[TR] Stuart area ski adventure- 2/12/2006

[philfort]

Climb: Stuart area ski adventure-

 

Date of Climb: 2/12/2006

 

Trip Report:

Snow-mo'd in to the Stuart Lake trailhead not too early Saturday morning (after a toboggan busting incident 100 yards from Bridge Creek). Skied up to a camp at 5400ft below Stuart. Somehow, Jason managed to lose his helmet on the way, even though it was loosely danlged over his foam pad on his pack.

Made an afternoon run from the moraine below the Ice Cliff glacier and determined conditions to be ass. Josh didn't have his laser-ski-condition-o-meter with him, but we predicted conditions would be ass-like on any north-facing snow higher up too (this, after skiing through some promising shaded re-crystallized snow down low).

Got up late Sunday morning, and went for a run on a 1200ft couloir on the opposite side of the valley. The sun was baking us here, and we got a nice run in softening snow, spiced up by a cliff in the middle. We returned to the frigid valley, packed up and skied out. Paul bloodied his arm running into a tree, and nearly fell off the Mountainer Creek bridge when the snow on it collapsed as he was crossing.

Sunny and windless all weekend... nice up there, except less snow than expected up high.

 

 

Gear Notes:

Crampons (for placing cook stove on top of)

pickets (for staking tent)

ice tools (for staking tent)

ice screw (staking tent?)

rope (pillow, and for sitting on)

harness (snowmobile tow)

[DirtyHarry]

We were thinking of going up there to ski the Sherpa, but good thing we didn't.

[philfort]

Picture of Ice Cliff and Sherpa (on the left):

Bigger image

Edited February 13, 2006 by philfort

[mattp]

Do you have a shot of that mountainside opposite camp? On the map that looks as if it might be one big ski slope if I am thinking of the same slope.

[AllYouCanEat]

I took some route shots that I'll post here when I get them back. One of the route we skied (oppisite from the ice cliff)if you're interested and another of the Ice cliff from the ridge top...closer up than phil's.

Edited February 13, 2006 by AllYouCanEat

[DirtyHarry]

There is some killer looking terrain over there on that south aspect. It looks like most of it is above Stuart Lake though, as opposed to the north face moraine. But also looked good to the looker's right of Stuart Glacier.

[ryanl]

So which one of you guys lost a blue foam bed roll?

[pbelitz]

So which one of you guys lost a blue foam bed roll?

That was an offering to the mountain gods.

 

[philfort]

Don't do this at home

[tyree]

What triggered that snow to fall? On the video you can hear a sharp crack just before your friend on the bridge screams.

[ashw_justin]

erg..!&^&% must resist..

 

(ps. chill out tyree, that's between me and pbelitz...)

Edited February 16, 2006 by ashw_justin

[AllYouCanEat]

Do you have a shot of that mountainside opposite camp? On the map that looks as if it might be one big ski slope if I am thinking of the same slope.

 

I have some here for you http://cascadecrusades.org/misc/winter06/Untitled-1.htm