ilookeddown

Well we took the flat, long FR 9070 from the water treatment plant to trail head 1303. I think it might be worth touring up Hayak, ski down to Mill Creek, back up to the groomed trail that wraps around Mt Catherine to the east and ski down to FR 9070 then tour west to trail head 1303. I guess you could take the Lake Annette trail but at that point you might as well ski the very appealing east face of Silver down to twin lakes then skin up 1800ft from the lake to the couloir. When you ski down you end up east of the lakes which puts you further from the car.

Stick clips are a result of poor bolting. Smith being the exception due to the erosion at the base of the walls. My first trip down there I climbed Relelations and even though 5.9, that first bolt is sure a long way up. If a route is bolted, it should always protect a possible injury. If you want to stick clip a route good for you, but you may be missing out on the true rush of climbing. (sport)

Trip: Couloir above twin lakes - Date: 12/7/2006 Trip Report: Adam and I skied a couloir above twin lakes near Silver Peak today. If you have ever driven to Silver in the spring you know the one I'm talking about. Conditions were very icy but manageable. The couloir is about 1600ft of vert. and I guess about half as narrow as the Slot. The entrance is around 50 degrees and mellows to around 40 toward the bottom. I would like to go back when there is some fresh and check it out again. Its north facing but you have to wrap around the mountain and approach it from the south side to reach the couloir. Anyway, here are some pic. I didn't get too many b/c my camera got hit with a chunk of ice while trying to take a picture. Gear Notes: Standard touring including ski crampons.

No they have snow plowed to block traffic. I am sure it will be open on Saturday since they are opening. I don't think they will groom the trail until they get a little more coverage. From what I hear they don't plan to open the bc until things consolidate a bit so they can blast. Did a couple of laps to the top of Snoqualmie Mt today with 4 friends. We followed a skin track up just over 1/2 way. It looked like the group dug a pit and didn't like what they found and skied down. We dug 2 pits a bit higher up and found conditions favorable. The second lap was a little softer since is was sunny but the temps were still in the teens. It was some of the best skiing so far this season.

Climb: Source Lake - Date of Climb: 11/24/2006 Trip Report: A few of us skied the slopes about 600ft above Source Lake today. We found no skin track so it was slow breaking trail to the lake. A couple of groups followed the track so I hope it lasts through the snow over night so it can be used in the morning. We did 3 laps before cutting over to the snow lake trail for the ride out. It makes for a fun short tour. We found the slope very stable and nothing released. We had to take out skis off 3 times to cross water on the way out.

Whoever skied that line today you have some balls. From the tracks it looked like a great line. Well done.

This is one of the web sites I use to check conditions. Don’t know about email updates. http://www.skitiger.com/

I shit on you in the bedroom and he likes it

I rarely participate in spray and find little entertainment in it. But I had to add my opinion. Who the fuck cares and why do you?

Yea, they told me they ran into someone. I was told that you were very solid skier. If you want to get out let us know.

Didn't take the skin track that was set b/c it looked like it went over below nash from the bottom. Found one at the top of the chair but left it at the top of the cat track. As for conditions, yesterday a few friends went up and found freezing rain and breakable curst. They said it wasn’t very enjoyable.

Climb: Alpental area- Date of Climb: 11/14/2006 Trip Report: I did a tour of the top of Alpental today. In my opinion there is more of a base above 4K ft than this time last year. Ended up skiing my skin track down due to low visibility but it was still a great ski. Stability is also very good. Around 4100ft there appears to be an ice layer about 8” down but seems do be bonding well. There is another one 6” further down which I will be concerned with due to the warm temps tomorow. I think it will be an interesting week to come. So check stability as you go and be safe. Gear Notes: Standard stuff

Climb: Chinook Pass- Date of Climb: 11/11/2006 Trip Report: A few of us toured around Chinook Pass today. Hit it before they close the road. It was fairly deep light powder. I did hit a few rocks but coverage is great. Saw at least a dozen others up there enjoying the powder.

For beginners I wouldn't recommend the Quark. They are the best if you are a confident climber, but if your strike if just a few degrees off they seem to deflect off the ice. I haven't had the chance to try the vipers so I can't comment on them. I found the BD shrike to be the best all purpose tool I have used. They are not very aggressive but great for beginners and mixed

Looks like a great boot. Don't know if I would like to do a huge tour w/them. They seem very stiff after trying them on but I'll bet they ski very well. Are not Dynafit compatible but can be used in alpine bindings which is a +

Is that some kind of question or are you just being an ass hole?

Found on Infinite Bliss. PM me w/marking tape color(s) and address and I will mail it to you.

