I'll be up there tomorrow(Wed). So I'll be reporting on the snow level. But you want to summit right at sunrise(currently at 6:11am), or a little before. The first two hours after sunrise will have the best snow conditions.

One trip would be to head for Out of Bounds Bowl just the other side of Hullafar Bowl and catch some east facing corn. Or better yet, drop into The Shaft first and skin out of Hullafar and THEN ski O.B. Bowl.
The Rock Chutes are right there and you could lap them several times.
On the way back I'm sure the West Face still has good coverage. Drop it to the road and take the road down to the obvious rock outcropping. From there to the West Butte... Thats what I'm going to call it. The West Butte is the large flat peak where the West Chutes start.


Anyways, if you ski the West Face off the summit-down to the road, take the road left, to the obvious rock outcropping and ski the lines beneath the road from there. They have a northerly aspect to them.




Skin/boot back on the ridge line of West Butte. I'll check and see if the West Chutes are still deep enough to ski across to get back to Boardman.

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Well, I gotta say, after a week of 80 degree weather there was a lot of meltage. Especially down low on the approach. jibC and myself were there on Wed. with the snowmachine. However- still tons of snow!

jibC and the machine at Timberline Camp looking up towards the summit.


We got an EARLY start and left my house by 1:30 am. We were able to drive up to about 5000'. Just above Camp I. jibC got his truck high-centered on a large drift... We left the vehicle and took the snowmachine up the mountain. What would have been a 2 hour hike/skin to the top became a 30 minute joyride! We summited minutes after sunrise.

Sunrise from the summit woods near Rabbit Ridge


We parked the snowmachine on the ridge above Sundream Bowl


A few minutes later the corn maker shines on us


Lucky for us, it was about 10 degrees cooler on this lovely day. We sat around for a few taking care of certain priorities, waiting for things to soften up. I don't think it got down to 32 degrees, but the radiant cooling had the slope locked in a solid state of alpine ice. Thoughts of predawn cramponing...

With the cool air and the snomachine - we were set!
jibC taking the first line into Sundream Bowl


Our intense snomojibbing caused the earth to tilt on it's axis for a second...


We dropped Sundream and traversed right to catch the top of Rabbit Ridge and took advantage of the full 1000' vert and made turns down into Tortoise Bowl. We skinned back up to the summit and jibC drove the snowmachine down to Rabbit Ridge to pick me up for my second lap.



By now, things facing south and east were beginning to get sloppy. But the West Face wasn't even in the sun yet. So we took a nap. With only three hours of sleep the night before, we decided to recharge before our assault on the West Face. jibC lay down on the snowmachine and I took a spot on some sunwarmed rocks. A cold wind required some gortex, but soon we were both passed out. An hour and a half later we woke up to the West Face coated in sun and epic corn.

The West Butte and it's skyline ridge as seen from Sundream Bowl


I dropped in from the summit ridge and skied down to the road. I took the road left dropped into the bottomless depths of the West Face. jibC drove the snowmachine down and met me at the West Butte. We both skied the north/west aspect WAY down.



After honeycombing or stairstepping our way left across and down the steeps, we finally made it to the skyline ridge of West Butte and skinned up.


We got to the top of the West Butte where the snowmachine was parked and jibC gave me a tow back up to Sundream Bowl and the top of the West Face. Then we both got another run in.


We took it down, but not quite as far as the first run. Then it was time to skin back up.


I got stuck in a micro area of supersteeps (took the wrong skin line), so jibC summited West Butte before me and skinned back up to Sundream to retrieve the machine and met me as I skied my way down to Timberline Camp.

The West Chutes are shot. They don't face north enough. There is no way to traverse across them.
But the West Face is going off. They have just enough of a northerly aspect - especially at the corner of West Butte. Really steep lines that go for a long ways. Just ski and cut left to gain the great skyline of West Butte for your lifters-on-high skin back up!
Man, I haven't even made it to Hullafar yet this year. I'm sure it's good. It's always the last place to melt out. With these cooler temps the 1000' of vert is still possible on the south side of Hull.

Once the patches started on the ski down Boardman back to the vehicle, jibC gave me ride down the dirt on the snowmachine...
:lol:
it's actually an all terrain vehicle!

We got lucky with our vehicle w/no winch stuck in the snow. Shortly after we got back to the truck, a truckload of mexicans shows up. It's very strange to see anybody up there midweek. His Toyota 4X4 towed us out easily.

Still plenty of snow up there. Hey Hartje - check out Hullafar Bowl for me this weekend!

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I'm back! :D
After having acl replacement on my right knee in May '06 and miniscus surgery on my left knee in Feb. '07, I finally got some skiing in. I was Hullin' it yesterday - Monday, Jan. 7 with janzalo, one of the original CCSP members.
None of the Coast Range backcountry weather sites were working during our 'historic proportion' storm. So I was unsure of what the snow levels were.
By the time we were half way up the 33 switchbacks on Elk Mountain, the road was fully covered in snow. Never seen that before. We hit snowline around 2500'. We almost made it to the top, but the last several switchbacks I was spinning and didn't want to have an epic on Elk. So back down we went. Filled the tank in Upper Lake and headed for Potter Valley. This is a lower approach to Lake Pillsbury from the west.
Found a good amount of snow on the road, but made it with ease to the lake. About halfway up to Boardman Ridge we hit snow again. I had to fight a couple of steeper sections and rolled into the large 3-way intersection of the M1 and the M6. The State Game Refuge is straight-ahead down the M6 and the M1 turns left and follows Boardman Ridge up to the summit of Hull Mountain.

I had to make a decision. Continue on and risk winching the Jeep - the road is extremely narrow here and the only way to turn around in the next few miles is by using the winch. The road must be kept clear. Lots of recneck 4x4 enthusiasts up here. Wouldn't want to block their way.
By now it's just after 9am. :roll: "Hope you like skinning!" janzalo took it well and started getting ready. We were skinning by 10am.

The bottom of Boardman Ridge 3400'
8 miles and 3473' to go


janzalo contemplating all the snow


What sucks is that I could have made it quite a ways up Boardman in the Jeep. We were passed by several vehicles and the snow didn't get that much deeper for a while. There was about a foot where we parked.
Oh, well. I would rather skin an extra hour than spend that hour winching the Jeep. Besides, I had never approached Hull Mountain from that low before and was curious how long it would take. We were about to find out.

janzalo near the start


I can't believe I'm actually here!!!


It took us 1 hour to reach the wide pull out just before the road goes to north facing at around 4000'. I've skinned from here many times before, so when we got there I was stoked. Familiar terrain and only one extra hour of skinning. I put'er in middle rung and shifted up a few gears and up the mountain we continued.

Arrived at Camp 1 about 2.5 hours from the start


About half-an-hour later I passed Camp 2


Lake Pillsbury as seen from just below Timberline Camp




There were tire tracks from vehicles over the weekend, but the 4x4's on this day didn't make it as far. Finally got to virgin-untracked by vehicles- snow just before the pull-out beneath Timberline Camp.

Apparently janzalo had started to clump earlier on, so I was on my own at this point. After the tire tracks ended the trail breaking started. It's interesting because I've only had to break trail on Hull a few times. The snow is always corn. It was deep, loose and a little manky this time. Not overly deep trail breaking, but I was sinking about 6 inches and starting to clump a bit and the snow was piling on top of my Volkl Explosiv 3's. This is when I started getting tired.

Looking up the virgin road just below Timberline Camp


Rounding the corner at Timberline Camp


The upper mountain comes into view. As seen from Timberline Camp.








After gaining the ridge above Timberline Camp, the snow became more firm as the ridge was pretty wind buffed. The shrubs only had a few inches to go before being completely buried. Should be well covered by now. Once in the still, quiet summit woods, the snow became deep again and I was breaking trail.
The upper mountain is midwinter deep. 10 feet+ in the summit woods. These are the woods just above Rabbit Ridge, just before Porcipine Ridge.
I took a break just before Porcipine Ridge - about 5-10 minutes from the top. It had been snowing/sunny all day, and with only a few minutes to go, I wanted the top bad, but a nasty wind was picking up and the top was enshrouded in fog. I tried to wait it out, but began to slowly freeze to death. I was soaked in sweat, and tired. There were no picture opportunities.
It was here that I realized that I was still unsure of how my knees would hold up. I still hadn't thrown any turns yet... It was a long way down and didn't want to get caught in the dark, skiing on one leg, down the jeep ruts back to the Jeep.

I had gotten what I wanted. My curiosity was satisfied. 4 hours, 45 minutes to Porcipine Ridge from the bottom of Boardman Ridge. I was essentially on the top of the mountain. Only 5-10 minutes from the true summit. Good enough.
Now I know. The worst-case scenario is a 5 hour approach to summit Hull Mountain.

I skied down to Timberline Camp and met janzelo just below.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... &plindex=1

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... &plindex=2

The road was Hulla fun to ski down! The snow was fast. The frozen jeep ruts even faster. Jump into a jeep rut and see how long you can stay in like a bobsled track until you pick up so much speed, you gotta go shooting off into the soft snow in the woods just to slow down!!! :lol:

It took us 1 hour from the bottom of Timberline Camp, where I met janzalo to get back to the bottom of Boardman Ridge where the Jeep was parked.
My knees held up just fine. But the funny thing was that I was a little shaky on my turns from the summit area down to Timberline Camp. I was kinda bummed about that. Had I forgotten how to ski? What the Hull?! About half-way down Boardman, I realized that I never switched my boots from walk mode to ski mode!

