trip report for feathertop 12-14 august. thought I should post some stuff from back south of the border to balance things up a bit! small mountain called feathertop has a little bit of short riding in not very steep terrain either... departed car park at about 3.30pm friday afternoon after being reasonable convinced visibility would still be poor on friday. killer hangover was not helping from previous night catching up with mates from out of town.. but whatever... powered up bungalow spur with walkman in.. snowline was very low, maybe 600m, but not consolidated until maybe 800m. The old hut site was well plastered with snow, and put the snowshoes on at that point. Was up to the hut just after sunset (which was beautiful amongst the burnt trees and regrwoth from 2003 fires) in about 2 hrs 40m. think the walkman must've helped with that..cos the hangover wasn't.. A few in the hut that night, but not many. No one had yet skiied anything on the friday, so it was up fairly early to check everything out sat morning. West face of feathertop was well covered, but layers were pretty unstable. 15cm or so of fresh on top of the corn/rain affected snow from the previous week. Looked really good, but though I'd look for something a little more stable or safe. Dropped into the ridgeline adjacent to avalanche gully, which was wind affected but more stable and followed it down into some open glades which had pockets of powder, and down deeper into the SSW gullys. Had about 2 or 3 runs before some other tele crew rocked up and dropped in the same gullys. Was mainly working the SE gullys and got some good pockets of powderish stuff that was warming rapidly. Avalanche gully looked well lumpy and had avy debris in it. Unstable and not nice. Although the steep chutes between avalanche and hellfire looked as tempting as always. Low cloud blew in late in the day, and the warming powder went sticky and very ordinary, before starting to crust over by late arvo. Unfortunately didn't get down the west face in the end, but some others did so.. after about 7 or 8 runs and the previous days walk in was well screwed... Heaps of crew (walkers, skiiers, snowboarders, mountaineers in training, and some dangerously inexperienced ppl as well) were in and around the hut on sat night.. so was a hive of activity. Wind kicked up sat night and heavily crusted the melted fresh. Clear night further iced things up. Woke up lazily sunday morning and had a little ride on the slope next to the hut to be convinced it wasn't worth riding the mtn (1-2 inches of hard crust with soft underneath.. sometimes breaking through, sometimes not - very unpleasant and edge catching like).. so rode down as far as the old hut site and walked out. all in all sat was good, but definately not best conditions seen up there before.
Those photos are fantastic....... Looks like the cornice is forming nicely! Love the slick lines...... I'm jealous ;-)
good stuff Rizla! Love the cornice pic! I am bit confused about "SW gullies" though - do you mean SE gullies, or do you mean Molly Hill/Little Feathertop area? I see pics that I think are of both of the above areas, with tracks. Is the first pic lower part of Avalanche Gully? if so do you go down there, or by telephoto from the top? I can't pick where the second pic of the second post is. Cheers
sorry.. should've been SE. just edited it. the tele shot looking down the steep gully is avalanche, but the ones with tracks are all in the SE of the mtn.
nice shots. iv gotta get off my bum and get out there one time this season. be one of those "dangerously inexperienced ppl as well that you mentioned i fear but hey, what can ya do?
go with someone who knows, ask lots of questions and learn! no problem with newbies, just gotta be a bit fit and have a bit of respect for BC conditions..
Awesome pics...I wish the snow was like that all the time! if anyone's going up in spring please let me know. Pretty new to the BC (some snow camping experience and hiking for runs at stirling and out the back of some resorts) but am a very proficient skiier, very willing to listen, learn and take orders and will (hopefully but september 20th) have my p's. I'm sure I'll post up again later this season or next season with a similar request but I figure I may aswell get it out there now eh?
Rockin' shots! We were at Big Dipper for the weekend. Saturday the ridge was like burke st with all the parties shoeing/touring over to FT. Here's some pix from the weeknd; Camp site Sat morn Saturday's efforts Sunday's fun
I thought your pic was familiar - I must have had lunch in exactly the same spot last year when I was up in October. Less snow, but perhaps nicer, judging from your description (but not your pics)? Doesn't look like the snowgum regrowth has boomed since the fires.
