Tough Skiing
Whessh! Today had some tough skiing, skinning and avalanche conditions. With low temps, high winds, limited visibility and high avalanche danger everywhere, we stuck to safe ridgelines and low angle terrain.
- As we were skinning along this gentle ridgeline, a crack shot out from under my feet as I took this photo, went about 50′ behind me and then roughly 50′ past Polly (second person in the photo).
- Low angle skiing was on the menu for today. Luckily, it was still very tasty.
We felt plenty of collapsing “whoomphs” on all aspects and angles. Whomphing and shooting cracks are the avalanche equivalent of a snarling dog with his ears pulled back – getting bitten is immanent and it is best to give it wide berth.
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Category: current conditions
Hey Andrew did you have to see the slide on the Summit Park ridge yesterday? That’s usually a safe place to go when the conditions creep up……says something about those sleeping monsters out there. Be safe but have fun.
I saw the photo, but didn’t see the actual avalanche. That says something about the current stability, as Summit Park is generally one of the safer places to ski.
Mmm hmm. That report pretty much solidified my decision to stay in Mill Creek with Arnie until everything goes and we can start over. When I first moved here, the night before my very first Polly-tour in Summit Park, I remember asking SOMEONE WHO WILL REMAIN UNNAMED, “Does Summit Park ever slide?” And he responded, “I don’t know. Do FLAT ROADS SLIDE?”
So there you go.
KatieKat! Uhmmm, well, uhmmm, I slipped on a flat, snow covered road the other night… does that count? :)
It certainly does. See you in the spring.