I say it's a do-over. I'm just gonna have to go back!

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Right on Jib. Should be a good season up there, eh.

I'll be back on Fri/Sat Jan. 11/12. We are skiing both days and camping in the snow on Friday night.
Saturday should be bluebird. I dare somebody to show up on Friday night and crash our party.

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Headed back up on Fri. morning. I was in for a surprise.
With snowblasta as my partner for the day, the amount of fun
was sure to be doubled. As we prepared for the 33 switchbacks
on Elk Mountain on the way in, it was still dark.
About halfway up we hit snow. Again. What the Hull?!
How could I have made that mistake? The noel weather
station just above Stonyford @ 5000' had readings of 32-35 degrees
the past few days.

It was too early to think that hard, so we continued on up.
The snowplows had finally gotten to the road (M1).
We topped out on Elk Mountain and were enjoying the icey,
but plowed road when the plowing suddenly came to an end.
We were still on pavement at this point. Just around the bend,
the road starts heading downhill and the pavement ends. Would we
be able to make it through? I stopped the Jeep and walked
down to where the pavement ends to check for how much traffic
had been on the road. There was about a foot of snow.
I need dirt. I didn't have chains with me. Ice can stop me.
It was just after sunrise and everything was frozen solid.
I couldn't even back up the hill on the icey pavement.
We were commited.

The top of Elk Mountain




Still on pavement.


Luckily for us the road had some nice 4x4 ruts.
It looks easy, but I was all over the road.


Coming down the north side of Elk Mountain,
we ran into (not literally...) some redneck that had
his 4wheel drive pickup truck stuck in the ditch. He had
spent the night. We told him we would stop in
at the Soda Creek Store and get him some help.

Eddie was there. As she called for some help, we watched
the weather on her TV. Looks like Friday is the only
clear day.

5 hours after leaving my house, we get to the bottom
of Boardman Ridge. Massively dense fog had hampered
our progress through Lake County and Elk Mountain was
slow going.
We ran into snow again about halfway up
to Boardman Ridge. It was deeper this time! I barely
made it. All vehicles had turned around about 300 yards
from the top(bottom of Boardman). I had those 300 yards
to myself and all the virgin, icy, consolidated snow.
4wheel low and second gear. With the tires spinning super fast
and the Jeep just creeping up the hill, we were able to turn around
and dial us in a parking spot without having to use the winch.

It's gonna be a long day. My buddy snowblasta desides to start
out a few minutes before me and I have to stop him
from descending down the M6 into the Game Refuge!

First view of the day


snowblasta - I preferred the previous view!


Views of our goal




The summit from just above Camp I.


After 6 hours of skinning. I was standing on top of Sundream Bowl.




The storm was coming ashore. Looking out over
Sanhedrin Mountain.


We left the Jeep at 9:45 and I got to the skier summit
at 3:45. It was well past the corn window.
The snow was bullet-proof, boiler-plate, solid as rock.
I was dissapointed that I still couldn't get to the summit.
The last 40 feet is steeper than it looks, and I couldn't even
get my ski boots to stamp in good enough foot holds.

Looking south from Sundream Bowl.
A corner of Lake Pillsbury
Clear Lake covered in fog
and from left to right -
Mt. St. Helena, Mt. Konocti, Cobb/Boggs Mountain/s


The wind was picking up and it was getting cold.
Remembered to lock my ski boots before the descent and had
a fun time slipping down the ice to Timberline Camp where
I met up with snowblasta. I had a little bit of memory left in
my camera, so here's another stupid little vid.
This was taken 1000' lower than the summit. Listen to the ice!
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... &plindex=0

The snow on the upper mountain was too fast
and the snow on the lower mountain was too slow.
It took us two hours to get back to the Jeep from
Timberline Camp.

Just before 6pm. Back where I started.


We were not in the mood to camp out. The weather didn't
look very promising for Saturday, and frankly I just had
way too much fun to even think about repeating it the next day!
One would need to start skinning at 3am to get a good corn
window when the approach is this long.

We drove back down and took the Potter Valley way out and stopped
in at the Potter Valley Cafe for some hot food and cold beer.
I had the Boont Amber Ale on tap to pair with my
duck breast with red onion and apricot compote
w/ mashed potato and grilled vegies.
The cornbread they serve is delicious!

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It's 3am Friday (1/18) morning. Leaving for Hull. Camping out...

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Finally got some decent access and weather. I drove up Friday morning and skiied Fri. and Sat. Still quite a bit of snow on Elk Mountain on the way in, but no driving issues. I was able to make it to 4700' in the Jeep.

I attempted 3 times to make it over this drift.


It was too icy. I managed to get myself stuck twice. A few minutes of shovel work got me out both times. I contemplated winching myself over the drift as I could see dry ground just beyond. I decided against it. I was just below Camp I and was simply stoked that I had driven 4 miles past my highpoint of last week. I didn't want to press my luck.

I found a nice flat spot just below to park and camp.


I hiked up the road for 10 minutes and started skinning at Camp I. Soon the upper mountain and summit came into view.

Sundream Bowl can be seen dropping below the summit on the left.
Hullavator Ridge is lookers right bordering Sundream Bowl.
And Swallowed Hull Couloir is the next large drainage to lookers right.

I was on the summit 2 hours and 15 minutes later. I took a look around.
Looking south down Boardman Ridge. Timberline Camp can be seen with the road snaking around. Mt St. Helena is the mt. on the skyline with the flat and tilted top.


Looking north, northeast out over the Hullbacks. Trying to get a good zoomed in shot of the Hullback Chutes. Black Butte is on the skyline -upper left.


Looking east. The Hullbacks on the left. Hullafar Bowl just beyond.
Lassen can be seen as well.


I like this next shot. Hullavator Ridge drops away beneath me and meets up with the bottom of Porcipine Ridge dropping in from the right with that funky drift.
Just beyond is the bottom of Rabbit Ridge. Some of the lower section of Hullaska Ridge can be seen in the background. Look at the steep stuff far left.


Another shot looking south down Boardman Ridge. Timberline Camp on the left and the West Butte on the right. West Butte divides the West Face from the West Chutes.


Saint John Mountain and the Worlds Smallest Mountain Range - the Sutter Buttes
http://home.earthlink.net/~yuba-yada-yada/sutter.html


It was time to ski. My first real run of the season was to be Swallowed Hull Couloir. Looking down before dropping in.


Perfect buttered corn! At first I thought this was a movie, then I realized that I was simply skiing malolactic snow!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malolactic_fermentation
The turns were sweet. The lower snowpack made the run more steep and the lack of deep snow made for a rather technical descent. Little chutes between the rocks that I threaded my way through led into open areas to arc some turns before it closed up again.
I dropped down and gained access to Hullavator Ridge.

Looking up and left into Sundream Bowl.


Looking straight up Hullavator Ridge.


Looking up and right into the upper sections of Swallowed Hull Couloir.


I started skinning up Hullavator Ridge. The name describes the skin up quite well. Very steep. Lifters on high. Making small z's to get up and around all the obsticals. It takes you straight up.
Soon, the corn turned to slush and my attempts to skin up were denied. I cut across Sundream Bowl back to Boardman Ridge. Nothing west facing was covered enough, so I dropped into Sundream and honeycombed my way down the ridge across the top of Porcipine Ridge and on down to the top of Rabbit Rige. The skiing on the ridge was excellent. Nice corn and lots of hits and halfpipes formed by the drifts to jib on. Caught multiple 3-5 ft. airs all the way down to the West Butte. Amazing corn, arcing highspeed turns down the zig-zag mellow ridgeline to Timberline Camp.
The road was hell to ski down. Luckily I didn't have far to go this time!

Soon I was down by the Jeep. One of the first things I saw was this.
Bear tracks


I walked around and found many bear tracks as well as mountain lion tracks. Not to be deterred, I set up camp.


And was soon enjoying a cold one.


I kicked back and took in the views. Who know's? With all the predator tracks I was surrounded by, these could be the last views I see!

Saint John Mountain




Snow Mountain


And my roaring anti-predator fire.


The winds were out of control all day. I was bundled up in goretex above Timberline Camp while skiing. Goggles and everything. Now the wind had dropped in altitude and was ripping through my camp. My pathetic fire barely warmed me. I warmed up in the Jeep listening to The Coast
http://www.ontheradio.net/radiostations/koztfm.aspx
with the heater cranked for awhile then crashed out with the high winds lulling me to sleep.

The next day was identical to Friday. Everything looked the same so I didn't take any pics. I lapped Sundream Bowl a few times and returned.
Just above Camp II on the way down the rutted up road, I dropped off to the right and skied down through the woods across Camp II and on down to Camp I. Decent coverage allowed me to ski some smooth corn without having to fight the jeep ruts all the way down.
I gotta drive up here in the afternoon. Trying to drive up on ice in the early morning prevents me from getting very far. I could have driven to Camp II at least. Oh, well. I need the exercise!

