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

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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!

These are models, not observations -- if you go up and take a yardstick, they might be glad to hear from you!

Sorry about the long URL, I don't know how to shorten it and still zoom in on Hull. Map option chosen here is "shallow snow depth" -- this link:

http://www.nohrsc.noaa.gov/interactive/ ... &js=1&uc=0

The page offers many other options; for deep snow amounts, water content, temperature.

Yeah - I've seen that.
This is cool too -
http://www.nohrsc.noaa.gov/earth/

Was up there last week. Your property, hank, had 3-4 feet of snow.


Some action up there lately:

http://lakeconews.com/index2.php?option ... 1&id=18910

Search And Rescue was called in to find these guys during the big storm last week or so.

I drove in last Tuesday. Expected very low snow levels. Found them.

I took the Potter Valley way in. Drove past the lake and on up to Boardman. About 3 miles past the lake the snow started.
The snow got deep real quick. About .5 mile below Boardman the road became completely covered in snow.
Knowing the difference between hiking/skinning and winching the Jeep, I stopped the vehicle and started hiking up the jeep ruts.
I had drove in and was planning on exploring my options and skiing the next day.
I hiked up about 15 minutes to the bottom of Boardman,
Cabbage Patch/where the M6 starts/the Game Refuge...

OK - I decided to drive back to the lake and camp out.

It's been a funky year here in the Coast Range.
Only been to Hull a few times this year.

Camped out at the lake. Woke up early - not early enough.
Wednesday was WARM.
I was screwed.

5-6 hours to the summit from the Jeep.
I drove up and stopped at the first signs of having to possibly
winch the Jeep around.

The S&R folks/locals had put in some impressive tracks in the snow.
I decided the last 15 minutes of hiking was more worth the effort than winching the Jeep around all day.
I walked to the bottom of Boardman.
Found the spot where the lost hikers had put the vehicle...

Put my skins on and started the jib.

The locals had punched in the road quite a way up Boardman.
By the time I reached Camp I, I had been skinning for about 4 hours.

The snow was death sugar.

I was following the road. I tried to stay in the center.
The jeep ruts were filled in with loose sugar.

I slipped into the woods along side the road. My fat boards would glide into the snow and swallow me whole up to my waist in loose, granular sugar snow.

I jibbed on. For about another hour.
As I gazed at the upper mountain, the trees where glowing green and the heat was coming on.
Just before Timberline Camp I gave up.
I was too late. I should have started skinning around midnight.

I decided to cut my losses and ski on down Boardman before the snow got too slow.
5 hours of skinning turned into 1.5 hours of skating/gliding down the road
back to the Jeep.

The upper mountain didn't look all that deep. Probably blew it all to the east side with all the high winds. Seemed like more snow depth down lower than at the top.

Sorry no pics or movies this time.
The next month will be interesting in the Coast Range...

By the way- found a glove where the S&R took place. If it's yours - PM/email me and I'll get it back to you.

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Was up at Hull this past Tuesday.
Really good corn. Breezy conditions and cold.
Patches of snow started a few miles below Camp I.
By the time I got to Camp I, the road was totally covered.
Parked the Jeep and started on up.
Back to the corn that Hull is famous for. Excellent skinning conditions.
The snow down by the Jeep was still frozen solid at 9am (4500').

Made it to the top in 2 hours.






Didn't stay too long. I really gotta get some more sleep...
Took a run down Boardman.

http://www.vimeo.com/22429918

Saw the elk by the lake on the way out.


Not sure how long the snow will last up there.
Not many deep drifts. The snow wasn't deep for
any length of time this year, which helps to form super deep
drifts on the east facing aspects.


It always feels good to be back home.


:D

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One of these days this thread will go to page 3...
Sorry for the long upload.
Google Chrome allows me to upload in 45 seconds.
-just sayin'.

Anyways - found excellent approach conditions yesterday.

Hull from Elk Mountain.


Drove to just below Camp II. Right by the sled hill.

http://www.youtube.com/user/MrJibmstr?f ... O-_ETXKgy8

Spent the next 30 minutes digging the Jeep out.
Glad I wasn't here yesterday. The snow was super slush down
by the Jeep. The sun from the day before would not have allowed
much corn past sunrise.
The clouds on this day would help save the snow.

I hiked up to just below Timberline Camp.
Started skinning up the south facing road.
I soon found out I was not the first one on the mountain.

Fresh bear tracks


Looks like a small one. I wanted to catch a glimpse of this tiny bear.
I got the feeling I was being watched. I jibbed on.

