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Mountain Biking!

We haven't skied since Memorial Day weekend.  Even that ski wasn't much.  We toodled around Chinook Pass the afternoon it opened but the snow was mush and my legs were fried from a workout from the day before (thanks Cross Fit!).  That same weekend we started mountain biking in earnest.  We drove over to some friends in Yakima.  They have small children so we expected to hang out a lot and possibly do a couple kid-friendly bike rides.

We hung out a lot and went on one mountain bike ride that involved hike-a-bike through snow.  Sans the children and their mother.  Unfortunately our fun little down hill single track section was still under snow.  No fair!  We got lost a few times, which is par for the course.  Eventually we made it back to the truck wet, muddy but in once piece and with big grins on our faces.  It was pretty fun!

Since then we've pretty much done a little mountain biking locally every weekend, still waiting for the snow to melt out in the high country.  We've biked the Anacortes Community Forest Lands a couple times, St. Ed's in Bothell once, and a ride on the ridge between Cle Elum and Roslyn (think Northern Exposure).  In general I've had my share of scrapes and bruises.  Bruised my right thigh twice in the same place -- the space between my knee armor and shorts.  Scraped my left elbow on the ride where I found out that my handle bars didn't fit between two trees on a steep loose downhill section.  Oh, and my elbow pads were still in my pack.  I put them on after that.  Too little too late.  And today I bruised my left thigh when something in a fairly short downhill section caught me by surprise.  I can't even say how many times that happens, except that it happens every time I fall.

This morning over breakfast, we were a little unmotivated to get going.  I told Randy that it wasn't that I didn't want to ride.  It's just that I'm already tired of the scrapes and bruises.  He basically said that was all part of the learning curve and everyone had to go through it.  Yes, he's a swell fella!  In a way, his words were comforting.  Someday, as long as I keep riding, I'll ride as well as he and his friends.  I'm already stronger this year and in a much better starting point than this time last year.  I've been riding in clipless pedals since last August, which has made a huge difference.  This is my second season on a pretty nice bike.  Other riders tell me it's their dream bike.  Or it's a sweet ride.  It really is.  The Santa Cruz Blur gets a lot of hype but I think it's deserved.  It's reasonably light for a full-suspension bike and it handles well.  When I tried it out it in October 2007 it felt like the bike that fit me and my riding style.  Plus it felt like it would still serve me very well after I got to be a better rider.  I still believe that.

Soon we will start the epic rides.  First in eastern Washington then back over here.  We hope to ride the 7 Summits in B.C. sometime this year. The mountain bike tour around Mt. Hood seemed appealing until we saw how much of the ride is on roads.  No thanks.  Not on our mountain bikes when there is such good trail riding with fabulous views in so many places within a day's drive.

In the meantime I ride my bike to work a lot (about 19.5 miles each way), work out a couple times a week at Mount Baker Cross Fit, and occasionally get an after work mountain bike ride in with the Speedy Beaver Ladies Racing Team.  With all that I should be in pretty good shape for next ski season!

Easy Pass Ski 5-17-2009

We hadn't been up to ski North Cascades Pass since it opened early this month.  Last week I tried with a friend but forecasted avalanche danger scared us away.  Then I heard from another skier that the skiing was fine.  Missed opportunity last weekend; wasn't going to let that happen again, especially since the weather forecast promised sunshine and warm temperatures.  The avalanche forecast was still high because the mountains had received yet another storm during the week.  Still, we knew we could at least ski the tight trees.

Randy and I left this morning before 6:00 a.m.  After a stop at Safeway for breakfast and lunch we went through Arlington then Darrington to Rockport where we turned east onto Hwy 20, the North Cascades Hwy.  The roads had very little traffic which must've been nice for the few bicyclists we saw on the road.  We talked about riding that route someday.

At the Easy Pass trailhead there was only one other car.  The driver was getting ready to ski with his dog.  He left a few minutes ahead of us.  We slathered on the sunscreen as the day was sunny and warm already.  Unfortunately I forgot a sun hat.  Oh well...  The ski started down the road to the actual trailhead.  We entered the woods on the trail then had to take off our skis a little while later to negotiate a part of the trail that had melted out already.  Skis back on, travel a little ways, then off again to cross the log bridge.  After the bridge, the skis were on for the duration.

