Part III: Colorado Wind Slab
Wow, am I the only one that posts on this blog anymore? Late start this morning as Matt, Adam, and I rolled up to Jones Pass (near Berthoud pass - 40 minutes from my house). The tour was great - sunny skies and in the mid thirties! The skiing however, sucked my ass. After digging a pit, we found about 65cm of super consolidated wind pack siting on 60cm of faceted sugar near the ground. Needless to say, we weren't dropping cliffs and skiing bowls this afternoon. The only bowls we encountered were in front of our face and bright green. Tough welcome back to Colorado, but snow is in the forecast, lets cross our fingers.....
This is what 80mph winds do to the snow in the rockies above treeline:
Matty finishing the last pitch of the climb:
Tim, this is called an avalanche pit, we dig these to assess avalanche danger by using a "sheer test", usually we perform these on slopes greater than 30 degrees where avalanche danger is actually a concern.....
I don't care what you Vermonters say (and poser Jacksonites, who are really east coasters in disguise), Colorado is still beautiful:
Matty, taming the Colorado windpack:
Adam, rocking Scot Schmidt style circa 1989:
Matty, lean back, this is Colorado Windpack, not Targhee Blower:
Ahhhhh... That was a great day of touring with marginal skiing. "Lets go drink beer at the local Microbrewery!":
This is what 80mph winds do to the snow in the rockies above treeline:
Matty finishing the last pitch of the climb:
Tim, this is called an avalanche pit, we dig these to assess avalanche danger by using a "sheer test", usually we perform these on slopes greater than 30 degrees where avalanche danger is actually a concern.....
I don't care what you Vermonters say (and poser Jacksonites, who are really east coasters in disguise), Colorado is still beautiful:
Matty, taming the Colorado windpack:
Adam, rocking Scot Schmidt style circa 1989:
Matty, lean back, this is Colorado Windpack, not Targhee Blower:
Ahhhhh... That was a great day of touring with marginal skiing. "Lets go drink beer at the local Microbrewery!":
posted by TKsports! at 10:29 PM
6 Comments:
Wait, aren't you a Coloradite who is really an east coaster in disguise?
Are you guys getting the monster in the Front Range? Sounds like the Sierra's are going to be measuring snow with meter sticks. I know Alta will be interlodged for awhile.
Greeny - No, I don't plan on moving back east one day - Tim G. does.....
Tyler, your heritage is one of pink polo shirts and seersucker pants. Last time i checked, the cape wasn't anywhere near Colorado. Tourist.
Glad to see some are getting into the goods. Our month of ridiculousness is coming to a grueling end with 40's and possibly 50 degree temps coming later this week. It's all good though, VT still hasn't had the upswing of boy-men that Colorado seems to be suffering from.
But really, let's remember where we were all born.
Tyler- It amazes me that you don't hear what an asshole you sound like when you post on this blog. Last time I checked they were called "snow pits", and you are right on about there being no avalanche danger under 30 degrees- pretty sure there has never been one. Jackson had 15 inches last night and was snowing at a rate of 2 in/hr all morning. John and I had face shots all day. Do you remember what the Hobacks are like with feet of fresh powder. Enjoy your sweet CO windslab bitch!
Actually Tim, many people in the field call them "avy pits" because your testing for an avalanche by evaluating the snowpack. Look it up. And I stressed less than a 30 degree slope angle - 90% of slides occur between 30-45 degrees cha-cha.
Keating - lets remember that you were born and raised in So Cal before you invaded Oregon. Vt may not have "boy-men" whatever that means, but I'm pretty sure the real estate values demonstrate a heavy upswing in yuppies.
Shit talking aside, 12+ inches at Vail today made for some good turns. Matty is on his way to Utah and then back to the Tetons.
good session of shit talking...ra ra.
VT's melting away, as the forecasts were calling for. I almost took some video of the bull wheel spinning at the top shack today...with over 100 continuous unloaded chairs swinging by, but then the odd sense of pricacy in an otherwise crowded location got the better of me. Visibility was about 10 feet, snow pack was, well, soft (and to use a clasic NE term), and edgable.
More to come this weekend. We'll be balls deep once again!
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