Ski approach to Signal Ridge?

[mirabela]

Hi --

so, assuming decent cover, is it reasonable to suppose that a couple of competent but not brillliant nordic skiers on ordinary touring gear could make it in past the end of the Sawyer River Rd. to the where the climb actually starts (~1.7 mile in)? We'd love to do half of the 14 miles on skis, if we can.

Thanks!

 

[psmart]

It's an easy ski along Sawyer River Road, but its only about 2 miles to where the Signal Ridge Trail leaves the road. You can ski beyond that point along the road, but it doesn't give you any better access than the Signal Ridge trailhead at 2 miles.

 

[Becca M]

Hi --

so, assuming decent cover, is it reasonable to suppose that a couple of competent but not brillliant nordic skiers on ordinary touring gear could make it in past the end of the Sawyer River Rd. to the where the climb actually starts (~1.7 mile in)? We'd love to do half of the 14 miles on skis, if we can.

Thanks!

Several years ago (with good snow cover - not sure about now) I skied maybe under a mile up the actual trail before I gave up - some tough sections - and met a guy with really skinny skis who went maybe a half a mile further on even skinnier skis. I thought snowshoeing was just faster both up and down .

 

[peakbagger]

There is a logging road that starts west of the Signal Ridge trailhead that used to be used for ski access as it crosses the trail after the trail diverges from the brook but the last few times I have gone by, it looks quite grown in.

 

[JoeCedar]

The first half mile or so of the trail was relocated last summer. You now cross the bridge at the PA and go on the SW side of the brook, eliminating a rough crossing eroded by Irene. I don't know if that makes it easier or not.

 

[nartreb]

(edit: took me a while to realize you're not just talking about the road; you want to ski part of the trail too. I was confused by your reference to "the end" of Sawyer river road: since the road continues past the trailhead, I assume you meant the north end of the road.)

No idea what the snow cover's like this year, but in the past there have been lots of ski tracks on the road. It's a long, steady incline, no experience necessary but it could get a little tiring going southbound.

I don't recall much about the lower trail, and I haven't been on it since Irene, but my memory jibes with Becca's experience: you could do at least the first mile on skis, but you wouldn't gain anything by doing so.

 

[RoySwkr]

Of course some people ski all the way to the summit, but probably not on basic nordic gear

There is a logging road that starts west of the Signal Ridge trailhead that used to be used for ski access as it crosses the trail after the trail diverges from the brook but the last few times I have gone by, it looks quite grown in.

Carrigain Brook Rd - but it's like 1.6 mi farther up and harder to find in the uphill direction due to recent logging, although only the last part is grown in so much

The first half mile or so of the trail was relocated last summer. You now cross the bridge at the PA and go on the SW side of the brook, eliminating a rough crossing eroded by Irene. I don't know if that makes it easier or not.

As far as the Carrigain Notch Trail junction used to be an old woods road and somewhat skiable, have never seen the relo

 

[Snowflea]

Fifteen or so years ago a group of us skinny skied up to about a half mile beyond the Carrigain Notch Trail junction. So, about 9 total of the 14 mile round trip. Conditions were good: fresh powder and not a very well broken out trail (read: relatively easy to get into a snowplow), if I remember correctly. When the grade got to steep for us, we switched boots, put on snowshoes, and continued on to the summit.

I am definitely not a brilliant -- and a questionably competent -- nordic skier and managed to not break anything although I do remember some hilarious wipeouts. This approach entails carrying extra gear/weight, but it made for a fun and different way to climb Carrigain in winter.

Have also skied just the first and last 2 miles -- and hiked in my ski boots (mild weather day) -- just to break things up. Felt very nice to be gliding the last 2 miles rather than plodding...

 

[mirabela]

thanks, everyone. Gives me something to think about ...

 

[DougPaul]

One of my BC skiing guidebooks (Goodman, 1999) lists a loop which goes in via Norcross Pond and out via Carrigain Notch Tr, so the route was skiable as far as the junction with Signal Ridge Tr. at one time. I don't know what it is like now.

The route does not appear in the 2010 edition. However, the 2010 edition has fewer pages than the combined 1999 editions so it is possible that it was left out to save space.

Doug

 

[Becca M]

One of my BC skiing guidebooks (Goodman, 1999) lists a loop which goes in via Norcross Pond and out via Carrigain Notch Tr, so the route was skiable as far as the junction with Signal Ridge Tr. at one time. I don't know what it is like now.

The route does not appear in the 2010 edition. However, the 2010 edition has fewer pages than the combined 1999 editions so it is possible that it was left out to save space.

Doug

I've always pondered how that route up to Norcross Pond would be skiable even with massive amounts of snow... going up the (steep) falls area would be KILLER as well as the bogs/bog bridges/twists/turns in that trail. North of the ponds the trails flatten out but nowadays are blowdown hell (as of several years ago).

Of course, one could skin much of it on the skinny gear... BUT if you didn't have skins? YUCK!!!!!!

