Mt Adams April 15 2006

[skiyak777]

Hooked up with Astrotech, JShefftz and another friend for an attempt to ski the Mt Adams snowfields. AT and I arrived at the Lowes trailhead about 4 PM Friday and began hiking up to the Gray Knob hut.

After a while, the trail became a little steep and icy and continued like this for another 1200 vf. You might want crampons for this part.




We arrived at the hut shortly after dark. JShefftz arrived about 10:30 PM, and his friend at about 7 AM the next morning.

The weather forecast was for wind, rain and thunderstorms, so we set out early in search of patches of skiable snow.

(Astrotech photo credit)
After a few false starts, we made it to the top of the Adams snowfields It was quite windy and raining and I could only see about 30 feet, so unfortunately I don't have any photos of that part. Hopefully Astrotech got a few. A little creative routefinding by Shef got us to the top of King Ravine, which looked to have great ski potential, but we decided to save it for another day with better conditions and traversed back around the mountain back to the hut. Due to the low snowpack, this required some treeskiing:

Shortly after packing up and beginning the descent to the car, rain and thunderclaps started. I'd never been up to this side of the presidentials, but I'm convinced there is a lot of potential here. This trip will have to be repeated next year when there is a little more snow. Thanks to Astrotech and Jshefftz for suggesting it and navigating.

[Sledhaulingmedic]

Way to brave the elements. I've had King Ravine on the list for a long time, but need to get more time in scouting the area out in the summer.

Great potential, but it's a black hole for me, as far as beta. Thanks for the TR & Pix

Rep to you for keeping up with Jonathan

[skiyak777]

Originally Posted by Sledhaulingmedic

Rep to you for keeping up with Jonathan

Well, we didn't exactly keep up. I'd like to believe its because of his Dynafits, but its unlikely thats the case!

[jshefftz]

More important than *keeping* up, thanks to all the party members for *putting* up with my whacky idea of what constitutes a ski trip!
After my third trip there, I'm now convinced that Lowe's Path above the hut can be skipped entirely and we can start skinning almost immediately.
The one big remaining issue though is whether the Adams Snowfields are steep enough to slide under potentially unstable snow conditions for trips earlier in the season. I'm concerned that 95% of the terrain is sufficiently gentle, but that a few steep sections could cause problems.
I definitely want to hike around there in the off season to get a better feel for the terrain, especially King Ravine.
Now where are Astrotech's pics? He must have taken a bunch!
I didn't take any pics this time, but here are some from last year's Grey Knob trip, although they're mainly of Jefferson and the route out to there:
http://www.jshefftz2.photosite.com/2005SufferSkiTrip/
Oh, and here are some random pics from my trip earlier this month to the Sierra:
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/jonath...=/3ad4&.view=t
(In Oregon today for biz, but hope to get in a few ski days too - pics to follow eventually.)

[Affix Snow]

Nice work! But the question si....Did you actually SKi?

[PWDR8S]

Wow.... and I thought I was considered lunatic! Great determined work guys! More beta the bettah. I'm fairly certain I would've turned back much earlier than you.

Now I'm intrigued. Like Sled said, I think some summer recon may be in order.

Good pics! Thanks for sharing.

[astrotech]

Originally Posted by jshefftz

More important than *keeping* up, thanks to all the party members for *putting* up with my whacky idea of what constitutes a ski trip!

I had a great time out with you guys. We will have to have more trips when the snows come back. As Skiyak777 mentioned, there is a lot more exploring to be done. This trip only reinforced a growing opinion I have that there is a lot more good skiing in New England than at first meets the eye. It isn’t the huge 5000+ vertical, and you have to work, sometimes hard work, to get to it, but it is there.

As for the avi danger, a beacon and shovel isn’t too much more to add to the load, heck even a probe can fit in sometimes

On the topic of the weather, I think I need to change my screen name to StormKing or something like that. I think every day I have been out this year I have had winds like what we had on Adams. Yesterday I went for a bike ride along the Minuteman path, the girl I was riding with got blown off her bike! Just as a note, I am planning on staying indoors today, so the Boston Marathon should be safe.

Now, onto the main event, pictures.


The goal as seen from Lowe’s parking lot.



One of the benefits of the hike up



skiyak777 showing some fancy footwork on the icy trail



rest



jshefftz on the move



E. movin on up



skiyak777 skinning into the mists



These were taken at the top of Sam Adams where we started our descent. Jshefftz, E., and skiyak777 in that order.







Transitioning to hike out mode



Noticed this on the hike down, now they tell us!

[skiyak777]

Originally Posted by Affix Snow

Nice work! But the question si....Did you actually SKi?

I think we actually skied about 1000 vf, but it was foggy and I was trying not to get separated so I didn't get any photos.

I may go back up Wednesday evening and try it again Thursday when the weather is supposed to be clear. I'm not sure about scouting King Ravine in the summer- may be completely different than when it's snow covered. Jonathon mentioned something about undermined snow, cliffs and ice bulges, so I may bring a rope and investigate by skiing belayed, a few turns at a time. OTOH it may be better to check out Great Gulf or even just the Mt WA snowfields/Raymond Cataract Thursday. First I have to figure out how to get the tree sap off my bases though.

[RR]

Determination to have some fun almost guarantees it! Crampons for Icy trails and a yellow filter for pix in the fog...Nice pix!

King Ravine is still on my list too..got partway up it last year and would have tried again this year if the knee allowed. The consensus of the '05 group was that earlier in the season is better. I lean towards early-mid March as there is likely to be snow all the way in....and, possible some pow!

[jshefftz]

Yes, it was almost exactly 1000' vert.
Agreed that earlier in the season would be best for KR - before the undermining starts, then take advantage of a Low avy day (which is that way for a reason other than everything being frozen solid).
Summer/fall scouting of course has its disadvantages, but still helpful - plus doesn’t come at the expense of skiing!
Solo KR scouting this week sounds kinda sketchy to me, but you could alternatively scout it from the bottom, which would probably be easier and safer overall, and still yield some useful info.
Here’s a map of what we did - dotted red line is our route (“‘06 Ski”), and solid red is last year’s route. (Note that the KR line is just approximate, since I have to ski it.)

[Affix Snow]

I was just kidding about the skiing part! Very nice!

We "scouted" King ravine in the summer last year and determined there are sweet runs......

[pulverschwein]

WOW. Two words describe you guys: More Core. Thanks. Well deserved reps to all y'all.

[ATP]

Originally Posted by astrotech

On the topic of the weather, I think I need to change my screen name to StormKing or something like that. I think every day I have been out this year I have had winds like what we had on Adams.

Nah, Jonathan suckers some poor soul to accompay him on a misery fest in the Northern Whites every year. Looks like his fishing was rewarded with a quorum this year. Rep to you for sticking it out.

JS, you gots to get yourself a weather report next time.

[ATP]

Where is the undermining found on the KR runs? I hadn't realized that was much of an issue until later in the year, given the northerly aspect.

Definitely agree on accessing it by climbing, especially for the GG line. I'd hate to be suprised by the ice bulge on the way down.

[Affix Snow]

Here is a shot from this past summer up top looking into King. There seemed to be "endless" runs, but sure that prolly is really like 4-5......