Once on the summit ridge I decided to drop Sundream Bowl.
The ridge was still firm from the west winds. The bowl looked like it
might be a bit punchy.
I thought I'd better check it out.

http://www.youtube.com/user/MrJibmstr?f ... smnB8H32RM

The snow got a bit manky down in the bowl, out of the wind.
I had traversed onto Porcupine Ridge. I put the skis on the
pack and booted my way back up to Boardman Ridge.
The snow was better on the ridge. Thought about hitting up
the West Face, but it was pretty melted out.


The rain kept holding off.
Snow Mountain was swallowed up in clouds. Things were
warming up.
Decided to take advantage of the firmer snow
on the ridge and skied on down to the Jeep.
The snow was a bit slow, but it was good to be here.

http://www.youtube.com/user/MrJibmstr?f ... QCZx30tNbg

The elk were chillin' down by the lake.









It's been an up and down season for Hull this year.
Looking to ski Hull one last time for this season next week.


May 1st the gates are open at other Coast Range mountains.
The snow has melted off some of the longer approaches.
Just hope this cold weather stays for awhile.

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Headed up to Hull yesterday, April 26.
Nice alpine start. Left the house at 2am.
Met Wade at the Soda Creek Store at 5am.
Almost hit an elk down by the lake in the dark.
We drove up and found excellent road conditions.
Sailed through the drift of last week and parked the vehicles
just below Timberline Camp.

Sunrise


Got to skinnable snow in 5 minutes.
The drift up the ridge was still connected, so we made it up to the summit
woods with ease.

Looking up Boardman Ridge. The rain had smoothed out the snow.


Wade jibbing up the ridge






The last pitch to the summit was melted out, so we booted
our way to the top.

Looking east towards Hullafar Bowl. The Hullbacks are to the left.


Snow Mountain


Looking north - Anthony Peak(foreground) on the left
with the long ridge partly melted out
Hammerhorn Mountain/Yolla Bolly Wilderness on the right(background)


Fuzzy shot of South Yolla Bolly (Mt. Linn)


Lassen


Everything was frozen solid. Strong north breezes were
keeping our corn window for later.
We jibbed on out the ridge to Hullafar Bowl.
Hopefully, OB Bowl would provide some corn.

Saw lots of melted cornices. One large chunk had slid all the way
down OB Bowl.
We stuck to the ridge.
The top was corning up, but it was icy.

http://www.youtube.com/user/MrJibmstr?f ... L-cQWy5bWg

Firm, but fun. We booted back up and headed back to the summit.
We were right on time!

Super smooth corn turns down Sundream Bowl

http://www.youtube.com/user/MrJibmstr?f ... ZNhCTFIQE4

After traversing out to Porcupine Ridge, we booted
back up to Boardman Ridge and got another run.

http://www.youtube.com/user/MrJibmstr?f ... 43d640tNw8

Wanting to hit the ridge before the snow got too slow,
we headed back.

http://www.youtube.com/user/MrJibmstr?f ... Ti0Suv-wRM

The elk were still down by the lake on the way out.





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




Nice to jib with you bro! Glad to get you up there for some good corn!
Still plenty of turns to be had without much of an approach.
A good time to go if you've never been...

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Went to Hull with Brent (jibmaster) This is my first trip here but it won't be my last. It ended up being a beautiful day with perfect corn. Thanks Brent for sharing your special spot!

early start



booting up to the snow



Covelo fogged in



Rime ice



heading to Out of Bounds Bowl



The hike back up Out of Bounds Bowl



the obligatory summit shot



perfect corn in Sundream bowl


Depending on the weather I may go back on Sunday

WOW! Thanx for re-doing this thread! The pictures are really zoomed in and big now.
I"ll make sure to make them a bit smaller from now on.
But much easier to browse. Thanx!

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You're welcome, Jib. I'm sorry it took so long. Yeah everything around here loads a lot faster now.

awesome. thx for reformatting Eric

Jib was probably gonna post this but I'll beat him to it. He just did an article on Mendocino Ski Tours.

Check it.

http://www.earnyourturns.com/3878/ccsp- ... mendocino/

Nice one. Looks like it's getting real.
The "shallow snow depth" gives more detail:
http://www.nohrsc.noaa.gov/interactive/ ... &js=1&uc=0
(change the date and redraw the map)

Ssh - quiet Hank. Don't say a word. Every time this year I've even thought of
threatening to go up there, the weather screws me. What a strange year.
Been skiing at Hull since 1996 - seen almost every weather combo, this year is a first.
(What the Hull?!)

But your right, this does look promising. The snow levels look to be staying low enough
for the next few days.
play with the time slider
http://www.snow-forecast.com/maps/dynamic/ncal

This one is fun.
http://www.nohrsc.noaa.gov/earth/

While up there on March 6, I ran into a guy from the CDEC. He was trying
to fix the new weather/snow station they just put up there.
:D
It's still not working, but I'm sure they'll fix it.
http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/queryF?HUL
It's located right at Windy Gap.

