Dan_Miller

Start Plowing North Cascades Highway this Month Date: Monday, March 12, 2007 Contact: Jeff Adamson, Communications, Wenatchee, (509) 667-2815 or cell (509) 669-8778 Dean Hills, Maintenance Superintendent, Okanogan, (509) 826-7364 WENATCHEE – WSDOT maintenance crews will start plowing snow off the North Cascades Highway (SR 20) on Monday, March 26, in an annual effort to open the pass for drivers. Crews closed the pass last November because of dangerous avalanche conditions. Last week crews were able to assess the snow depths when they took a trip up the pass in a sno-cat. They estimate that it will take five to six weeks to clear the greater-than-normal snow depths and open the pass. “We saw plenty of snow still lodged in the avalanche chutes and covering the highway,” said Maintenance Superintendent Dean Hills. “There was definitely more than normal. Especially when compared to the last couple years of minimal snowpack.” Crews found snow depths ranging from four feet at the gates, to 55 deep in avalanche zones. At Silver Star Gate, west of Mazama, crews measured four feet of snow. A few miles west of there, below the 13 Cutthroat Ridge avalanche chutes, snow depths ranged from 12 to 35 feet. One avalanche slide across the highway was 20 feet deep and 1,200 feet wide. The snow on the highway under the three Liberty Bell Mountain avalanche chutes, just east of the Washington Pass summit, ranged from 40 to 55 feet deep. The summit of Washington had eight feet and Rainy Pass summit had nine. At Whistler the snow was 15 feet deep over the roadway. Due to the depth of the snow from the avalanche chutes, much of the clearing will have to be done by caterpillars rather than snow blowers, which will slow the work, somewhat. At the same time, the assessment found little rock and tree debris in the slides which could speed the progress. “We’re expecting the snow to stabilize and the spring avalanche danger to be reduced by the end of the month, but weather could change everything. We’ll see,” said Hills. The pass has been closed since November 13, 2006. Last spring, the highway opened May 1. WSDOT is aiming to open the pass by mid-May, which is slightly later than the mid- to late-April openings they have averaged over the past 30 years. www.wsdot.wa.gov/Traffic/Passes/NorthCascades.

Most current report for today, 1/26/07: Just in case anyone was thinking of heading up the Cascade River Road this fine weather winter weekend. Cascade River 01/12/2007: SNOW Can drive to Marble Creek Campground. Icy and snowy, need high clearance, 4x4 and chains beyond. Gated at El Dorado Creek (Milepost 20.) Road washed out at North Fork Bridge (Milepost 21.5). Dangerous fords of the Cascade River and Boston Creek beyond. Repairs not expected to be complete until late summer 2007. Gravel One Lane

From this morning's Daily Ranger Report: Mount Rainier National Park (WA) Storm Rains Hammer Park, Forcing Closures Rain continues to pound Mount Rainier National Park, causing flooding along the Nisqually River that has washed away the Sunshine Point Campground and a quarter-mile stretch of the Nisqually Road. "The news is not good. There has been significant damage in several areas," said park spokeswoman Lee Taylor. "The Sunshine Point Campground no longer exists. The Nisqually Road, at Sunshine Point, the road is washed out for about 1/4 of a mile, the full width of the road. There is no way to get from the Nisqually entrance to Longmire. That could remain true for weeks or months to come." The 18-site campground is less than a mile from the southwest entrance to the park. It sits on the bank of the Nisqually River. The road from the Nisqually entrance is the most heavily traveled in the park, leading up to the Paradise area. A long closure would prevent park visitors from using that area for snow activities, such as sledding, snowshoeing, skiing and snowboarding. Closure also will likely impact work being done on the Paradise Inn and the new visitor center at Paradise. There also is damage in the Longmire area. The river bank has been eaten away to the corner of a building on the west side of the bank. On the other side, the road from the suspension bridge to Community Building has been washed away. The river is about 17 steps from the building itself. In the southeast corner of the park, the Ohanapecosh Visitor Center has about an inch of water in the back offices. Water is three to four feet deep over the roads in the area. The Carbon River Road in the northwest corner of the park has washed out in three areas. Park employees who work in Longmire remain on administrative leave. For photos of the flooding, click on "More Information" below. [submitted by Jeffrey Mayor, The Tacoma News Tribune]

Encountered on today's NPS Daily Ranger Report. Yosemite National Park (CA) Follow-up On Fatal Climbing Fall On the afternoon of October 23rd, dispatch received a telephone call reporting a fatal climbing fall. Jim Hewitt reported that he and his partner, well-known climber Todd Skinner, had been working on a first free ascent of the "Jesus Built My Hotrod" route on the overhanging west face of the Leaning Tower. Skinner's fall occurred when he was rappelling. Hewitt told investigators that he had been above Skinner when he fell. As he was rappelling on the low-stretch ropes that they had fixed on the route, Hewitt came to Skinner's Grigri descent device on the rope at the point where he’d fallen. The Grigri had a still-locked carabiner attached which had been connected to Skinner's harness. When Skinner's body was recovered, the belay loop on his harness was missing. The next day, rangers recovered a broken harness belay loop in vegetation at the base of the wall. It was very worn at the spot where the break had occurred. Hewitt later told investigators that Skinner was aware that the belay loop on his harness was in a weakened condition prior to the climb, and that they had talked about its poor condition three days earlier. For further details, click on "More Information" below. [submitted by Keith Lober, Emergency Services Coordinator] More Information...

Prime Rib Of Goat

Josh, Melting fast. Those south facing slopes between the road end and Long's, Ingall's pass are dwindling rapidly. Because of intermittent snow I carried the skis for about 800 to 900 feet of elevation before skinning up. The north and east facing slopes; as one might expect, have great coverage as of last tuesday anyway. Skiing around Ingall's lake and above is a hot tip right now.

I was there skiing on Tuesday, 5/30. Was able to go through the only real snow patch on the road with my GMC Jimmy in 4WD and make it to the road end parking area. If you can't get through that one spot expect a road walk of 2.2 miles. Hope that helps!

http://www.grivelnorthamerica.com/products.php?gid=1&id=8

Extremely impressive.

I ran across these the other day whilst surfing the web. La Sportiva Spantik with Fast Lacing System 38-47 by half PU Tech Coated Breneke Ceracom, molded TPU backstay, PE microcellular insulating form, Lorica 5 mm thermal structure carbon fiber w/ thermo alumimum TPU dual density Micropore EVA Vibram Montagna step-In compatable Micro-perforated Thermo-formable PE w/ water-repellent Lorica w/ Antiacqua aCoating 5 lb 1 oz A,E 650.00 Purportedly, per La Sportiva's and Alaska Mountaineering (www.alaskamountaineering.com) and Hiking's web sites they are quite toasty, reasonably light and precise climbers. They may just be worth a 'look see.' A little quick research reveals that Telemark Pyrenees has them for: 358.70 EUR Euro = 426.010 USD United States Dollars Anyone have any more info or personal experience with these quite pricey bad boys?