I have a dynafit and a fritschi free ride set up. I also have a 4 buckle boots as well as a 3 buckle. I usually end up grabbing the dynafit and tour determines the boot. I have found the fritschi has some of lateral movement when skiing, they do not tour as well, and feel heavy under foot. They are however easy to adjust between boots and they are easy to get in and out of. I have used my alpine boots in them before. All of this has been pointed out so far. Everyone I tour with started out on fritschi and now skis dynafit and they swear they will never go back. I do agree the breaks suck and that’s why I took them off. They are not hard to get in to unless the rubber your sole is worn down and then they can be a pain. I have never had the “icing up” problem and I used them over 70 days this year. If I were new the ski touring I would by a boot that fits well and is dynafit compatible, then find a ski that will work for me, and finally chose a binding. Going cheep will be hard to do and you may just end up getting a set-up that just doesn’t work for you. Finally, don’t buy used boots unless you plan to buy a new liner for $100-$250. Don’t forget the cost of skins, crampons, transceiver, shovel and probe. I wouldn’t go out with someone who couldn’t dig me out.

I dropped a sling w/2 BD wire-gate ovals off the improbable traverse yesterday. If you find don't use. They fell a long way.

On Sunday June 25th Adam, Aaron, Steve, Jesse and I skied the Winthrop Glacier from Camp Sherman. We attempted it two weeks prior and were forced to turn around at 13,000 ft due to very poor visibility and moderate snowfall on day that started out without a cloud in the sky. We were able to skin up much of the route. We had to take our skis off to gain the ridge on the Winthrop (about 550ft) and again for the last 1000 feet or so. I was hoping to skin the entire way but booting up sometimes just makes more since. We placed 8 wonds on the way up to mark hazards and any change in direction for out decent. I was very thankful for having those 2 weeks ago when we descended in very limited visibility. On our way down 3 turns in, Aaron broke through very small crevasse and his ski popped off and it fell in. The first thing that went through in my mind was “I think he’s good enough to make it down with one.” I was relived to see him pull it out of there after climbing back up and reaching in. The rest of the ski down was mostly uneventful but it was getting quite warm the lower we got. A huge scrac broke loose a few hundred feet below us just as we were getting to the most technically challenging portion of the route. I went first and cut the slope that set off some small slides that drained into a crevasse then skied to a safe spot. Steve went next and skied past me and set off a fairly large slab that ran into the flats. The last 3 made it down without any problem. We then skied through a fairly low angle crevasse field and down to Sherman. We packed up and skied the inter glacier as far as we could before hiking back to the car. In all it was a great day. Lots of climbers and skiers up there but none on our route which made it even more enjoyable. Aaron posted his TR and some pictures including one of the route on TAY if anyone is interested.

A few cars got broken in to at the far side parking lot tonight between 5pm and 8pm. Jet a heads up.

Climb: Silver Star-Ski Descent Date of Climb: 5/3/2006 Trip Report: I wasn’t going to do a trip report for this since we saw a few other tracks in the area and I figured someone else would do it. Anyway, it’s been almost a week so here you go. Drew, Kendall, and I left the car at about 7:30 in the morning from the pullout. A group of 2 and one guy alone were ahead of us. We put our skis and crampons on once we crossed the street and started up. After about an hour of staying high and left of the creek we were able to see our objective. From here it’s very strait forward. Just follow the creek until it gets steep and find a place to cross. Trend to the right to avoid the very steep slopes until you can make a long traverse to get under the furthest shoot. starting up We found it very icy most of the way and had to take our skis off for a short time due to icing of our skins. The other group and the guy alone boot-packed the last 800ft. The view was great at the top of the saddle. The ski down was so fun I only took 2 pictures. We followed our track down. We looked at the shoot to skiers left but it was so steep we couldn’t see the slope and it was still in the shade and was probably still rock hard. Back at the car by 1:30. Gear Notes: Standard touring gear w/crampons, rope and harness unused.

Great job! I have climbed the route you took. The NW ramp (I assume you took down) is much wider than it looks from the road. Just getting there from the summit is the hard part. Again great job!

Here's some pics for those that can't open a PDF. For the full trip report see Martin's site.

Climb: McClellan Butte-East Face Date of Climb: 3/15/2006 Trip Report: Martin called me Sunday night looking for a partner to ski McClellan Butte early Monday morning. I looking forward to a day of rest after skiing the Slot on Snoqualmie and Mt Catharine that day however I agreed to go. He wrote up a trip report so I won’t write one of my own. Here is a link. www.proguiding.com/PDFs/McClellan.pdf There are more pictures in the photo gallery on this site if you’re interested.