Xtal Going Off

We managed to ride some really fun snow in the Crystal Mountain backcountry at the end of January.  The split jet stream has been favoring the south, so this area has been getting brushed with the storms that have been hitting California.

On January 23, 2010 Jason, Eric and I rode some short steep lines in wind-deposited chutes.  Not super deep, but some face-shots none-the-less.

 

 

Jan. 23, 2010 Xtal BC from Preston Few on Vimeo.

On January 25, Crystal got about 11 inches with high winds, so Eric and I went back.  This day turned out to be blue, which isn't always a good thing for keeping the snow light, but a calm, sunny powder day is one of the best things in this world that I can think of.  We did 2 laps in the sun, a third on the shaded & loaded side -- which was scary deep -- and then another down to the car.

Even though it's been a warm and wet season, we've managed to ride an awful lot of powder.

 

 

Metal:

D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-DIE! from Preston Few on Vimeo.

Hippie:

East Peak from Preston Few on Vimeo.

L-berg

I like this area; it has worthy terrain, it's just the wrong aspect.  But it is a really fun ski summit and it is pretty rare to see others up this drainage near Stevens Pass, WA.

On Jan. 16, 2010 Eric, Jason and I toured up to the main summit, while Liz and Chris headed up to the lookers right summit on the other side of the large gully/terrain trap.  The sun was out and the sky was clear and the snow was deep, although the  bottom couple of hundred feet had a slight crust on top which softened (for the most part) as the day wore on.  Trail braking was pleasantly strenuous, although we were a little concerned about stability and the strong sun.  It's a pretty wide-open face with lots of convex rollers and a slide has the potential to funnel you into a gnarly terrain trap.

As we were on the summit about to drop in, we watched as Chris stomped around, further down the ridge, checking out the snow on the other side of the south summit.  He managed to kick off a pretty significant slab avalanche that kept going and going.  Hmmmm.

At this point I started to get a little worried that I might have gotten us into a bit of a pickle since Eric had mentioned a few instances of the snow settling and breaking up while I was setting the switchbacks up the steep headwall.  The snow seemed a little sketchy, but nothing we're not used to encountering, and I just kept saying that it felt fine to me.  After watching the excitement off in the distance, I felt quite a bit of responsibility to make sure we all got down safely since I basically ignored Eric's gut feeling without really taking the time to assess things particularly thoroughly.

In the end it was fine and we just rode down a little more conservatively than we would have liked to, but better safe than sorry.  Chris and Liz managed to find decent turns of their own.  Blue skies and fresh snow...I'm definitely not complaining. 

 

 

 

A frame grab of the slide that Chris started.

L-berg Jan. 16, 2010 from Preston Few on Vimeo.

Stay safe out there kids!!!

Jan. 3, 2009

Fun snow, kinda sketchy snowpack.  Gotta be on your A-game till you're back at the car.


Stay safe out there kids! from Preston Few on Vimeo.

Some frame grabs:

 

Lake Valhalla, Dec. 30, 2009

Awesome terrain, challenging snow.  Some new fluff on top of a very firm crust made for some difficult riding and a few crashes.  Where there was new snow, it wasn't bonded to the crust at all and it would just sluff off.  It wasn't really that bad, but I woke up with a sore throat and as the day went on I could feel myself getting sicker by the minute.  Our last run down to the valley bottom, a nice 1400 ft shot, was actually on decent snow that had accumulated during the day, but by this point I could only link about 4 turns in a row.  On the skin back out the creek, I had to resist the urge to lay down in the snow and take a nap.  Had some hot coco at a friends cabin, drove home, and passed out for 14 straight hours.

The video makes it look good, so maybe I'm exaggerating a bit...I guess I just prefer to only ride snow that's bottomless.  That's what happens; the more you do it, the more everything else sucks!

Z-bo finishing our first climb.

Lake Valhalla, Dec. 30, 2009 from Preston Few on Vimeo.

A frame grab. 