One thing I did notice this trip, was that most of the dead, standing trees on Porcipine Ridge - for which this ridge was named - had apparently blown down during that high wind event we had a few weeks ago. Only a few remained standing. The rest were lying on the ground covered with snow.

Lots of rednecks on Saturday afternoon on this long weekend. I saw at least ten 4x4's heading up Boardman from my camp and 5-10 more heading up on my way down to the lake. Driving conditions will be good next time!

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/jibmaster/

jibmaster

its been awesome looking through your post and seeing areas i never thought could produce so much snow. i stumbled upon your post as a lurker over on the mtbr forums. im even more interested because i grew up in sonoma county and have camped out in the pillsbury and snow mountain areas many times. i live in the bay and snowboard tahoe (kirkwood) and have been itching to get into some BC turns but can't convince any of my buddies to get into it. ive seen the open invitations to join a run with the coast crest snow patrol but I have never made a bc turn. this is probably more appropriate for a general forum but as a lurker not knowing where to go with north bay roots i figured id ask you. couple things...

1) as a boarder would it be wiser to get into split boarding versus snow shoeing to be able to go out on trips into Mendocino?
2) would an avy 1 class be advisable to take prior to making an appearance?
3) what else would you expect from someone wanting to make some turns in mendocino?

sorry if these questions are too open ended. im just a stupid newbie.

Yo, teddyruxpen. There are lots of epic skiing/boarding lines to be had here in the Coast Range. Very few people make tracks here. The adventure of exploring and making turns on remote peaks and snowfields here in Mendocino National Forest is the goal of the Coastal Crest Snow Patrol.

Answering your questions

1) Split boarding is a wise decision if your a boarder. The ability to travel over snow-covered terrain with skins is unmatched by any other mode of human-powerd snow travel.
Not absolutely necessary though. Snowshoes work as well.


2) Any avy class is always advisable. However, one of the main reasons I ski in the Coast Range during midwinter, is the lack of avalanches.
Extensive knowledge of snow conditions is not necessary. A clear head and some common sense is all that is required. Knowing your aspects is important, due to drastically different snow conditions during any tour, and having a good sense of direction. A compass helps here.
It's not rocket science. If you know your south from your north, you're all good.

3)The qualities that would make a good CCSP member would be a great sense of humor and the need for adventure.
The capacity to fully enjoy the beauty of making turns on peaks in an area that has rarely - if ever seen any tracks, even if that means suffering.
You gotta like snow-camping.
And sometimes, the trip doesn't turn out like you planned. That's the risk you take when you explore terrain that nobody knows about...
The rewards when you do succeed are greater than any trip to Tahoe and it's swarm of ski lifts and people.
The desire to see the ocean, Shasta, Lassen, the Sierra, Mt. St. Helena, etc. all in one shot.
You gotta like hikin'!(skinning)
:wink:

Hope you can hook up.

_________________
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I was Hullin' it on Tuesday (2/19) with janzalo.
We got two miles up the road to the north facing section
of Boardman at 4000'.
Some deep snow on the road. We pressed on.
Trying to keep a steady foot on the gas in the deep snow,
I was soon stuck. janzalo's Jeep pulled me back onto the tire
track with some old climbing rope and we drove on.
Then I got stuck again. The winch took care of that,
and we drove on.
No more issues in the deep snow and we were out of there
and onto dry ground. We drove for another two miles up
the road with only patches of snow on the now south facing road.
Got to the same spot as last time. A steep drifted part of the road,
just before Camp I.


The storm was coming in faster and stronger than expected.
The drizzle started shortly after we started skinning.
With temps in the upper 30's overnight at 7000', we were
thankful for the cloud cover. We were looking forward to
skiing in the rain.
The fog layer started just above Timberline Camp.

janzalo skinning up the misty mountain.


The precip was a fine, light graupel which my ancient
yellow/red Marmot shell jacket repelled better than expected.

The stiff breeze that hit us just as we rounded the corner
at Timberline Camp was our only hope of drying out our outer shells.
The snow was really good. Firm, no clumping. Every aspect was
the same. What a treat!
But we didn't have the time to ski everything.
Our time was limited to the waterproofness of our clothes.

By the time we got to the top - 2.5 hours later - the wind was
blowing pretty hard. We took shelter behind a large drift
just off the summit.

janzalo on the hunt for his sandwich.


Knowing that we had only one long run before hyothermia set in,
we headed for the West Face. We dropped into Sundream Bowl
and found some epic corn. No roller balls, no mank.
The top inch smeared effortlessly into the soft ice below.
It was beautiful!

janzalo traversing out of Sundream Bowl


We hit the ridge above Sundream Bowl and dropped
into the West Face. We were looking for a tree run for visibility.
As good as the skiing was in Sundream Bowl,
virtigo was a problem.
The same snow conditions on the West Face. Carving nice highspeed
turns, jump-turning tight tree chutes, all on perfect corn.
I need to ski this area more often. It's got a northern
exposure to it that holds a lot of snow. 2000' of steep trees.
I would have loved to drop the entire thing and boot back up.
But we were running out of time.


We skied down to the road.
janzalo


This makes for a nice exit from the mountain. If you don't drop
down too far and keep traversing your way to skiers left,
you will soon gain the West Butte Ridge. If the West Chutes
are skiable, you can get two runs in the West Chutes as you
work your way skiers left to gain the turnout below Timberline Camp.
As is often the case, the West Chutes are melted out while the
West Face remains packed in with deep snow.

After hitting the road, we got several more runs down through
the steep trees of the West Face on our way to the West Butte Ridge.

When we got there the West Chutes were melted out.
We attempted to skin up aways. The snow was still the same.
Nice and firm. Thoughts of Goretex sliding on steep, icy corn...
This is not a place you want to fall in freeheel mode while skinning!
A slide for life in this area would certainly be painful.
We were soon booting our way up the ridge.

janzalo






Almost there.


Once on top of the West Butte, we were set for another run down
the drifted ridge on down to Timberline Camp.
We were looking forward to the heater in the Jeep.

Unfortunetaly, one of janzalo's bindings broke just after we got
to the ridge. What's even more unfortunate
is that he was borrowing my skis.
He was skiing on my Dynastar 4X4 Big's with a pair
of really old Diamirs that I got used some years back.
The rod snapped in half inside the heelpiece. The bindings
still worked for ski mode and janzalo gingerly worked his
way down the ridge to Timberline Camp and on down the road.

By time I got to the Jeep, I could barely operate the keys
to open the door.
Cranked the heater and was soon warm. I was prepared to
spend another day, but didn't think that my gear would dry
out by tomorrow in the Jeep. So we bailed.

Almost made it through the deep snow on the north facing
section of road. I think the deep tread on my tires increases
the odds of digging a hole when the tires spin.
I winched my way to firmer snow and on down to Potter Valley
for a hot meal.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... &plindex=0

_________________
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Headed back to Hull on Wednesday, Feb. 27.
I filled the tank in Upper Lake and noticed some
snow in the hills above town. I decided to take
the Potter Valley way in.

Saw some old friends on the way in.






They were curious and friendly as usual.
I was soon surrounded.





More creatures down by Lake Pillsbury.






I drove on up the mountain. Still lots of snow on Boardman Ridge.
The snow conditions on the north facing section
of road was the same as last week.
I had to winch the Jeep three times through the icy snow.


I had some trouble farther up the road. The ruts are deep.
Had to make about ten tries on a couple of the drifts.
The Jeep represented and I was soon dialing in my parking
spot at 4500'. A couple hundred yards down
from my parking spot of last week. Only 10 minutes below
Camp I.

I skinned right from the vehicle. A short ways up from Camp I,
the upper mountain comes into view.




I was sorta late. It was warm. Not wanting to stress about
the snow conditions or my route for the day, I enjoyed the
T-shirt weather and the views.

Bobcat tracks on the Timberline Camp ridge.




I summited in two hours. Well, ok - I stopped about 30 feet from
the summit. The south side was shot, as was anything east facing.
Once on the skier summit above Sundream Bowl, I decided to drop
the West Face.
St. John and Snow Mountain as seen from the top of Sundream.


The snow was just corning up on the west side. I was looking
at this micro ridge dropping down the West Face.


I skied down on softening corn to the large rock halfway down the ridge in the above picture.
Now I was lined up. The slope was steep.


The snow was really good. But I could tell it would not last long.
About halfway down, the West Butte ridge.


I skied down the West Face about 1800'. Epic STEEP lines!
Looking up to the top of the West Butte on the way down.


The West Chutes were not buried deep enough to get
a traverse back to Timberline Camp, so I was commited to
booting my way back up.
This is when I really noticed how steep it was. By this time, the
snow was softening fast. The sun was creeping past the south
facing Boardman Ridge and starting to melt the soft corn on
the West Face. Big pinwheels from yesterday lying everywhere.

I was on hands and knees climbing up. My weight was sketch
on each of my boot holds, so I used my knees and put my
hands all the way down just above the baskets on my poles.
My hands were above my head and my face was about a foot
away from the slope as I inched my way up the rock and loose snow.
I got manzanited several times. Pulling myself up by the branches
of manzanita when I sank up to my waist.
I was hoping the slope would hold just long enough for me to get to the
top before it rotted all the way to the ground and ripped.



