1/9/12 Head pentrometer test in Tweeners
Went out back today with a couple of friends to the mysterious land of East Vail for a reunion. The recent vail eight(see four real) inch storm was a welcome change and a psychological victory for the valley. Far from curing all woes for lack of snow, the day long storm at least made the landscape look like actual winter. Snow in the trees, covering the ground and the majority of the bare spots on the mountain were the biggest benefit from the snowstorm. At least now we know it can snow and whatever horrible pattern of beautiful weather we have endured changed for a little while.
Luckily, we have avoided the fate of resorts like Squaw, which closed outright this past week. Hopefully more snow in store for us on Wendsday but nothing sustained which is what we really need in this mid-season game of snowpack catch up.
Upper scarp area of Tweeners was rock hard with about five inches of new, medium density snow on it. There were a couple other tracks and we noticed no signficant sluffing from their turns. The gullies in Benchie had evidence of natural new snow sluffs sometime during or after the storm that ran to the first bench after the first cliffs. Nothing significant, not really that much new snow to make it so. Most of Benchmark looks like a mini-evergreen forest and is unskiable in the areas that ran.
The choke in Tweeners is a three-foot wide frozen bush slide on to a frozen scraped out track. My attempt to hop the bush and ditch speed to skier’s right was met with acceleration out to the skier’s right side of the exit, towards the fresh snow next to the trees. I made the move to test the density change in the snow with my head three different times.
As I tumbled through snow and bushes, I had time to reflect on an early season that has been filled with too much time on groomers and my bike and not nearly enough time in the backcountry on skis, as evidenced by my triple lindy. I stopped rotating and took the mental inventory that is required after a good, meaty fall. Everything intact and working. Skied toward the sound of laughter which led me to my ski partners. Jeremy let me know he has it all on Go Pro. You Tube gold. I don’t fall often any more, a testament to my I’m-old, if I’m upside down it’s a problem, not fun, style of skiing. When it does happen, it is a sight to see.
The middle of Benchie drainage skier’s right after Tweeners in the fields skied well, actual shin/knee deep powder turns in mostly consolidated fresh snow. There were spots where the skis sank and dove, but had I had some enjoyable turns through the middle.
Had to walk out around the corner of the west face that leads to the lower traverse out, but no more than five minutes of hoofing it.
We we able to pick our way down the lower aspen glades with coverage minimal and the snow punchy. We stayed on skis all the way out to the water tank, which was a bonus. Definite survival skiing down low but worth it to actually get to try out the AK JJ’s on something other than groomers.
Snowpack didn’t change at all with the new snow. Loose facets and rounds still make up the majority of the pack. New snow aheared well to the hard pack underneath, surprisingly. Cut the skier’s top right middle on my entrance to Tweeners to see if there was any energy, but nothing popped.
Vail resort deals well with the low snow does a masterful job of moving snow around to make the skiing good as it can be. East Vail really highlights just how low we really are. The middle of Benchie is two feet short of being viable and the run out is arduous. Be careful out there.
Happy New Year 1/2/12
2011 is done and not a moment too soon. Not much changed the first few days of 2012, and the outlook for snow in the near future isn’t very good. The ridge of high pressure is entrenched and continues to push everything north while we languish in biking weather. Pretty ironic that the places in the mid-west that I learned to ski are having 12 inch reports.
Pulled out the bike again, sad state of affairs on the first day of 2012. As the doomsdayers begin to say the sky isn’t gonna fall, wanderlust begins to set in. Admittedly, I’ve been looking at the places that have snow. Skiers and riders are nomadic and will travel where the snow is. EVI is no exception.
We at EVI aren’t buying the doomsday crap and the snow will come when it comes. Like the honey badger, mother nature doesn’t give a shit. Frankly its a good thing we as humans can’t predict or control the weather(i.e screw it up worse), so playing the game day by day, year by year is part of being a snow slider.
