Saturday, May 17, 2008

Peak 8477 - Banner Summit - May 17th

When I woke-up this morning the I saw that the overnight temps at Banner Summit did not drop below the freezing level, but encouraged by the reported 27 deg-F on the Stanley Web cam [http://www.sawtoothcamera.com/] , I got ready and drove to Banner Summit. The drive was wonderful - there were many large herds of deer and elk along the road heading up to higher elevations as the season transitions to summer. I even managed to see an eagle, marmots, and a rare black weasel.
.
In the next chart notice the temps for the last few days (click on image for larger version); the low temps have remained above the freezing level now for a few days for the first time in the season. And as the average temperature rises rapidly the snow depth has taken a PLUNGE! The Snow Depth at Banner Summit - 7000 feet - is below the 30 inch level. Considering the cooler weather forecast by the middle of the week and the current rate of melting, it is reasonable to assume at that snow cover access to Copper and surrounding peaks will probably last two more weeks.
.

.
Folks, the last few days' temperatures are making an impact in the snow country. This morning as I drove to Banner summit, I noticed that the Mores Creek Summit area at the 6000 feet elevation is almost depleted of snow, with Winter Corner the only exception.
.
However, the situation is better at the Banner Summit area, where there is still snow at 6000 feet before the second avalanche gate. The window to access Bear Claw Cirque on snow for a second time this season is CLOSING, because the snow is melting FAST at the starting point! I give it not more than one week.
.

The situation at 7000 feet is more encouraging. Check the next picture of the ID-21 road with Copper Mountain NW aspect in the background. You might recall that Bob R. and I skied the Summit and NW chutes last weekend - check last week posting for beta, pics, and videos.
.

.
Today I visited peak 8477 across the road from Copper Mountain. For the climb I followed the red route. I got lucky and found snow bridges over the two creek crossings. But I suspect they will not last more than a few days. The green and purple routes indicates the ski down.
.

.
The upper (green) and lower (purple) sections are quite different and discontinuous runs. That is the reason for the different coloring. This year I did not ski Cape Horn mountain, but for your reference I included the up track in yellow. The blue tracks show nice ski runs. The ski run on the SW face of Cape Horn is quite sweet, and in stable conditions it provides one of the most continuous and unbroken lines in the Banner summit area.
.
As I climbed up a mostly NE ridge without the assistance of ski crampons - there was no need since the snow did not freeze overnight - I knew the chances of corn were slim, but I kept my hope that the direct north exposure and elevation would do the trick. By 11:oo AM I was at the top of Peak 8477, and as expected there was no corn, but 20 cm of soft slushy snow. Oh, well!, at least I got a nice tour and skied while people in Boise roasted in 90 deg-F weather.
.
The next picture shows the view from Peak 8477 looking into the north and down to Cape Horn creek. This slope is shown in the topo map as a green track.
.

.
The next two photos look up into Peak 8477 at the bottom of the top run (green track).
.


.
Below a view of the top of the run in purple. I have not skied this area in the winter, but these lower runs look fun. Good selections when stability or weather keep you at lower elevations.
.

.
The day could not be over without some excitement, provided by walking on ski boot on this log across the Cape Horn creek.
.

.
Next a view of Copper Mountain from the snowmobile trail as I ski down to the parking lot.
.

.
The last photo is a view of the Sawtooths from Grandjean on my drive back to Boise on ID-21.
.

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Copper Mountain Chutes - May 10th

Spring skiing Saturday May 10th at Banner Summit was delightful! And again, the weather was perfect - clear skies with light cool winds - and a fantastic ski partner to share memorable turns.

It is worthwhile to mention that if you do not want to boot-up or get into scary situations during skinning-up, I strongly recommend that you get ski-crampons. Saturday touring conditions required the use of ski crampons ALL day due to the firm conditions resulting from a solid overnight freeze. And even later on the day, the corn sat in top of a very hard layer of melt freeze snow.

This spring I have been carefully monitoring the weather and temperatures to be able to ski the days with the BEST overnight freeze. That allows for longer spring skiing days, provides better skiing conditions (no slush!), and minimizes snow instability (wet slides). Notice the temperatures for May 8th and May 1oth. The touring and skiing were superb due to the GOOD freeze on the nights preceding those two days. As usual - on this blog you may "click" the images (pics and charts) to get the full file along with details, and higher magnification.