Several times I wondered what I was doing up here on this rocky
ridge and not down in the drainage to my right. But this was just too
much fun! It's been awhile since I actually 'climbed' something.
This was definetaly climbing for sure.



Soon the steep, rocky ridge opened up and I was finally able to stand
up and walk to the top of the West Butte.


The ridge by now was mank and it was slow going down to Timberline Camp. The jeep ruts finally got things going further down.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 0945&hl=en

Took Elk Mountain on the way out and found excellent driving
conditions. What a great road. The road from Potter Valley really sucks.
Tons of potholes and road cups (washboard - as opposed to suncups).

Hull Mountain from the top of Elk Mountain on the way out.


The West Face is awesome. I'll try and get some better pictures
of it next time. Super steep trees and rocks for 2000'. And the
climb out of there was Hulla fun!

Stopped in at the Blue Wing Saloon in Upper Lake for a hot meal.
Really good food. Had the battered prawns and the burger
on a ciabatta bun all washed down with a Racer5.
http://www.igougo.com/dining-reviews-b3 ... aloon.html

Can't wait for next week.

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Thanks for the update Jib.

We were thinking of hitting it up this weekend. With warming temps it might not be the best choice. Do you think the north facing stuff will set and corn up by the weekend? I've experienced really bad conditions of the north side before during similiar storm cycles.

Are you coming over for the slideshow on Tuesday. Mtn. bike ride the next morning too.

The snow was fine. I was simply too late. I was skinning
by 9:30. The snow had definetaly consolidated. It was icy and firm
down at 4000' in the Jeep.
There were still snow covered trees facing south up near the top.
The snow on the West Face will be your best bet. It holds the longest.
Just summit early.
Do as I say, not as I do! :wink:
I should have summited around 8am.
If you do that, Sundream will be dreamy and you'll even have time
to hit up Hullafar Bowl for some east-facing shots before
ending your day on the West Face.

8am - noon is the window.

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I was back at Hull on Wednesday. Saw the herd of elk
at Lake Pillsbury on the way in.




Was able to drive up to Camp I. Fought my way
past two or three drifts and finally gave up
just above Camp I.

It hasn't snowed in two weeks. None of the patches of snow
were connecting, so my attempts to skin from the vehicle
were denied. I hiked up to just below Timberline Camp
before the snow patches finally merged into each other.

I had no plans for the day. Just keep going and see what
the day brings.
The top of the rednecks sled hill between Camp I and II
provided the first view of the day.


The mountain looked classic. A typical spring day.
Ridges melted off, anything west facing was shot and
anything with north or east in the aspect was buried deep.
The storms come in from the ocean to the west and blow
the snow down into Hulls' deep south side.

No snow in the West Chutes, but the West Face
still had skiable snow. Especially the north facing side of
the West Butte.
Keeping that in mind, I continued on to the summit.

Still no plan for the day. It'll come to me...

Getting up to the summit woods at the top of Rabbit Ridge,
I looked to my right and admired the end of Hullaska Ridge.


A closer view.


Hmmm...

Looking from the top of Sundream bowl east, out over the entire
south side. Across Meteor Bowl to the top of Hullafar Bowl.
Hullaska Ridge dropping off to the right.


I booted my way up the melted ridge to the summit.
Looking east to Hullafar Bowl (cannot be seen - just beyond).


Still no plan for the day. It hasn't hit me yet.
I decided to jib on to the top of Hullafar Bowl.
My goal was to get to the four-way intersection
of Hullafar Bowl, the Hullbacks, Hullaska Ridge
and Meteor Bowl.
The tree on the ridge is perfectly placed at the center
of this intersection.


When I got there - about 15-20 minutes from the summit,
I took a look around.
The Y couloir of the Rock Chutes in Hullafar Bowl.


Looking back towards the summit.




It was at this point that a plan for the day
finally hit me.
I needed a First Descent.
A little exploration was in store for me.

I dropped into the south, southeast facing slopes
opposite(south) of Hullafar. I didn't take any photos of this bowl.
But I do have a little diddy of a viddy.
The plan that hatched in my mind was to ski this bowl and take
the drifts on the east side of Hullaska Ridge all to way to the end
and drop one of the northwest facing couloirs
I had seen on the way up.

When you watch this vid, Hullafar is behind me, off over my left
shoulder. The ridge to my right is the east side of Hullaska Ridge.
The bowl I'm skiing will be called Grey Bowl.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 2263&hl=en

The snow was really nice. 20 minutes from the summit to
the four-way intersection and another 15 minutes(I took my time)
skiing down the east side of Hullaska Ridge.

Looking back up Hullaska Ridge.
Meteor Bowl can be seen on the left.
Grey Bowl on the right.


A view of Hulls' south side from halfway down Hullaska Ridge.
Left to right...Sundream Bowl drops off the summit.
Hullavator Ridge lies between Sundream and Swallowed Hull Couloir.
The ridge with the large rock outcropping is
Hullotta Love Ridge. And of course Hullotta Love Rock.
Meteor Bowl disapears off to the right.


Unzoomed version


In the above picture you can see that if you dropped
Sundream Bowl (right off the summit) and took it all the way
down, the drainage passes a stand of large trees and then
veers skiers left to merge with the bottom of Swallowed Hull Couloir.
Hullavator Ridge can be seen, partly melted out, dividing the two.

Just lookers left of Sundream Bowl in the above picture is
Porcipine Ridge. Most of the dead trees have fallen down.
Lookers left of Porcipine Ridge, the summit woods crawl out of the
drainage between Porcipine and Rabbit Ridge (far left of picture).

This is a picture of Meteor Bowl from the same place -
half way down Hullaska Ridge.
Hullotta Love Ridge rises from the left of your screen to the
summit ridge and the peaklet on right skyline is the
top of Hullaska Ridge/Hullafar Bowl/the Hullbacks/Grey Bowl.


The snow on the east side of Hullaska Ridge took me all the way
to the end of the ridge and I crossed over the ridge and was
soon looking down my goal.






The snow in here was more firm as the slope was angled to
the north. Nice and steep.

Another perspective on the south side of Hull Mountain.
Taken about half way down the couloir.
Tortoise Bowl can be seen dropping off Rabbit Ridge- far upper left.
The bottom of Rabbit Ridge has deep snow on it's north-east aspect.
Hullota Love Ridge and Rabbit Ridge meet at the bottom of your screen.


The couloir I skied has not been named yet. I'm actually unsure
of which one I skied.


Anyways, I finally got down to the bottom where I met
Rattlesnake Creek.




I tried to ski my way out of there after crossing the creek.
Then I took a nasty fall. It is extremely steep down in there.
Everything.
I was attempting to ski traverse my way down the creek and around
to the lower portions of Rabbit Ridge.
A rotten snow bridge collapsed beneath me and my left leg
immediately disapeared. I lost my grip on the cliff to my right
and fell head first about 10 ft. As I fell, I could see my LZ.
Two large logs, the bottom of the cliff with several large rocks,
and lots of manzanita.
I managed to avoid the large logs suspended between the boulders
as my head passed between them and headed for the boulders below.
I tucked my head in as it passed the logs and was hoping to land on
my back. My right leg, which still had my ski attatched, caught
on the two logs and I was now suspended upside down about 4-5
feet off the ground. My head and shoulders were buried deep
in the manzanita. My left leg was being crushed beneath me as
it rested on one of the boulders.
I could not reach the ground.
:lol:
Once I fgured out that I was uninjured, and all my gear was intact,
I started laughing.
I found it hard to move hanging there and all.
It must have taken me about 15 minutes to extract myself from my
predicament and I was then booting my way up the steep slope.

Looking up.
Rabbit Ridge drops down the far left of this shot.
The end of Porcipine Ridge just above the three distinct rocks
further right.
Hullavator Ridge dropping down to meet Porcipine
and Sundream Bowl between just off the upper ridge.
Hullota Love Rock standing guard and Meteor Bowl on far right.


There was not enough snow to traverse out of there.
I was directly beneath Rabbit Ridge.
Straight up was the only way.
With the skis attached to my pack I enjoyed some scrambling.
A few bouldering problems later and I was booting up a steep
snowfield.


Looking back to the Hullaska Ridge Couloirs


I ended up booting straight up after scrambling my way out of the
creek. Straight up to the bottom of Tortoise Bowl.
From there, the snow was deep enough for me to get the skis
back on and traverse my way easily to Timberline Camp.

The skiing was excellent. I kind of like it when the snow
is thin. It makes everything steeper.
A nice 6 hour tour. I'll be back for more Hullaska Ridge action when
there is more snow.

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3/21/08

Hull DELIVERED yesterday. Looked grim on the hike up, but it is always deceiving.

Be booted the whole thing up to the top in 2 hours, then the short rides down the ridges over to east face. We rode east face first, then the bowl between east face and Grey bowl? or maybe it was grey bowl, and these sweet gullies between the two off the s/se facing shot off the top of the far peaklet at hullafar bowl. Jib, you must have skied these gullies before.

