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Backcountry WashingtonSubmit a report
12/05/09 The primary mission was to get the family Christmas tree, but
I took my skis - everyone else walked in on the hard snow. We
headed to Old Man Pass and parked at McClellan Meadows - not a
whole lot ot snow, probably between 1 and 2 feet most places. But
there was enough to ski on - with my rock skis of course. We
headed up to the clear cut where we usually look for our tree.
I tooled around on the icy snow on my skis - survival style
turns only today, but the weather was nice. We found a nice tree,
debated getting one with a gnarled top, but decided against it.
I wrapped it in some plastic tarps, we carried it up to the road
and I tied it to my pack to drag it out after taking a short detour
up the road and back down. An easy tow back to the car, and then
I was able to take a short tour on the Snow Grass trail. Conditions
were actually quite nice - I could easily have taken a multi-hour
tour here - snow was smooth with a bit of duff on top - very nice
touring conditions and any little hill became a fun downhill run.
A great day up in the mountains, hopefully this dry spell won't
last too long. I don't think there were any other skiiers up at
Old Man Pass yesterday.
TeleMurray
01/11/09 This is in answer to KKZ's query - I'm skiing in the trees and trails off the power lines near Home Valley, which is just East of Carson. It's really only good when we get 3 feet of snow like we had over Christmas - I live at about 500 feet so I don't get it too often, but it was sure dumping a few weeks ago. There's also Forest Service roads heading up that would take you as far as you can go up towards Trout Lake and the Wind River and to some fairly high elevations - 2500 feet or so. According to a friend from Goldendale we had a lot more snow than they got East of the mountains.
TeleMurray
1/10/09 TeleMurray - Where exactly are you skiing in the Gorge? I have a house in Lyle (for the warm & windy season) but spend my ski season at Crystal Mt. Interested in finding out where you're getting what sound like some good tracks. Kkz ( http://web.me.com/snowind )
12/25/08 Christmas day and another 8 inches of fresh powder in the Gorge.
I headed out around 11:30 thinking it's maybe the last powder day
as warmer weather and rain is predicted starting tomorrow. I headed
up past the power lines and decided to check out the steep trees
I looked at a few days ago. I took a run - not too bad - pretty
tight but there's finally enough snow. The uptrack was major work
as the snow falling off the trees was dense and slick - I finally
had to make another uptrack in the open up through the Scotch Broom.
I figured maybe a couple of runs and then move up to the other area.
I took a couple runs, then a couple more, then a couple more and
more. Very tight, a lot like the trees next to Stump Garden at
SkiBowl, but some good steep powder shots weaving through the trees.
The big issue was the trees shedding snow as it starts to warm up.
I got nailed by a couple big bombs coming off the trees - felt like
getting pelted for a minute or more, though it was probably only 10
or 15 seconds. I ended up taking 8 runs in the tight trees. Definitely
very challenging and fun runs - the best of the season so far. After
that I headed up and around the loop I've been making the last
few days, another 3 to 8 inches filling in the tracks (depending
how deep in the trees). A fun cruise back down the hill and when
I got to the run back down to the power lines I hit the choice
line coming out of the trees and down - steep and deep! It was
so good I took a couple more, but I already had hit the best line.
Down the ATV trail through the woods and back home for a great
workout. Just in time to shovel a couple more feet of snow from
the driveway and the mail box. What a great week of skiing I've
had out my front door. We've had about 3 feet of snow so far with
today being the warmest day at about 28 degrees.
TeleMurray
12/24/08 Another day, another 8 inches of powder in the Gorge. I finished
work a bit early and headed out the door shortly after 3 pm and
headed up my tracks from yesterday, now buried under 3 to 8 inches
of fresh, light powder. Up to the slope I skied on Tuesday for
some turns in the trees. I moved up the hill a bit for some longer
runs - not quite as steep, but very nice. I took 8 runs and as it
was starting to get dark I followed my tracks from the past 2 days
in the large loop I had made in the forest. Some nice downhills in
the old tracks, as the fresh snow was very light. The steep shot
down to the power lines was again worth a couple of 'whoops' as
the wind packed snow was covered with 8 inches of fluff. A fun run
down the ATV trail and then back home for a nice 3 hour tour on
Christmas Eve. A very definite White Christmas in the Gorge, I
measured 24 inches on top of my car with more expected tonight
and tomorrow. Merry Christmas! and keep on skiing!
TeleMurray
12/23/08 Addendum, my aforementioned "short tour" was a 2 hour, turn
filled jaunt - actually the most fun skiing I've had all season.
I used my tracks from yesterday, made 4 decent runs on yesterday's
slope (2 with head lamp) and had a really fun cruise down through
the trees. With my previous tracks, the slow snow was now fast,
with exciting low visibility turns and whooshes through the forest.
Excellent, if I can get up early enough I may have to do a dawn
patrol tomorrow morning
TeleMurray
12/23/08 I guess I should mention all those reports from TeleMurray are in the Columbia Gorge. I'm just finishing up my work day and will be heading out on a short tour (a couple miles or so) in about 20 minutes. Expecting more snow tomorrow, which hopefully will stay snow through at least Thursday morning (NOAA has possible freezing rain mixed in). It's been great skiing out the front door, should be able to for at least a few more days - until it turns to rain - then I can head up to Hood and hit the backcountry there.