-
This Saturday, we accessed Copper from the North-west. This is not a popular approach, but it is a nice change of pace, and on stable conditions (such as spring) it provides access to elegant steep lines, such as the North chutes about 150 feet below Copper's summit to the NNW. This picture is a small sample of these outstanding lines.
-

-
For your reference I include on this post a topo map of Copper Mountain area. This topo map version is different from last week's blog posting. This map version shows more terrain to the north. The red lines indicate the climbing route we used Saturday. In blue is the standard and most popular climbing route used to access Copper Mountain. The green lines corresponds to the slopes we skied this Saturday.

-
The day was surprisingly cool for mid-May, and the snow started to corn-up late - well pass 1 PM on east aspects.

Considering the steep lines we intended to ski, during the morning climb we checked the snowpack above the 8000-feet level at the head of the chutes There was a 30 cm melt-freeze layer solidly bridging the north aspects. Below this layer the snowpack above 8000 feet at N, NE, and NW aspects continues to have a winter structure, and it is not experiencing any significant melting. Therefore, above 8000 feet we still have a SNOW wonderland!

Be mindful of conditions that could weaken the thick melt-freeze bridging layer. If this bridging layer is weakened due to rain, or a combination of a warm day and a night without a freeze - it is possible to have snow instabilities on steep north (N, NE, NW) terrain above 8000 feet. Do not overlook that the snowpack below 30 cm continues to have a winter-like structure (NOT isothermal).

The first run of the day was to the north of Copper summit. The chutes had a thin layer of windblown snow on top of a firm base that allowed good skiing. Check the video of my friend skiing below one of Copper's Summit cornices.
-


-
The lower 300 feet of the chutes until the run-out hat a very thin layer of corn that made us greedy for more corn.
-
.
Below a picture of the full track of the chute.
.


Next we skinned up and yo-yo'd another short (600-feet) slope to the east of Copper summit. This east-facing slope was a moderately steep fun line where we found plenty of hedonistic corn. I include a picture since this east-facing ski run is not intuitive and it is easily missed.
-


The next video is a small sample of the corn harvest - this was the third run of the day. It is the same slope shown in the above picture.


In my May 8th blog posting it I shared beta about 'Bear Paw Cirque' - the next picture snapped from Copper's Summit shows the cirque to the right in the background. Peak 9220 can be seen prominently on the left. Before the spring season is over (and weather permitting) I will be visiting Bear Paw Cirque - there are some cool lines that need further exploration!



We concluded the day with a BANG! Late in the day the Copper North Chute developed perfect corn conditions, and we skied a deliciously sweet 1200-feet line. The center chute in the picture below shows the last run skied Saturday before skiing back to the road.


The next video clip shows the skiing at the bottom of the North Chute.


This spring has been so much fun ... the weather and conditions have been favorable for continued skiing, and if it continues it will be a LONG spring season. Soon the Idaho high elevation couloir season will start ... needless to say - it will be epic - so much skiing so little time.

Chago

Sunday, May 4, 2008

Copper Mountain - Banner Summit - May 3rd

The snowcountry continues to have fantastic conditions. Yesterday I visited Copper Mountain in the Banner Summit area.

For those not familiar with the area I included below a map of the Banner summit area. Banner summit is reached by driving from Lowman to Stanley. This area has MANY other peaks with great skiing besides the popular Copper mountain, such as Bull trout point and Cape Horn mountain among others sub-peaks. The map shows the most popular climbing route to Copper Mountain, and another favorite of mine "Peak 92".


There is enough snow at Copper to sustain skiing the South and West faces for another 2-3 weeks. There were some thin spots near the top of Copper south face due to wind scouring, but there is full snow coverage all the way down to the road via the Newman Creek (South). The north and east faces at the 8-9,000 feet still have a winter snowpack. In fact, they were covered by a 6-8 cm layer of creamy soft snow from last weeks storm front. Below the view of Copper ridge to the NE. Peak 92 is the 4th sub-summit. To the center in the background the Sawtooths are visible.



Be prudent with Copper summit cornices. Yesterday the cornices were softening up considerably and did not inspire confidence. And after watching a small overhang cornice break-up on the eastermost chute I got the message. Too Bad!, the north chute shots were very tempting, and the pair of tracks left on the middle chute by a party of two 1-2 days ago did not help. I will have to wait a little longer.

The next video was filmed on the Copper's south 32 degrees south face. As you will see, the corn was very NICE!



At the end of the day, as we were skiing out, we found a digital Pentax camera. the camera has pictures of Copper for a party of four. And the pictures appear to be taken several weeks ago when there was still snow on the trees. There was also a picture of two dogs in a living room. Below the LAST picture snapped by the camera from the summit of Copper with three skiers.



Please contact me if you are the are or know the owner of the lost camera.

Chago