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kiliki
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kiliki
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PostThu Nov 05, 2020 2:18 pm 
smp77 wrote:
If you head to Omak, the Highlands Sno Park north of Tonasket has great groomed Nordic trails and is never crowded.
Good to know--I'll keep that on my list. This is the year for going a little further, that's for sure. I'm also interested in checking out some of these little downhill areas I've never been to, like Bluewood, or Ski Anthony Lakes, if we can take a longer weekend.

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treeswarper
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PostThu Nov 05, 2020 2:57 pm 
Randito wrote:
treeswarper wrote:
That is per capita.
Which is why i used the word "rate" instead of "cases" Point is that the probability a person you interact with is infected in Okanogan county is 2.5 times higher than it is in King. Also I was travelling about a month ago in UT and ID and the % of people I would encounter not wearing masks or practicing social distancing while in indoor public spaces (e.g. a grocery store) what pretty darn high and not just customers, but also staff.
treeswarper wrote:
We have days with zero cases then one or three.
That's the sort of thinking that leads to lax practices --- and increases the spread of the virus.
Thankee Seattle person. We'uns caint unnerstand stuff like that and I thankee fer 'spaining it to my old addled brain. I figgered I'd go down and lick the cross walk buttons, hug everybody I meet on the street, and git likkered up and do it all over agin. But yer 'splainin' has me stopped! We ain't got that little bug swarped yet, I guess. Oh, and the last time I looked, the Methow was part of Okanogan County. We've had those days for some time though, and no major problems. However, one infected person from, say, Seattle could come over and do the job. Went to the doctor today and they are worried about the flu. That has started up. She did say that they are expecting Covid to increase (just like everywhere else) this winter. Folks are complying with the rules the same as always here. The box stores and groceries are pretty strict. Elsewhere not so. I imagine it is the same as in King County. We ain't got no videos of confrontations to show it. The big outbreak was in the orchards. Infected people were working while sick and spreading it to others. Insley worked out a deal where we taxpayers pay sick leave, testing was required, and state inspectors overruled the county's lax oversight and had them change living quarters. Since then, things have calmed down considerably. There are some Air B&Bs unless they have been donated to fire victims. We have that to think about too.

What's especially fun about sock puppets is that you can make each one unique and individual, so that they each have special characters. And they don't have to be human––animals and aliens are great possibilities
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joker
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PostThu Nov 05, 2020 3:56 pm 
I finally finished revarnishing our Pygmy sea kayaks so we'd be ready to hit the water more often in the event that most skiing options are swarmed upon in ways we find aversive, though there are of course always places one can go to escape the crowds if one is going beyond the lifts. I expect Hyak, Baker sidecountry, Yodelin, etc. will be seeing record numbers of backcountry skiers this coming winter but I also expect some other spots to be much less used even if they too see upticks. Hyak in particular will probably be kinda weird as it's a comforting venue for folks who have not toured much especially if they haven't gotten any avalanche training.

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kiliki
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kiliki
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PostThu Nov 05, 2020 5:41 pm 
joker wrote:
I finally finished revarnishing our Pygmy sea kayaks so we'd be ready to hit the water more often in the event that most skiing options are swarmed upon in ways we find aversive, though there are of course always places one can go to escape the crowds if one is going beyond the lifts. I expect Hyak, Baker sidecountry, Yodelin, etc. will be seeing record numbers of backcountry skiers this coming winter but I also expect some other spots to be much less used even if they too see upticks. Hyak in particular will probably be kinda weird as it's a comforting venue for folks who have not toured much especially if they haven't gotten any avalanche training.
Where do people go at Hyak? I'm not a backcountry skier and have no plans to be--I'm just curious.

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Malachai Constant
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PostThu Nov 05, 2020 8:33 pm 
When the area is closed it I’d a fun skin to the top and a down kill to the bottom you can yo-yo several times.

"You do not laugh when you look at the mountains, or when you look at the sea." Lafcadio Hearn
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jstluise
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PostThu Nov 05, 2020 9:01 pm 
kiliki wrote:
Where do people go at Hyak? I'm not a backcountry skier and have no plans to be--I'm just curious.
Uphill travel, meaning you can hike/skin up and ski down, is allowed anytime at Hyak (Summit East), Summit Central, or Summit West, regardless if lifts are running or not. Uphill travel at Alpental is only allowed when lifts are operating and after the resort closes for the season. https://summitatsnoqualmie.com/uphill-travel I think most people head over to Hyak because you can follow the cat track to the top which makes for easy skinning. You also get more elevation gain compared to Central/West. It's a fun and easy way to get some exercise and some turns in. Close and easy access, and the avy risk is low since you're inbounds. If you get up early after a good snow you can get the mountain mostly to yourself before the lifts open.

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thunderhead
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PostThu Nov 05, 2020 10:10 pm 
Poor hyak is going to mobbed. Its already tracked out pretty quick on powder mornings. West may be the place this year on days its closed... wide open despite the less gain. Anyway... its going to be an offtrail snowshoe kindof year i think. Thats gonna be how to avoid the crowds. Plus its a lot easier to make good avalanche choices on snowshoes.

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Randito
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PostFri Nov 06, 2020 12:17 am 
For the last several years there has always been a skin track right up the main face of Mt Hyak when I've visited mid-week. It is a popular spot for Skimo training. A skin up the front, drop down the back, skin back up yields 1400 vert. Another training loop are to go up the Silver Nugget run at Summit Central, travesing descend Alpine Bowl to the north end of the ski area and skin up Parachute, which is steep enough to require excellent technique, and then return to the ski patrol lot. Each lap of that is 1600 ft of vertical. Summit Central as a training ground has the advantage of being lit at night vs Hyak/Summit East is all by headlamp.

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kiliki
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kiliki
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PostFri Nov 06, 2020 10:03 am 
Now that you mention it I have seen uphill travel at Hyak. Hopefully I'll get to ski a bit this winter but I'll live if it's just one winter that I can't.

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joker
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PostSat Nov 07, 2020 9:59 pm 
kiliki wrote:
Where do people go at Hyak? I'm not a backcountry skier and have no plans to be--I'm just curious.
When is just as relevant a question - on weekdays when the lifts aren't running, typically (though there's been an increase in uphill travel while the lifts are running over the past year or two, it's still weekdays for most uphillers). As to where, all over the area. Conditions have a big impact on which trails are most fun for lapping, as do skill and skiing preferences.

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Randito
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PostSat Nov 07, 2020 10:15 pm 
FWIW: A bit of history, in the 1980's Kittitas County attempted to levy its admission tax on the sale of ski area lift tickets. The 3 ski areas successfully fought the tax with the argument that the lift ticket wasn't for admission to the ski areas , but solely for the privilege of using the ski lifts.

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dixon
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PostTue Nov 10, 2020 1:47 pm 
Cyclopath wrote:
And expect more people to be out this winter.
Seems likely that SAR teams will be busy this winter. I saw a separate thread about unprepared folks lost and rescued up at Snow Lake and theres a similar theme across the border. I heard from a guy at Evo that they are also low on backcountry skis with folks who have never skied buying full $3000 setups and planning to "learn in the field". Also not sure how much id rely on the ski resorts, it will probably only take one positive Covid case to shut the place down for the season which will push more people into the backcountry.

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