znep

We headed up Hood on Monday from the south side. It was a beautiful day until mid afternoon. Low winds, very clear. Snow was pretty good in most places, wind packed with up to a foot or so on top of a fairly firm crust in areas. We didn't start early and were moving slowly so ended up turning around just short of the summit around the top of the hogsback. Up until then it hadn't been icy at all, but was starting to get a bit icier. We turned around because the weather crashed just a bit too soon. We then had to hastily follow our wands down in a whiteout with some gusty winds at times, before darkness set in. Didn't see anyone else who we know summited the same day, saw one group of three that got a early start and turned around around crater rock since one of their party didn't want to continue, and there was a group of telemarkers we saw coming down from high enough that they could have summitted.

http://www.komotv.com/stories/22271.htm "They're fine, wet and a little miserable," said Ric Cole, a search and rescue volunteer. "Other than that, they're doing fine." [...] Two sets of ski tracks were spotted by helicopters before the men walked out of the woods about 4 p.m. Friday near Dog Lake, two miles east of White Pass on U.S. 12, Cole said.

KOMO 4 NEWS ALERT: The 2 missing skiers near White Pass have apparently been found OK. More details to follow.

Both photos are from April 29th at St. Helens. That was a glorious day. On Avalanches: hey, why not just be crushed by a giant chunk of snow instead? Of course, you may be just as likely to have a snowobile land on your head instead. On destroyed buildings: