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DIYSteve
seeking hygge
Joined: 06 Mar 2007
Posts: 12655 | TRs | Pics
Location: here now |
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DIYSteve
seeking hygge
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 Tue Mar 10, 2009 8:52 am |
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Who: Andy, Brad, Brian, Ted and me, hosted by Santiago "Chago" Rodriguez and his crew (Dan, Hefe, Chris) of Wallowa Alpine Huts, Connelly Brown, proprietor.
What/Where: 4-day backcountry ski trip in WAH's McCully Basin yurt mini-village, located in the Eagle Cap Wilderness. My first guided trip.
Conditions: A cold powder dump (c. 24") hit McCully Basin two days before our start. Another few inches of cold pow fell each evening. Clear skies on Thursday, Friday and Sunday. Windy and blowing snow on Saturday. Chilly nights.
Thursday 3/5: Woke to breakfast at Chandler's Inn in Joseph, OR, where we were introduced to Chago, our lead host/guide. Drove to about 1 mile short of the McCully TH. Clear conditions on a pleasant 4+-mile/2,000+ vert ski to the yurts, followed by safety review, a short tour with our first pow turns, and dinner.
Friday 3/6: Lovely tour to the SE on a brisk bluebird day! >4,000 verts, fresh pow on each turn. skinning to N ridge of Bear  chago brian pit  tracks N ridge Bear  windy rip and run  andy in action  diamond last look  setting perfectly angled tracks, finding the best stashes, keeping us safe, cooking great meals and providing ample entertainment.
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Randy
Cube Rat
Joined: 18 Dec 2001
Posts: 2910 | TRs | Pics
Location: Near the Siamangs |
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Randy
Cube Rat
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Tue Mar 10, 2009 9:19 am |
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Good looking turns and pictures, Steve. I'm jealous!
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joker
seeker
Joined: 12 Aug 2006
Posts: 7953 | TRs | Pics
Location: state of confusion |
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joker
seeker
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Tue Mar 10, 2009 10:51 pm |
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Looks like great conditions. The Pope's Nose and the Diamond as well as the SE area - you got in some sweet runs! It's fun to work across all the different terrain there. I love that area. If I'm remembering the Diamond right, it's a fun route (does it drop you below the hut on the east side of the creek?).
Skiing to the Yurts got me curious about summertime. We did a backpack trip a few drainages over in September that was wonderful. The area tempts me to do a ski camping traverse.
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DIYSteve
seeking hygge
Joined: 06 Mar 2007
Posts: 12655 | TRs | Pics
Location: here now |
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DIYSteve
seeking hygge
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Wed Mar 11, 2009 10:09 am |
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| joker wrote: | | The Pope's Nose and the Diamond as well as the SE area - you got in some sweet runs! It's fun to work across all the different terrain there. I love that area. If I'm remembering the Diamond right, it's a fun route (does it drop you below the hut on the east side of the creek?). |
The Diamond is a resistant rock knob near the head of the basin and connects to Wing Ridge. I don't recall the name of the line to which you refer (and which we did not ski).
Chago said that he plans to pioneer a high ski route from McCully yurts to Norway yurts. I've checked out the maps and it looks plausible as a spring ski traverse. But my experience is that inland US spring snowpack doesn't set up and corn up like the Cascades, so I think there's a much narrower window to get the right conditions for that traverse.
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DIYSteve
seeking hygge
Joined: 06 Mar 2007
Posts: 12655 | TRs | Pics
Location: here now |
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DIYSteve
seeking hygge
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Wed Mar 11, 2009 10:11 am |
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joker
seeker
Joined: 12 Aug 2006
Posts: 7953 | TRs | Pics
Location: state of confusion |
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joker
seeker
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Wed Mar 11, 2009 2:50 pm |
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OK - I think I'm remembering the Diamond now. The run to below the hut, which you can take from a peak up on the ridge dividing McCully and Aneroid, is perhaps my favorite, but it's all good.
Is Norway WAH's newer location down south of McCully? That was just a glimmer in Connolly's eye last time I was up there (when his eye glimmers it is kind of blinding, by the way - he's excitable in a good way).
Sad news about the death over in Aneroid Basin.
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DIYSteve
seeking hygge
Joined: 06 Mar 2007
Posts: 12655 | TRs | Pics
Location: here now |
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DIYSteve
seeking hygge
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Wed Mar 11, 2009 2:56 pm |
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| joker wrote: | | Is Norway WAH's newer location down south of McCully? |
Yes. Our buddy Andy has done 9 WAH trips, some at Norway and some at McCully, and he prefers McCully. He also says that the bigger issue is getting Chago as a guide if you want to do the grunt >4000 verts per day. Of course, many, maybe most, parties are not interested in doing such big days.
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