Blog Crystal

Ski Industry Myth of Early Closure

Kim K — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 04:00:44 -0800

I don't want to steal Corey's thunder here (he mentioned that he soon wanted to address ski industry myths) so I will be brief. Crystal Mt. isn't the only area that come closing time the customers simply shrug and say too bad the Forest Service won't let them operate anymore. That myth is industry-wide. We usually close down because people stop coming up. It starts happening in March, when all of our skiers seem to go to Whistler and Sun Valley. Did you know that Washington state exports more skiers than it keeps? In other words more people from WA ski out of state than in. Or they ski more days out of state than in. By April, there are more employees than skiers, and it doesn't take a genius to know that can't last. With the gondola, sightseers, diners and skiers can fill those cabins and keep the bullwheel turning.

Crystal: It's Not Just For Winter Anymore

Kim K — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 12:57:12 -0800

The New Gondola (if you can think of a better name, we're all ears) is going be a game changer at Crystal. How? Well here's the short version: Summer sightseeing, early and late season access to skiing in Green Valley, making Crystal more of a year-round resort. So yes, in answer to some questions, the Gondola will extend the ski season, since it will provide easy access to the areas that hold the snow longest. One reader asked about mountain biking, which is a great idea. As it stands, we need to revise our master plan in order for that to happen. However, it is possible that we could see that down the road. I, for one, would love to ride down the northway trail.

Pimpin' Da Changes

Corey — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 22:17:09 -0800

Justus the Snow Phone girl sent me this photo so I could help spread the word about this Summer's changes at Crystal:

The most dramatic change will be installation of a gondola--the first in the Pacific Northwest (if you don't count the one in downtown Spokane)--going from the base area, about where The Market currently is, up to the summit ridge near the top of Rainier Express chairlift.

If you don't already know, a Gondola has a bunch of smaller cars that cycle continuously, as opposed to a Tram which only has 2 larger cars which run opposite each other. I think I heard that the plan is for our cars to hold 8 people.

It should be great for sightseers--I don't think there's any prettier view of Mount Rainier than the view from the summit of Crystal Mountain!

The other big news is installation of a Terrain Park on Magoo, the trail that runs underneath the Forest Queen Express chairlift. It's going to be what we in the biz call a "progressive" park, meaning it'll have beginner and intermediate scaled features, mainly rails, boxes and jibs.

Imagine the possibilities!

Statement From Avalanche Survivor

Corey — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 21:42:21 -0800

Read what avalanche survivor Mark Callaghan had to say about his experience getting caught just outside Crystal's boundary last week. The news story video clip is here.

New Gondola

Kim K — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 12:41:24 -0800

It's official! Next season Crystal will have a new gondola. It will start at the plaza and go up to the summit of Rex, whisking skiers and sightseers up in just minutes! This is going to be great, extending the season and creating a year-round resort. Not to mention, the Summit House Restaurant can be open for dinner. I, for one, can't wait to apres ski while watching the sun set behind Mt. Rainier. Hey, and what a beautiful spot for a wedding.

Never, Ever, Ever Eat Yellow Snow and Other Good Ideas

Kim K — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 12:19:58 -0800

Recently, while standing at the bottom of T-Bowl on Speed Control, a yound girl dressed in a one piece pink snowsuit stopped to ask if I had any dog cards. "Sure," I said. "But first you have to tell me one of the skier responsibility codes."

She looked at me blankly.

"You know," I continued. "One of the safety rules."

She looked at her father knowingly.

I figured they must have rehearsxed on the chairlift and she was about to say something like watch for others when merging onto a trail, or don't go under rope lines or at the very least, always stay in control.

Instead she looked straight at me and said, "Never, ever, ever eat yellow snow."

I had to admit, she had a point. Which brings me to my issue. Yesterday I hiked the King and at risk of sounding incredibly pet peevish, I'll just go ahead and say it. There were no less than ten patches of yellow snow. I mean come on people. Perhaps it is some kind of Kilgore Was Here mentality that comes over these guys when standing atop a spendid peak with a pristine view of Mt. Rainier (and yes I suspect that most of the culprits are, in fact, men). Perhaps it replaces the flag that one could plant at the top of a more formidable peak. Or maybe, as I expected the pink suited girl to say, it is an issue of staying in control.

