Forum Index > Trip Reports > Mt Catherine 5052' solo ski Feb 26, 2013
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John Morrow
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John Morrow
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PostTue Feb 26, 2013 6:25 pm 
First off, whoever laid in the skin track to Nordic Pass from near where the radio tower cat track leaves the Nordic trails: BRAVO to you Artiste! I never put my skins back on during my return. That is a first. Yeah a bit of herringbone and side stepping but otherwise very efficient. I never seem to create it right when we break the trail. I departed that great skin track below the final Nordic Pass climb where I could traverse, level, to the base of the North Slope of Catherine. I attempted to conserve as much descent snow by snaking a skin track up through the denser trees to the east edge of the slope and on to the summit. If anybody wants it is there for the taking. Not having to break trail all the way from Grand Junction was much appreciated.
Humpy in distance
Humpy in distance
Sweet--skin track already in!
Sweet--skin track already in!
Base of climb
Base of climb
Kaleetan peeks out
Kaleetan peeks out
Upward
Upward
Granite above skin track
Granite above skin track
Rainier and Tinkham
Rainier and Tinkham
MG_1661
MG_1661
Bandera-Defiance
Bandera-Defiance
Humpback-Kent-McCellan
Humpback-Kent-McCellan
Silver Peak
Silver Peak
Kaleetan an dChair
Kaleetan an dChair
Summit break
Summit break
Commonwealth wealth
Commonwealth wealth
Rampart to Margaret terrain!
Rampart to Margaret terrain!
What you skiers really need to know: The best snow I felt all day was the 9" of new in the shade at the Silver Fir Parking Lot at 4:00PM. I am not kidding you. The sun only came out very briefly around 2:30PM and was slightly filtered with thin clouds so most the trees on south and west aspects kept much of their snow. There are tree bombs in the woods but otherwise it is soft under the canopy. I don't think a thin crust will form on those aspects but it might have been possible. The reason the parking lot had the best snow: WIND. To my surprise, the forest is not dense enough on the North Slope of Catherine to prevent the strong west winds of the Snoqualmie valley from ripping through Windy Pass and creating much wind packed firm pockets between sheltered powder troughs. Find the shelter, find the goods--and it is really good. The wind firmed powder was still turnable, just not no-fault sheer joy like the weekend. It also made for less laborsome trail breaking. From Grand Junction I opted for the lower Nordic Pass Trail (that is: the Blue Diamond trail) along Hyak Lake for the return since I am bored of the Outback run at Central. Go far right from the start to avoid getting constantly sucked back in to Hyak Creek. I should know better--at least it was all downhill. Just not the nice final turns I was hoping for.
Umm the goods
Umm the goods
Dur, not so smooth, wind affected
Dur, not so smooth, wind affected
Yummy!
Yummy!
Grand junction has a view?
Grand junction has a view?
Hyak Lake
Hyak Lake

“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”-Mary Oliver “A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom.” ― MLK Jr.
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RichP
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PostWed Feb 27, 2013 4:15 pm 
Your reports make me wish I had taken up skiing oh so long ago.

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Fletcher
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PostWed Feb 27, 2013 4:58 pm 
I think we followed your track on the upper slopes of Catherine this morning. Thanks. That was a surprisingly awesome tour.

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rossb
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PostWed Feb 27, 2013 6:12 pm 
Excellent report and excellent pictures. We were close to there, having gone up via Hyak. That area is a bit confusing (so many options) so I'm not sure if I know exactly how you got up there. Do you have waxless skis (or skis with a kick wax pocket)? I ask because I find the big waxless skis wonderful. You can get some pretty fat skis and still never have to deal with skins (over moderate angle). We managed to ski up to Hyak while keeping our skins in our packs.

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John Morrow
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John Morrow
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PostWed Feb 27, 2013 8:51 pm 
It is a great point Ross. I get torn between fish scales making the flats easier and the thought that downhill performance might be sacrificed some with the shape of the skis. My next pair may just be some fat waxless tele skis for the amount of time I spend thrash and wallowing and not just throwing the skin back on! My current skis are BD Drifts with 100mm underfoot, full width skins, and some call that mid fat! But they sure do float well. And for the size they are freakishly light. BD O-1 articulated tele bindings put much of the weight savings right back on though.