I've never got such long runs at Hull before, a good 1,200-1,500 foot runs.
Perfect corn all day. North facing wasn't corning up.

Got back to the truck at, I think Camp 2, to a dead f'in truck battery (damn door and cargo lights). We were sooo lucky to have two 4=wheelers up there with cables. Saved us big time as we had no water, food, or BEER left.

Will post some pics for ya Jib before you head out there. My body feels like I climbed Shasta or something.

Sweet! I think I know what your talking about. You dropped O.B. Bowl -
Out of Bounds Bowl first then hit the southeast facing chutes more skiers right.
Grey Bowl, for now, is from the corner of Hullaska Ridge and the south side of Hullafar bowl.
I'll wait to see the pics, but if it's what I think it is, I have never skied those chutes before. They look distinct enough to be worthy of a seperate name.

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Yeah, it is between OB bowl (east bowl) and grey bowl.

Ecobrad topping out.


Eco dropping OB Bowl.


Nat at the top of OB Bowl.


Nat entering the gully below OB Bowl.


Eco getting ready to skin up after our second run. We decended down the center and then traversed a little lookers left to avoid and drainage down lower.



Then we saw these lines and had to hit them. I rode lookers right line, Eco and Nat rode lookers left. The center one goes but is crap.


Standard Hull protocol - Hiking down and connecting some snow pacthes on the road.

Question on this picture.


The gullies you rode are on the right, but you said you "...descended down the center..."
Is the ridge on the left Hullaska? If so, then the bowl in the center would be Grey Bowl. You dropped Grey Bowl as well?
-Or-
The center of the pic is the top of OB Bowl, making those gullies skiers left of OB Bowl.
Just trying to place the gullies. Never seen that perspective on the mountain before.

Nice photos. Sounds like you got a First Descent on those gullies!
Whatchya gonna call them?

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Hullaska ridge is on the left. OB Bowl is far right out of the picture. The gullies come of the ridge before the knob of OB Bowl/ridge out to rock chutes.

We got a lap on OB, Grey Bowl, the gullies, then Boardman Ridge.

Hully gullys ??

The Hully Gullies were Hulltastic!
3 days, 3 nights of Hull.
Pics coming soon.

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DAY 1
-----------------------------------

Drove up Monday afternoon with sirjibalot.
We were able to drive easily
to Camp I. Just past Camp I, the drifts started.
We winched our way through and fought a couple more
drifts in the Jeep and pulled into Camp II.
We parked the Jeep by the road and booted in a trail
several hundred feet through the drifts to the trees, fire ring,
view, and many flat spots of Camp II.
We set up camp and were soon warming ourselves by our fire.







Sometime around midnight, janzalo joins us. He had gotten stuck
on the same drift we did.
His winch was not working, so I drove down
to pull him out. The road is rutted deep here.
We tried a climbing rope, I attempted to winch him out,
nothing was working. By now I was stuck. I had to winch
underneath the Jeep and pull myself back. Then we took
another couple picks and turned the Jeep around.
The technique that finally pulled him out, was having me winched
to a tree and the climbing rope attached to janzalo's Jeep.
With my winch grinding and both Jeeps flooring it, the climbing
rope streeetched and YANKED him right out.
This climbing rope is almost twenty years old! Pulled many vehicles
with it.

-----------------------------------------
DAY 2
-------------------------------------------
The next morning, we almost joined the crack'o'noon club by leaving
camp about 11:30am.
Sirjibalot gettin' his jib on.






Out by the road.




We booted our way up to skinnable snow, just before Timberline Camp.
Rounding Timberline Camp.


The clouds held the corn for us. They soon disappeared for a
blue bird day.

Janzalo gaining the summit woods.


Sirjibalot


Lake Pillsbury and West Butte in the background.






The day was shortened by our lazy sleeping in, but the corn
in Sundream Bowl was perfect at 1:30 pm.
We dropped in and got turns down to Porcipine Ridge and then
dropped down Rabbit Ridge.
The snow was perfect! We skied on down and found more
perfect corn in Tortoise Bowl.

Janzalo traversing out of Sundream.


Sirjibalot at Porcipine Ridge.




We skied on down and kicked back at our camp and enjoyed
the views from Camp II.


Our sunny day was coming to an end.
Wednesday's storm rolling in.


I brought a chef with me this time.
janzalo prepares dinner. Thanx dude!




We warmed ourselves by playing frisbee.
janzalo


Check out sirjibalot's skills





We also warmed ourselves by hunting for firewood.
We needed fire.


It was snowing
The pile was growing.


It was super windy. We needed a wind break so the fire
wouldn't burn everything within minutes.


janzalo's mug warming by the fire.


sirjibalot hogging the warmest spot in camp.


Then we decided to take walk and enjoy the sunset views.




When we got back to the fire -
shadow or snow?



----------------------------------
DAY 3
----------------------------------

When we woke up the next day, it was still windy and snowing.
We slept in and were booting our way up the road by 10am.

Skinnable snow.


Rounding Timberline Camp, we got blasted by the wind
and found only boiler plate snow with pockets of powder.
We skiinned up the drifted ridge and stopped for a break
in a large tree well.
We decided to skin up to Rabbit Ridge.

sirjibalot changing out.


janzalo gettin' his jib on as well.


Rabbit Ridge was really good corn. Firm up top and more powdery
about half way down.
We dropped it all the way.




The storm was pummeling us, so we headed back down to camp.
Hulla cold evening. Windy and snowy. Just before sunset,
the storm began to dissipate.

-------------------------------------------
DAY 4
-------------------------------------------

We awoke to blue skies.


It was time to head for Hullafar Bowl.
Skinning through the summit woods.


janzalo booting up to the summit.
Sanhedrin Mountain in background.


sirjibalot taking in the views.
Mt. St. Helena and Clear Lake can be seen.


Looking out over The Hullbacks.


Skinning out to Hullafar. The summit in the background.




janzalo dropping down Hullafar's southern ridge.


When I got to the Hully Gullies, I was impressed. I had seen these
lines before, but they somehow slipped my mind all these years.
You can see these gullies stand out when you view Hull Mt.
from the summit of Snow Mountain.
I got a good view of them several weeks ago, when I skied down
Hullaska Ridge.

My instinct took me to my favorite one.
I was so excited, I dropped in right away and only have pics from after
I booted my way out.
I took the skiers-left gully. The one with the drift.
The corn was sick. Firm, crunchy and buttery.
The drift provided a sweet natural halpipe for me to jib on.
I took it about halfway down.

The boot out of there took about 20 minutes. Pretty steep.




We headed back and got a beautiful run down Boardman Ridge
back to camp.
We broke camp and met up at the Blue Wing Saloon in Upper Lake
for burgers and beer.

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Was up at Hull on Wednesday with janzalo. We were able to drive
up pretty far. Still some drifts before Timberline Camp.
No winching this time.


janzalo booting to the summit.






We summited and skied over to Hullafar Bowl.
janzalo hiking the last few hundred feet.




Looking down Grey Bowl.


Looking to the right, down Hullaska Ridge.


Looking left. Hullafar Bowl opens up to the north.
The Hully Gullies start at the bottom of the ridge at the flat spot.


Looking down the Hully Gullies. All three lines can be seen.
We dropped the one on skiers left.


janzalo near the top.


Almost halfway down. The lip of the drift was too melted
to get any good jibs off of.














The snow was EPIC! Our timing couldn't have been better.
Firm up top and softer down lower.

janzalo captures some rare footage




What a great run! 1000 feet of buttered corn.
Unfortunately, the sun was out - we were hoping for some cloud cover.
The Hully Gullies were softening up too fast.
We found a snow bridge to cross the creek.


We skinned through the tree farm and headed for Hullaska Ridge.
The Hully Gullies from Hullaska Ridge.
The gully we skied is on far right.


The mountain looks bare on the approach. But the east side is buried
deep. Especially Hullafar Bowl, which faces north.


Hull Mountain from Elk Mountain on the way out.
You can see OB Bowl on the far right(east) skyline.
The gully we skied is just to the left of OB Bowl, just left of
the long, black vegetation line.


Still tons of snow at Hull. This time of year is nice for the approach.
Soon we will be able to park the Jeeps at the top of Sundream Bowl.
With the snow so deep on the east side and Hullafar buried so deep,
the skiing should last 'till May.

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Pictures look good jib. How would you say snowpack looks this year as compared with last? All I hear about down here in LV is doom and gloom.
I'll be up to NV first week of July. Will look you up.

Global warming has been good to the Coast Range. Lowest snow levels I've seen yet. This cold spring has kept the corn alive. I haven't been to Hull in many weeks now. Not enough money/can't afford the gas.
But knowing Hull like I do, there is still plenty of skiing over on the east side. Hullafar is still buried deep and OB Bowl is still going off.

I wish I could afford to still be skiing. The ski season here in NorCal lasts a good six months(including Shasta, etc.). I only got three months in.

Fck you George Bush. :evil:

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Went up to Hull last Saturday, Jan. 3 with jibC. While it was fun being up there, the conditions were depressing. Not sure why the Covelo site
http://www.coveloweather.info/
is showing so much snow. We saw nothing more than two feet.