I don't know. But I do have this one plea: please take if off the trail. Isn't that what bushes and trees are for? How about this: Just don't make it visible. Walk three steps off the trail and go there. Better yet, stomp a hole in the snow, pee into it and cover it back up. And remember, always stay in control.

Hiking Into Avalanche Terrain

Corey — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 13:21:30 -0800

Some Turns-All-Year regulars suggested I post something related to a recent discussion on the TAY website regarding hiking into closed terrain and avalanche runout zones, within/nearby ski areas. Find it HERE. (Thanks you guys!) Comment below if you have questions!

PNWBrit's comment is the funniest. We're not really eating bacon sandwiches (It'll make sense when you read the post) but we ARE occasionally delayed in opening terrain, by people (or the ski tracks of people we can't locate) below us. It's scary to have a job where you have to worry about blowing-up or suffocating people who don't follow your safety signs and make bad choices.

During times of heavy snowfall and times of intense solar radiation (remember, it's invisible so it can happen even on cloudy days even if you don't notice it!) those short delays in getting avalanche-mitigating skier & boarder compaction on avalanche prone slopes can necessitate our returning for second passes over terrain we already covered, which delays openings even further!

On a related note:

You may have heard we had an avalanche rescue (KIRO-TV story here) in the "outside-the-ski-area" part of Silver Basin last Sunday night. (I hope to post more about that soon!) The part of THAT story that relates to THIS story is this:

Part of the rescue included our crossing uncontrolled avalanche starting zones to get to the injured skier, and taking a snowcat up into a part of Silver Basin that isn't usually groomed to facilitate the skier's recovery. Remember:

Explosives use and ski cutting in avalanche starting zones, and the use of heavy machinery including buried/hidden winch-cat cables that may displace over long distances without warning, can occur any time day or night without advance notice within ski areas, and may occur adjacent to ski areas during emergency rescues. Pay attention to what's going on around you and always know where you are in relation to the Ski Area Boundary. And always know the current and forecasted avalanche hazard when you're off groomed slopes and outside normal operating hours!

Dirt Bag Ball

Kim K — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 18:46:01 -0800

As many of you know, the Dirt Bag Ball is just around the corner (March 27th to be exact). Not only is this a chance to dress in all shades of ski bum, dirt bag, crazy, anything goes attire, but it's also a chance to crown this year's Dirt Bag King and Queen. It takes a special person to be considered dirt bag royalty, and this year we are raising the bar. Check out the crystal website for specifics, but here's the short version: this year's Dirt Bag King and Queen get a season's pass for the 2010-2011 season. Yes, you read that right. We want to honor those that have sacrificed something in their lives for this sport. We hope to embolden those on the brink of deciding between a reputable city job (perhaps a significant other, maybe even raising a family) and the good, hard life of being a ski bum. I mean really. Would you rather be changing diapers or riding first chair on a powder day? Because you can't often have both. (Although I will hand it to those dedicated few--Liz and Joe come to mind, Doug and Laura, soon to be Chet and Jen--that pass the kid off, taking turns for which partner gets to ski in the morning while the other joins the kid in the play pen.)

This year, we patrollers want to hear from you. If you think you are royalty status, then let us know. Send us your dirt bag resume (this is a C.V. you'd never send into any prospective employers, that is unless you were applying for a job at a ski area). Again, check the website for the how-tos and where to send your info. Here's an insider tip: ski patrollers are dirt bags too. (I myself am a former Queen, and mention this fact as often as possible). So that means we are not above a little campaigning on your part. One could do worse than bring a case of beer into the patrol room after sweep or shmooze us in other ways (not that I condone such things). I'm just saying.

Tickets go on sale in the patrol room later this week. Get yours fast, because they always sell out. See you all for the best party of the year!

Olympics Mania

Kim K — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 17:46:37 -0800

Crystal's sister resort, Cypress Mountain, is hosting the Olympics. I've been lucky enough to experience the Games as a member of the host venue, and it has been quite an experience. This first photo captures the debut sport of skier cross. Surprisingly, no Americans made it to the semi-finals. I was rooting for the Jamaican (!) who is seen here coming in third place, and thus missing out on qualifying for the next round.

