Mar 22, 2009: Celebrate Mt Rainier skiing 100 yrs

Excellent choice of route ! Scenic ,historic and safe. Ive emailed all the Tacoma Skiers and offered my antique gear up to any users.

Optional route if needed could be up to Glacier vista east to Edith basin then ski down back to Lodge. Very gentle and maybe shorter.

Bring tweesers for splinter removal !

Lowell - one other thought. If you know of any cool photos with identifiable geography we could do a re-enactment. Garth

I was thinking of following the road from the parking lot to the head of Paradise Valley and, if weather and snow conditions are okay, maybe climbing to the Stevens-Van Trump memorial, which should provide a bit of a viewpoint. This seems like a pretty avalanche safe route, but we'll see. If any Paradise regulars have other suggestions, I'm all ears.

There are a couple small slide paths above the first half mile that reach the unplowed Valley Road on rare occasions.  I've never seen evidence of slide activity on the lowest angle slope used by the summer trail on the west side of Mazama Ridge.  NWS revised their forecast this evening for an inch of new and cooler temps on Sunday.  Should be decent waxing conditions.  Most modern XC skiers with pattern bases end up side-stepping much of the climb, but it's possible to make a low-angle uptrack with enough kick turns.

I'm in awe of the 1909 party climbing from Longmire with just a single staff, skins or not.  Since the road was not yet built, they may have followed the east bank of Paradise River between Narada & Sluskin Falls.  Amazing to think of them descending the Paradise River trail below Narada (a stock drive at that time) dragging & pivoting on that unwieldy pole...

I like the photo re-creation idea.  The Longmire Inn would be the easiest.  Several of the others look to be in Longmire Meadow across the road

heck yes a re-enactment could be done right in front of the Longmire Inn of the photo at the start of the thread (?)

heck yes a re-enactment could be done right in front of the Longmire Inn of the photo at the start of the thread (?)

I agree. I'd love to get a photo that mimics the one at the top of this thread. If the gate is closed when we get there at 9:30 am, that would be a good opportunity. Or perhaps we should try to get there a little ahead of time? (Be warned that the Skoog family can be hard to get moving in the morning.) 

Does anybody know if there's a reason (like a "keep off the grass" sign) why we couldn't re-shoot that photo?

I'm in awe of the 1909 party climbing from Longmire with just a single staff, skins or not.  Since the road was not yet built, they may have followed the east bank of Paradise River between Narada & Sluskin Falls.  Amazing to think of them descending the Paradise River trail below Narada (a stock drive at that time) dragging & pivoting on that unwieldy pole...

Yes. And I don't think they had skins either.

Reading the Roberts article carefully, it sounds like they followed a horse/foot trail up the Paradise River, then intersected the "government wagon road" above Narada falls. Here's the relevant paragraph:

Two divisions of our party made the ascent to Paradise Valley. The first group consisted of three men, including the writer.  We followed the general course of the horse-trail, but made frequent cut-offs by crossing Paradise River on the snow bridges.  The only toilsome part of the journey was at Narada Falls, where we were forced to navigate our skis sidewise, in crab fashion, up the steep slope.  Half a mile farther upstream, on the second bridge of the government wagon road, the snow measured more than two ski-lengths in depth, at least fourteen feet, without a sign of drifting. 

So the road actually existed (under construction) but it wasn't yet up to automotive standards. Here are some notes from my ski history project website:

www.alpenglow.org/ski-history/notes/book...tml#catton-1996-p117

p. 117: The road to Paradise was surveyed in 1903 and built between 1904 and 1910. In 1907, the road was completed from the park entrance to Longmire Springs, and the first automobiles were permitted in the park. In 1908, the road was opened to Nisqually Glacier--the first road in the U.S., it was said, to reach a glacier. In 1909, it was completed to within a few miles of Paradise Park, and in 1910 the last stretch above Narada Falls was built. President Taft received the honor of being pulled to the top in a horse-drawn automobile in October 1911. A car reached Paradise under its own power in 1912, but the road was so narrow above Narada Falls that it was not opened to cars generally until 1915.

I think winter parties on foot took the more direct route up the Paradise River long after the road was built. It wasn't until they started plowing the road in winter that skiers used it (in their cars) to get to Paradise.

I suggest continuing to plan on 930 at Longmire just for continuity? and since it we aren't planning a big tour day?

also I will bring some extra bamboo ski "staffs" at least for the photo. I have a bunch from my yard.

I suggest continuing to plan on 930 at Longmire just for continuity? and since it we aren't planning a big tour day?

Yes, 9:30 a.m. at Longmire.

Sweet Garth! I'd love to try one of those bamboo bad boys...

Just to wrap up this thread, here's a cross-link to the March 22, 2009 trip report:

www.turns-all-year.com/skiing_snowboardi...ex.php?topic=12785.0

Here's a few more pics and an online article (a bit late) but it's up. Thanks again Lowell.