We almost made it to Timberline Camp, but the ruts were too deep for jibC's truck. So we backed down to a turn-around spot just below.

Lots of manzaineering.




Soon we were standing on top of Sundream Bowl.


The snow was hard as rock. The wind was out of the east and blowing strong.


It wasn't going to soften on this day. So we downclimbed - I mean skied on down to the truck.

http://flickr.com/photos/jibmaster/3165391420/

http://flickr.com/photos/jibmaster/3164566587/

(How to I embed the videos?)

When we got down there, the parade started. Tons of 4X4 vehicles drove by headed for Timberline Camp. All sorts of rednecks and a bunch of folks from the Santa Rosa 4X4 club.

Then we drove down to the lake. It was really low. We drove aways onto the lake bed.




The heard of elk were chillin'.


And of course, the obligatory pic from the top of Elk Mountain on the way out.


We stopped in at the Blue Wing Saloon in Upper Lake for a bite to eat on the way home.
http://www.bluewingsaloon.com/

The mountain is in much need of more snow. Oh well.
I guess I'm not missing much - for now...

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Well, I'm bored. So I contacted the Sonoma Wings Hang Gliding Club
http://sonomawingsbb.yuku.com/directory
to see if I could bum a ride from my winged brothers of Hull.
They were very excited to see all the pictures
on this thread and asked me to put all my names
of geograghical features of Hull onto Google Earth for them.

Here it is. Have fun!
www.sonomawings.com/ge/hg.kmz

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(old hang glider pilot here, often camping on the mountain).

Nice pictures. I recognize a lot of those trees!

The two areas you camp used to be called"Upper Boardman Camp" on the older area maps; 'Camp 1' near the bottom and 'Camp 2' the big flat area in the trees above the big red rocky cliff with the great view.

It was an old hunting camp; a Forest Service archeologist told me that it's been a campsite for at least six thousand years, maybe longer.

The hang glider pilots call that whole area 'Red Spot' (or, the 'House Thermal') -- 4600' to 5000' or thereabouts on the ridge.

Anyone know a better daily satellite photo covering Hull?
This site is the best I've found; usually several images per day:

http://activefiremaps.fs.fed.us/imagery ... -north-000

(You can zoom in; the false color infrared image, second one, is pretty good, sees through haze. You have to know where Boardman Ridge is to get much of an idea at all where the snow is -- and we all know that the road on Boardman on the north side in the trees can be deep in snow around 4000' when the rest is melted out).

Glad to meet some other folks who love this place.

I'll be eager myself to hear when the road is like.

OK kids, I finally got it fixed. Sorry for the delay.
This is the Google link to my Hull Mountain map with all the names.
Enjoy.
http://www.sonomawings.com/ge/ski-hull.kmz

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If you're seeing blank terrain once you're in Google Earth, just click(check) one of the 'ski-hull.kmz' boxes in the 'places' menu.

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I figured I ought to warn y'all that the M1 road from Low Gap up to Timberline got very gullied out in quite a few places last spring from a late hard rain.

It hasn't been graded that I know of (last I recall the Ranger District didn't have their own bulldozer, they got one from other Districts intermittently, so it could take a long time).

Some of the gullies longways down the road are plenty deep that you can drop a wheel or two into them even creeping carefully and bottom out an ordinary vehicle; the big tall trucks are OK but you'll have to be careful even with them.

Once it has snow hiding the surface it's going to be treacherous.

But, I saw the forecast yesterday included a chance of snow up there (that's not predicted today) and figured, hey, it's time.

http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.ph ... it=0&lg=en

Thanks for the info hank. And, yes, it is almost time.
I can hardly wait!
'Twas the night before Christmas...

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Hoping y'all start a new topic for the new season, this one's a treasure but it's huge.

And hoping to hear the road up Hull isn't one long deep gully by now, as it was looking pretty bad the last time we were up there (with the hang gliding crowd).

Watch out for deep, deep gullys on the road under the snow; could be they got a road grader up there but I haven't heard anything about it.

Wow, 3 minutes to load.
Well, here's to hoping this makes it
to page 3!

Finally made back to Hull.
jibC and snowblasta where there as well.

Elk Mountain looked to be too deep,
so we took the Potter Valley way in.
Got up there Friday night and camped out.
We made it to the base of Boardman Ridge.
If I had my Jeep, we could have made it a bit farther.
But not much.

Soon after we got there, it started to rain.
:lol:
We took shelter in jibC's truck for awhile,
then finally headed out into the rain
to set up the tents.

It soon got dark.
The moon was so bright, it shined through the fog.
You could read a book inside the tent.

No flash - just before the fog lifted


After a few card games, we stepped outside
to find clear skies and a full moon.
It was so bright!


We woke up the next morning to mist and fog.
I figured - after skinning from the bottom twice before -
that we might not make the summit.
The snow was super manky and unconsolidated.
Making sure to set a good skin track to use on the way down,
we set off.

The road was littered with hundreds of downed trees.
Some of them were pretty big.
Never seen such extensive wind damage this low before.
This one is at 3900' just before the road turns to north facing
at 4000'.


It took us 3 hours to reach Camp I.


Still only halfway there, we decided to bail.
The snow was slow going and we needed more time.
If we summited we would be coming back in the dark.
Not even sure if there was any consolidated snow up high.

jibC, glad to be heading down.


And were off!
Video 1
http://www.vholdr.com/node/65065

As you can see, we had to film the skiing in slow motion.

Video 2 the north facing section at 4000'.
http://www.vholdr.com/node/65064

Video 3
http://www.vholdr.com/node/65063

With all the hype of how much snow
the locals said was up there...
I've seen it deeper.

Finally got some visuals down by the lake.
Looks like freeze line was just above Timberline Camp.






Didn't get any turns, but it was a good recon of the
road conditions and snow levels.
Great workout as well!
:lol:
:roll:

:edit: In case you missed it -
http://www.sonomawings.com/ge/ski-hull.kmz

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hi jiibmaster, all i can say is hully mole, i have ordered my splitty, i live in clearlake, and my truck is 2wd, ill pay for petro , for a ride to hull. my heart is in the bc, hull yea!

I'll be going up (hopefully) next Wednesday. Might leave Tue. night.
We'll have a Hullova good time!

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Was up at Hull on Wednesday Feb. 17.
Almost hit a coyote down by the lake.
Was able to drive up to just below Camp I.
A ten minute hike to get to Camp I and I was skinning.
Took off through the woods, left of the road
on the way up to avoid the Jeep ruts.

About halfway between Camp I and Camp II
at the top of the rednecks sled hill I get my first views.


zoomed in - Rabbit Ridge in foreground, Sundream Bowl beyond


Hullaska Ridge


Continued on up and was soon at the base of Timberline Camp.
Hullawest Ridge off to the left, in the background
and the West Butte, center.


I was soon on top.


Yup, that's Mt. St. Helena in the background.


Zoomed in shot of Lassen.


Looking out over the Hullbacks to the Hullback Chutes.


Looking east


Down Hullavator Ridge/Porcipine Ridge/Rabbit Ridge


Looking down Boardman Ridge/Timberline Camp/Lake Pillsbury


Self timer ugly mug summit shot



It was time to ski!
I dropped into Cable Couloir from the summit.
Got some turns in Sundream Bowl and traversed out
to the right and caught some more of that perfect buttered corn
down Porcipine Ridge.

Kinda like this:
http://www.vholdr.com/video/hull-mountain-feb-17-10

After crossing the creek, I skootched my way up
onto Rabbit Ridge and got another run down aways.
It was getting hot. Not much breeze down here.
The snow was much better up in Sundream Bowl.
So I headed back up. Summited once more and dropped in again.

The north side was glare ice, solid as rock.
The West Face looked good, but it wasn't corning up.
Stiff breeze up top from the west was keeping it firm.
So I headed on down.

http://www.vholdr.com/video/hull-mountain-feb-17-10-2

I was at the rednecks sled hill.
One last video. Nothing special here, just viewing the mountain
one last time before I leave.
http://www.vholdr.com/video/hull-mountain-feb-17-10-3

--------------------------------------

Hank, you had talked about the deep ruts in the road.
Found 'em!
They were a blast! Nothing my 31 inch tires couldn't handle.
Cleaned that section both up and down.
On the way down, I had some memory left in my DSLR, so I
decided to try driving with one hand.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jibmaster/4367040790/

I'll get better footage of the ruts next time, but yeah,
those ruts would most definitely swallow any stock vehicle.

Was able to take the Elk Mountain route this time.
I love that route. What a great road!

And of course the mandatory picture opportunity from Elk Mt.


zoomed in versions...




Saw a few deer on the way back and a pair of Bald Eagles.
Man it was good to be back!!!
:D

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Have you given the Forest Service a pointer to this? It's information they can use, both to show their management that people are using the forest recreationally (funding!) and to show the need to borrow a bulldozer from one of the other Districts again (funding!) to keep that road from becoming unusable.

I've let the Upper Lake Ranger Station folks know in the past when hang gliding photos and movies were posted somewhere online and they've always appreciated the pointers to documentation of uses; they have so little left in the way of funds and staff that any free information helps them document that people are using the forest, and road conditions, and such.

Headed up to Hull this past week and found
warm temps and some corn.

