Post by Philip on Mar 15, 2013 19:40:42 GMT -9
Great day in the Three Sisters today. The whole area (above brushline) has a relatively uniform layer of powdery new snow about 4" deep over a firm but not icy crust. Touring was very pleasant, but you did cut down to the crust on turns. Still, a spectacular day of sunshine and vistas. It is a lovely area that catches and holds snow. We went in on the Virginia Creek side and climbed the trail that skirts around the North Sister. We were able to start skinning about half way up the spruce bench on the side of the mountain. Def more snow than the last time we were up there. There is old avy debris in the normal spots as you traverse around the north side of the North Sister working your way into the bowl between the 3 Sisters peaks. It seems that during a previous storm thin slabs formed on southern and western slopes that slid naturally, leaving thin crown faces linking the rock outcroppings high on the peaks. The debris did not run far downslope and many have filled in or eroded. We dug one pit and did a column test in the middle of the bowl on a steep lee rollover. We didn't get any failure during the normal 30 taps. 3 solid swings with the shovel (aka the Kodiak Crusher) got the column to fail where the new snow sat on a semi-crust of buried and frozen rounds. Pretty bomber.
Up the trail:
Above brush and loving life:
Love taps didn't elicit any response:
"YOU WILL RESPECT MY A-THOR-I-TEEEE!"
Checking the surface that "failed"
High on the south ridge of the North Sister getting ready to nerp out a shralpie:
Misjudging the first turn:
The subsequent ones worked better
Double thumbs up:
Back up for some more:
Headed home after 3 decent laps:
Up the trail:
Above brush and loving life:
Love taps didn't elicit any response:
"YOU WILL RESPECT MY A-THOR-I-TEEEE!"
Checking the surface that "failed"
High on the south ridge of the North Sister getting ready to nerp out a shralpie:
Misjudging the first turn:
The subsequent ones worked better
Double thumbs up:
Back up for some more:
Headed home after 3 decent laps: