AlpineK

Trip: Snoqualmie Pass - Chair Peak Circumnavigation and Slot Couloir Date: 2/18/2011 Trip Report: Circumnavigating Chair Peak has been on my to do list for awhile. A friend suggested we ski the loop, and the weather looked good. On Friday the 18th we skied the loop with new snow and sunshine. Our group consisted of Tansaafl, two friends, and I. The tour starts with an ascent to the col between Bryant and Chair Peak. Snow on south facing slopes was thick due to sunshine, but north facing slopes had killer powder. Hemlock Descent to Melakwa Lake View northwards from Melakwa Lake Traverse to the col above Chair Peak Lake Looking towards Chair Peak Lake and Mt. Roosevelt After the ski to the lake we hiked to a high point over Snow Lake Looking East towards Snow Lake and Mt. Snoqualmie A good tour and a fun time! For a follow up, the next day David Parker, Tanstaafl, and I skied up Mt. Snoqualmie. The waterfall below the Phantom Slide is falling apart. Our original thought was to ski the Crooked Couloir, but on ascent we decided to ski the Slot Couloir. View of the big R Looking back towards our tour the day before The top of the Slot is in pre-mogul condition, but nice there's nice powder down lower. Here are two compare and contrast photos David Parker looking bad then feeling bad Tanstaafl maintaining her composure through the day We skied snow in the trees while descending towards Alpental. The snow was great up high, bud down lower quite icy underfoot. At the parking lot Dave saw climbers packing up in the parking lot. He decided to talk to them and maybe give them a hard time about walking in the skin track up the Phantom As it turns out it was Wayne and Tom just back from Pineapple Express. Two back to back days of fun skiing! Approach Notes: A hard icy snow layer ascending the Phantom.

On the Cassin Ridge we had a great tent site under the second rock band. The next day our plan was to find a couloir a Korean group climbed to reduce the amount of mixed or rock climbing. We eventually found the couloir but it took a while and we were tired. Instead of climbing 5 traversing pitches we chopped and chopped some ice and produced an angling and uncomfortable ledge to, "sleep," on. The next morning weather moved in and winds were blowing about 150 mph. We couldn't move. We got out our radio. Since we were high on the mountain we had line of site contact with park rangers in Talkeetna. We ask what the weather forecast was and the ranger ask, "Where are you guys at?" We responded with 16000 feet on the Cassin. The response was, "Oh," and then a long pause. The ranger then said the forecast called for another 24 hours of storm then calm. He then advised us to hang in there. We did manage to fix 300 feet of rope down to a flattish spot where we could actually lay down. Sure enough the weather was still and calm the next day. We got our stove running and melted water which we hadn't done for almost 48 hours. After drinking and getting prepared we took off for the summit. It ended up being a straight push except for 4 hours in sleeping bags at 19000 feet.

Luna Col Rocks! Good views in all directions

In older times you either lived in a city or village if you weren't working on a farm or herding cattle and goats. Then the burbs took over.

Thanks Arch Careful Rudy, I might start messing with your profile [img:center]http://www.danbbs.dk/~rep/pictures/animation/skianim.gif[/img]

I've never climbed at Beacon, but there seem to be a lot of wackos climbing there. Judging by this thread that is. Beacon Climbers [img:center]http://i1-win.softpedia-static.com/screenshots/9-Wacko-Faces-Icon-Pack_1.png[/img]

I'm guessing, but I'll have to wait for disclosure

That was just one of his many, "charms."

There are long distances between towns in that area. Take a map and know the distance between towns and how far one tank of gas will get you. I believe the Alcan is always under construction. There will be funky segments past Fort Saint John. Your map should covers northern BC; most BC road maps only cover southern BC. I don't know anything about driving in Northern Canada during March.

Great photos. The ice formations do look like Scottish ice climbing.

Here's some shredding [video:youtube] I'm sorry Kevbone, I forgot banjos aren't guitars and they don't count. They really don't count if they're played by southern hillbillies.