Here are the Olympic Rings in Whistler Village, where the crowds are abuzz with national pride.

This next picture is of Steve Kircher (Boyne Resorts), Seth Wescott (Gold Medalist in Snowboard Cross) and John Kircher (GM of Crystal Mountain).

There's nothing quite like the Olympic Games to remind me why I love winter so much. One Olympic medalist I spoke to, Chris Klug, who won the Bronze in Salt Lake for Parallel GS, says there's just one strategy for participating in the Olympics: You just have to go for it. There's no holding back, because this is the Olympics. I love that attitude. Here's a picture of me and Chris at the U.S. v. Suisse hockey game.

Viva la Olympics! What an experience!

Li'l Tiny Radios

Corey — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 15:21:46 -0800

Rusty recently wrote a comment about GMRS radios. I thought other people might be curious about them as well so I'm copying my (brief) response here:

I always wondered if the ski patrol monitors any GRMS channels for emergencies. I seem to recall that Mt. Baker's ski patrol monitors Ch 9.11. I know GRMS range is limited but it would provide another avenue for people to contact patrollers in case of emergency.

Corey Responds:

I don't know a WHOLE lot about this (the initials are actually GMRS for General Mobile Radio Service) but I know they share some frequencies with FRS ("family") radios, though apparently can be of higher quality and cost a bit more.

The "family" radios don't work very well in our highly-angulated terrain. We experimented with monitoring 9.11 a few years ago, and found it pretty ineffective, what with having to listen to kids screaming what kind of sandwich they wanted Mom to fix them for lunch and all. Maybe people respect GMRS or 9.11 better these days--I haven't checked. For me, the amount of "nuisance" traffic was too distracting.

In any case, I like THIS plan better: if you're in trouble, find ANYBODY reliable on any channel, and ask them to notify Ski Patrol.

Cell phones work many levels of magnitude better 'round these parts and proved invaluable in a couple of recent incidents over the ridge in Mt. Rainier National Park and over the other ridge on the east side of the Pacific Crest. Plus, I'm told battery life and depletage (I made-up that word) are more reliable with cell phones than those little radios.

Verizon transmits from BOTH Grubstake Peak and Gold Hills at Crystal Mountain. AT&T from Grubstake Peak, and T-Mobile from either the Base Area or Gold Hills.

Those with cell phones are encouraged to keep the Ski Patrol "Emergency Only" number, 360-663-3064, programmed in your phone, and keep it turned on if you're separated from your companions!

I've never heard that reaching us is enough of a problem to warrant getting everyone to purchase new equipment. But if I'm missing something, please let me know!

Avalanche Basin Boundary Line Now Longer!

Corey — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 14:50:29 -0800

More and more people seem to have taken up the sport of hiking uphill into the runout zones of avalanche paths in A-Basin, when we have it closed. I dunno, maybe they caught Olympic fever this week and wanna get a jump on it being a 2014 demonstration sport. In any case, ya' gotta admire their willingness to earn-their-turns even if you can't admire their decision making!

But really, I know it's not fair for me to call it "decision making" because at least SOME of the people we talk to out there aren't savvy about how far avalanches can run, and bury people. They just haven't developed the "mountain sense" to recognize conditions that can (sorry, Marketing Department, but I have to use this word here) KILL them, or the judgement to make choices to protect themselves.

Sooo.... in response--again, to these CHANGES we've noticed in guests' behavior--we've extended the A-Basin closure line down by the bottom of (C-6) the High Campbell chairlift. We've put 2 gates in to allow access at the most popular entry/exit points when lower A-Basin is open.

When A-Basin is closed, the gates will be closed.

When avalanche hazard warrants restricting access to the Damn Fine Forest trees, the gates may be closed.

When the on-hill information kiosks (Top of Chinook, REX, Green Valley & Forest Queen) indicate that Southback is closed but those gates are open, it's OK to ski the Damn Fine Forest trees as long as you don't ascend above a traverse...or higher than the first bench above the right-hand gate. (And kookie "ascending traverses" don't count; just go with gravity, OK?)