TeleMurray
12/22/08 I headed out around 10 am to see if the trees were skiable up
near the Buddhist retreat. I cut through the woods to get to the
ATV trail, nearly losing my pool as I lost my grip swatting a
blackberry bush - it took me a couple of minutes to locate it.
Up to the power lines and into the trees, I spotted a nice
looking slope shortly after entering, so I headed up and set
my pack down. The upper part wasn't very steep and the snow
was a lot heavier than on Saturday - not sure why, the temp
hasn't been above 20 degrees in at least 3 days. So the upper
part wasn't any good, but the steeper part was quite nice. Not
real long - good for 5 to 8 turns - but a nice challenge weaving
down through the trees and avoiding the fallen logs and branches
still sticking out of the ground. I took about 8 runs and then
headed up the hill to the road I've been taking to the lake, but
headed down instead. The hill where I made outstanding turns in
the fluff a couple days earlier was now not steep enough to
sustain any speed. The snow is still powder and quite cold, but
thick and settled. A couple nice turns on the steep shot down to
the power lines and a pretty nice run down to the ATV trail A good
3 hour tour to work out the legs - along with all the shoveling
around the house I'm getting plenty of exercise. More snow is
expected on Wednesday and Thursday so I should get some more good
tours in.
TeleMurray
12/20/08 Over a foot of snow now, temp about 15 degrees F. After lunch
I headed out on a tour with my Outtabounds skis and plastic boots.
I headed over to a fresh clearcut just East of us, thinking I
could find some open slopes. When I got there the wind was howling,
the snow was deep and drifted and progress was hard. After a couple
hundred feet I gave it up and headed back down, a couple decent
deep turns on the way down. I then headed up the ATV trail up to
the power lines, then up into the trees behind. I got a couple of
decent turns on the edge, but the trees were tight and the snow
wasn't deep enough to cover all the branches and fallen limbs. I
then headed over to the open slope below the local Bhuddist temple,
thinking I would ski that, but instead cut into the woods just East
and found some more open spots that looked good for some turns. I
headed up the gully, taking a short run off to the side, then met
up with the road up to the lake, following that up the hill. I
found a short, sweet slope for some turns on the way, then headed
up to the lake as it was starting to get dark. A nice cruise down
the hill and down the short sweet slope and time for a snack. At
this point my fingers were getting really cold, I had warmed up
my heavy gloves, but as I cruised down through the trees my fingers
were really hurting. I had the headlamp on as it was dark in the
trees and hit some really sweet turns on the way down - the snow
was as good as it gets. Some minor route finding challenges at the
bottom, through the trees and then a short steep pitch in the open
down to the power lines - good enough for a couple 'whoops'. In
the open with the headlamp and the blowing snow it was really hard
to see more than a few feet, but I found the ATV trail and had
nice run down - all the way to the bottom this time - sweet! A
short cruise home from there. When I got back the temp was down
to just 10 degrees - no wonder my fingers were freezing. One of
the coldest ski tours I've ever taken. The snow coninues to fall,
but if stays that cold I may take Sunday off.
TeleMurray
12/19/08 We're up to about 9 inches on the ground, so I headed up the
road with my rock skis and up the ATV trail. This time it was
deep enough to make a run down the upper hill - pretty nice,
too narrow for good tele turns, but a fun run nonetheless. I
then headed up to the power lines and up the steeper hill there.
Unfortunately the power line is now overgrown with Scotch Broom,
so I continued up the hill. A nice run down a road off to the
side, kind of gnarly at the top, my leather boots just weren't
stiff enough to handle it, but the lower portion was quite nice.
At the top of the hill, there was a gate with a no trespassing
sign, so I followed what looked like a road to the left. It led
to another road, which I recognized, having been up it before
with the landowners a few years previous. I followed that up the
hill until it came out under the power line again just before
a nice small lake - maybe a couple of acres. It was nicely iced
over and looked very nice up against the mounatin behind it. At
that point it was about dusk so I headed back down the hill,
had some nice gliding down the road and then down the upper
portion of the power line, then a gnarly run on the side road,
I could feel my boots coming off the ski - even without slipping
out of the binding - as I wiped out and scraped the gravel under
the snow. The bottom turns were very nice and I headed back down
the power lines and had a sweet run down the ATV trail. I then
cut through the woods to get back to the road and cruised on
home. A pretty long tour, probably 4 or 5 miles total. It was
dumping snow most of the time.
TeleMurray
12/14/08 I really wanted to head up to the mountain to get some of that
cold smoke powder, but I remembered the last time I went up when
it was snowing in the Gorge - got stuck in a major traffic mess.
