PNW Ski Safari, Feb 11 - Feb 14, 2023
- Thread starter JTG
- Start date
takeahike46er
Well-known member
- Joined
- Sep 21, 2020
I wish I could share some beta, but I haven’t explored the arm yet. One of these days! There are some big lines heading out that way—that’s for sure. Shuksan is a beast!
On a clear day, it’s easily one of the most majestic views of any N American ski area I’ve been to.
I’m looking forward to reading about Alpental. I’m curious to hear a northeasterner’s take on the place. I haven’t visited Snoqualmie (or Crystal, Stevens, Mission, White Pass, etc).
One of the few negatives of moving from NY to Van is that I no longer go on ski holidays—checking out a new area or region every year. There’s just less of an incentive to do so. Sometimes, I miss those trips. But it’s also super rad to have either Baker or W/B be the equivalent of day trip to the Catskills.
I can tell you about Alpental already, I’ve already been! It’s a great mountain. Kind of like the Mad River Glen (ski it if you can!) of the West. It’s best suited to experts as there is a ton of fun terrain, especially out in the back bowls. Last time I was there I hooked up with some locals, some seemed shocked someone would travel from the east coast to ski Alpental, but it’s definitely worth it. Really fun mountain.
Crystal is pretty cool as well!
Crystal is pretty cool as well!
So, I don’t have a ton of exciting stuff for you today. Today I did take it easy, and I actually spent more time troubleshooting equipment issues and buying new ski boots than I spent touring.
The day started out rainy in Glacier. I slept in a little, did some paperwork for the guided bc group I have tomorrow, checked out of the Snoline, then headed up to Baker.
I couldn’t really decide what to do with the day. Ma nature was spitting everything (rain, sleet, snow) up at the mountain, it was windy. I figured lifts may be cold and wet, and there was an element of truth when I joked about touring yesterday to field test the Shifts. So, I decided to gear up and go get more familiar with more of the Baker backcountry with some conservative touring.
Here’s the thing. Since I’ve had the Shifts I’ve only messed around with their touring capabilities at home, nothing significant. In that messing around I had issues with the toe lockout for touring mode. Actually, it wasn’t a problem all afternoon yesterday, and on a few serious skin tracks. Today on low angle stuff the problem came back. So after a short tour and some field troubleshooting I called it a day and headed to the Glacier Ski Shop to see if they could help.
No luck. Salomon redesigned the toe piece on the Shift to eliminate this specific problem. The guy at the shop said there is a five year warranty on the Shifts and Salomon will probably make good on replacements if I call them. I’ll work around the issue tomorrow and call Salomon when I get home.
I did, however, pick up new ski boots! The K2 Pinnacle Pro I’ve been using finally needed replacement. With a sale on at Glacier I bought a pair of Head Kore 1 touring boots. Quite comfortable, a simple tour/walk mode mechanism, 130 flex, and very light. So there’s that.
Anywho, meeting up with the group tomorrow at 7:45. Should be a few inches of snow overnight, then heavy snow all day tomorrow with the potential for a couple of feet. The plan is to head out to the Alpental Valley, to Source Lake, Pineapple Pass, and beyond. I hope to have a much more entertaining update tomorrow!
The day started out rainy in Glacier. I slept in a little, did some paperwork for the guided bc group I have tomorrow, checked out of the Snoline, then headed up to Baker.
I couldn’t really decide what to do with the day. Ma nature was spitting everything (rain, sleet, snow) up at the mountain, it was windy. I figured lifts may be cold and wet, and there was an element of truth when I joked about touring yesterday to field test the Shifts. So, I decided to gear up and go get more familiar with more of the Baker backcountry with some conservative touring.
Here’s the thing. Since I’ve had the Shifts I’ve only messed around with their touring capabilities at home, nothing significant. In that messing around I had issues with the toe lockout for touring mode. Actually, it wasn’t a problem all afternoon yesterday, and on a few serious skin tracks. Today on low angle stuff the problem came back. So after a short tour and some field troubleshooting I called it a day and headed to the Glacier Ski Shop to see if they could help.
No luck. Salomon redesigned the toe piece on the Shift to eliminate this specific problem. The guy at the shop said there is a five year warranty on the Shifts and Salomon will probably make good on replacements if I call them. I’ll work around the issue tomorrow and call Salomon when I get home.
I did, however, pick up new ski boots! The K2 Pinnacle Pro I’ve been using finally needed replacement. With a sale on at Glacier I bought a pair of Head Kore 1 touring boots. Quite comfortable, a simple tour/walk mode mechanism, 130 flex, and very light. So there’s that.
Anywho, meeting up with the group tomorrow at 7:45. Should be a few inches of snow overnight, then heavy snow all day tomorrow with the potential for a couple of feet. The plan is to head out to the Alpental Valley, to Source Lake, Pineapple Pass, and beyond. I hope to have a much more entertaining update tomorrow!
jamesdeluxe
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2020
Not to hijack but I just remembered doing something similar. In January 2017, I flew out to Denver on a Friday afternoon to use up some Southwest FF points that were about to expire. I skied Monarch on Saturday (including a bootpack to Mirkwood Basin at 12,000 feet -- challenging because less than a day earlier I was at 138 feet in NJ) and Sunday at Crested Butte.Not sure if that's praiseworthy or nuts!
I had to be back in Denver Monday evening for work and decided against skiing that day at CB because they were threatening to close Monarch Pass. Thus, I traveled by air to Denver (4-ish hours in each direction) and then drove 550 miles for only two ski days (at least they were good ones), so I guess I shouldn't throw stones at JTG!
No….no, you shouldn’t!
Day three on this trip was pretty darn nice and I am remiss in my reporting.
The parking lot at the trailhead when we got there…
The crew at Source Lake…
I’ll get to the details on all the goodies later, but Alpental has had two feet since they were last open on Sunday so no time to spare at the moment!
Day three on this trip was pretty darn nice and I am remiss in my reporting.
The parking lot at the trailhead when we got there…
The crew at Source Lake…
I’ll get to the details on all the goodies later, but Alpental has had two feet since they were last open on Sunday so no time to spare at the moment!
Attachments
I shared a lift ride with a guy who was at Bachelor last week. He said a couple inches each day added up, but it was nothing to write home about. Another guy was bemoaning Sun Valley basically not having much new snow for a month after a good start to the season. That’s the danger in booking a trip in advance. Sorry you missed out, this time around…