The summer trail was fairly easy to follow through the woods.  There was a track from the previous day.  The problem with tracks like these is that they can be all over the place.  For the most part we were able to see where the trail went.  Eventually we popped out in an open area that looked like it had an avalanche history, based on the few trees that were pointed downslope.  Still, it looked like a promising down route because the terrain was fairly low angle.  We crossed the open area to another treed ridge, navigated through that.  I should mention that from the beginning of our ski we could hear avalanches coming down from nearby Greybeard Mountain every few minutes.  This ridge we chose to travel is above the drainage where the summer trail goes.  This drainage is where all the rubble from the Greybeard avalanches were collecting.  We were no longer following the summer trail at that point but staying safe on the ridge.

The higher we skied the more evidence of recent avalanches we saw. The open area we were admiring earlier was full of avalanche rubble pretty much from the other line of trees to the line we traveled.  So we stayed in the trees, worked our way around a cliff band, got to near the top of the ridge but stopped because there was evidence of avalanches to our left, in front of us, and to our right.  That limits our travel options.  Unfortunately the ridge was just above us and it was really tempting to chance it just so we could go see how far away we were from Easy Pass.  We also noticed that the other skier (whom we had passed near the beginning) had turned around.  All those cues made our decision to turn around fairly easy.  Though I will say again that the temptation to just get up to the ridge, which was probably less than 100' above us, was strong.  We didn't.  We started the ski down, still listening to all the avalanches coming down Greybeard.

Since our travel options were limited we stayed in this narrow line between the avalanche rubble and the trees we had come up.  The snow was mush, like soggy mashed potatoes.  Hard to turn.  But, having learned my lesson about skiing in soft snow in Tuckerman Ravine, I had waxed my skis.  Turning was actually fairly manageable, even in the tighter trees, which is usually difficult for me.

Eventually we got down to treeline that would take us all the way back to the trailhead.  The snow was quite a bit harder, cupped from the melt/freeze cycle, and covered in needle cast and fallen moss.  Negotiating the trees on our skis took a long time.  Eventually we decided to take our skis off and just bootpack.  Except that was worse.  I kept breaking through to my hips and in the process getting whacked in the back of the head with my skis that were attached to my pack.  Skis were safer on my feet.  This was probably the first time I ended up with more bruising by NOT skiing rather than skiing.  Progress has been made!  Fortunately we were near the bottom of the trail by then.

Again we had to take off our skis to negotiate the bridge then again to walk over the dry part of the trail.  After that we were able to ski all the way to the truck.  It had taken us as long to ski down as it did to ski up.  The route through the trees was tough to negotiate both up and down and the ski conditions were only good in a short section just below where we turned around.

It was good to get out for the exercise and to be in the sunshine.  All the avalanches off Greybeard were unnerving but we felt like we made the best choices possible, even if it meant not going that last 100' to the ridge.  Once we got a little lower we could see that where we turned around was actually at least a 200' higher than Easy Pass.  And gaining the ridge would've meant being directly under a cliff band, which are notorious for letting go of snow.  We feel like we achieved our mission, including coming home in one piece.

Here are the pictures. 

Garden 2009

 

The boxes are built but a lot of compost needs to be hauled.

 

Filled and planted in one fun-filled weekend!

New Hampshire 3-31 to 4-7-09

We planned this trip with two main objectives in mind: visiting Randy's elderly grandmother and skiing Tuckerman's Ravine to celebrate his 40th birthday on April 4.  Randy's birthday falls in the same week as spring break all around the country so finding affordable tickets was a bit of a challenge but United Airlines offered the best deal at the time I booked.