Bottom of High Campbell, looking South-ish (arrows point to gates)

Bottom of High Campbell, looking East (arrows point to gates)

Rope-ducking continues to be prohibited at Crystal Mountain because shwoo-boy, you never know what kind of hazard we might be warning you away from on the other side! Expect this new line-extension to be a work-in-progress as we figure out it's best placement, and feel free to give us suggestions!

And....If you're familiar with the area and stumble upon a bunch of stranded skiers/boarders, corralled by our ropeline, please send them to the nearest A-Basin exit with our apologies! ;o)

DON'T BURN YER BRAKES!

Corey — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 20:44:42 -0800

Today was my day off so I knocked-off skiing a little earlier than usual. Driving home to Greenwater, I followed somebody who rode their brakes ALL THE WAY down the hill--which is about 6 miles, if you're not familiar with Crystal Mountain Boulevard. By the bottom, pewww! The burning-brake stench hung like a fog in the otherwise crisp, clear air.

According to Click and Clack (Ray & Tom) on National Public Radio's "Car Talk", and also "Popular Mechanics", that burnt carpet smell from riding your brakes down a long winding road, is a bad thing. It's better to shift to a lower gear and use some of your engine's valve compression to help slow your vehicle. It's also better to brake intermittently rather than constantly. Apparently lots of people think that constant LIGHT braking should be the same as intermittent heavier braking. But actually, with constant braking, heat can't dissipate the way it can if you let off the pedal from time to time. And heat is your brake pads enemy! Most importantly, constant braking stinks-out the off-duty ski patroller (and all the other nice homeward -bound people) behind you!

Oh--uh--I guess I should mention that it was 37 degrees out and the roads were warm & dry. Use whatever slowing technique works best for you on compact snow and ice. It's best that you don't experiment with new driving techniques when the roads have potential to be slick!

Easy Searcher & Avalanche Transceiver Demo

Corey — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 20:04:24 -0800

Join us the next 2 Sundays (February 7th & 14th) at 10am & 12pm outside the Campbell Basin Lodge, to see demonstrations of how different Avalanche Transceivers work, and how to use our Easy Searcher. We'll be at the top of the Forest Queen Express chairlift, on the left side of the Lodge as you enter....the side opposite the green Stor-A-Ski yurt.

The Easy Searcher is our free, open-to-the-public, automated avalanche transceiver practice area. Hone your backcountry partner rescue skills alone or with friends. Choose settings from "easy" (one buried transceiver sends out a signal) to "hard" (three or four of the seven buried transceivers send out signals) while you practice locating, pinpointing, then probing to "strike" mock buried victims with your own probe pole, or using the probe poles we provide!

Again, it's all free! I hope you can stop by!

Come On Baby Light My Fire, or Olympic Flame--only five days away

Kim K — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 16:03:59 -0800

The 2010 Olympics are just around the corner and Crystal's sister resort, Cypress Mountain, is kicking it into high gear readying themselves for the big events. Cypress will host the snowboard and freestyle events, including halfpipe, PGS, skier and boardercross, moguls and aerials. The picture below shows volunteers hard at work shaping moguls. Wouldn't it be nice if these guys would come to Crystal? I could think of a few spots where their hard work would come in handy. How about the newly dubbed Whit's End (the final face below the Northway Chair)? Or maybe the Frontside? Perhaps the top of Chair 6 could use some well placed, rounded moguls.

Backside Search

Corey — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 17:08:27 -0800

Last Saturday, January 30th, 3 skiers got lost in the fog right as we patrollers were conducting end-of-day upper mountain sweep about 3:45pm. They were finally found and returned to the ski area around 1am—over 9 hours later! I figure others might benefit from knowing a bit more of how that sort of thing can occur to avoid getting similarly stranded.

Patrollers Mike & Ben were sweeping Southback that day–Ben, up the King and Mike toward Three Way Peak. They caught up with the 3 at Kirner’s Corner, just to the right of Little Alaska (informal names) which is the buttressy part of Avalanche Basin. As they hiked, the most-experienced of the group indicated he’d skied Southback many times before. I haven’t talked to the three, but mutual friends tell me that he’s an experienced South Backcountry skier who doesn't do dumb stuff and normally has a great sense of direction. Once the group reached the top of the King, they told Ben they were heading down the Southeast side and that they planned to head left. If you’re familiar with that terrain you know that puts them on what we call “SE Left” or, if they continued and crossed the ridge, the North side of Silver King.

