the washington backcountry is a train wreck. nasty conditions up at mount rainier on sunday kept our group of mountaineer's ski leaders from our goal of skiing van trump park. it was a good exploration ski tour however. i got to practice some great survival skiing on 45 degree, pocked, icy slopes while the rest of the crew took their skis off and walked down.. well except for chloe. she rips. the area is beautiful and comet falls was pretty sweet. we had to cross a handful of steep avy slopes however, making this a no go with any real avy conditions.(see if you can pick out the photos taken with the iPhone and those taken by the pro - mike warren)
12 comments:
wow- pictures speak 1,000 words, that looks absolutely terrible. We had MUCH better snow on muir the day before. looks like snow is on the way and maybe we'll be back in biznass shortly...
you are just as hurting as we are!But....we did get a dusting last night!
seegs i wanna come up north and ski soon. i am doing my silly snow dance as i type this.
Matt, you don't even want to know how good it is here, insane. I am tired of shoveling. Wait, did I just say that.
eric.. you are right. i don't want to know! but i'm going to go look online now anyway. i'm a glutton.
You didn't wear your Coomba's that day, did you? ;)
Gluttony rocks. Full burial today in the snake river range, 3rd skier on the slope, under five feet of debris, dug out unharmed. Now that is some good touring partners with the beacons and shoveling. I took it much easier today, due to enormous effort to trail break and obvious instabilities. Last night gave my area about 30cm of 5% moisture content on top of 60cm of soft from two days ago. OoohLaLa, the Coombas would feel right at home.
elizabeth - oh yeah i wore the coombas. i just tried to put it out of my mind and ski. they didn't take too much of a beating actually.
there is 0 ohh la la here in washington.
You did not just say that about your women, did you?
Did you!?
Hi Matt!
hi meghan. yes i wrote that off the top of my head, it just happened. i then went for a ride and thought, "i'd better take that off". a few days later i finished and published the blog without remembering that it was there... until you just reminded me. it makes me laugh, so it stays.
So, I finished my 5-day Wilderness Upgrade for Medical Professionals (WUMP) which is the equivalent of the Wilderness First Responder. It was put on by Wilderness Medicine Institute of NOLS, and I have to say, it was top notch. After a week of education, everyone, myself included, was more knowledgeable and comfortable with just about any trauma or medical situation that could happen in the wilderness with limited resources available. Highly recommended. I'm ready to challenge the OEC (Outdoor Emergency Care) protocols now and start as a volunteer ski patroller. Also ready to take Avi 1, which i've been wanting to do for a long time and now have the motivation. I hear a great course is put on by the Utah Avalanche Forecast Center and has both didactic and field/practical days. Now, if we could just get a little more snow...
sounds awesome missy. avi I is a great eye opener to the very real avy considerations. it's a must have if you are a backcountry skier.
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