It's a very long way to New Hampshire from Washington so I scheduled a 6:10 flight so that we would arrive at his aunt and uncles at a reasonable East Coast time.  Unfortunately that meant we had to get up at 1:30 in the morning so we could get to Seatac by 4:00 a.m.  Since we brought our skis we had extra baggage to lug around (and pay for -- Oy!).  Still, we were about the third party in line at the airport.  The ticket counters weren't even open yet.  Everything went smoothly through baggage check, security and boarding.  Then we fly to Chicago on a full plane.  I slept for most of the flight despite being in the middle seat.  An hour layover in Chicago and another ontime flight to Manchester.  The weather is nice in Manchester, warmer than Seattle.  We get our rental car and begin the 3-hour journey north to the boonies where Aunt Gail and Uncle George live.

We stop at a decent pub in a college town a couple hours away.  Already we miss the fine selection of microbrews we can get on the west coast, but the beer is good enough and we're on our way again.  It's getting dark, there are signs warning about moose all along the road.  And of course we see a big bull just about to cross the road in the dark as we zip along at highway speed.  Eeeek!  What a big hairy eyeball looking into the passenger window!  We need to take Hwy 3 off Hwy 93 at some point but Hwy 3 criss crosses Hwy 93 in at least a dozen places.  Which exit to take?  We figure it out -- it's after Franconia Notch.  And we finally arrive at around 9:00 p.m.  Gail and George graciously allow us in even though it is almost past their bedtime.

The next day we visit with Randy's Grammy, who lives in a nursing home.  She's 92 years old, still full of spunk but can hardly see or hear anymore.  But she's fun to talk to even if she mixes up a few memories.  We spent a couple hours visiting with her.  That was Wednesday, I think.  We also drove up to Pinkham Notch to get some info on the ski conditions.  Icy in the morning but warms up and softens in the afternoon.  And the weather forecast for Thursday was for a bluebird spring day.  Perfect!

The weatherman delivered for Thursday!  We started at the Visitors Center with skis attached to our pack, thinking we'd have to hike a ways before putting on skis.  Fortunately the snow hadn't melted out to the ground yet so after obligatory pictures at the trailhead sign we were able to put on skis and skin up the trail.  The skiing was pretty easy, although snow is very hot under the sun.  It feels like trudging through the desert.

Within a couple hours we made it to the ranger cabin, which has a big deck for sunning and relaxing.  There were a number of other skiers there who had mostly planned to ski a nearby run called Hillman Highway.  After a snack we put skis back on and trudged up toward Tuckerman Ravine.  When we really got a perspective of the ravine I thought we were crazy for wanting to try it but I'm usually up for anything and the snow was soft and skiable.  We had actually planned to ski a gentler (relatively speaking) slope referred to as Right Gully but some skiers ahead of us said that it was icy.  The better conditions were in the ravine.

The uptrack got so steep that we had to take off our skis and bootpack up a snow staircase.  Randy doesn't like terrain that steep because there are consequences to falling.  He has a better sense of self-preservation than I do.  I lead the way up staircase, often putting my hands directly in front of me to steady myself on the slope.  I kept looking to my right, noticing a group walking down from the summit of Mount Washington and thinking that there was an alternative to skiing if it was too scary.  Unfortunately I don't always have good judgement about my level of ability and the conditions.

We were the only ones at the top of the ridge even though a party of three had skied down as we climbed up.  It looked like some weather was moving in so there wasn't time to summit Mount Washington and that had never been the primary goal.  The summit was close enough to be tempting though.  Anyway, I snapped a picture of the summit while we nervously put on our skis.  Randy had me go first because he's the better skier and if something happened he could help me.  I wasn't fond of that arrangement because I'm used to following him down tricky slopes. 

To say that Tuckerman Ravine is a tricky slope is an understatement but I understood the logic.  The top is a gentle slope where I was able to get in a few warm up turns.  But then at "The Lip" the slope drops off the edge of the earth.  Randy tells me I need to do a hop turn.  I've never done a hop turn, even in a ski resort, and this is the steepest slope I've ever seen up close and personal.  But I'm a good sport and give it a try.  The Lip is a 55 degree slope.  I enjoy skiing 25 slopes, am competent at 30-35 degree slopes, and probably have survival skied short sections of 40 and above degree slopes.  I'm happy to report that I made several successful turns, one at a time, down that 55 degree slope.  The ski is softening nicely but a little sticky.  The last time I waxed my skis was at the beginning of the season.  Note to self about waxing...

