Cascadia/WA Pow Farming ‘23/‘24

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Originally Posted by S_jenks

This demands a new thread then, no?

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Not at pass level. Was not skied switch to the road. does not qualify.



The last time i was looking at getting skis mounted was back in 2017ish probably, and $60-$70 was pretty SOP from what i remember. Thats what made me start doing it in my garage. So with inflation taken into account, $60 seems like its a pretty good deal these days. If i was mounting QK into skis, i would also have a trusted shop do it because i wouldnt trust myself to do it perfectly with my harbor freight cordless drill.

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Originally Posted by SirVicSmasher

75 bucks holy fuck that's half the price of a jig

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Haha. You aren’t buying factory jigs for $150 and you sure aren’t buying an ATK factory jig for anywhere close to that.

I’m happy to help anyone that wants to learn to do it themselves but at $60 it’s probably not worth your time to F around with a paper template and do it at home.

Plus I’m testing all of the bindings with my binding tester. It’s actually surprising how many bindings test high.

Doing a tech mount is a lot trickier than a standard mount. I've done 4 or 5 tech mounts and there's always some amount of cursing and faff. If I end up getting one of those nice 3d-printed jigs, it would change things.

Bindings aren't rocket science. Of the dozens of skis mounted with jigs, paper templates off this forum, or homemade paper stencils using the binding footprint, they're all doable. Just takes a little thinking occasionally.

I care about my shit too much to pay shops to hide spinners and misdrills under my bindings.

Mount your own f'ing skis!




PS: tech binders or otherwise aren't any tougher. Just different processes. Hone your craft, dudes.

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Originally Posted by kamtron

Doing a tech mount is a lot trickier than a standard mount. I've done 4 or 5 tech mounts and there's always some amount of cursing and faff. If I end up getting one of those nice 3d-printed jigs, it would change things.

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I have one of the nice 3D printed jigs for ATK if you’re ever tempted to roll your own.

FWIW, I would trust Gunder to do a good job on any mount. He’s a meticulous professional at everything else I’ve seen him do, I expect ski mounts are the same.

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Originally Posted by Jason4

I have one of the nice 3D printed jigs for ATK if you’re ever tempted to roll your own.

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Sick, I know where to find you ;-)

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Originally Posted by californiagrown

The last time i was looking at getting skis mounted was back in 2017ish probably, and $60-$70 was pretty SOP from what i remember. Thats what made me start doing it in my garage. So with inflation taken into account, $60 seems like it's a pretty good deal these days. If i was mounting QK into skis, i would also have a trusted shop do it because i wouldnt trust myself to do it perfectly with my harbor freight cordless drill.

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I'm trying to make it as affordable as possible for people. I charge an extra $75 for a QK (binding Freedom) Mount but that includes all of the custom screws for the bindings. I wouldn't dream of doing those without drilling / tapping through the jig as they have to be more precise than a standard mount since its machine threads.

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Originally Posted by kamtron

Doing a tech mount is a lot trickier than a standard mount. I've done 4 or 5 tech mounts and there's always some amount of cursing and faff. If I end up getting one of those nice 3d-printed jigs, it would change things.

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It is the exact same process, but the forward pressure is more critical. Also, there is some inconsistency with the tec fittings being molded into the boots. So I like to torque the heel piece down and then let the toe's float to find the proper alignment then torque them down. That doesn't work with bindings that use counter sunk toe screws these days, such as ATK, so if the inserts are miss aligned you have to deal with it.

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Originally Posted by NW_SKIER

Bindings aren't rocket science. Of the dozens of skis mounted with jigs, paper templates off this forum, or homemade paper stencils using the binding footprint, they're all doable. Just takes a little thinking occasionally.

I care about my shit too much to pay shops to hide spinners and misdrills under my bindings.

Mount your own f'ing skis!

PS: tech binders or otherwise aren't any tougher. Just different processes. Hone your craft, dudes.

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You wont find me hiding any spinners or miss drills. Factory jigs and Fesstool drills, and torque limiting screw drivers make everything more precise. Most people don't know the spec for alpine screws is 4NM and I have a torque limiting driver set to it. Plus most shops dont properly countersink the holes to prevent volcanoing of them too. It's not rocket science, but the proper technique and tools, and especially factory jigs make it all go better and more accurate. Not to mention testing the release values with a proper binding tester. I'm a big fan for people mounting their own skis. I've also seen a shit ton of people F'up there home brew mounts too.

