Saturday, May 23, 2009

Spring Skiing at Copper Mountain - 5.22.2009

Two weeks ago powder snow was covering the upper slopes of Copper Mountain. Last weekend warm temperatures forced to mountain to transition into spring conditions. Last week I was interested in skiing Copper north and northwestern aspects, but it was not a smart move, the snowpack at these aspects were experiencing considerable stress as the snowpack transitioned into a spring snowpack.

The following chart corresponds to lower Titus Mountain weather study plot at 9250 feet (Copper elevation is 8966 feet). The temperature plot documents the meteoric rise in temps during the last 7-8 days. The overnight temps have not been cold enough to slowdown the rapid loss of snowpack depth documented on the bottom chart.




As temps moderated "some" two days ago, it was time to visit Copper again and assess ski conditions.

Yesterday (Friday) it was a reminder that late spring skiing is going to require earlier starts than our Boise departure time at 6:30 AM. The partial overnight freeze only allowed us to ski three runs before the snow deteriorated. To avoid skiing "wet and soupy" slush snow we came out on on a westerly densely treed slope, something I have not done in a very long time! I rather ski open slopes during the corn season.

Chip and I skinned from the road at 6800 feet to the top of Copper (8966') on a frozen crunchy surface. I was glad to have ski crampons. My companion does not own ski crampons, and I was utterly impressed by his steely nerves on firm steep slopes.

Once we got to the top of Copper the snow has already soften up and the North aspects were ready to be skied. The topo map included below shows in red the slopes we skied. The green trace indicates the uphill route we followed. For reference, I included the standard skin-up route to Copper (in purple).


For those not familiar with the approach we used this Friday, there is a pull-out where parking is allowed right on the number "21" along the road in the topo map. The creek runs to the west of the road at this point, thus there is no need to wade the creek on the way to Copper Mountain.

The next picture shows the line Chip and I skied below Copper's summit. We skied half way down on the "skiers" leftmost chute. About halfway the slope, we traversed to the left and skied a chute peeling off to the north next to a big rock spiral formation.




The snow at the top 500 feet of Copper's northeasterly chutes did not corn-up, it was cream snow skiing. The last two weeks weather conditions have not allowed for the recent snow to get appropriate freeze cycles conducive to corn formation. The picture below is the point were we traversed left, notice the surface texture described above.


The lower 500 feet of skiing on the steep north aspect chute (the chute next to a rock buttress) greeted us with corn you only dream to ski. Below a picture looking up from the bottom of the run.


Generally I ski down to the bottom of the northeast Copper's summit chutes run out zone, but there were significant debris fields from slides and broken cornice blocks from the last two weeks of warm weather. The picture below zooms into two debris fields - one to the right, the other to the extreme left.



Another look into Copper's NE chutes as we skinned-up to the summit for another run. Our ski tracks can (barely) be seen in the foreground slope, as well as the uphill track.



On the second ski run we descended from the summit into the the main west avalanche path.



The next two pictures showcase the the west chute we skied in perfect corn. Notice our tracks below the avi debris.



The next picture is a bonus - a close-up picture of the avalanche debris on the west path.


After this run we climbed back and skied out to the car. But before finishing this blog post, I wanted to share another two pictures of the area we skied earlier in the day.




Sunday, May 10, 2009

Copper Mountain - Banner Summit Area - 5.10.2009

Winter is reluctant to release its grip at elevations above 8000 feet. Yesterday, May 9th, I skied cold-dry consolidated snow. I skinned to Copper's East ridge (8840 feet) via a "horseshoe" ridge to the south of the standard route. In the topo map the alternate route is shown in green, and the standard route in purple.

Ski crampons for the first 500 feet rewarded me with efficiency and safety while climbing out of the creek. Once I got to the ridge there was no more need for the ski crampons. At about 8000 feet I was breaking trail on NEW snow. I was exhilarated -THERE IS GOING TO BE GOOD SKIING! And I accelerated from a leisurely 1200 ft/hour climb to about 2000 ft/hr.
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You might remember the next picture, it was posted 10 days ago. This NE aspect slope is highlighted in red in the topo map included above. As I promised then, I came back to ski it. It has been a few years since I last skied Copper's East Ridge, and it was time to get re-acquainted.
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The picture below gives a view farther to the East to next high point along the ridge crest (Point 8895).
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I did four laps on this slope. The skiing was superb! The top 800 feet were sweeeeet!
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Below the 8000 feet level at NE aspects, the snow was heavier and breakable crust was ready to wage battle, and I decidedly avoided this "instructional" quality snow.
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East aspects between 8900-8000 feet were heavy and manky. I watched two "tele" skiers getting spanked by "Gestapo" snow while skiing on an East aspect slope between Copper and the East Ridge where I was.
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There was another larger group at Copper skiing the NE chutes at the top of Copper, but from my vantage point it was not possible to see the action.
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Above a view of the slope I was about to ski.
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The picture above shows the first line I skied. Notice the start of the first ski run of the day - the ski track cutting below the cornice.
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I went back up for seconds! This picture shows the ski track for the second run.
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Above, the third ski run.
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And finally the four and last lap on this NE aspect slope. Time to go back and ski corn on my way back to the car.
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It was an spectacular day. The views were fantastic, check the next pictures with various views of Copper's East Ridge area:
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My first set of tracks from a cool vantage point!
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Check the texture - hard to believe we are still skiing soft snow.
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The next set of pictures are from Copper Mountain as I approached the hill from the south via the "horseshoe" ridge:
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The summit of Copper Mountain is the high point along the ridge in the picture above.
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The next two pictures are from two other areas at Banner summit where excellent ski touring can be found. They are located south of Copper Mountain. The first picture shows the N/NW aspect of 9220 Mountain. To the right in the distance Bear Claw basin can be identified. The next pictures zooms into Bear Claw basin. There are two posting on this blog for Bear Claw basin. Check them out - this area is truly magic.
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Prior to my first run I evaluated the stability below Copper's East ridge cornices. Stability tests results provided no evidence or signs of instability for the new snow at the north-\east aspects at the 8800 feet level (CTH, no structural weakness at top 1 meter, lack of shear energy, and no propagation propensity).

As the day warmed up (~2 PM), east aspects started to show signs of instability. Notice the small natural wet slide in the next picture.
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The NE slopes I skied were not affected by the sun warming and relatively cooler temperatures. No free water or development of melt-freeze layer was observed at N and NE aspects between 8900 and 8000 feet.
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Around 3:00PM, I descended Copper's East Ridge high point (8840 feet) on a west facing slope. Then climbed back to Copper main ridge and skied down on a South slope to the bottom of Bench creek. The solid freeze from the last two nights was enough to keep the corn in optimal condition. And needless to say, the corn sking was phenomenal.