“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”-Mary Oliver “A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom.” ― MLK Jr.
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rossb
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PostWed Feb 27, 2013 10:30 pm 
Well, I wouldn't call those BD skis mid-fats, but I know what you mean. You can certainly get fatter. But in general, I'm sure those float really well. Compared to waxless, the only thing that is in the same league is the Viole Charger BC. Light, fat (even fatter than the Drift), rockered and waxless. You probably will lose a bit of speed, but not much. If anything, they probably don't kick and glide that well. But that sounds like just the thing for you. As you said, sometimes you just need a little something, and it is annoying when you don't have it. Of course, it could be worse -- you could be a snowboarder (I have to feel sorry for those guys when they hit a flat spot). Paul was skiing Rossignol 125s, which are a step down in most ways from there. I like those skis, but they are bit thinner and lack rocker. For the surface area, they are also probably a bit heavier. But they are a lot cheaper, and still way ahead of anything available only a couple of years ago. I hope the trend continues -- waxless is really handy around here.

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wolffie
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PostThu Feb 28, 2013 12:51 pm 
When was this? I'm trying to find out if they are grooming the Nordic trails at all, and if so, how fast they get it done after a storm. Their website indicates the Nordic center is open, but I've seen no indication of grooming on their grooming report webpage this year. Your photos show none, although I see the outhouse. Did it look like they've been open at all this year? A plea to TR posters: please include the date of your trip (the posting darte is ambiguous), and include information that may seem extraneous to you but may be of use to readers with different interests. Also, be very specific about routes, parking, stuff like that, because many readers will be unaware of stuff that may seem obvious to you, or totally unfamiliar with the area.

Some people have better things to do with their lives than walking the dog. Some don't.
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rossb
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PostThu Feb 28, 2013 1:12 pm 
@Wolffie - The date is on the title (Tuesday). But you are right in general, it is important to have the date. This post has it. As far as grooming is concerned, it looks like midweek grooming is hit or miss. I went up to the area via Hyak and ran across some fresh downhill grooming (even though the lifts were closed). The Nordic trails looked like they hadn't been groomed since the weekend (but it is hard to say). Like I said in my trip report, I think Hyak midweek is nice, since you have a shot at a groomed area (albeit without groves for kick and glide) along with no lifts.

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John Morrow
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PostThu Feb 28, 2013 4:20 pm 
I always include trip date in the title. If it is the same as the post date then I posted the same day. The Nordic system is open and groomed Fri-Sun. They typically have all the upper trails in the inner loops groomed by opening, and unless they are really trying to catch up after heavy snow, most of the Mt Catherine Loop early in the day as well. On Saturday the groomer was playing "catch up" on the inner loops as we went past in the morning. They were nicely groomed when we returned through at 1:00 PM. Point taken on other details: I-90 Snoqualmie Pass to Summit Central ski area Silver Fir chair lift parking. Climb along side of the southeasternmost ski run to Grand Junction on the groomed Nordic Trails: visit web site for detailed nordic trail map link: http://www.summitatsnoqualmie.com/files/pdf/NordicTrailMap11_12.pdf). Continue along a little known or mapped trail marked with Blue Diamonds called the Nordic Pass Trail (Nordic Pass is unnamed saddle between Radio Mountain and Mt Catherine on Nordic Trails map) and use a topo map to contour over to the North Slope of Mt Catherine. Climb to summit.

“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”-Mary Oliver “A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom.” ― MLK Jr.
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rossb
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PostThu Feb 28, 2013 4:38 pm 
Thanks John. That is helpful information. I always get a little confused around there, but I think that will help me a lot.

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Fletcher
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PostThu Feb 28, 2013 5:17 pm 
Thanks for the route info and map link. We approached via Hyak yesterday but I was wondering what approaching via Silver Fir is like. I have never had a problem skinning up Hyak during the week, wondering if you ever get bugged skinning up Silver Fir before the lifts open?

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DIYSteve
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PostThu Feb 28, 2013 5:57 pm 
rossb wrote:
the only thing that is in the same league is the Viole Charger BC.
Add the Voile Vector BC, which would be 94mm or 96mm waist in John's length. Anita has Vector BCs. I have Charger BCs. We are sold on them. In pow, wet pow and mank, the fishscales are not noticeable on the downhill. They have become our go-to midwinter touring skis. Perfect skis for the N side of Catherine tour (one of our favorites). BTW, we put skins over the fishscales for steeper ascents. Fishscales aint gonna get you up the N side of Catherine. Gotta have skins for that. Love skiing through those big trees (mountain hemlocks?) on the N side of Catherine!

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John Morrow
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PostThu Feb 28, 2013 6:04 pm 
Fletcher wrote:
I have never had a problem skinning up Hyak during the week, wondering if you ever get bugged skinning up Silver Fir before the lifts open?
Yeah Fletcher, typically I ski the climber's left edge of the "outback" ski run (southeasternmost run) to the White Rabbit nordic trail to Grand junction. Never had any patroller give me trouble.

“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”-Mary Oliver “A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom.” ― MLK Jr.
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