gapertimmy Posted June 18, 2003 Posted June 18, 2003 i was supposed to go but got derailed at the last moment, would like to know condition of the road to cold springs if anyone has some recent info that would be great. tim Quote
mikeadam Posted June 18, 2003 Posted June 18, 2003 I went there again on Saturday and the road was melted out just past Morrison Creek campground. Quote
mikeadam Posted June 18, 2003 Posted June 18, 2003 I strapped a happy meal tray to my ass and claim first such descent of said route in this style. As per Mike Shaeffer's suggestions from long ago. Quote
gapertimmy Posted June 18, 2003 Author Posted June 18, 2003 i'm still looking to get first tobagon descent myself Quote
Dustin_B Posted June 18, 2003 Posted June 18, 2003 I was thinking about renting some AT gear and skiing Adams this weekend. Never skied outside a ski area (and local backcountry there). Is this a good mountain for my first time? How is the snow on the south side right now for skiing? Never rented AT gear, is it pretty easy to ascend? Not worried about going down, only up. Thanks. Quote
rbw1966 Posted June 18, 2003 Posted June 18, 2003 I skied the south chutes a couple of weeks ago. We hit it later than optimal for a slush fest descent. Like skiing a giant slurpee. Lots of snow cover above treeline and mega fun. I highly recommend getting out there sooner than later. Quote
cj001f Posted June 18, 2003 Posted June 18, 2003 rbw1966 said: I skied the south chutes a couple of weeks ago. We hit it later than optimal for a slush fest descent. Like skiing a giant slurpee. Lots of snow cover above treeline and mega fun. I highly recommend getting out there sooner than later. That was the mega scorching weekend, right? When'd it start slurpeeing (as in time of day) Quote
rbw1966 Posted June 18, 2003 Posted June 18, 2003 Yeah it was the mega-hot weekend and it was soft by 11. Quote
cj001f Posted June 19, 2003 Posted June 19, 2003 rbw1966 said: Yeah it was the mega-hot weekend and it was soft by 11. Gracias, senor! Quote
mikeadam Posted June 19, 2003 Posted June 19, 2003 We skied too early and found the opposite of slurpy fest. Some nice sections had melted but there was plenty of knee shattering chatter on icy crusts. Lower down the snow consistency changed and became drier causing that lame ass lurching -- grabbing sensation. Lower down I traversed directly under the cornices in the initial bowl for a nice surf wave kind of atmosphere. If anybody wants to go back anytime next week and is looking for a partner I would be happy to hook up or share drive from Seattle area. No deadbeat liberals. Gun toting meat eating conservatives only please. Quote
Dustin_B Posted June 19, 2003 Posted June 19, 2003 Dustin_B said: Not worried about going down, only up After hearing a story about a proficient downhill skier struggling on AT gear their first time out, I'm thinking I might need to be more concerned about the descent on AT gear. I'm a relatively proficient downhill/resort skier (blacks and doubles), but does the sloppiness of AT gear 'level the playing field' between proficient downhill skiers and never-been-skiers? Is Adams a good place to learn? gracias Quote
philfort Posted June 19, 2003 Posted June 19, 2003 Why not just bring downhill gear and hike up on foot? Snow is pretty consolidated for walking these days... Quote
Cpt.Caveman Posted June 20, 2003 Posted June 20, 2003 Adams a good place to learn? gracias I think so. Quote
rbw1966 Posted June 20, 2003 Posted June 20, 2003 I am horribly inept at tele skiing and found the south chutes to be fun yet challenging. You'll have fun Dustin--get on that beyotch! Quote
mikeadam Posted June 20, 2003 Posted June 20, 2003 I've always felt that a decent randonee setup (Fritschi's with a good AT boot) is as good as regular alpine equipment. Maybe, if you're on Silverettas designed for a more approach oriented experience you might encounter some issues. I had trouble in trap crust on those (Early release-lack of aggresive turning), but could efficiently ski packed powder and ice on them. Trap crust is not going to be a problem right now though. Phil has a good point though. Carrying your alpine gear is just as good, as the approach is packed and bootable. Bring some running shoes for the approach or save weight and wreck your knees by wearing your ski boots. Quote
JoshK Posted June 23, 2003 Posted June 23, 2003 In my opinion, spring corn is so easy to ski that if you are a good skier, you should have no problems on an AT setup. I find skiing on my tourlites + ML4s (basically a plastic climbing boot) in spring corn is still quite easy, albeit not as easy as a full on alpine setup. I think you'll be fine, esp. on the south side of adams. I would agree on just hauling your skis on your back however. you won't gain much by skinning up with the way the snowpack is now. -josh Quote