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Originally Posted by Jason4

I have one of the nice 3D printed jigs for ATK if you’re ever tempted to roll your own.

FWIW, I would trust Gunder to do a good job on any mount. He’s a meticulous professional at everything else I’ve seen him do, I expect ski mounts are the same.

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Thanks. I try to do the best In everything I do. Thats the curse of being a perfectionist at heart. The ATK factory jig is by far the nicest one ever made and way more accurate than anything 3D printed or even any of the other factory jigs. Anything but a factory jig is going to add some margin for error, as none of the non factory jigs are as secure or as accurate when mounted on a ski.

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Originally Posted by Gunder

Haha. You aren’t buying factory jigs for $150 and you sure aren’t buying an ATK factory jig for anywhere close to that.

I’m happy to help anyone that wants to learn to do it themselves but at $60 it’s probably not worth your time to F around with a paper template and do it at home.

Plus I’m testing all of the bindings with my binding tester. It’s actually surprising how many bindings test high.

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I literally bought my look jig new from look for 150 bucks

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Bro, first rule of fight club….

In other news, 1k vert of shallow turns were made at the windy hill today. I wish they were mine.

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Originally Posted by jackattack

Bro, first rule of fight club….

In other news, 1k vert of shallow turns were made at the windy hill today. I wish they were mine.

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If the dumpage keeps up through tomorrow I might be tempted to have a go on Sunday...

Me thinks some young steers need to mosey round a bit & git some packin done, drive a few tracks, investigate the sketch. Very soon after, and, with some more freshies, my old carcass will make the appropriate rounds (and turns). I'll pay for that burger on Tuesday thank you! :smile:

Several people have reported getting turns at Rainier and Crystal on the PNW BC facebook group. Pretty much everyone says it's quite sharky still. I think I'll wait until next weekend

I skied the Bagley zone on Friday--lots of sharks and some unstable surface snow (i.e., all half a meter of the pack sliding to the ground on slabs and rolls), but also a decent turn or two in there
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Yeah, got my first turns of the season yesterday off the Baker highway, and they were quite deep!
Hockey stop faceshot with my undergunned 88 rock skis:
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I can't really ski anymore as my right knee is beyond repair so I came here for some stoke. I'm sad y'all haven't started the new thread! Get to it friends and happy shredding.

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Originally Posted by Zeedashbo

I can't really ski anymore as my right knee is beyond repair so I came here for some stoke. I'm sad y'all haven't started the new thread! Get to it friends and happy shredding.

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Noooo! Sad to hear that ZBo. I hope you got good use out of the Lhasas I helped you get back after they were stolen.

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Originally Posted by Zeedashbo

I can't really ski anymore as my right knee is beyond repair so I came here for some stoke. I'm sad y'all haven't started the new thread! Get to it friends and happy shredding.

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Fuck dude. Sorry mang. Crazy they can’t repair it with all the new tech that’s available.


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I don't think I could put a proper thread start together from my phone but ill move this over when it's up.

Lots of happy folks out in silver basin today. Minimal rock hits.Attachment 504936Attachment 504937

^^ Beaut. Picking around for seconds today.
Re: Thread, I'm predicting pass-level turns by next weekend. Tough going below 5k still. At least in the southern and central zones...

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This whole time I thought the North Bend shuttle was a joke, but it actually exists:
https://www.valleyrecord.com/business/north-bend-company-shuttles-riders-from-seattle-to-the-slopes/

^Nice pics. Looking forward to a new thread soon.

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Originally Posted by Huskier

^^ Beaut. Picking around for seconds today.
Re: Thread, I'm predicting pass-level turns by next weekend. Tough going below 5k still. At least in the southern and central zones...

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Same for Wa Pass, pretty boney. At least the DOT closed it last night so you can’t get there if you wanted to.
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Originally Posted by Bronco

Same for Wa Pass, pretty boney. At least the DOT closed it last night so you can’t get there if you wanted to.
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Yeah, there’s really only a couple places that the rocks aren’t monsterous, or the run is smooth enough that early season works out.

