Glacier Peak – Cool Glacier Headwall — Skiing Trip Report
Our goal: Cool Headwall.
After seeing Glacier Peak (Washington) from our adventure on Eldorado a few weeks prior, a few of us decided that Memorial Day weekend would be an excellent time to walk many miles with heavy packs and perhaps ski off the top.
Glacier Peak is well known for its moody weather, so one can never know what to expect. Last year, Louie and I attempted to summit Glacier in one day, but were turned back by weather. I am not sure what we were thinking and why skiing it in one day seemed like a good idea — that volcano is SO far away. We decided a one day push was not something we wanted to try again. I salute people who are strong and motivated enough to complete this adventure in under 24 hours.
This time we set out to be in the area for three days, with the hope of skiing Glacier and Tenpeak on our second day.
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Ski Touring News Roundup – June 2018
Backcountry ski touring news.
Ever wondered about the nuances of “closed” ski runs you encounter while resort uphilling? If you don’t see a sign turned your direction, while a closed sign is displayed to downhill skiers coming from above, is the run open, or closed? A court case involving Vail hinges on these sorts of issues. I find it rather interesting, both from the standpoint of how signs are managed at resorts, as well as the implications of personal responsibility vs depending on big brother ski patrol. From my omniscient office chair: whether you ski in the wilderness or at Vail, watch your own behind, and be sure your kids get a good dose of safety training regarding on-mountain and side country resort hazards. Article here.
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Panda Poles — Putting the Fun in Functionality
Aaron Mattix
One of the ribs came up missing after a few sessions of gear loading & unloading into vehicles. Presumably a ski edge is to blame, though I had no further incidents of missing ribs. I like to think of the missing one as a finger locating divot.
I bought Panda Poles because they looked fun, and fun is the reason why I ski. My expectations for them were relatively low; I just wanted a pair of poles that wouldn’t separate when navigating the dense brush that plagues low-elevation skiing just about anywhere but Iceland. While this now past Colorado 2017/2018 ski season was sub-par, my signature set of bamboo Panda Poles put an extra bit of smile on my face every time I went out. My expectations were fairly neutral (as long as they didn’t auto-separate, I would have been happy), yet I found myself very impressed with the functionality of these sticks I bought solely on fun factor.
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