At the top, the 3 left Ben as skier’s usually do, making fairly fall-line turns. Ben didn’t stick right with them since he was sweeping and also checking for others who might be disoriented in the thick fog. He made wide traverses, periodically yelling “closing” and stopping to listen for responses.

We figured out later that it was so hard to see in the fog that the group ended up unintentionally traversing far to the right rather than veering left as planned. That’s how disorienting fog and the undulations of wind-drifted snow can be! The group went SO far, in fact, that they crossed the entire SE side of the King, crossed “The Beach” (informal name for the flat-topped ridge of Silver Basin) and headed down towards Crystal Lakes in Mount Rainier National Park.

Apparently the group realized they were lost around 6:45pm and used cell phones to call 911. It took until 7:30pm for them to finally get routed to Crystal ski patrollers. The lesson to take away may be that you’ll want to have the Ski Patrol Emergencies Only phone number (360-663-3064) handy in your cell phone Contacts list.

When they finally reached Patrollers by phone, they could tell they were by lakes, so were assuming they were by Henskin Lake rather than Crystal Lakes.

This Summertime view from Google Earth may help if you’re unfamiliar with the area. (North is at your 7:00 and the base lodge is just off-screen to the left.) See how in this view, Henskin lake is way over to the left, and Crystal Lakes are way over to the right? Pretty far apart, huh!

Patrol Director Paul Baugher could tell by the group's description of the terrain that they were not where they thought they were. So teams of Patrollers were dispatched to search likely areas, and Mike and Max eventually caught up with the group and guided them out, down the Crystal Lakes trail. After the snow petered out, that was close to 2,000 vertical feet of downhill hiking in ski boots. Youch!

When they reached State Route 410 (in the closed-in-winter part of the Park) Ranger Monica was there with a vehicle to shuttle them back up to the Ski Area. Luckily for the 3 (and un-luckily for the rest of us) this is an el nino year and they didn't have to wait for the road to be snow-plowed before vehicles could drive up it as is usually the case!

It's pretty common--human nature perhaps?--for skiers & boarders to ride all day and save their biggest adventures for right at closing, when everyone's the most tired and it's closest to option-limiting darkness. Don't be so attached to your "goal" that you overlook environmental factors that can turn an adventure into a tragedy. Luckily THESE guys were hearty and everything turned out OK.!

Shwoo!

Northway Moguls Redux

Corey — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 14:04:05 -0800

A while back I responded to a comment about the moguls going around the last little corner at the bottom of Northway before you load the chair.

I thought it might require a winch cat to get around that side-hill corner but apparently it doesn't. At least not last Saturday. The Grooming crew smoothed it all out! Folks I talked to were pretty psyched!

It seems unlikely that they'll be grooming there nightly, as Northway IS diamond and double-diamond terrain (advanced & expert skiers & boarders, only) but it's nice to know they have the ability to stomp down those bumps from time to time!

CAUTION ≠ CLOSE YER EYES & GO FAST

Corey — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 16:07:53 -0800

Last Saturday morning, a real nice gentleman swerved off the groomed portion of Upper Skid Road into some deeper untracked snow to avoid some kids. He was in an area where warm groundwater creates some holes in the snow, and he took a little tumble. He wasn't hurt much and was real nice about it, and that was that.

Subsequently throughout the day, a few of us had conversations with several of our long-time veteran customers who saw the commotion right after the gentleman fell. The common theme was that some of our most experienced skiers aren't responding to our hazard markings the way ya'd think they'd want to. So I'm writing to explain a little more of it here.

First off, when we poke a stick of bamboo in the ground, we're trying to draw your attention to something. Like "lookee here!" It could be a hump or a dip, it could be a rock, stick or stump, it could be ice or water, possibly a drop-off or a step-up, or maybe something man-made. It's kind of like we're saying: "somethings different here and if you don't have your eyes focused on the snow surface ahead of you, you're going to want to do so now! There's something to watch out for and possibly avoid!"

