Matt Hart's Blog - Tales of Endurance

Skiing Kendall Peak West Flank - April 14, 2009

really surprised to get knee deep light and fluffy today... it's the middle of april! compression test didn't break a consolidated slab. neither did an extended column test. we got a 5:45am start to our skin so later in the day i'm sure the avy danger increased.

Labels: alpine ski touring, backcountry ski tour, Kendall Peak, Snoqualmie, snow tests

Spring Has Come to Snoqualmie & Mount Catherine

i've been playing with the iphone gps apps. why pay another $300 when i have one in my pack anyway? today's tour was the first test for the MotionX ($2.99) iphone application. the software is better than any gps i've ever used or seen. it tracked my route pretty well except when i was in thick trees, and it has us going down the south side of catherine a few hundred feet, which we did not do. i think it would be great with the exception of the iphone battery. when using the gps full time it dies quickly. i'd say it lasted 4-4.5hrs in the cold during today's backcountry ski tour. i am a map and compass guy. so when i thought about what i need from a gps it was just two things.

1) utm coordinates for the times when i feel like i need to cross reference on an actual paper map
2) waypoints for just in case situations like white outs

MotionX passed these two with flying colors and then some. i've even been uploading my gps files to Everytrail.com as you can see below. it's a pretty cool way to share the visual of the trip. you can even add geotagged photos to the map. which i've done.

as for the iphone battery issue i think i'll track the first 1/2 of my trips with the iphone, then shut it down or put it into airplane mode for the rest. that way i get a gps file of our route and have enough battery for utm reading and the emergency waypoint.

Mt Catherine 4.5.09

Labels: alpine ski touring, backcountry ski tour, Snoqualmie

Commonwealth Creek and Kendall Ridge Snow Conditions Today

i ran into a blog reader who recognized me and snapped a photo of us - thanks mark!
if your a backcountry skier in the pacnw you know turns all year (TAY) is an amazing resource. there is nothing better than seeing a trip report from the day before for the same area you plan to ski. well one thing would be better... to see actual video footage of it. it's not great, but it's a start.

Labels: alpine ski touring, backcountry ski tour, Snoqualmie

Kendall Trees Redux

again the avy report sent us into the trees. copson, kurt and ellen joined me today. lots of wind affected snow on the kendall ridge made us super cautious to start out, but a pit and many ski cuts later and we saw nothing to be scared of.

and again... to the trees!

Labels: alpine ski touring, backcountry ski tour, Kendall Trees, Snoqualmie

High Above 4,000 Feet

when the avy report says "high above 4,000 ft" we ski trees. copson and i ran into rvg, hayes and erin in the parking lot so we joined forces. rvg then lead us up the most aggressive route to the kendall ridge possible. we skinned (and some boot packed) up 50+ degree crusty slopes. you were either on point with the kick turn or you were going for a long unpleasant ride. i loved every minute of it. i reckon it was a great chance to see a new part of the kendall ridge.

we found crust down low, pow pow up high and good times all around. it felt bomber but i dug a pit anyway and found STM Q3. nothing moved slid or whomphed all day. the avy report said high because of the eminent storm and wind. they were late, but by the time we left it was really coming down. i bet tomorrow will really be high avy danger. and now - the feature presentation...

Labels: alpine ski touring, backcountry ski tour, Kendall Trees, Snoqualmie

Hyak Dawn Patrol

skinning up hyak under the dead lifts. you might remember hyak from the 300 foot wide avalanche/landslide that happened during our january warming.
snoqualmie got 15 inches of fresh so we decided a dawn patrol was in order. ellen and copson joined me, fraser didn't. as we got to the lot hopes were high until we started skinning. there was a somewhat nasty crust on top, not a death crust mind you, but certainly enough to squash the dreams i had as i sleep drove to ellen's house at 4:45am. someone mentioned they thought the snow would be better once we got to the top. i agreed verbally, but doubted it. however the top 500 feet was better and the skiing was really fun. with the inversion and the sun it was a perfect morning. i'm grateful i have friends that are willing to dawn headlampsand battle sleep monsters for 2,000 ft by 8:30 am.

after posting a couple of these photos on facebook i received the following question.

"Holy crap, where was this and where do you live that you can so quickly pop out for a quick ski?"

my response:

"i live in seattle. snoqualmie pass is 45 mins away. woke up at 4:30am, started skinning uphill in the dark and skiing downhill with the sunrise. my buddy was at his microsoft desk by 9:30am after 2,000ft of skiing and a coffee stop on the way home.

it's possible.. you just gotta want it."

ellen and steve - run 3

my new favorite ski jacket - the mtn hardware synchro

Labels: alpine ski touring, backcountry ski tour, dawn patrol, Snoqualmie

Skiing the East Summit of Snoqualmie Mountain

scratchy and crusty out there today but still better than cleaning the house or sitting on the couch.

law dawgs todd and mark, as well as my bc staple steve copson and i set out with the objective of skiing the 40+ degree crooked couloir off snoqualmie mountain. with no real beta on the couloir ther was a very real chance we would have had to rappel out of the couloir.. making it extra bad ass of course. the sun made a short appearance but by the time we got to the summit it was full on white out blizzard at 6,200 feet. because we were a mere 500 feet from the top of the couloir we forged on. navigating by brale and hopeful not fall off a cliff or cornice. it was only a few minutes until it became obvious that proceeding would be foolhardy. we simple couldn't tell what we were skiing into. so we skied down from the summit the way we climbed and left the crooked couloir for another day.