Saw a fox and the elk were hangin' out in the fog
down by the lake.




Driving up Boardman Ridge was fun.
The ruts aren't THAT bad hank.

http://www.vholdr.com/node/75116

I was able to drive to just below Camp II.
I hiked up about 10 minutes to make sure
the snow connected.

The view to the top from Timberline Camp


I was soon on top. The wind started about at
the Summit Woods. I took shelter on the east side
of the summit and prepared to descend.




The snow was pretty manky.
Didn't look like it froze last night.
Thought I'd check out the south side a bit
and see what happens.

I skied over to Swallowed Hull Couloir.
And dropped in...

http://www.vholdr.com/node/75108

The snow was sloppy and loose.
I decided to see what the west side had to offer.
I booted up to Boardman Ridge
and skied on down to the West Butte.
The snow was a bit firm on the northwest side,
but the west ridge was perfect.

http://www.vholdr.com/node/75091

I booted back up with my crampons on.
And had some fun on a short, steep section
just before the top.

http://www.vholdr.com/video/topping-out-west-butte

Took the rest of Boardman Ridge down.

http://www.vholdr.com/node/75064

The snow was sorta slow, but it was a good day.

Had some memory left on the helmet cam,
so I put on my helmet and hit the gas.
Elk Mountain on the way home.
It's so much fun when it's all muddy,
but either way, it's a great road!

http://www.vholdr.com/video/elk-mt-going-home

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I guess we'll try it with the Forester around the beginning of April. That's got, what, about six or eight inches less clearance than your Jeep, I think. I'll take a shovel and hope. I'd like to ask more offline, if you'd email me; this is a throwaway good til the spammers harvest it: kvlxq5002@sneakemail.com

Headed up to Hull for two days. Skied Tuesday
and Wednesday. Drove up Tuesday morning.
It's always Christmas in Lake County.


Was able to drive up to just below Camp II.
However, I was stopped lower than last week
due to some seriously deep ruts in the snow.
Hiked up for 30 minutes to the hairpin just
below Timberline Camp.

A lot of meltage since last week. Looking up from just
below Timberline Camp up towards West Butte.
These lines were all skiable
last week.


A few shots from just above Timberline Camp.
The fog clearing off Lake Pillsbury.




St. John Mountain, Crockett Peak and Snow Mountain






Two hours from the Jeep, and I was on top.
Looking down over the West Face down to
West Butte -far left.


oops - I guess I changed photo sizes here...
Looking south


Looking north


The north face of the West Butte still looks good to go.
It can be icy though.


Looking down Boardman Ridge from the summit


Looking east out towards Hullafar Bowl


Down the south side to Hullaska Ridge


Zoomed in shot looking north. Mt. Linn (South Yolla Bolly)
in background (left) and Black Butte


It was time to ski!
I skied down the summit ridge and dropped into Swallowed Hull Couloir.
I started out right above Hullotta Love Ridge and cut right to avoid the bare spots.

http://www.vholdr.com/video/swallowed-hull-couloir

I dropped 800' vert to the very bottom of Porcupine Ridge.
Then I booted my way up.

http://www.vholdr.com/video/climbing-porcipine-ridge

Now on top of the ridge,
I skinned up Porcupine Ridge and topped out above Sundream Bowl.
Thought I'd check out the north face of West Butte, so I skied on down.

http://www.vholdr.com/node/76879

The north face of West Butte was a little firm, so I booted my way up the west facing ridge to the top.
The last 10-15 feet before the top is sorta steep. I chose a rock route to top out this time.

http://www.vholdr.com/node/76891

Then I skied Boardman back to the Jeep.
I had seen some tracks on the way up.



It's hard to see in this next video, but I found the creature
that made those tracks.
If you watch closely, you can see a fox run out in front of me
as I ski down from Timberline Camp.
I gave chase, but was outfoxed.
He was too fast.

http://www.vholdr.com/node/76900

Down by the Jeep, I kicked back for the evening.


I had a good view of the south side.






Zoomed in from camp. Sundream Bowl


You can see my entrance to Swallowed Hull Couloir.


More shots from camp.
The bowl/open area in the center of this picture
makes for a good east/southeast facing ski descent
a little closer to the vehicle.





After some good sleep in the Jeep, I awoke to cloudy skies.
The sun soon burned off the clouds
and it turned out to be even clearer than yesterday.
Had a lovely skin to the top.
Lots of these little jibbers running around everywhere.


Took advantage of the clear atmosphere
to snap a few more shots from the summit.
Sorry for the small size.

Snow Mountain


Sanhedrin Mt.


Lake Pillsbury - almost full


Anthony Peak on the left, in the foreground
with the Yolla Bollys in the background.
I believe that would be Solomon Peak.


It was super windy. I thought I'd get one last run in Cable Couloir.
Could be the last time I'd ski the south side this year.

http://www.vholdr.com/node/76907

The view of Hull from Elk Mt. on the way out.


If you haven't seen it -
I put up a Google Earth map of Hull with all the names,
so ya'll don't get confused.
http://www.sonomawings.com/ge/ski-hull.kmz

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Headed to Hull with janzalo on the 6th.
We found some snow on Elk Mt. on the way in.


It soon got light.
Hull with a brand new white coat of snow
above the fog of Lake Pillsbury moments before sunrise.




And then we were down in the fog driving past the lake.


The drive up Hull was so fun!
It had snowed down to lake level (1818')
on Sunday. We were there on Wednesday.
First hit snow just before 4000'.
The snow was unfrozen with deep mud.
Perfect!
The deep ruts were more difficult to see all buried with snow.
But we had some jeep ruts to follow, so on we went.
Found some trouble just below Camp I.
Steep section with more deep ruts.
Had to try a number of times, but finally got through
and pulled into Camp I.



Lake Pillsbury still socked in with fog.


Skinned right from the Jeep. Stayed in the woods
to the left of the road to avoid the jeep ruts.

A few minutes later, the first views.


The lower portion of Hullaska Ridge.


The upper portion of Hullaska Ridge.


And some zoomed in shots of the summit.




The snow had not consolidated. We were breaking trail
through the mank.
janzalo heading up the ridge from Timberline Camp.


Snow Mountain. That place is huge! It's almost time...


We got to the Summit Woods and found tracks of the Hull Bear.


It's common to see bear tracks coming up one side
of the mountain and going down the other side.


One of 3 couloirs dropping down Hullaska Ridge.


Summit shots.




Lassen's looking good.


There was no way to save the day.
Everything was unskiable. The surprising thing
was even the north side was rollerballing.

They were getting bigger as they went...
Must've been some crazy inversion that just
cooked the snow all night.
That doesn't usually happen.

So we headed back. janzalo had to work at 5pm anyways,
so we couldn't jib for too long.

Things were a little slow.
Video 1
http://www.vholdr.com/node/79996

Still haven't made any turns. Just trying to get moving.
Video 2
http://www.vholdr.com/node/79988

Video 3
http://www.vholdr.com/node/79985

Video 4
http://www.vholdr.com/node/79983

Video 5
http://www.vholdr.com/node/79973

Soooo...yeah. That was about it. Not real exciting, but it's always
good to be at Hull!
:D

It was so warm that day, that most of our skin track had melted
and there was hardly any snow on the road driving back.
Driving down Boardman Ridge starting at Camp I
http://www.vholdr.com/node/79932

And of course, can't leave before snapping some pics
from the top of Elk Mountain.

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Was up at Hull yesterday, May 5. Drove up
Tue. afternoon. Camped out just below
Timberline Camp.

A view of Lake Pillsbury from camp


Snow Mountain


Hiked up a few minutes to skinnable snow
and made it to the summit in 1.5 hours.
Very windy and cold. Perfect!
Even the snow down by the Jeep was frozen in the morning.

On top of Sundream Bowl looking
down Boardman Ridge to the lake.


Summit view looking east towards
Hullafar Bowl.


Four Corners- top of Hullafar Bowl,
Grey Bowl, Hullaska Ridge, Hullbacks,
and the south side-
looking back to the summit


The Rock Chutes from Four Corners


Very confusing standing there. So many options...
I decided to drop The Shaft.

http://www.vholdr.com/video/shaft-hull-may-5-10

Pretty firm.

I booted my way up to the top of the Hully Gullies.
Looking back at The Shaft.


I dropped my gear and hiked down a bit
to look at the Hully Gullies.
Being south facing and not affected
by the wind, they were too soft and manky.
I figured the east facing
Outta Bounds Bowl would be shot as well.

Should have gone back to The Shaft, but I didn't want
the Home Run down Boardman to get too manky.
So I made my way back to the summit.

http://www.vholdr.com/node/85524

Checking out the drifts on the summit ridge.
They were frozen, so no worries about them collapsing.

http://www.vholdr.com/node/85525

Summit views.

http://www.vholdr.com/node/85527

And the Home Run down Boardman Ridge
The snow was excellent. Even got a few
drift jibs on the way down.

http://www.vholdr.com/node/85529

The ruts on the road were even deeper
from the recent rains. Decided to film the
crux section. Check out the dudes vehicle.
:shock:
Not sure how he got even that far.

http://www.vholdr.com/node/85548

Once down at the lake found the elk.
They were chillin' in the flowers.