Feel like all these shots from crystal yesterday should be counting…

Does heather meadows count as pass level? Easily made turns from car (4100’) to car today…

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Originally Posted by TripleT

Feel like all these shots from crystal yesterday should be counting…

Does heather meadows count as pass level? Easily made turns from car (4100’) to car today…

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Hot take maybe, but pass level is a lame "requirement". The spirit should really be about skiing substantially this year's snow, i.e. not some dust on a permanent snowfield.

Likewise crystal was skiable from the base yesterday.
IMO go for it!

The pics and footage from Crystal on Friday look like better conditions up high than we had until New Years last year

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Originally Posted by TripleT

Feel like all these shots from crystal yesterday should be counting…

Does heather meadows count as pass level? Easily made turns from car (4100’) to car today…

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The guideline is in place to prevent "I skied new snow on Muir in October" threads that just exacerbate angst and get subsequently buried.

Firmer guidance is clearly warranted:

How I see it, and others have seen it:
Pass level I think started off as THE pass, but with variable seasons and climate change, at this point this is too high of a bar

So which pass? I think it's fair to default to the highest permanently navigable pass in Washington (Sherman, 5575).

And the important part: On enough real snow to not fuck up yourself or your equipment. Bonus points if you can ski to the car.

To my eye, the bottom of Silver Basin lies at ~5500. Is that close enough? I think that's for the crowd to decide. The pics are definitely worthy.

(Also re: Crystal base skiable, I think as of yesterday morning that was generous. Today will be different)

And Re: Heather Meadows: post the pics and start us off then!

It's definitely late enough to avoid jinxing the season with premature threadulation.
Bonus if the new title does not contain the dreaded three letter acronym uttered by east koasters and kalifornians.

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Originally Posted by BaseFloopy

It's definitely late enough to avoid jinxing the season with premature threadulation.
Bonus if the new title does not contain the dreaded three letter acronym uttered by east koasters and kalifornians.

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Warrrrrrrrrrrshington

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Hey that's how my grandmother pronounced it, but I always thought it was the dentures talking.

Heather meadows nwac sensor shows 50" height of snow at 4200'. I have been away since Thursday and am a weekend warrior at the moment, unfortunately. Game on!

Hot damn, getting home just in time!


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A Lot completely full yesterday and today at Crystal, lots of skiing being done!

Conditions were better yesterday but it was starting to come down as we left around 1:30

Oh yeah, word on the street is crystal opening next weekend

I shredded out of Heather Meadows yesterday. I was gentle on my first lap but the last 4 were game on! The 2024/2025 season is has started for sure.

Hit Crystal yesterday, initially planned for just a few inbounds laps but ended up doing the Silver King bowl with probably 30 other people out there around the same time. Snow was primo for the top half of the run and got thick and bumpy lower down. It was nuking when I left, a few teenagers unfortunately overturned their car in the ditch down Crystal Mtn Blvd on the way out.

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Originally Posted by eSock

Oh yeah, word on the street is crystal opening next weekend

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Thanks for the intel. My fingers are crossed. Nice to see the gondola turning this morning on the cam. Getting things ready no doubt. It was also nice to see the ridgeline cam yesterday afternoon. Many hikers visible! What a start.

I guess I should've recon'd a little, but curious if there is a general opinion on how much snow snoqualmie area needs to poke around somewhat safely? I have some shitty touring gear I dont mind beating up, but I dont know how clean it is underneath what looks like a 10in base and dont want to catch a snake and ruin the season before thanksgiving.

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Originally Posted by Going Coastal

I guess I should've recon'd a little, but curious if there is a general opinion on how much snow snoqualmie area needs to poke around somewhat safely? I have some shitty touring gear I dont mind beating up, but I dont know how clean it is underneath what looks like a 10in base and dont want to catch a snake and ruin the season before thanksgiving.

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Usually if there's 1-2 ft of snow you can ski West or Central to get some fitness. Pineapple pass is often an ok choice although can be a bit technical getting up and down the Big Trees.

I’ve skied west with less than a foot. It’s mostly dirt. Creeks are what you need to watch out for.

Alpental in November is sketchy. Most of the time I regret my choice.


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Originally Posted by AK47bp

Alpental in November is sketchy. Most of the time I regret my choice.


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With an 8 inch base at Alpental mid, and pretty much dirt at the base a few days ago would lead me to either go real high, or leave it for a bit more snow...