Sometimes we put bright yellow plastic "CAUTION" disks on the sticks. They indicate that there's a little more to watch out for. In addition to focusing your eyes on what's dead ahead, you should also be more generally cautious in a bit larger area, which can include slowing down, looking farther ahead, and if not stopping, at least being prepared to stop to avoid some kind of hazard.

So the area the gentleman traveled into looked like THIS as you approached from a ways above:

and we thought that was adequate marking to indicate this was an area in which to be cautious, what with the SLOW banner, about 10 sticks of bamboo, 4 of which had yellow CAUTION disks (kind of hard to see in the photo) spaced out around the bare area.

The area looked like THIS from just a little ways above (the 4th CAUTION is just out-of-frame to the right):

...and just so you understand what I'm talking about, THIS is what the area looked like from below:

...see, it's not like it would be impossible to get through there. In fact, I've talked to plenty of younger Advanced & Expert skiers and snowboarders who don't like it when we close-off little areas like this because they're like mini natural terrain parks with little lifts and hits and gaps that are fun to jump over--especially when the snow's all floofy.

But that day, we heard from so many of our long-time customers who indicated they don't increase their cautiousness when they ski/ride past CAUTION signs ("Oh yeah, I NEVER slow down when I go by those signs") that I felt like I had to explain what WE are thinking when we place hazard markings. We're trying to help you manage your safety and the risks inherent in skiing and boarding. PLEEEZE! Pay attention to the signs around you--both here and at other ski areas! We all try to apply similar logic to our markings, and we all want you to not get hurt!

Enjoy what's fun and challenging for you, avoid what's hazardous for you, and don't harsh on my homies if you choose to not pay attention! It'd be a bummer if someone's inattention forced a ski area to have to close-off every place a few little rough areas exist, right?

And remember, for safety, we recommed you stick to the groomed portions of trails. Thanks!

TRUST YOUR WEATHER DATA

Corey — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 11:27:49 -0800

A few people have asked about the weather data that shows on Crystal Mountain’s main webpage, why the numbers are sometimes screwy, why the snow depths don’t match their own experience, etc., etc., etc. Let me explain….

First off, let me clear up a common misconception. Ski Area snow reports—at least the ones I’m familiar with here in the Cascades—are generally NOT made up by Marketing Departments. They’re made up by machines. Cold, indifferent, machines.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, everybody knows somebody who gets all “Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura” about some sketchy friend-of-a-friend who claims to have worked in ski area marketing one winter, and brags about the morning they were so hungover they over-slept and just made-up random numbers on the morning snow-phone recording.

That probably happens, but it’s pretty rare. I’m sure Justus only does that 6 or 7 times a season. (Insert winky emoticon here!)

But seriously, that’s not how it works.

How do I know?

Well, I know because the telemetry instruments that send the Green Valley and Base & Summit automated weather measurements out to the internet always seem to be RIGHT in my way when I’m trying to heat up my lunch! The microwave oven used to sit right in the middle of the counter at the Summit House patrol station. But now it seems, every summer the Northwest Weather & Avalanche Center (NWAC) folks add more and more sophisticated telemetry instrumentation that has to be hard-wired into the T-3 line or something, pushing the microwave farther and farther down the counter. So now it’s like a crazy awkward yoga move every time I wanna pop-in my Lean Cuisine. Sheesh! Could they make my life any more difficult?

Anyway, so where was I?

Have you ever looked at Crystal Mountain’s Facebook Fan page? You’ll see “Saturday ROCKED, with cool temp’s and face shots all day!” right next to “Saturday SUCKED, it was freezing and I couldn’t see a thing! ” (By the way, Buck Up you silly haters that call yourselves "fans"! I recommend you spend more time skiing & riding so you'll be cheerier and won't have to spend so much time grouching on your keyboard!)