I have been paying attention to the huge pack up north and am mulling over ideas for trips for later in the season. I have a couple contacts in the heli world and would able to be put together a group or two for the Juneau Haines area in April. If anyone would be interested in heading to AK in April for a couple weeks, please let us know by e-mailing us or calling 970-331-5113. I’ll keep an eye on AK over the next month and plan accordingly.
We have a ways to go before we cry uncle here in the valley, but the natives are most definitely restless. Riding my bike under the peaks only exacerbates the jones. Whatever it takes, I plan on getting some snow this year.
I have no backcountry report, the snow pack is still what it is and I have no urge to tweak a knee in the mank. Stay strong readers and we’ll see you on the other side of the sunny pugatory.
Mushroom bowls 12/27-12/28
With the holiday crowds closing in, I skinned my way up to Mushie two days in a row to check out the snow on both the West and North aspects in the gladed 20-30 degree terrain for something to do. The ridge top had variable areas of 10 cm wind board on facets to soft wind blown crust over, you geussed it, more facets, to dirt patches. The first five upper low angle turns off the ridgeline were decent, fresh turns on stale cake. As the pitches steepened and rolled toward the cliff band that runs in the middle of Mushroom Bowl, the skiing turned to a barely covered nightmare of no more than 60 cms of 2mm facets on rocks and fallen trees. The best way to describe a weighted ski turn two thirds of the way down is hitting a sandcastle with a baseball bat. The snow looses cohesion, disintegrates under the weight and the facets run to the dirt in a glittering hiss below the turn. A frightening prospect for a basal layer for our snow pack when (think positive) our weather cycle does turn back to snow.
If we continue to get small amounts of snow with long periods of calm weather in between, then avalanche wise it’s really no problem, it will just be a low tide year for the central mountains like most of AK’s mountains had last year. However, if we do see an averaging out of the snowfall amounts in the last two thirds of the season, then I have to imagine we will have a signifigant avalanche cycle with the first large dump. With the depth of snow in EV ranging from dirt to sixty cm of loose facets that on both West and North aspects, a two foot dump would rip to the ground with little effort with any kind of rapid loading of typical cold low density mid-winter snow on such a weakly bonded base layer. Our best hope is precip to come in warm and wet and alot of it. Or a storm comes in with such rapid loading that EV flushes itself out naturally overnight and cleans out what has become a forgettable early season mess on all aspects.
Something else to check out. Noaa has an interesting report on their website on the effect La Nina will have on Colorado weather for the rest of the winter. Much of it is super technical, but it is interesting to read the atmospheric science based precipitation predictions for the next six months. I won’t ruin it for you, check it out and draw your own conclusions.
It was a relief to get out into Mushie and skin far far away from the madnesss happening with the holidays in Vail. Just passing Two Elk helped my personal holiday decompression. The lack of sno, however trying, fails to make the skin up to the top of Benchie any less beautiful. The black, grey and white spattered Gore range, gaunt and bare, stretched into a sky littered with purple and grey clouds streaming in from the Northwest. A few tendrils of snow stretched down to touch the very tops of the Gore Range, but the wisps were wishful thinking for a range that is now feet away from average. I enjoyed standing on the top of Benchie again, wind howling and no one around. Pretty much ski hiked the last two thirds of the run both days to the road, but I enjoyed the taste of the EV experience that I have, admittedly, taken for granted over the last fourteen years.
12/20 Hey Ullr, we’re f*****g waiting…
Well….
What can we say here at EVI, except what a difference a year makes. The Christmas crush is on here at Vail and I truly feel for our VA worker bees at the moment. With limited terrain to operate with and a full Christmas crowd they have their hands full, good luck to the folks in the trenches.