Dustin_B Posted June 26, 2003 Posted June 26, 2003 mikeadam said: I went there again on Saturday and the road was melted out just past Morrison Creek campground. Any one been up there this week or last? How far is the road to Cold Springs melted out now? gracias. Quote
Dustin_B Posted June 27, 2003 Posted June 27, 2003 Dustin_B said: mikeadam said: I went there again on Saturday and the road was melted out just past Morrison Creek campground. Any one been up there this week or last? How far is the road to Cold Springs melted out now? gracias. One of the most popular routes in WA in no one has been up there in the past week or so??? beta?? Can you skin up out of the parking area right now or is there bare trail for a while? Quote
Pruneboy Posted June 29, 2003 Posted June 29, 2003 The Cold Springs Trailhead was punched through on June 18th, I parked 200 yards below the main parking and watched as a large FWD mashed the last snow drift blocking the road. Getting accurate information regarding the status of the road has always been difficult at Adams. If people hear that you can only drive to Morrison Creek, a lot probably stay home. Is the Forest Service intentionally conservative? Do skiers keep mum to prevent larger crowds? The Forest Service certainly doesn't give accurate info. On June 17th I called the Trout Lake office and they said snow blocked the road a mile and a half prior to Cold Springs. The snow on the South climb is past it's prime for skiing, but would still be OK. The snow in the SW Chute is a lot smoother, however rockfall is now a potential hazard. Good times! Quote
rock-ice Posted June 29, 2003 Posted June 29, 2003 There was only small patches of snow at cold springs this week and i suspect there even gone now. I don't think you even hit snow on the trail until 1 or 1 1/2 miles out. As mentioned above the snow gets real soft real fast because of the hot days and fairly warm nights. Try and get up the slope early in the day. When I was up there this last weekend there were a ton of skiers there for the southwest chute none of them said anything bad about the descent. Quote
catbirdseat Posted June 30, 2003 Posted June 30, 2003 While climbing Hood on Saturday, we met another party of climbers who were abandoning their climb to go on a rescue at Adams. Someone had fallen and injured themselves on the South Spur route. Does anyone know anything about that rescue? Quote
rock-ice Posted June 30, 2003 Posted June 30, 2003 I also heard about this. Quite a few S&R suv's were plowing up the road saturday morning. They said something about it being an injured skier who had called on his cell phone and was going to try and make his way down by himself. My guess is he wasn't on the south spur because with all the people around going down "alone" is impossible and all they need do for help is yell. Hope they were alright. Quote
Dustin_B Posted June 30, 2003 Posted June 30, 2003 Dustin_B said: I was thinking about renting some AT gear and skiing Adams this weekend. Never skied outside a ski area (and local backcountry there). Is this a good mountain for my first time? How is the snow on the south side right now for skiing? Never rented AT gear, is it pretty easy to ascend? Not worried about going down, only up. Thanks. A friend and I skied Adams this past Saturday. It was both of our first times skiing outside of a ski resort and on AT gear. We got the hang of skinning up pretty quickly. (knowing how steep you can go took a little more practice). It took us 7 hours from the car to summit. Skiing down was cake until the slop got deep and made things tiring. 2.5 hours back to car. Grinning ear to ear the whole way down. I'm hooked!! Perfect weather. Shorts and tee shirt (or no shirts) on the summit. Calm winds. Awesome. There are far more people on that route and summit than any other mountain I've been on (by 10 fold). All ranges of experience too. Too many people glissading with crampons on, etc. I had an alpine experience with 300 of my fellow mountaineering friends... Road open Cold Springs, trail completely snow covered about 1-1.5 miles in (as was mentioned above). The drive from Seattle to Trout Lake is so suck. First time on Adams, first time skiing a mountain. So far I've summited Baker, Rainier, and Adams all for the first time and all in the month of June. Bring on Glacier. Now its time to start looking for an AT setup for myself PS - thanks for the beta. don't know anything about any one being rescued. didn't see anything on Saturday. Quote
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