kurthicks Posted November 30, 2011 Posted November 30, 2011 Was up doing a recon and some skiing at the Pass today. Overall it looks like it stayed colder up there than I expected over the past week. ----- Snow depth at Source Lake was 160cm. 200cm up on Snow Lake Divide. Travel on foot probably sucks as penetration was 30-40cm (think knee-deep) most of the time with the occasional waist deep drop (as we found when we popped our skis off). Ice forming up there, though these do not appear to be in climbable shape quite yet: Bryan Buttress routes Source Lake Line Kiddie Cliff Rap Wall has enough ice on it to maybe call it mixed climbing. No ice on the Alpental I-IV routes. Chair is starting to look good and perhaps the NF is in better condition than the NE Buttress, whose waterfall pitch doesn't look quite formed yet. We didn't venture up to have a look. NF of Snoqualmie Mtn has white on it, but we couldn't tell if it was ice or snow from our vantage point. Kent had visible ice-ish flows at the base as we cruised past on the freeway; doubt it's climbable really. One party today on the S. Face of Das Toof, but no report from them at the end of the day. Quote
kevino Posted November 30, 2011 Author Posted November 30, 2011 Hey Kurt, Thanks for the info. I've been working a stretch of night shifts so I haven't been able to get out recently. When you were on your skis today did you notice any crust during your turns? Had a couple objectives tomorrow after I get off work, would you say the South or North facing slopes have been ski conditions currently? Quote
CaleHoopes Posted November 30, 2011 Posted November 30, 2011 This is the best thread on the site right now! Lots of good info. Quote
kurthicks Posted November 30, 2011 Posted November 30, 2011 (edited) Thin suncrust on southern aspects, but did not affect ski-ability. The crust 12cm down was supportable. Decent skiing in spots on northern aspects. go as high as you can. I bet the north slopes of Chair are the best bet for decent snow at the pass right now. The return track is icy and less-than-fun right now. And a beta photo for those interested (click for full size): Edited November 30, 2011 by kurthicks Quote
kevino Posted November 30, 2011 Author Posted November 30, 2011 Thanks Kurt. It was snowing tonight when I left for work so hopefully it'll smooth some things out. Quote
TyClimber Posted November 30, 2011 Posted November 30, 2011 I skied Granite Mountain today via the east ridge and lower south face. It was actually pretty nice snow once it had softened up a bit with the sun. Had to take the boards off at about 3500' and walk the rest of the way out though. Quote
kevino Posted December 2, 2011 Author Posted December 2, 2011 Skied good pow today out aboove source lake. I have some pictures of the ice forming in the valley. Will upload shortly. Quote
kevino Posted December 2, 2011 Author Posted December 2, 2011 Source Lake Line and surrounding Rap Wall N Face of Snoqualmie Fun Pow Quote
JeffreyR Posted December 5, 2011 Posted December 5, 2011 Skied up by source lake on Saturday. There seemed to be tracks leading to the the SE side of Chair, but I don't know if anyone made a summit attempt. Quote
unklehuck Posted December 6, 2011 Posted December 6, 2011 Climbed the NE Butt on 12/4. It goes but I wouldn't call it in. Spent most of our time bashing tools into rock. Snow was generally well adheared - there just wasn't much of it. 1st pitch gulley had a bit of ice where we needed it. The 2nd pitch was a unique combination of steep wallowing and drytooling. 3rd pitch was more drytooling on slab, though there was just enough fairly well consolidated snow to hold foot placements. 3rd pitch ice curtain was just solid enough to climb, though pulling over the top onto thin snice on slab proved entertaining. 4th pitch was the standard slog to the top, but lacked the snow depth to use pickets as pro - much excavation was need to find pin/nut placements to protect the short length of simul-climbing. Added a pin, sling and locker to the lower rap station at the notch - snow levels to low to use upper rap station. Reslug the 3 pin rap station at 35m with new cord and added a biner to it. Knifeblades, small/medium nuts, a yellow metolious and 2-13cm screws were used. Quote
Dannible Posted December 6, 2011 Posted December 6, 2011 As of a few days ago Mt. Snoqualmie is doing its freeze/thaw thing and the moss is frozen, which seems to be the most important thing. Not much real ice at all, but some of the snice holds weight and the approach up the slide above the road is bootable. Seemed like the skiing would be pretty bad. We climbed something between NY Gully and LA Express, or maybe we climbed LA Express. We climbed the yellow line in Dane's topo here: http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=868244 which is in a very different place than Waynes LA Express line here: http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/1005888/2 In any case we thought it was neat and had a good time and my calves got tired. Quote
kevino Posted December 8, 2011 Author Posted December 8, 2011 I've put more recent updates in the WA ice conditions thread. Quote
kevino Posted December 21, 2011 Author Posted December 21, 2011 north face of snoqualmie is faaaaaaat. pictures to come soon Quote
kevino Posted December 22, 2011 Author Posted December 22, 2011 4+" fell over night made for some great skiing. we skied the slot which held great powder after we got past the icy entrance. n face of snoqualmie...my other photo didn't upload Quote
kevino Posted January 3, 2012 Author Posted January 3, 2012 (edited) Dane - its only better now! Hope all is well... Despite 49 hours after the last storm there are still lots of untracked pow to be found... Happy new years all!!!! Edited January 3, 2012 by kevino Quote
sobo Posted January 3, 2012 Posted January 3, 2012 Andre!!!??? Pfffft! That plonk's not champagne! Kevin, haven't I taught you better than that? Quote
Alex Posted January 3, 2012 Posted January 3, 2012 Is that from Kendall Stump? Kind of anticlimactic skiing Quote
kevino Posted January 3, 2012 Author Posted January 3, 2012 Alex, Some are from there, some are from guye peak. Nothing is anticlimatic when its 1-2 ft of untracked powder. 5 new this morning, should be nice again. Sobo, You taught me never to turn down free drinks... Quote
sobo Posted January 3, 2012 Posted January 3, 2012 Sobo, You taught me never to turn down free drinks... Well, yes, there is that. Nice to see one of my lessons took root. The boy is educable... Quote
kevino Posted January 6, 2012 Author Posted January 6, 2012 I have some pictures from afar from wednesday. I'll try to get them online by tomorrow. More or less looking pretty plastered white from the several storms we've had over the last week. Quote
mountainsloth Posted January 9, 2012 Posted January 9, 2012 photos of chair yet? thinking about going up there Tuesday. Thanks! Quote
counterfeitfake Posted January 9, 2012 Posted January 9, 2012 picture a big mountain with snow on it Quote
mountainsloth Posted January 9, 2012 Posted January 9, 2012 no shit sherlock. I assume the N routes are in, but with Kevin being a resource why not double check? Quote
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