking lot. It was cold. We debated food options and decided we could wait for food if it meant getting beers at the Beverage Place and having Indian delivered. I brought my laptop and we watched Poor Boyz Productions newest flick with we ate and drank our aches away.
A great way to bring in the new year!
Day 2. January 1st, 2011
Woke up to Tim's text proclaiming his extreme hunger and desire to grab breakfast at Endolyn Joe's. Hell ya. Ate a delicious breakfast after a late night hanging with Alley, Lana, Lena, Meredith, Schoe, and Jody at Chris Alley's house. Oh so tasty. I realized I had left my wallet in Justin's glove box so I was going to have to head up to Lynnwood to do a retrieve. We concluded that it would be fun to head up to Stevens for some afternoon turns after grabbing my personal belongings. I drove home, threw another filed-down screw in my bindings and hoped for the best. Tim arrived shortly after and we loaded up the Suby. Grabbed the wallet at Justin's house where we found Justin unable and unwilling to come with us. Saturday provided an opportunity to clean the dirty martini glasses that were left from the night before.
As we stepped out of the car we instantly recognized that it was significantly colder that either of us was expecting. Upon getting home I looked up the temps on the telemetry and it indicated a massive inversion with the temp around the elevation of the parking lot never getting above 7 degrees. Only a thousand feet higher and the temp as mid 20's. No wonder I was freezing in the parking lot and roasting once we starting gaining some altitude. Another beautiful day. Snow was great. It seemed a little more stable even though crust still existed. We made two laps, the last of which was possible by Tim's awesome boot pack up the last 100 ft of steep and deep snow. The gully that is usually filled in enough to use as a life line through the slide alder and dense trees at the bottom proved to be little more than running water under a foot of unconsolidated snow. No luck there. As is turned out, we were able to pick our way through the maze of open shots all the to the road grade. Once again it was dark by the time we reached the car in the freakin' feezing parking lot. My gloves froze within minutes of skinning into the parking lot. It was cold. We debated food options and decided we could wait for food if it meant getting beers at the Beverage Place and having Indian delivered. I brought my laptop and we watched Poor Boyz Productions newest flick with we ate and drank our aches away.
A great way to bring in the new year!
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