The slope gentled ever so slightly, maybe to 45 degrees at the point but the snow was sticky.  My downhill ski stuck, the momentum pulled me over.  I went ass over teakettle down the slope, upside down, thinking that people break legs or even die falling like this (sorry Mom).  Therefore I must stop.  Amazing how much time you have to think when you're falling.  So I flipped myself over (yes, my pack is on my back) and flipped again so that I was on my belly and head facing uphill.  Then I stopped.  Skis and poles were uphill and downhill from me.  The audience, er, line of people climbing up the staircase to ski exactly what I had done were in silence until one voice asked if I was okay.  Yes!

Randy was still above me.  He had skied too far toward the staircase and was kind of stuck in a precarious position.  As I started to climb back up the face to retrieve my stuff, a nice man on the staircase skied over, got my two poles and one ski and skied down to me.  He was a past middle-aged fellow with a chew in his lower lip.  When he handed me my skis he said that he's skied Tucks several times a year since 1984 and each time he puckered looking over The Lip until last year.  His words were a little awkward but the message was very clear.  It's a difficult, scary ski.  There are many accidents, many with worse outcomes than I experienced but probably just as many with nary a scratch or pulled muscle (like me). Sure, I was over my head but gave it a shot with no consequences and some ideas how I would handle it in the future.

By then Randy had extricated himself from his dilemma and skied down to where my lower ski was.  After asking me if I was alright he asked if I wanted to do it again.  Yes, he was kidding.  It was a scary ski even for him, who has far more experience and ability than I do.  Been there done that.  I put on my skis, unruffled my feathers and followed him down the Sherburne Trail.

We arrived back at the cabin, surprised to see some of the people who were there when we had a snack.  They were surprised we had made it all the way to the top and back in a short hour.  We had our picture taken in front of another sign at the patrol cabin.  Unfortunately it's on Randy's camera then skied the rest of the way down.  It's amazing how much melt can happen in an afternoon.  The ski down was lumpy, bumpy, moguls with patches of dirt, weeds, and rocks to avoid.  All this on a narrow cat track that fortunately wasn't terribly steep.

The rest of our time in New Hampshire was very relaxing.  We had a liesurely schedule of rising at around 7:00, sitting around in our pj's drinking coffee and visiting with Aunt Gail while she knitted.  George was often out and about already fulfilling his retirement obligations.  I don't think he's my role model for retirement!  We visited Grammy nearly every day.  Gail and George spoiled us with lobster a couple times.  And steak dinner for Randy's 40th.  Grammy, cousin Melissa, cousin Aaron and his expectant partner joined us for Randy's passing into Geezerhood.  It was a great week.  I like New Hampshire a lot; it reminds me of where my sister lives in Wisconsin.  It was very nice to get away from the busy-ness of the west coast for a while.

Here are the pictures.

Mount Rainier National Park Volunteer Nordic Patrol March 28-29, 2009

Don't ask me why I signed upfor Nordic Patrol a day before we left for a weeklong vacation to visit Randy's relatives.  Better timing would've been the weekend before but I didn't make the connection between the last weekend in March and that we were leaving the next Tuesday.  It would be an understatement to say that I was stressed about having to pack for two different commitments.  But I got it done and everyone was happy, even me.

The volunteer nordic patrol is a partnership between the Washington Ski Touring Club (of which I'm a member) and Mount Rainier National Park.  We, the volunteers, spend Saturday resetting poles along the few official ski/snowshoe trails up at Paradise, talk to visitors who are using the trails, sometimes get called to help on rescues and other park duties in exchange for staying in a ranger house at Longmire.  Usually about 4-8 club members volunteer for this duty during the winter.  Often on Sunday we're free to ski whereever we want.  The previous time I did this I got to ski with the rangers up toward Glacier Vista.

