2011 Tour Divide

[Marshal]

For the racers and TD fans who felt our terrible loss last year, here are some stories about Dave's ride. http://teamkaker.com/david-bloomenthal/

Nice letter--thanks

[elobeck]

Divide snow:

Here in Steamboat Springs-Still cold and accumulating snow with a new record beating one set in the 60's for snow depth and overall water content. We have had a solid week of snow. The ski mountain is still fully covered and could open back up tomorrow. If it doesn't warm up soon...

However.... That Elkford cam posted earlier appears to show progressively diminishing snow. Any firsthand reports from Montana or Canada? Wyoming? Is Union Pass going to be a snow trudge? Opinions? Thoughts? I'm expecting North Facing/shaded slopes to be covered more so than in years past. "Snowtel" only "tells" me so much.....  Has anyone been to Red Meadow Lakes? Union Pass? I know there is over a month to go, but...

Erik

[6thElement]

[rfutah]

Route Updates:
Ordered up sections 1 and 6, and cue sheets, today from ACA.  Their best info says that both have route changes.  Best of cyclin to all.
Robert

[caseygreene]

Route Updates:
Ordered up sections 1 and 6, Their best info says that both have route changes.

Section 1 does not have any major route changes

[caseygreene]

Maps are in. Order em up.

[rfutah]

Thanks Casey,  Think I'll use the extra as an emergency poncho. 

[6thElement]

Maps are in. Order em up.

Maps and some other goodies ordered

[bmike-vt]

For the racers and TD fans who felt our terrible loss last year, here are some stories about Dave's ride. http://teamkaker.com/david-bloomenthal/

forest, great post. i only met dave a few times here in VT and can say that the world is missing out with him gone.

might want to change the name though - its spelled blumenthal.

[forest_on_bike]

forest, great post. i only met dave a few times here in VT and can say that the world is missing out with him gone.

might want to change the name though - its spelled blumenthal.

Damn - I'm an idiot! Thanks for pointing that out. Correction made.

[bmike-vt]

 

didn't want to come off as a spell / grammar police.
enjoyed your video too. except that scene with your bike leaning against the wall...

[Christopher R. Bennett]

Is there any curren list available of bike shops along the route?

[KootenayB]

Any Canada firsthand snow updates?, Erik asked.  Here's the interesting news.

That Elkford pic is deceiving.  Snow in the Elk Valley bottom roads is starting to get scarse or is gone, if the road was occasionally plowed in the winter or is south facing.  Otherwise, it is a near record snowpack for this time of year.  Sorry to say, the actual snowpack is either stable or increasing at altitude (~1800 m).  Ski hill is still perfect with no bare areas showing (>4m base). Has snowed every day this week in Fernie, but not really accumulating on the ground in the valley bottoms at least.  Above ~1300 m, it looks like it is sticking.  It is really sad actually, at least from a biking perspective.

Now for some good news, in the south country (similar conditions to Eureka) the snow is basically gone and even the singletrack is good now.  Unfortunately, the TD route only visits this country for about 30-40 miles before climbing back up again.  But who knows, maybe there will be lots of melting soon?

[Jeff Tomassetti]

Above ~1300 m, it looks like it is sticking.  It is really sad actually, at least from a biking perspective.

I'm bringing the bread bags for my feet

[trebor]

need waypoint data for each Subway prior to each snowy pass.........

[6thElement]

For those who are used to the narratives, I'm sure it's something simple but what do the star line prefixes mean on the old narratives now an H on the 2011 versions?

[Nathan Jones]

For anyone who's interested, here's postal info as of current as of 4/28/11.  These are for the pickup windows only.

300 North Harris Street, Helena, MT (406) 443-3304 mf 8-6 sat 9-12 1.7 miles off route
701 Dewey Boulevard, Butte, MT (406) 494-2107 18002758777 8:30-5mf sat 9-1Pm 1.3 miles off route
65209 Mt Highway 43, MT (WISE RIVER) mf 8-12 1-145 sat 815 945
700 Peat Street, Lima, MT (406) 276-3515 mf 8 - 1 and 1:30 - 4:00 sat 9:30 10:45
413 Pine St, Pinedale, WY (307) 367-2650 mf 8:45 -4:45 sat 9-11
106 5th Street, Rawlins, WY (307) 324-3521 mf 8 - 5 sat 9-12
200 Lincoln Avenue, Steamboat Spgs, CO (970) 870-3001 8:30 - 5 mf sat 9-12
500 Lake Dillon Drive, Dillon, CO (970) 513-8282 mf 9-5 SAT 10-12:30
305 South Ridge Street, Breckenridge, CO (970) 547-0347 mf 8-5 sat 10-1
310 D Street, Salida, CO (719) 539-2548 mf 7:30 - 5 sat 8:30 - 12
590 Columbia Avenue, Del Norte, CO (719) 657-3155 mf 9-4:30 sat 9-12
4 Palvadera Road, Abiquiu, NM 5056854460 mf 6-5:30 sat 6-10
6358 Main Street, Cuba, NM 87013 (575) 289-3426 mf 8 - 4:30 sat 10-11:30

[BobM]

For those who are used to the narratives, I'm sure it's something simple but what do the star line prefixes mean on the old narratives now an H on the 2011 versions?

Those should be the turns, although some of the minor turns do not have the annotation.

[6thElement]

Thanks Bob.

[threepin]

Regarding snowpack,
In the NW Montana region i would say the snowtels give a good picture. Valley bottom snow is mostly gone though at 4000-4500 ft there is an abrupt transition to way above normal. The moisture content of what fell this year was above normal and i suspect that the pack would melt slower due to packing into ice on any of the route that sees heavy snowmachine travel- basically from hwy 93 to the upper end of whitefish lake.
Right now at the base of our ski hill facing south the base is about 6 ft


Comparing it to 2008 - the recent previous wet year

stahl peak-(6030) similar in elevation and close to galton pass though probably a bit wetter
in march 2008 SWE went from 33.8 to 39.2 in april 2008 it rose from 39.2 to 43.3 in may 2008 it dropped 43.3 to 35.2
3/2011 37.3 rose to 47.1     4/2011 47.1 rose to 58.8 (snowing now)

Grave creek same area at 4300 ft  in  3/2008   rose from 16.5 to 18.8     4/2008 dropped from 18.8 to 18.0   5/2008 dropped from 18.0 to 0 (5/27)

so obviously right now we sit with way more on the ground than 2008 and given the genera climate forecasts (which have been correct this winter for our area) of may being colder than normal and wetter than normal that probably coverage will exceed that year. A lot of the melting occurs in those last 4 weeks though