Mount Anne, Dec. 26, 2009

I'm really stoked on this day.  This is an incredible view tour, the Baker blues did not disappoint, and the terrain is BIG and rowdy.  Since the snowpack has yet to reach "fat" status, the long approach and exit were a little gnarly with lots of creek crossings and ups and downs, but we all survived, although there were a few tense moments with exposure over big drops into waterfalls.  The north facing cirque has endless line options, although on this day we were a little limited since most of the lines were guarded by crowns or debris.  That being said, it was still an absolutely incredible day.

 Sunrise

 

Where we're headed

Crowns on almost all of the convex rollers.

Debris filled the valley

Oh yea.  I don't think that the sun touches these slopes from Nov. to March.

Mount Baker

Sunset on Shuksan...

...and the boarder peaks.

 

The ride down went smoothly and the conditions were good and stable.  A little firm underneath and some debris and crust to avoid, but safe and fun...really, really fun.

Mount Baker BC 12.26.09 from Preston Few on Vimeo.

Crystal Mountain Tours, Dec. 23 & 24, 2009

On Dec. 23, Eric and I decided to tour around the Crystal Mountain, WA backcountry.  The runs trend toward the wide-open bowl variety, which is a nice change of pace from the chutes that I prefer.  Crystal's terrain, for the most part, is short and sweet, and on this day I think we did 5 runs total.  That's a lot of transitioning between skinning and riding...

Our first run down the south-facing backside of the King was surprisingly good.  A little sun affected, but creamy.

We headed through a notch on the other side of the little valley where the wind was absolutely ripping, making transitioning a pain.  Another group with ideas similar to our own arrived a couple of minutes after us, but there was plenty of room for everyone.  The top of the slope was a little slabby from all the wind, but it rode really nicely.

Tracked

We toured up the broad, shady bowl to the southwest, where we found cold snow but lots of wind-affect, and then re-traced our route back out to the parking lot.

Heading back up into the wind and out of the sun before strapping in.

 

A lonely place, the way I like it.

Rainer with a crazy cloud hat

Getting motivated for the last climb of the day.

Given the lack of recent significant snow and a rain crust, I'd say we found the goods.

The next day, we headed up from Lot C and had a discouraging skin up East Peak.  The steep trees required ski-cramponing, which sapped a lot of our motivation for getting a lot of riding in.  We spent a little while kicking cornices, and as we got bolder, managed to knock some refrigerator-sized ones down towards Cement Creek.  This was probably the funnest part of the day.

We did a quick lap down the backside, and then took the "adventurous" route back to the parking lot, which required an epic bushwack at the bottom.  Mostly dust on crust this day, but as usual, good times...

Here's a short video of some of the riding we did over the two days:

Dec. 23 & 24, 2009 sourdough, etc from Preston Few on Vimeo.

Kendall Peak, SW Bowl, Dec. 12, 2009

More low tide adventure riding in the Cascades. Snoqualmie Pass has so much rad terrain.  It hadn't really snowed in two weeks so we were happy to find decent snow.

Chris skinning up a roll low down in the slide path.

Alaska, etc.

Making an important phone call.

 

Mount Rainer.

Kendall Peak, Snoqualmie Pass, WA, Dec. 12, 2009 from Preston Few on Vimeo.

One thing that I've realized recently is that I point a lot when I'm riding, and so do my friends. I suppose this is pretty common, but I didn't comprehend the magnitude of the point-fest that typically goes on until I started using this POV camera. Excessive and unconscious pointing, and not just at the top of a line, but during every little conversation and for no reason. And when there is a reason, it usually goes something like this:

Me: Do you want to go right (point) or left (point)?
Partner: Right (point)...........or left (point).
Me: It looks better right (point).
Partner: Yea (point). But it looks pretty good left (point), too.
Me: OK. Well, which way are you going to go?
Partner: Left (points)...Or right (points). Partner then rides away and goes straight.

We found a little bit of old powder, recycled powder, and surface hoar in the open, and the proud, big bowls that you see when driving east to the pass rode well. There was a tiny bit of suffering on the approach and exit, but it was totally worth it. It's always nice to be in a basin alone with your friends, under the sunshine and the blue sky and with the surface hoar sparkling, away from the city or the traffic or the...