My point here is that in an expansive ski area right on the crest of a continent-defining mountain range, and just inland of a humongous volcano, conditions are going to vary from spot to spot. Since Crystal’s website developers have no way of knowing exactly where YOU’LL be making YOUR turns each run, each day, they integrate impartial measurements feeding straight from the NWAC, to show what the weather generally is in the area. The data is collected NOT for marketing or website purposes. The information is collected for forecasting avalanche hazard. It comes from “Snow Science Study Plots” where the machines take the mechanical and sonic measurements that are available to us all via the internet. (Click on "telemetry" links below for examples.)

Base Weather Plot (telemetry)

Green Valley Weather Plot (telemetry)

The reason the numbers sometime seem completely wacked, is that machines can sometimes be tempermental beasts. When things aren’t all working exactly right, the little database converter software thingy can borrow numbers from an adjacent column for the column that’s not working correctly and everything appears way off . So if the overnight snow depth shows as 270 inches (which is actually the wind direction blowing from the West as measured in a 360 degree clockwise circle) you know something's up electronically, and it's not the Marketing Diva's trying to trick you!

Wind and snow settlement also play a role in your perceiving snow depth different than science does. I'm going to explain this more in a future post, but basically it works like this:

The wind picks up the snow in some places and drops it in others. If you were to probe to the ground in Powder Bowl, you'd find 1 meter of snow on one side and 2.5 meters on the other. And you're worried about a difference of 2" on the morning snow report??? We had 112 mph winds here a couple weeks ago!
Settlement is the tendency of air to leave the snowpack as it sits over time. Ski areas all measure "snowfall" which may be different than the depth of the "snowpack" at the time you pass over it. It's just how it's always been done.

Stay tuned for part 2 which will explain how to use the telemetry to pick where you ski/ride on a particular day!

And please consider donating to the Friends of the NW Weather & Avalanche Center, an organization that helps support and promote the nice folks who's work prevents avalanche accidents and makes my lunch hard to reach!

Hope On The Slopes

Corey — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 20:54:19 -0800

Here's a little plug for a fun event coming up:

If you love to ski or ride you can make a difference in the fight against cancer by supporting Hope On The Slopes at Crystal Mountain on March 13, 2010.

“Hope on the Slopes” (HOTS) is a ski and snowboard event benefitting the American Cancer Society (ACS). First conducted at the White Pass ski area in 2004, the event has grown to four Washington mountains for 2010.

For more information about the organization, see their website: www.hotscrystal.com or view a brief You Tube video about HOTS here.

How it works:

HOTS participants ask supporters to make donations to ACS in recognition of their commitment to ski as many vertical feet as they can over the course of the event. All fundraising is done via an ACS website where participants establish a personal fundraising web page to share their message and show their progress. In addition to funds contributed by supporters, all sponsorship proceeds go straight to the ACS, as the cost of conducting the event is completely borne by participants, volunteers and the hosting ski areas.

To Register:

Registration is done online. The cost to register is $35 per individual or $150 for a team of up to 10 people. If you raise a minimum of $100 you will receive a complimentary lift ticket for the day!!! To register for HOTS, go to the HOTS website.

To get more information about HOTS:

Attend the "Information Night" at Harmon Brewery in Tacoma January 27, 2010 at 7pm.

PICTURES FROM AN AVI MORNING

Corey — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 23:35:01 -0800

Here are pictures Chris took that kinda show the sequence of what happened one avalanche control morning.

Telemetry data from the previous 24 hours: Wind speeds & directions, precipitation amounts and intensity, and temperatures, etc.

5:30am Data Analysis: The Snow Safety Director finalizes that day's avalanche control plan.

5:50am Morning Meeting: Briefing the crew on that morning's plan.

Daybreak Field Prep: Getting hand charges ready. (photo lightened for clarity)

Patrick drops a charge into a cornice's sweet spot

90 seconds later, Success! Hazard and difficult bowl-entry mitigated*.

Patrick kick-turns to get a good look at the crown (fracture) of a slab avalanche started by a hand charge he threw from higher up on the ridge.

Check back! We hope to add a little more "story" to go along with these pictures when we get time--hopefully in a few days!

* Keep in mind that mitigated means lessened, not eliminated. Small pockets of avalanche hazard can remain after control work so use good snow sense when traveling in avalanche terrain: Carry a shovel, probe, and transceiver that you're proficient in using, and keep a partner (who has the same equipment and skills) in sight.