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I'm afraid our Forester isn't going to get us up the road to our usual camp a week from now, but I'll watch closely.

Many thanks for the new CDEC link, I hope they get it working.

Boardman Ridge is closed for the winter. New rules. The Forest Service has started
a seasonal closure of Boardman Ridge. Closed December 1st - opens May 1.
:roll:
There is another way in. :D
Was there last week. Working on the TR.

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Found a way in that leads to Hullaska Ridge.
http://www.earnyourturns.com/10341/hull-mt-11apr12/

Forest Road 19N50 is a main road that takes off of the M6. A different approach was refreshing.
A bit of bushwacking never hurt anybody!

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Hullaska Ridge cuts across the skyline and rises to the summit ridge in the middle.
The Hully Gullies can be seen on the right.

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Was up at Hull last week.
http://www.earnyourturns.com/10748/tr-hull-mt-18apr12/
Been having fun with the new entrance to the mountain. A bit of bushwacking never hurt anyone.
It was a very short ski season for Hull this year. Didn't head up there 'till late March.
The month of April provided deep enough snow to grab some spring turns. However, other Coastal opportunities come into shape in May.
My 17th season at Hull was a short one, but the route finding for another entrance kept me entertained.
Here are a few shots from my last couple trips in April.

From the parking spot on FR19N50 @ 4800' the top of Hull can be seen peaking out above Horse Peak.
From L to R -
the top of Hullaska Ridge-left of center- with Grey Bowl dropping off the top.
The Hully Gullies in the middle
and OB Bowl dropping off on the right.


This is the direct route from my parking spot on FR19N50


With more snow, other options will become available.

janzalo enjoying the bushwacking up the ridge proper


Looking up Hullaska Ridge just before the top


Same spot looking to the right (east) over Grey Bowl.
The Hully Gullies can just be seen right before the mountain curves around to OB Bowl.


The elk down by Lake Pillsbury. Hullawest Ridge (middle) and the summit (R)


Looking down Hullaska Ridge. Follow the ridge all the way down and to the left to Horse Peak
Skiers left off the top drops into Grey Bowl/Skiers right drops into Meteor Bowl


From the saddle above Horse Peak. Looking up to Hullaska Ridge coming in from the left.
The Hully Gullies on the right.
OB Bowl dropping off on the right skyline.


It was a very short season at Hull, but a fun one.
As always, the full collection of photos can be viewed on my Flickr page.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jibmaster/

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My trip with snowblasta back on March 28 has been posted.
Check out http://www.earnyourturns.com/9984/hull-mountain-mar12/

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Decided to drive up to Hull for Christmas Day with snowblasta.
Not much snow over Elk Mt.
Started snowing heavily when we got to Lake Pillsbury.




Found the snow started accumulating just above the lake
at 2000'. Attempted the drive up to the Hullaska Ridge entrance.
Turned around.
Deep snow on narrow, muddy roads with a cliff on one side.
We weren't getting anywhere near Hullaska Ridge with the Jeep.
So we drove down and back to Boardman Ridge.
There was no sign saying the road was closed.
The drive up was exciting.
Trying to stay in the jeep ruts and out of the woods.
The road on the north-facing section was deep.
Too deep.
We had to Jeep going sideways at times, trying to get up the road.
Finally got stuck in about two feet of snow.
One hour and 5 picks with the winch got us turned around.
We drove down to the open spot just before the north
facing section and skied up from there.
It was puking snow.

We had started out late in the first place.
We figured we wouldn't get too far on a storm day.
By noon, we were skiing up the road.
Made it to Camp I.











The ski back down the road was fast.
Lots of accumulation during our 2 hour jib.
Still puking huge, fat globs of wet, dense Coastal snow.

We drove back over Elk Mt.
Barely made it.
Several inches of snow on the road
as low as half-way down the switchbacks.

It was great to be back at Hull. Even though it was just a road jib.
Plenty of snow!

30 days off in my future - starting next week...

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Part II Jan. 10-12:

After the clutch was repaired, we headed to Hull.
Hull Mt. from Elk Mt. on the way in.




We were headed for the Penny Pines TH.
At the base of Hullaska Ridge.
The road was still icy down by the bridge.
We jibbed in the Jeep to just about 4000'.
And set up camp at the first major snowfield.






We set up camp for the night and settled in.


The next morning, we set out to get our jib on.


I have not been at this TH before to experience the long approach from down low.
We were about to find out.
It took us 2 hours to ski up the road to my camp spot of last year.


A look at the summit ridge from the viewpoint at 4848'
Where I camped out last year.