EVI is supposed to be about all things East Vail. Honestly at the moment, there is nothing to report on because skiing anywhere out there isn’t worth it. We are in an early season powder hibernation with plenty of sunny high pressure dominating our weather while the Pineapple Express soars northward and pounds B.C and AK. There have been a few reported defectors I know of that have bolted north. Cowards. Most of us are here for the long haul, to ride it out and wait for the weather shift in a long season to come. Luckily, we are better off than Tahoe and parts of Europe, and are open. We all (myself included) need keep that in mind and be grateful for the little things while waiting for the faucet to turn on.
I refuse to bring out the bike again (out of principle) and will be taking a break from the Christmas skiercross on Vail Mountain. I’m considering a walk into the Gore on Wed to check out the snow pack, but it’s obvious the snow is lacking the pack at the moment. The little settled storm snow on top of loose facets of various size and shape, brimming with surface hoar doesn’t bode well for the next snow load. Danger is said to be moderate, and I’m sure that there a areas of wind drifted slabby old storm snow that could pop and drag you for a rocky ride, but my concern is looking forward, as there is no avalanche danger on my couch where I will be untill conditions drastically improve. Posted a new HP (hard pack) video from last spring, I’m sure you all can identify with the sound of edges on fresh, frozen groomed. Good fun, scary fast.
Do what you can out there people. Wash your car, tune up the race skis, start painting you house, whatever it takes. Sacrifice a virgin? Might be a little early for human sacrifice, we’re pow addicts not monsters right? Plus it’s the Vail valley, so good luck with that… Merry Christmas all, ask Santa for a three footer if you get a chance…
Old Man’s 11/7/11
Hey all,
Headed out into the bluebird Wendsday afternoon, eager to escape the groomed confines of early season Vail. I decided to head to the emptiness of EV. I skinned up Sourdough and headed past Two Elk, where the workers were just starting to pull out the picnic tables from the stacks. The back was empty and parts of the West Wall sat pasted an early season brown and white. Up the Silk Road I went and headed out the back door route to Old Mans’. It was nice to get out and stand on top of the ridge and take in the expanse of EV once again, though it looked vastly different than the last time I stood on the ridge. The prominent cliff band off the right side Old Mans’ entrance, which disappeared some time in January last year, was in full view now. At present it lies just below the ridge crest, but after a half season of regular snow load, the cliff band is at least thirty to forty feet below the entrance. The growth of the scarp above the cliff band is a true testement to the amount of snow transport that occurs at this spot due to the prevailing Westerly winds. Rocky tiers, cliffs and shrubs belie what was a smooth, fast entrance crowned by a massive cornice eight months ago.
I picked my way through the entrance and dove between rocky ledges and shrubbery, taking time to cut various pillowed pockets between rockbands. These small wind drifted areas provide good test spots for stability. There was little reactivity, and the old settled storm snow sitting on the usual layer of larger loose “October” facets skied like two feet of baking soda feeling unconsolidated and, of course, thin.
I skied cautiously to the flats and headed out to the highway instead of braving the thin cross cut over to the bus stop. I linked super slow pow turns in the trees on my way down, working my way past the half buried stumps and downed trees toward the highway. More snow than I thought, but two feet away from glory… Paitence friends and think snow.
11/19/11 The waiting game
Well the one two punch that the weather service called for last week was a swing and a miss. A few inches of the funkiness up above 9000′ lots of graupel and dense wet snow, otherwise the system that was supposed to dump eight to sixteen limped on through. Ever notice when they call for 12+ inches we usually get a lower amount? Converesely, my favorite forecast is the one to three variety, some of the biggest dumps I’ve seen have come from the storms that are only supposed to be glancing blows. Probably just the psychology of ski bum perception and logic, but hey if the shoe fits…
Opening day at vail was pretty average, with warm temps and a few screamers to satisfy the jones. The afternoon became a zoo. After getting stuck in the aftermath of a fatal accident on Gitalong Road of all places, I decided it was time to get out of the way of those looking to cram an entire season of near season ending experiences in one day,all hopped up on red bull and ski porn. It was great to ride some lifts, face in the sun, and ski a couple runs with ski friends just emerging from off-season hibernation. Feeling the edges on the first groomer of the year there is a sense of awakening, of the purpose of the next seven months. Each season develops uniquely and writes its own story. What will this year bring?