Pam, Ivan, and I carpooled from Seattle and were the first to arrive on Friday night.  Much later Jackie, another member arrived.  The trip leader, Ron, had planned to come on Saturday morning.  Pam and I bunked together since we already knew each other.  Jackie went upstairs and Ivan took a different bedroom on the main floor.

For some reason none of us slept well that night.  Too much excitement from meeting new friends and seeing old ones?  We were a little slow, although on time, the next morning when Ron arrived.  There had been a change in park staff from the previous winter so initially the morning began with confusion.  There was no ranger to tell what our assignment was for the day.  After we got that sorted out (by strongly hinting to the on-duty ranger that we pretty much knew what we were expected to do and we'd just take care of it) we hopped into a park vehicle to go up to Paradise.  Pam and Jackie would be on snow shoes to patrol the Glacier Vista trail while Ron, Ivan, and I would ski from Paradise down to Canyon Wye, then ski up to Reflection Lakes, and back to Narada Falls, where Jackie and Pam would meet us with the truck.

The plan was fine, except that Ivan only had cross country skis while the snow conditions and terrain required more substantial backcountry gear (hence the picture of Ivan falling in Devils Gulch).  Since we were still fairly close to Paradise, Ron asked him to turn around and join Pam and Jackie.  Both Ron and I are fairly competent skiers so we were able to move along fairly quickly once we got going.  Unfortunately the snow conditions weren't that great for skiing.  There was a hard crust under some deep fluffy stuff that made turning very difficult.  Still, we were optimistic when we reached Inspiration Pass so decided to take a little tour up toward the ridge then ski through the trees to Reflection Lake.  Unfortunately the conditions hadn't changed at all and we ended up survival skiing to the lake.  Oh well, we had to find out.

Ron had some kind of deep chest congestion so any uphill exertion left him coughing and hacking like a TB patient.  I ended up waiting quite a bit for him and setting most of the poles myself but he made it out under his own power.  That night we had a potluck for dinner at the house with lots of good wine.  The next morning Pam, Ivan, and I left as soon as we were able.  Pam had weekend chores to do and I had to get on with the business of vacation to New Hampshire.  It was a beautiful day and probably would've figured out a nice optional ski but it would've been difficult to enjoy with a weeklong trip looming in front of me.  I was glad to get going.  Next season I will check my calendar more carefully before scheduling a weekend at Mt. Rainier.  Here are the pictures.

Heather Ridge Ski 3_15_09

Six (plus one dog) of us met across the highway from the main Stevens Pass ski area this morning at 9:00.  Mike Palmer, who is an instructor and main coordinator for the Everett Mountaineers ski mountaineering course, offered to lead this jaunt.

Heather Ridge is a popular area among backcountry skiers and snow shoers.  There was a fairly well-established track up the main trail.  While we waited for two members of our party who kept falling back due to equipment problems, several parties of skiers passed us.  That's always worrisome because they might get to the place we want to ski first and ski out the good lines before we get there.  Not to worry.  There's plenty of area to ski all over the place.  Plus the weather was a little on the snowy and blowy side (okay, a lot on the the snowy and blowy side) so only the truly dedicated (er, crazy) skiers go out.  Also, in these conditions, i.e. high avalanche danger conditions, backcountry skiers are forced to ski together in all the same safe places.  On moderate days we can spread out more.

Anyway, we got to the ridge, the two who were having equipment problems opted to not continue with us, and surprisingly we were the only ones up there.  Yippee!  We'd have choice of the good lines down the backside.  The four of us skied down one at a time, keeping an eye on each other.  We skied through the trees and cautiously through narrow open areas.  Very nice, fluffy snow.  I was pushing powder up to my thighs.  That causes uncontrollable grinning.  I tried taking a picture of Randy disappearing into the fluff but I missed him and only got the fluff.  Oh well...

By the time we got to the bottom of the run, we had skied about 1100'.  Now was the tough part -- breaking trail back up.  That's the downside of having an entire run to ourselves: we have to break trail ourselves.  To say that it was deep, was an understatement.  We had to take turns frequently leading the way through knee-deep powder.  We decided to only go part way up the run then ski down, ski up all the way then ski back part way.  Good plan.

We skied back down about 500' or so.  Again, uncontrollable grins as we pushed fresh powder on a new line.  Then back up.  Our track had filled in but it wasn't as bad as breaking new trail.  Except when we got back to the spot we had stopped and skied back down.  Then we had to take turns again all the way back to the ridge.  By then the weather had moved in and we were setting off small avalanches.  None of them were serious enough to hurt us but it did limit our terrain options.  So we opted to ski down the front side the 1000' or so back to our cars.

The wind blew the snow sideways, temporarily blinding all of us.  We quickly decided on a line and paired up.  Randy lead the way, followed by me.  Then Sean and Mike came down, with Amico the wonder snow dog!  Occasional blizzards made seeing difficult but we found the road when Sean fell into it.  Amico immediately tried to push snow onto him but licked his nose instead.

The rest of the ski was sort of a luge down a trench down the main trail.  It went fast.  Down at the parking lot, cars were stuck because it had snowed so much.  My trusty Toyota wove around stuck cars and made it to the highway.  Only to be stuck in traffic for a very long time.  The pass was closed, at least eastbound.  Blizzards made visibility, um, less than optimal.  We coasted less than 1 mile per hour for a long time.  We were glad we decided to not make another lap on the ski slopes because it turned out that we were kind near the front of the line of cars.

After a very long time we passed the line of cars that had been stopped by the State Patrol from going eastbound over the pass.  After another very long time traffic started moving.  It had taken at least 2 hours to get to Monroe -- twice as long as normal.  The rest of the drive went easily.

It was a fun ski, especially when we got to ski through the fresh powder but it was a lot of work coming back up.  Usually the uptrack isn't difficult after it's been set so we can often take several more laps.  But we had to break trail each time.  Still, skiing the fresh powder makes it worth it.  Here are the pictures.

Three Days of Skiing at Stevens Pass

The snow came for real last week.  Randy and I took Friday off to ski the lift area at Stevens Pass.  The day before we worried that it had stopped snowing too early in the day and that the runs would all be tracked out even early Friday morning.  No need to worry. Plus the sky was bright, sparkly blue.

We got to the lift area right when the lifts opened.  We took a couple warm up runs down the groomers then skied a double black diamond run from the top of the Seventh Heaven chair.  We were pleased to find that the snow was still quite soft even though the run had been skied the previous day.  After that run we found our friend Mark, with whom we often ski in the backcountry.

We spent the whole day skiing on and off piste, mostly off.  We skied the backside until the snow got too crunchy then skied the rest of the day on the front, still finding pockets of unskied powder off-piste, especially in the trees.  It was a glorious day.  We ended on tired legs.

On Saturday Randy decided he needed to work to catch up on a project so I opted to go back to Stevens Pass and ski the nordic area by myself.  I had borrowed some skinny skis from a friend and was anxious to try them out on a groomed track.  Unfortunately the weather was horrible.  The conditions were pleasant enough in the shelter of the trees but in the open the wind blew hard, it was snowing, my face was pelted with snow.  Ow.

I was just about to turn around and give up after about 3 km but I saw some intrepid biathlon racers coming my way with their heads down, pushing hard into the wind.  They were dressed in thin racing garb.  I can only imagine they were more miserable than I.  Somehow that thought was comforting and gave me determination to ski on.  Besides, I had nothing else planned for the day so I decided to ski on in the conditions I was given rather than face a largely boring day.

After the biathlon competitors turned off the main run to shoot at targets, I went on alone.  Snow drifts covered the track but it was clear where the trail went.  I pushed on and on until finally I was back in the shelter of the woods.  Better.  Much better.  At least the wind couldn't get me even if the snow was a little deep.

I popped out of the woods again and saw the chairlifts of the ski resort right in front of me.  Above me I heard whooping and hollering.  A few snowboarders came down the hill and had to boot-pack (i.e. walk) back up to the lifts.  It wasn't far.  I skied along until I reached the end of the trail, marked by a 7.5 km sign, which was just below the lifts.  Then I turned around and had a glorious tail wind pushing me back to the woods.