So after we got up to about 4 inches on the ground I headed up the
road with my rock skis. Decent glide, a few thin spots. I headed
up the ATV trail through the woods and up to the power line, trying
to avoid moisture under the snow which would stick to my bases like
heavy concrete sludge. I cut through the woods and checked out a
large field, but not really enough snow to cover the grasses. I got
a few survival type turns coming back down out of the woods, then
cruised back over to Berge Road for a nice glide (more or less) back
home. A nice tour, a couple of hours, but unfortunately the snow
stopped. Next day off I'm heading either up to Hood or Old Man
Pass to get in some real skiing.
TeleMurray
02/17/08 I finally talked the family into going on an easy cross
country tour, so we headed up to Old Man Pass, up the Wind
River Highway. I've been skiing up here for at least 20 years
and I've never seen as much snow as there is now. Carson
Fish Hatchery (under 1000' elevation) still has 4 feet+, must
have been about 8 or 10 feet up at Old Man Pass, which is
just under 3000 feet. The highway was closed at Koshko Snow
Park, so we parked there and headed down the ski trail towards
McClellan Meadows. These are normally groomed, but it looks
like they were overwhelmed with the amount of snow (or ran out
of funds like Oregon) and just quit, an impression fortified
when we arrived at McClellan Meadows Snow Park to see abandoned
equipment just parked at various spots. Conditions were firm,
with some softer spots where it caught the sun. It was a nice
tour down to the snow park and I was able (barely) to talk
Rachel and Kiyomi into heading up the forest road to a mellow
clear cut so I could get some turns in. The clear cut was
completely in the sun, but quite runneled and conditions
varied from nice corn to a bit icy. I had my lighter gear
(E109s and leather boots) so the turns were challenging even
on this mellow slope. I took about 4 runs or so before they
insisted we head back. Again, a nice tour back to the car,
with some nice little hills for me to bomb down. A good work
out, tons of snow, beautiful weather - a good day. Heading
down to Willamette Pass this week, looks like the snow is
returning just in time.
TeleMurray
01/28/08 I took the day off since my daughter's school was closed. I
decided to look for some turns in the concrete here in Home
Valley. I headed up
to the power lines, followed some animal tracks and then
broke trail up a hill thinking I could track out a little
slope. Once up there, I thought maybe I could make some turns
in the trees, so I cruised up a bit further and tried it
out. Unfortunately the trees were too tight and the snow was
too heavy. I cruised down a nice steep slope under the power
lines - straight down, no turns, and crossed over to the
trees on the other side as they looked a bit more open. I
found a nice slope, but I couldn't find anything steep
enough and the snow was really, really heavy. I took a few
runs and was able to force some turns out, but not much fun
in the heavy concrete. Last time we had the big snow, it
was 15 degrees for a whole week, this snow sucks :-). Too
bad, I now have the makings of some pretty long tours tracked
out. The mountains should be awesome next weekend.
TeleMurray
01/27/08 Major Oregon ski resorts reported snow fall of 12 to 18 inches
in the last 24 hours, Home Valley, Washington had 25 to 30 inches
in the last 24 hours. Unfortunately, the temps had risen to
right around freezing from the upper 20s of yesterday, turning
the light fluffy powder of last night into concrete. I put
my skis on and headed up the road towards the power lines,
finding very deep and heavy snow. In fact it was major work
breaking trail. I headed up the power line right of way,
crossed Berge Road into the trees to keep from having to
track through 3 feet of concrete, and headed towards the ATV
trail that runs through there, picking my way through sometimes
dense undergrowth. Still more concrete. I skied
down the ATV trail, back up and then back down the power line
right of way, probably a 2 1/2 to 3 mile tour, took me 3
hours - it's hard work skiing through deep concrete - and
I got a major work out. We're expecting more snow,
hopefully we'll get something lighter on top and I can do
some more skiing and maybe even look for some turns.
TeleMurray
12/08/07 No fresh snow and it's time to get the family Christmas tree. Sounds
like the perfect tour up at Old Man Pass (upper Wind River area). we
headed up to McClellan Meadows SnoPark, arriving at about lunch time
and headed up the ski trail (road) afterwards. Conditions were marginal
- icy crust with a thin carvable trace on top. The clear cut where we
get our tree is about a half mile in, but since I wanted to get some
exercise we toured up to the Meadows view spot a couple of miles in.
Rachel really books on her skis so we made good time, stopping to talk
to some folks out touring as well. We headed back to the clear cut and
started looking around, trying to find an easy access in and an egress
through which I could drag the tree out without too much trouble. There
were lots of nice trees, the best looking ones seem to be Spruce trees.
Ouch, the needles are always sharp :-). We finally picked one out, I
got out the hand saw and sawed it off and dragged it up to our hang
out spot and stuck it in the snow so we could check it out. My home
brewed IPA was cold by then, so we enjoyed that, took a few turns in
the marginal conditions and generally enjoyed the great weather. I
wrapped the tree up in some heavy plastic, tied some cord to the
trunk and tied the other end of the cord to my pack and dragged it
up to the ski trail. A nice little run back to the parking lot, the
tree got reasonably good glide coming down the moderate hill. All
in all a fun little tour, got a decent work out and I'm ready to
nail some major turns next weekend with my ski amigo Freeheel Jay
coming up from Ashland.
TeleMurray
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