The snow is back briefly this weekend and should hopefully provide the extra snow needed to open the next series of lifts and terrain, getting our access farther east and filling in the terrain hazards in and out of vail boundaries. It’s the waiting after the waiting, and it’s good to see the snow falling outside the window again. EVI will be out digging in the snow as soon as its warranted and let you know what we find. Stay calm and move along.
Weather Forecast
Coming at ya! Absolutely pouring down rain here in Tacoma, WA. Should be coming your way in Colorado over the next few days. Something you all should know about me, pretty much whenever I fly into Denver or drive back up from the airport…there is a huge snow storm. Last time I can remember, we were in the last car over Vail pass for the night and really shouldn’t have been allowed to proceed. Couldn’t see a damn thing! The next morning was 13in. of light and fluffy pow with the city of Denver trapped on the other side of the pass in summit county for the whole morning. So, the answer is yes, I will start accepting payment if you are fiendin’ for some powder and want me to fly somewhere.
11/2/2011 Surface Hoar
Next storm rolled through, dumped a few coveted inches on top of our much maligned basal layer. Came in warm, started as rain and cooled off as the night progressed. Nice to wake up to the first day of work at Troy’s Ski Shop to snow. Doesn’t seem right when you’re mounting skis in warm sixty degree weather. In keeping with the last post, I wanted to address another lurking hazard prevalent in(on) early season snow pack, surface hoar. As I was riding to East Vail before this last snow, I noticed the fern like crystals stacked up on the snow next to the bike path. Clear, cold skies and high humidity are ideal conditions to produce these feathery crystals that lie vertically on top the snow.
Strong in load, but not in shear, these crystals can support subsequent snowfalls until critical stress on the fragile slab is triggered by you, intrepid backcountry traveler. Surface hoar is hard to keep track of. It can be destroyed by wind in some areas while persisting in others. Even by digging a pit in the locale that you want to ski, it is hard to determine if buried surface hoar is still present in the entirety of the area you are going to put a load onto by riding. Next time a cold clear night happens with little wind, check around the next day to see if those crystals are around and file it into your never-ending assessment of the growing snowpack around you.
Preseason snow report 10/27/11
Everything is right with the world. Late October and the first of the storms that will constitute the beginnings of our snowpack has rolled through and given way to clear and sunny skies before we get our next storm. This is fairly typical for the late October snows, although last year was an anomaly as the snow kept coming and coming. This year it seems high pressure will build back and temperatures look like they will rise a bit before we return to a storm cycle. With the clear warmer weather moving back in, it is important to keep an eye on the snow in the coming weeks. Without getting covered by subsequent storms, this first layer can degrade into loose facets, a potential weak layer for future snow to slide on . Nothing is certain and this is only a bit of early season snow alchemy, but it is backed by my experiences in the past of our Continental snowpack and the effect of this first layer has in East Vail early season. It is one of the hallmarks of or Colorado snowpack, relatively shallow and complex with many different layers and usually a problematic layer at the bottom, at least to start the season, until it either consolidates in the snow pack or flushes out with the first significant avalanche cycle.
Of course we can’t predict the bonding that will happen with extra load until the next storms arrive, and the amount of degradation depends on many factors. Aspect, temperatures, snowfall, sun hit and elevation are some of major factors that have an impact on the metamorphosis of the snow. Bottom line, it is a storm and a layer to be mindful of as the season starts to move forward, especially as we get into the beginning of the backcountry ski season in November. As always, rely your own assessment of the snow. Just some things to think about from your friends at EVI.
Snow over Vail pass
Caught this early this morning on my way over to summit county…could be a good year.
Friends…
East Vail Institute 