In the clearing about halfway back I came across another intrepid skier, determined to ski all the way to the end in spite of the snow pelting his bare face.  He tripped over a drift and fell to his knees but got up and skied on.  I barely had to work on the way back in the open because the wind pushed me so hard.  Then I came to the final stand of trees.  The wind died down so I had to work to finish.  It took half as much time to ski the final 7.5 km back than it did to get out there in the first place.

On Sunday we got up to snow in the front yard.  I thought the conditions were going to be as miserable as the previous day plus the avalanche danger would be high in the backcountry so we planned to stick to skiing in the trees rather than on open slopes that might be prone to avalanches.

Again, back up to Stevens Pass -- this is probably the only weekend I've ever driven through Gold Bar six times.  We popped over the pass to find more bluebird skies.  Nice.  Plus we were the first new car in the parking area.  There were a bunch of vehicles covered in snow.  Obviously the drivers had camped somewhere out there.

Randy was full of energy so he broke trail through fresh snow.  The track from the previous day was obvious but it had filled in.  We skied up the road until the first switchback, where we cut through the forest to the upper section of road.  We skied that for a ways until we found the uptrack through the trees to near the top of the ridge.  Randy spotted the campers tents in the trees.  It probably had been a nice campout.

Eventually we saw the campers.  They were part of an avalanche safety course.  Apparently there were a few groups out there learning about avalanche safety.  While they went through the exercises of snow study, beacon searches, probing, and digging, we skied up and over the ridge.  There weren't any snowmobilers over on that side (unlike the previous weekend) but we decided the slope wasn't worth skiing given that we'd have to cut a track back up to the top.  So we opted to ski the treed slopes on the same side we had come up.  Our first run was the same run we did the previous weekend on our way out from Jove Peak.

The snow was pretty nice and it stayed put on the slope (which we expected because it was anchored by a forest).  We skied 4 laps -- 700 feet down to the road then back up the skin track, repeat.  We thought about skiing it a 5th time but the skin track was getting too slippery -- it was hard to stay upright on the steeper parts.  And the snow in the sun was getting crusty and heavy.  Our final run was quite steep and nearly in the open but well anchored on both sides.  The snow was still fluffy in the shade so I spent much of the run in there.  The final pitch was on a slope that had been logged several years earlier, which made the snow more exposed to the sun.  Turning was more difficult.  When we got to what had been the beginning of our uptrack we decided to call it a day and skied down all the way to the bottom.  At the end of the day we had skied nearly 4000' of vertical.  And this on my third day in a row of skiing.  I was pleased that my legs weren't entirely noodley, i.e. I still had enough in me to make the drive home.

The pictures are from the nordic area and the backcountry on Saturday and Sunday.

Jove Peak

Yesterday I was supposed to ski in the backcountry at Mt. Baker with Randy, Richard, and Kevin.  Unfortunately at the parking lot I discovered that I had left my climbing skins at home.  So I got to ski inbounds all day while they enjoyed the backcountry.  At first I pouted but felt better when I met another backcountry skier who was also stuck skiing inbounds because he had left his beacon behind.  Misery loves company.  Anyway I made the most of it and had a good day.

Today went much better.  Randy and I met Mark at his house in Everett at 7:00 a.m.  We drove together to east of Stevens Pass to ski up Smith Brook Road, up and over the ridge, down into the valley then up Jove Peak.

The weather forecast was for rain but it turned out to be high overcast for most of the day, though sort of warm (for the mountains anyway).  The approach starts on the road for a mile or two then we cut off a switchback by skiing up through the forest.  Then more road and finally up a long-ish pitch to the ridge.  The other side of the ridge is open to snowmobiles and many had tracked up a very ski-able meadow.  Darn it!  We skied all the way to the bottom of the valley then started the long slog up Jove Peak.