Zoomed in view of the summit from the viewpoint


Zoomed in view of the top of Hullaska Ridge from the viewpoint


Looking north, Black Butte


We took it back down to the Jeep.
Camped out and went up the next day.

Now I know.
I've never come from down low on this route.
It was nice to know how long it takes for the approach.

The next morning, we skied up the road. Back to the viewpoint.
About half-an-hour past there, we took off up from the road.
Put the skins on and headed for Horse Peak.
Horse Peak is a name I've given to the top of Horse Ridge, as named on the topo.


Looking up from the road to the Horse Peak.
Skin to the top of Horse Peak, but just off to the left.


Looking back to the viewpoint from the pass at Horse Peak.
Sheetiron, St. John and Snow Mt. (L>R)


The viewpoint at 4848'


Looking up to the upper mountain from Horse Peak Pass.
Summit on the left. The ridge we are on will lead to the base of Hullaska Ridge(middle).
The Hully Gullies to the right.


Grey Bowl coming off the Hullaska Ridge peak.


The Hully Gullies - Hullafar Bowl directly behind.


Looking across to Timberline Camp on Boardman Ridge


The view from Horse Peak, across Boardman Ridge(Camp II area) to Lake Pillsbury


snowblasta with Snow Mt. in the background at the Horse Peak Pass.


The snow was frozen solid and it was freezing cold. We skied down from there.
Video edit from the trip.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9P4AG_jomw

After investigating the low-snow approach from the Penny Pine TH,
we were determined to come back next week and nail it.

Saw the elk by the lake on the way out


Hull from Elk Mt. on the way out


For the complete list of pics from this trip:
http://www.flickr.com/search/?w=1174439 ... %2C%202013

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Part III

Headed back to Hull on Friday, Jan. 18.
From the top of Elk Mt. on the way in


Down by the lake


There was still snow on Elk Mt. A ton of snow on the road
after we crossed into the Game Refuge on the M6.
We drove to the same spot. Penny Pines TH.

After setting up the tents, we kicked back and cooked up.


Shortly after dark, we hear a vehicle approaching.
Two vehicles pull up and four guys pop out.
Ready to jib.

Turns out they read my invite on Ttips and decided to represent.
Meet the newest members of the Coastal Crest Snow Patrol.
Ian (Mr. Cordova), Steve, Seth and Joe.
Nice meeting you guys!

More food and stories into the night and then we crashed out.
We awoke Saturday morning and prepared to get our jib on.
Ian rises from the dead




By 9am, we were off and jibbing.
We probably could have driven up the road a bit more,
but we had a pretty sweet camp spot.
The road was melted out in spots as we cruised up.
Ian had some Dynafit bindings, Seth had his splitboard,
while Steve and Joe where core enough to jib
on their resort gear.

After awhile, the snow patches started connecting on the road.
Seth busted out his skins, Joe continued booting it
and incredibly, Steve scooched, skated, sidestepped and jibbed his way
up the road locked into his resort bindings.

Still two miles to the viewpoint. I gotta name that spot...
Shortly after, the road winds it's way under Horse Peak.
Off the road and up the slope we go. Time to cover up the scales with skins.
About an hour from the viewpoint, we arrive at Horse Peak Pass.

L to R
Steve, Seth and Ian


snowblasta always has to color coordinate his boots and skis.
Grey Bowl directly behind him with Hullaska Ridge snaking up.


It was sunny and warm, but the snow was staying firm.
Time for me to bust out my sun hat.


Water was becoming an issue. So was my hangover.
With frozen water all around us, stuffing it into our water bottles seemed
logical. The snow in the water bottles melted slowly.
I moved even slower.

We jibbed our way up from Horse Peak Pass to the base of Hullaska Ridge.
The corn window had come and gone, but the top of the ridge was still soft -ish...
After 5 hours of jibbing from the vehicles and one hour from
the Pass, snowblasta tops out first. I was about 30 minutes behind.
Ian arrived at the top second, and while waiting for the rest of us, decided
to bag the summit of Hull Mt.


Nice job dude!

Steve arrived shortly after I did and Ian returned from the summit.
It was time to ski!
I made two videos this time.

From my helmet cam
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxzXh2rb8Lo

snowblasta's helmet cam
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4I_sfjuEvo

We caught up with Seth and Joe on the way.

The snow was better than I thought in spots and simply pure ice in others.
But it's a nice long run. And no jeep ruts to fight on the way down the road.

It took about an hour to ski down to the vehicles.
The newest members of the CCSP jibbed off after a while. They were on a mission.
While snowblasta and I stayed one more night.


It was great to meet you guys! Glad you showed up.

I like the new TH. Gonna have to do it again.
Maybe tomorrow...

Full set of pics:

http://www.flickr.com/search/?w=1174439 ... %2C%202013

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