Monika was a cool chick and a great skier. I got a call from a member of SPART last Wednesday about a possible search/rescue. At the time he was vague about identifying her, but he gave enough clues to prove my ID guess correct. The weather was crappy at the pass Thursday and Friday, but good enough yesterday. A search team with dogs found her body yesterday afternoon. Here's a picture of her from 2010 Ski In [img:center]https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/_rxgbPHdbZ9I/S98fTCAd2fI/AAAAAAAAAWc/v0llwo5wQQE/s576/25-Monika.gif[/img]

Why doesn't Kevbone ever mention Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles when he talks about, "shredding?" [video:youtube]

[video:youtube]

There are a few companies that now make gear for backcountry skiing. Tele gear is an option, but the duckbill toe can make crampons less functional. Silveretta is an option, but to reduce weight I'd go with a Dynafit binding. They are light, but they do require boots compatible with the bindings. Bindings [img:center]http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/assets/images/ski-board/dynafit-tlt-classic.jpeg[/img] Dynafit has a new boot system that sheds quite a bit of weight. In the hike mode you get substantially more ankle flexibility than older AT boots. I bought a low end TLT boot this year and love em. Each boot is a pound lighter than one of my Garmont boots. [img:center]http://www.randoskier.com/images/products/detail/dynafit_tlt5_mtn.jpg[/img] These boots make climbing and scrambling quite a bit easier. Since I haven't had them for an entire season I can't speak for durability. So far they're great. You can get a carbon fiber versions of this boot if you have the $$ There's some gear to check out.

Gasherbrum massif, Gasherbrum-Broad Massif,... Lets add K2 to the massif. Due to height it's now called the K2 and lesser massif. Gasherbrum II drops to the fourth highest in the massif.

Never fear it will all be fixed in the new new new new new... Facebook

Crazy stuff

The chances of folks not trashing a shelter just because it's for day use are just about zero. Rangers will still have to go over the day shelter with shovels. Yes early in the season everybody is camping on snow, but that's not true later in the season. Lots of ascents occur after June, and there are a number of permanent camping platforms around the present hut.

A day use only shelter will suffer the same abuse an overnight shelter does. An overnight shelter and a ban on tent camping on the route eliminates tent sites and confines use to one specific location, or eliminates sprawl like you see in populated urban areas. Even with no hut, there is more and more pressure on the park to increase the number of permits available. Regional population, and access to information on climbing the mountain are both on the rise. The number of folks who consider climbing one of their hobbies/sports is also greater than my memories of climbing in the 70s. Those are all pressures that you can't shove back in the bottle. If you direct peoples interest to one route by providing a shelter you reduce use of other areas of the park. It keeps large numbers of people away from other cool natural features and locations. The European hut system is there due to a long history of use/climbing in the mountains. I don't think we should have a duplicate, but the demand for use is growing whether we like it or not. Adopting some elements seen in historically high use mountain areas makes sense. I would like to see money from climbing permits stay in the park for use by the climbing rangers. We already pay entrance fees. That money should cover other costs.

Kevbone, Good guitar players are fine but music involves a variety of instruments working together. Obsessing on one instrument isn't a good thing. You probably don't get it. Please carry on and post 20 links to Eddie Van Halen for us to see.

It's all talk [video:youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzRUH819eZs&feature=related These words are in S this time Spray

Kevbone [video:youtube] [video:youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62e6H2QMVLI&feature=related

Yes people were climbing the mountain long before any structure on the mountain. I think the problem is one of numbers. Long ago climbing the mountain was rare. With low numbers of campsite users then there was no need for any kind of structure. Today lots of folks want to climb the mountain. Restricting climbing permits is one way to preserve the place. Building structures in key locations for climbers is another way to minimize impact. Whether we like it or not local population has grown and information on the mountain is available everywhere. Yesterdays solutions to problems may not apply today.