Much of the uptrack is through the forest and open glades.  It's rather steep.  We got up to the ridgetop at 1:30 or 2:00 p.m.  The peak was still about a half hour or so away but we decided to turn around because it was windy on the ridge and the snow quality for our down track was poor.  Going up to the peak would mean skiing down in more crusty snow.

Below the ridge we dug a hasty pit (CT 13, QT 3) and found a couple buried layers.  The first was about 5 cm down, the more important one was about 15 cm deep.  We opted to ski across an open face one at a time then ski close to the trees.  Mark went first then me followed by Randy.  The snow was quite stable, which was good because it was tough to turn so I needed a fair amount of room to make turns.  Occasionally we'd get some good snow but only for a turn or two.

At mid-slope we found an outtrack that would take us closer to the top of the ridge that we needed to ski over to get out.  Down low the wind was calm so we took a quick break to eat some lunch.  It was a quick lunch because sitting on snow isn't comfortable for very long.

Randy lead us to the final pitch to the ridge where we were able to take off our climbing skins and ski down.  Our choices were either the road, the crusty snow we climbed up or take a chance and ski through the trees.  We opted for the trees and found the snow to be quite nice.  Until we got to the much shorter trees.  Then we were back in the crust and survival turns.  Finally we were back at the bottom and skied out the road back to the parking area.  It was a good day and here are the pictures.

Here We Go Again

   

This is what I came home to this afternoon.

Salmon Ridge XC Ski with the Ladies

I'd been sick for a few days so had to cancel our trip to a cabin near Mt. Baker with the Skagit Alpine Club this weekend.  Randy took the opportunity to ski a new area with some friends.  I couldn't bear the thought of sitting on the sofa for yet another day so I made tentative plans with some girlfriends to do an easy cross-country ski near Mt. Baker.  We'd later hook up with the club members for a potluck and beverage-fest.

Fortunately when I woke up I was full of energy but still a little dizzy.  Heck with the dizziness!  Shannon had offered to drive so all I had to do was get myself to Mt. Vernon.  I picked up Jenny and her stuff then we loaded into Shannon's Civic and headed north.  The day was promising to be quite beautiful and warm.

The cross-country trail system is just past the town of Glacier.  The sign says it has nearly 30 km of groomed trails ranging in difficulty from easy (flat) to hard (steeper, though road grade, hills).  We had sort of ambitious plans when we started but after an hour or so of skiing we got hungry for lunch so we skied to a viewpoint at the end of the road, took off our skis, crossed a suspect snowbridge that turned out to be solid, plopped ourselves on some warm river rocks, stared at the view of either Mt. Ruth or Icy, and flapped our jaws for a couple hours.

So long ambition.  By the time we got going again, the shadows were long and we were a little cold.  We just skied back out and headed back to the cabins where the club members were staying.  Unfortunately no one was back from their own adventures to let us in so we just had to go to the Italian restaurant in town to drink a bottle of wine, eat very good bread, and a rich chocolate truffle thingy.

When we tried the cabins again, someone answered our call and opened the gate.  We headed straight for the hot tub, only to find it full.  No one was volunteering to get out so we went in the house, drank offered beers and (jealously, me anyway) listened to an adventure of skiing out to Mt. Ann and yo-yo-ing the slope once in quality snow.  I have no doubt that one of the party members wouldn't mind leading the way again in the future.  However, for that day I needed the easy exercise and the long conversation with the girlfriends.  We all needed it and promised to do it more than once a year in the future.

Then it was time for the potluck.  The food was delicious, as all FLABY (Food Lovers of Anacortes and Beyond, Yo) potlucks are and the wine flowed.  It was a good time as stories, food, and beverage were shared.  I was surprised when Shannon said it was time to go because I'm often restless and antsy at social gatherings but it was almost 9:00 and we had a long drive back to civilization and the comfort of our own beds.

I got home at 11:00 p.m., was happy to see that my dog was still in the yard (another story that many of you already know about Jodee's adventurous tendencies), and was very glad to go to bed.  This morning I'm a little slower than usual but that's to be expected after a FLABY.  Here are the pictures (of the ski).