and high avalanche danger up in tuckerman and huntington ravines--where would you rather ski?
it must be dangerous up north as i heard the warnings on nhpr this morning. extreme weather reports, out of gray maine, have been around a while, but i have only heard avalanche warnings once before. when i looked at the mt washington avalanche report, i noticed immediately the different colors on the graphics compared to last week when MOC was planning on being there. check out "lots and lots of ice" to see the difference.
the new snow we skied up on cardigan yesterday, was the source of slide danger on mt washington. snow pushed around by high winds, will build up in slabs. if those slabs are atop unstable snows, avalanches are more likely--especially triggered by human activity or rising temperatures and sun. those two things sound an awful lot like a nice saturday in april!
down 'south', that sun was the skiers' best friend. warmer temps would soften up the top layer of the plenty of snow left over from ski areas snow making. skip and i packed up and headed to the skiway about 3:00p, a tad late-ish, but a tea celebrating the queen's birthday pre-empted anything earlier. when we got parked and geared up, we choose the winslow side for a first run as we could forego the skins to summit that side.
fairly soon, we had to take our jackets off. the day's wardrobe didn't match as well as friday's. skip had the camera today, but for some reason, the quality on video mode is really low--read awful.
i didn't realize how unfocused things were, and borrowed the camera to capture skip coming down the next headwall. as i look at the two, i realize how different our styles are. or maybe that just comes out on wide open slopes, in the trees, you won't see it that much. oh, you might want to mute your sound, unless you like heavy breathing.
the winslow side had plenty of sun at that hour, but we were pretty pumped to run down warden's schuss over on the holt's ledge runs. that half of the area was mostly shaded and had been since we got there. we would be skinning up holt's side as it was a lot steeper and needed extra sticky. fortunately, the temperature was warm enough to corn up the top, even in the shade. we saw a number of fresh, deeply carved tracks from somebody--or most likely -bodies--cruising at speed giving us hope.
since this run is a dartmouth alpine race course, there is snowmaking the entire winter--leaving plenty of snow in the spring. i snapped a picture of the skipper climbing the upper, steepest headwall on the mtn. along the orange safety netting. click on the picture and you might be able to pick out the group of skiers at the top.
the group of four, were on their second run so one of them could throw a 360° off the jump you can just make out on the top right in the picture.
there was still a bit of sun and a bench up at the summit for us to relax, take skins off, and have a snack & water break. skip got the camera out and somehow set it differently, now it took video in blk & wht but it was much clearer. it was so smooth, it looks like i can ski.
the butter soft snow in the video, got a bit stiffer as we tipped over the edge into the 'dark'. if the steep and stiff didn't keep you on it, crossing the 'racer' groups' big carved tracks would wake you up. i turned toward the netting and found a soft untracked line which ran most of the way down. when the net ended, i started experimenting going over the side lip left from grooming. i had one chattering moment, making skip wonder if i would end up in the trees. i got back on the flat trying for the little launch i had seen going up. the salient word is "little" and any lift i got was minimal.
we skied down to grass and unbuckled...it was another big smile day in the after season.
go outside and play!
it must be dangerous up north as i heard the warnings on nhpr this morning. extreme weather reports, out of gray maine, have been around a while, but i have only heard avalanche warnings once before. when i looked at the mt washington avalanche report, i noticed immediately the different colors on the graphics compared to last week when MOC was planning on being there. check out "lots and lots of ice" to see the difference.
the new snow we skied up on cardigan yesterday, was the source of slide danger on mt washington. snow pushed around by high winds, will build up in slabs. if those slabs are atop unstable snows, avalanches are more likely--especially triggered by human activity or rising temperatures and sun. those two things sound an awful lot like a nice saturday in april!
down 'south', that sun was the skiers' best friend. warmer temps would soften up the top layer of the plenty of snow left over from ski areas snow making. skip and i packed up and headed to the skiway about 3:00p, a tad late-ish, but a tea celebrating the queen's birthday pre-empted anything earlier. when we got parked and geared up, we choose the winslow side for a first run as we could forego the skins to summit that side.
fairly soon, we had to take our jackets off. the day's wardrobe didn't match as well as friday's. skip had the camera today, but for some reason, the quality on video mode is really low--read awful.
i didn't realize how unfocused things were, and borrowed the camera to capture skip coming down the next headwall. as i look at the two, i realize how different our styles are. or maybe that just comes out on wide open slopes, in the trees, you won't see it that much. oh, you might want to mute your sound, unless you like heavy breathing.
the winslow side had plenty of sun at that hour, but we were pretty pumped to run down warden's schuss over on the holt's ledge runs. that half of the area was mostly shaded and had been since we got there. we would be skinning up holt's side as it was a lot steeper and needed extra sticky. fortunately, the temperature was warm enough to corn up the top, even in the shade. we saw a number of fresh, deeply carved tracks from somebody--or most likely -bodies--cruising at speed giving us hope.
since this run is a dartmouth alpine race course, there is snowmaking the entire winter--leaving plenty of snow in the spring. i snapped a picture of the skipper climbing the upper, steepest headwall on the mtn. along the orange safety netting. click on the picture and you might be able to pick out the group of skiers at the top.
the group of four, were on their second run so one of them could throw a 360° off the jump you can just make out on the top right in the picture.
there was still a bit of sun and a bench up at the summit for us to relax, take skins off, and have a snack & water break. skip got the camera out and somehow set it differently, now it took video in blk & wht but it was much clearer. it was so smooth, it looks like i can ski.
the butter soft snow in the video, got a bit stiffer as we tipped over the edge into the 'dark'. if the steep and stiff didn't keep you on it, crossing the 'racer' groups' big carved tracks would wake you up. i turned toward the netting and found a soft untracked line which ran most of the way down. when the net ended, i started experimenting going over the side lip left from grooming. i had one chattering moment, making skip wonder if i would end up in the trees. i got back on the flat trying for the little launch i had seen going up. the salient word is "little" and any lift i got was minimal.
we skied down to grass and unbuckled...it was another big smile day in the after season.
go outside and play!
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