 

[Brambor]

Yeah, just to add minirant, last weekend I took skis up to Garfield. Goodman's books says you could do this without skins and most of the time let the run on the way down. Well...yeah I did it without skins but after about 5th herringbone I wished I had the skins on.
...and the trail was crusty and narrow with my long skis getting caught on roots and and muck that I had a few interesting downhill stops

Unless I encounter hero powder, next time I'm skinning to the top and locking my heels in an AT ski

 

[weatherman]

Probably 10 years ago, two friends and I skied from the Kanc to the trail (?Sawyer Pond Rd- was an old fire road as I recall) with the objectives of hitting the summer trail near the point where the Signal Ridge trail gets steeper, dropping the ski gear and switching to traditional winter gear, bagging Carrigain, then skiing out the lower part of the trail and Sawyer River Rd to a spotted car. It turned into quite the adventure, and we did not make the summit (though a big part of that was that the high for the day was about -10 F and it was windy).
Lessons learned: 0. The first mile or two was a real joy, and the stream crossing was not hard at the time. 1. That fire road on the way in is very, very overgrown the last mile or so and it took us forever- really a ski-whack. Do not attempt if you value forward progress. 2. The ski out on the bottom of the Signal Ridge Trail would be great in good conditions but a big rainstorm a couple weeks earlier had created giant ruts in the trail, which made skiing difficult at best. 3. The Sawyer River Rd itself is an awesome ski.

Enjoy!

 

[DougPaul]

I've always pondered how that route up to Norcross Pond would be skiable even with massive amounts of snow... going up the (steep) falls area would be KILLER as well as the bogs/bog bridges/twists/turns in that trail. North of the ponds the trails flatten out but nowadays are blowdown hell (as of several years ago).

I skied it in Feb 2005. I tried to sidestep the steeps near the falls, but ended up walking them. (Goodman's book also suggests walking these parts--he wasn't fooling...) There were also some difficult steep spots above the falls area. IIRC they involved some struggle even with skins.

I considered exiting via Carrigain Notch, but it was too late and I turned back (at the outlet of Norcross Pond).

Of course, one could skin much of it on the skinny gear... BUT if you didn't have skins? YUCK!!!!!!

I advise that one take skins...

FWIW, I used metal-edged BC skis (65/54/60 mm).

Doug

 

[mirabela]

Fun to hear all the stories here. My daughter and I are hoping to finish our 48 on Carrigain before winter is out. If we do skis at all, I'll be on some fairly burly metal edged bc touring skis (87/70/78), but she's on conventional skinny touring gear, so consider that the limiting factor. I'd love to be able to ski the road part and the leg of the trail up as far as the junction. I guess I'll just keep watching the weather & conditions reports and we'll either try it or we won't!

 

[DougPaul]

Yeah, just to add minirant, last weekend I took skis up to Garfield. Goodman's books says you could do this without skins and most of the time let the run on the way down. Well...yeah I did it without skins but after about 5th herringbone I wished I had the skins on.
...and the trail was crusty and narrow with my long skis getting caught on roots and and muck that I had a few interesting downhill stops

I have skied it several times without using skins for the ascent. The first time was in the late '70s on wood skis--the descent involved a number of "voluntary sitz brakes", particularly just before the switchback turns... (Didn't have any skins back then.)

When snow conditions are good, it isn't too hard to make the ascent with waxable skis* without skins--there are only a few short sections that require herringboning. In poorer conditions, skins certainly make the climb easier.

* (For those of you who are not familiar with waxed skis, waxed skis both grip and glide better in good snow conditions than no-wax skis.)

Unless I encounter hero powder, next time I'm skinning to the top and locking my heels in an AT ski

For my more recent ascents, I've been more likely to use the skins on the upper part of the descent than on the ascent. And I wait for good snow conditions--otherwise the descent is too fast for my taste.

The old trailhead is better for skiing than the new one, but it requires a possibly difficult stream crossing.

Doug

 

[DougPaul]

Fun to hear all the stories here. My daughter and I are hoping to finish our 48 on Carrigain before winter is out. If we do skis at all, I'll be on some fairly burly metal edged bc touring skis (87/70/78), but she's on conventional skinny touring gear, so consider that the limiting factor. I'd love to be able to ski the road part and the leg of the trail up as far as the junction. I guess I'll just keep watching the weather & conditions reports and we'll either try it or we won't!

The road is snowmobiled so it should be pretty easy to ski, even on light-weight track skis.

Doug

 

[Becca M]

Yeah, just to add minirant, last weekend I took skis up to Garfield. Goodman's books says you could do this without skins and most of the time let the run on the way down. Well...yeah I did it without skins but after about 5th herringbone I wished I had the skins on.
...and the trail was crusty and narrow with my long skis getting caught on roots and and muck that I had a few interesting downhill stops

Unless I encounter hero powder, next time I'm skinning to the top and locking my heels in an AT ski

Heck, I cannot imagine going up that trail without skins... that's another reason why, although I LOVE Goodman's books as a good overview, I really don't find them very realistic... I've skinned *down* Garfield Ridge Trail - I'm thinking that trail has grown in - I didn't find any room for turns.

 

[David Metsky]

Goodman is a very good skier, so you might need to adjust your expectations based on what he considers difficult. I used skins going up Garfield but I could see climbing it with just wax if conditions were good. Except for the the top the climb is very reasonable. Also the descent on light tele gear was pretty easy once you get past the upper steep sections. It's not quite "let 'em run" but we managed quite a bit of that.