Re: Dryer "Glacier" (Mt Hood)
Posted: August 4th, 2017, 8:02 pm
Very cool to see the info on Pittock and Dryer Glaciers, those are perfectly named IMHO. Little did I know (their names), but I was up on both of them a couple weeks ago.
Tom, as a former ski racer who trained on the Palmer Glacier at summer ski camp in high school I must correct your salting assumption as the opposite effect is the desire. The application of salt melts just the top layer in the morning when it's applied when it's still cold, then as it melts and the salt is dissipated, it re-freezes into a much harder, icier surface. When you ski on it, it's like a sheet of corrugated ice. This is important for not only keeping the skiing viable as the day warms, but even more so for ski racing where you have repeated skiers hammering with force into each turn around the gates on the course.
I'm not going to defend its use, but I would be interested to see something that scientifically/statistically proves that it has a bad effect. I'm not saying it doesn't, but I'm not ready to say it does either.
I know for a fact that they still use it as I was up there last weekend hiking up and over Mississippi Head and they had salt stacked at the top of the ski runs. At the end of my hike back at the lodge they were hauling pallets of salt around with a big ole John Deere front loader with forks. And lastly I know this as my best friend sells them their salt!
As an avid skier, I ski Heather and Clark Canyons in the winter off the side of Mt Hood Meadows and it's some of the most magical in-bounds terrain around.
Great info...I'm committing those glaciers to memory for sure!
Mike
Tom, as a former ski racer who trained on the Palmer Glacier at summer ski camp in high school I must correct your salting assumption as the opposite effect is the desire. The application of salt melts just the top layer in the morning when it's applied when it's still cold, then as it melts and the salt is dissipated, it re-freezes into a much harder, icier surface. When you ski on it, it's like a sheet of corrugated ice. This is important for not only keeping the skiing viable as the day warms, but even more so for ski racing where you have repeated skiers hammering with force into each turn around the gates on the course.
I'm not going to defend its use, but I would be interested to see something that scientifically/statistically proves that it has a bad effect. I'm not saying it doesn't, but I'm not ready to say it does either.
I know for a fact that they still use it as I was up there last weekend hiking up and over Mississippi Head and they had salt stacked at the top of the ski runs. At the end of my hike back at the lodge they were hauling pallets of salt around with a big ole John Deere front loader with forks. And lastly I know this as my best friend sells them their salt!
As an avid skier, I ski Heather and Clark Canyons in the winter off the side of Mt Hood Meadows and it's some of the most magical in-bounds terrain around.
Great info...I'm committing those glaciers to memory for sure!
Mike