Hull from Elk Mountain on the way out.


Still good skiing to be had up there.

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Cold and snow for Monday and Tuesday for Boardman about where you've videotaped the road ruts:
http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.ph ... &map.y=193
but warming fast after that for a while

Headed up to Hull with janzalo. We were about to lose a bunch of sleep...

My Jeep was in the shop and I didn't think
I was going to get a ride to Hull. So I agreed to leave with
janzalo after he got off from his dinner shift.
:roll:
As it turned out, I got the Jeep back earlier than I thought.
So we took my Jeep and left my house around 1am.
Good thing we brought the Jeep - 'cause we would have been
tortured with a 3 hour hike from the Deep Ruts.
Navigated the rough road up Boardman in the dark and
made it to Timberline Camp.

I tried dozens of times to get a good picture of the moon rising
just before sunrise.


We were skinning just before sunrise.
janzalo heading up above the West Butte


Snow Mountain at sunrise


janzalo sleep-skinning


Headed into the Summit Woods


Lake Pillsbury still sleeping under a blanket of fog.


The snow had melted off the last part of the ridge to the top.
http://www.vholdr.com/node/86867

We decided to leave the skis on the packs and avoid
skiing/skinning the bullet-proof ice on our way to Hullafar Bowl.
Looking back to the summit and down Meteor Bowl and the drifted
eastern flanks of Hullotta Love Ridge.
http://www.vholdr.com/node/86866

Views down the Hullbacks and towards Hullafar.
http://www.vholdr.com/node/86865
The snow was softening up fast. So we skied the rest of the ridge.

Made it to the far side of Hullafar Bowl along the ridge and dropped into
OB Bowl. Outta Bounds Bowl.
This bowl faces east and goes quick this time of year.
Timing is everything. If you descend too far, it'll take too
long to get back out and your next run will be mank.

OB Bowl.
http://www.vholdr.com/video/ob-outta-bo ... ay-12-10-7

The corn was absolutely perfect! It's a steep skin out of there.
janzalo opted to boot out, I skinned out.
While I waited for janzalo to top out, I went over to the Hully Gullies.
These are south facing lines.
Another run of perfect corn.
http://www.vholdr.com/video/hully-gulli ... ay-12-10-8



The line I chose was too narrow and steep for skinning, so I booted my way up.
Stuck to the dry ground and manzaineered my way back to the top
just as janzalo wandered by. Perfect timing!

I was going to check out The Shaft, but was too exhausted.
My attempts at napping the day before in preparation for our all-nighter
were denied. I was starting to hallucinate.

So we headed back to the summit along the ridge.
Where's my Jeep?


Got back to the summit and collapsed. I seriously thought about sleeping up there...

The Home Run was fun. A little manky in spots, but we were able to keep our speed up.
We took our time. Listen to the birds singing. Absolutely gorgeous day!
http://www.vholdr.com/node/86841

Got down to the lake and found the elk watching over the little ones.




And looking back to Hull from the top of Elk Mountain.

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Headed up to Hull one last time. Picked up slimjib from Clearlake
on Tuesday afternoon. We were hoping the cloud cover would
save the corn for us.
Not many picture opportunities on this trip, so it's mostly a video TR.

I was hoping to make it to the West Butte in the Jeep.

http://www.vholdr.com/video/hull-june-2-10-8

Decided to drive back down a bit to Timberline Camp.

http://www.vholdr.com/video/hull-june-2-10-7

slimjib unloading the Jeep.


Still tons of snow on Snow Mountain


Soon we were set up.


slimjib brought up some steaks and I had vegies from the garden
which we cooked up. They went well with all the beers and the wine.
Stayed up way too late. :roll:

We ended up crashing out around 2:30 am. Woke up at 5:30,
broke camp and drove back up towards the West Butte.
Made it through the snow this time
and parked just before the West Butte.
Excellent cloud cover on this day.
We would have been so screwed if it had been clear!

We summited and headed out towards Hullafar Bowl.

http://www.vholdr.com/video/hull-june-2-10-5

High winds coming from the west. We could see some of the upper
clouds through the local fog. Just enough visibility to ski.

http://www.vholdr.com/video/hull-june-2-10-4

We made it out to Hullafar and dropped The Shaft. Well, I did.
slimjib dropped in early.

http://www.vholdr.com/video/hull-june-2-10-3

I thought about climbing back up and doing it again, but changed my mind. Couldn't see anything, but wanted to ski The Rock Chutes.
So we topped out by OB Bowl and skied down the ridge aways to
see how The Rock Chutes were holding up.
Got a few visuals through the fog and found them to be melted out.
They do face west. Oh well. OB Bowl was buried deep still,
but was way too manky. Couldn't see anything anyways.
We were pretty tired. Only three hours of sleep and way too many beers.
So we headed back.
Drizzly and windy conditions all day. The snow had not frozen the night
before, but wasn't too bad. The cloud cover saved what sloppy corn was left.

The ski down Boardman back to West Butte was crap. Trying to find our way in the fog and getting blocked by all the dry spots.

But if was fun. Glad to finally meet you slimjib! We'll make it up there again next year.

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Very nice to have the videos, I've pointed to them on the Sonoma Wings thread for the hang glider pilots who are headed up this weekend, they'll be very glad to have the info.

I'm going up with pick and shovel to see what I can do about some of the worst ruts, in advance of going up soon with a family camping carload. Some of the pilots are also bringing a few roadwork tools.

I called up to the Mendocino Forest office and they told me repair of the Hull road likely won't happen this year--they've got lots of roads in bad shape and even less money than they'd hoped for maintenance all over the Forest.

So it's volunteer time. I don't suppose any of y'all owns a road grader (grin).

Got up to Hull once again. Drove up on Sunday, Jan 16.

Hull from the top of Elk Mt. on the way in.


Drove up to Camp I.
http://www.vimeo.com/19129909

The road is fixed. Used to be some deep ruts in the road.
Turned around and camped at Camp I.






The holiday weekend brought up a lot of 4X4 enthusiasts.




Woke up the next morning. The crowds were gone.
Only the locals were wandering about.






It was pretty warm. Thought about driving farther up.
But decided I needed the exercise.
I ended up hiking past Camp II and on up to
the base of Timberline Camp before I was able to start skinning.
Took the drifted ridge up and to the summit.

Looking from the summit, south over Sundream Bowl
and down Boardman Ridge.
Lake Pillsbury shining.


Snow Mountain


Looking north.
Anthony Peak on the far left
Hammerhorn Mountain/Solomon Peak just behind
South Yolla Bolly (Mt. Linn) in the background - double peak
and Black Butte on the right.


Really warm with very thin snow cover.
http://www.vimeo.com/19134240

The next 2 months should put some more snow up there.
I'll be back!


:D

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Headed to Hull Wednesday morning.
Filling up the tank in Upper Lake, I caught sight
of patches of snow in the hills above town.
Elk Mountain was a blast! Super muddy.
:D
Still some snow up top.
Hull from the summit of Elk Mountain.
The lake was covered in fog.


Excellent snow level/coverage


Snow in the woods before Boardman.
By the time I got to the north facing section, there were
deep ruts in the snow to the mud below.

Snow on the road to Camp I.
http://www.youtube.com/user/MrJibmstr?f ... Jdne7K0Xtw


I skinned through the woods avoiding the jeep ruts.
Nobody had gotten very far past Camp I.
Virgin snow, unmolested by the 4x4's started about
10 minutes up the road.

Got to the summit 2 hours later.
Skinning the last 5 minutes to the top.
http://www.youtube.com/user/MrJibmstr?f ... FGh7JybQY4

The skiing was super smooth corn.
http://www.youtube.com/user/MrJibmstr?f ... RfTvKeQQo8

I skinned back up Porcupine Ridge to Boardman Ridge.

Looking up to the summit - Sundream Bowl dropping away


Looking out to Snow Mountain.
The bottom of Hullaska Ridge on bottom left
meets Rabbit Ridge bottom right.


In the picture above, if you look to the far right horizon,
you can see Cobb Mountain on the right
and Mt. St. Helena on the left.

Things were softening up fast.
I took the ridge on down.
http://www.youtube.com/user/MrJibmstr?f ... _1nenVB9_4

Looking up to Hullawest Ridge on the left,
the summit with the summit woods below
and the chute off of West Butte below that.
From the airstrip by the lake on the way out.




More wheelin' fun in the mud driving up Elk Mountain.
Snow Mountain from the top.






Hull

_________________
Coastal Crest Snow Patrol
http://www.zazzle.com/jibmaster
http://www.earnyourturns.com/3878/ccsp-guide-2-mendocino/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jibmaster/

Hi jibmaster, thanks for all the stoke and info!

FYI, most forums including this one won't let you embed videos because embedded video player technology breaks certain safety measures. We don't have control over how well you keep your password, and if anyone gained control over your user account here they could post videos that contained trojan or virus code that would get into innocent viewer's systems.

In the future we might be able to offer safe video embedding frames where a user could watch your video, but with it served from somewhere safe such as vimeo or youtube, and our board could simply check that the server address was a safe one. We'll look into it after making some of the more major changes we're working on.

Thanks!