Post by gibbsm24 on Feb 6, 2022 21:46:28 GMT -9
Ryan L. and I skied Heitman from the Middle Bay summer trail to the summit and down the gullies in the southern face today. I chose Heitman for the short approach in case snow conditions weren't good.
Along the summer trail, you were able to skin from the road but there were plenty of salmonberry bushes in the lower elevations. The skin up was icy with minimal snow covering, fresher snow seen at elevations > 1,100ft. Booted up the saddle to the summit.
South faces had a small cornice over hanging from the summit. Wind slab in south facing gullies. Stable snow that did not move or fracture with stability tests.
Ran out 1,200ft until snow became thin then skinned back towards the summer trail. Wind blown powder in the gully with carvable crust the convexities. The run ended on corned snow.
Good snow for a day where the expectations were low. Nice to know there's some soft stuff up high. Cope, barometer and Erskine looked especially filled in with snow on their south faces. Wind was blowing snow off of 3,300ft peak and further back towards the spine of the island. Snow is in the forecast this week too. I'm going to keep my eye out on the southern runs for next week, depending on what direction the next storm cycles comes in on.
Cheers
-Gibbs
Along the summer trail, you were able to skin from the road but there were plenty of salmonberry bushes in the lower elevations. The skin up was icy with minimal snow covering, fresher snow seen at elevations > 1,100ft. Booted up the saddle to the summit.
South faces had a small cornice over hanging from the summit. Wind slab in south facing gullies. Stable snow that did not move or fracture with stability tests.
Ran out 1,200ft until snow became thin then skinned back towards the summer trail. Wind blown powder in the gully with carvable crust the convexities. The run ended on corned snow.
Good snow for a day where the expectations were low. Nice to know there's some soft stuff up high. Cope, barometer and Erskine looked especially filled in with snow on their south faces. Wind was blowing snow off of 3,300ft peak and further back towards the spine of the island. Snow is in the forecast this week too. I'm going to keep my eye out on the southern runs for next week, depending on what direction the next storm cycles comes in on.
Cheers
-Gibbs