Hauling a heavy wide load
up the trail | 
Hiking through the jungle
on the Glacier Basin trail | 
Looking up Glacier Basin
toward the toe of Inter Glacier |
Chris and Tom prepare to
boot up in Glacier Basin | 
ÊBeginning of the snow
in upper Glacier Basin | 
Looking for a place to cross
Inter Fork to the snow |
Skinning up the lower part
of Inter Glacier | 
Skinning Inter Glacier, looking
up toward Steamboat Prow | 
Looking down Inter Glacier
from near the top |
Crevasses on the
Winthrop Glacier | 
Upper Emmons-
Winthrop Glacier | 
Close up of
Emmons-Winthrop Glacier |
Wildflower at the tip
of Steamboat Prow | 
Little Tahoma and Emmons
Glacier from Steamboat Prow | 
Tom starts down dirty snow
at the top of Inter Glacier |
Chris skiing near the
top of Inter Glacier | 
Tom and Chris skiing near
the top of Inter Glacier | 
Chris |
Tom telemark skiing on Inter Glacier | 
Tom | 
Chris randonnee skiing on Interglacier |
Chris randonnee skiing on Inter Glacier | 
Tom | 
Charles telemark skiing on Interglacier |
Glacier lillies (Erythronium
grandiflorum) in Glacier Basin | 
Fryingpan Creek, a
tributary of White River | 
Colored algae patterns and
rock along Fryingpan Creek |
Photos by Chris Willis and Charles Eldridge
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Backcountry skiing trip report:
July 6, 2006, Inter Glacier backcountry skiing, telemark and randonnee, Steamboat Prow, Mt. Rainier National Park, Washington
Tomski, in his 322nd consecutive month of skiing, is out from Colorado on his annual PWN volcano tour. I met him at his White River campground site to ski Inter Glacier, and we were joined by Chris "Scotsman". Overcast and some drizzle made the hike to Glacier Basin pleasant, and there we started to experience the "Emmons Miracle", the giant sucker hole in the lee of Rainier. We had a sporting crossing of Inter Fork and started skinning not too far above the camp site area. Lots of ski tracks on Inter Glacier now, and a surprising number of crevasses showing - a few large ones and more just opening up. Above the steep lower part of the glacier was a just-opened crevasse which sounded like it had a river running in it. By the time we reached Steamboat Prow, the lenticular on Rainier's summit had disappeared and the weather was very pleasant. A sea of clouds over the lowlands, with clouds still pushing up into Glacier Basin and lower Inter Glacier. The skiing down was generally good. Dirty, firm, and tracked right at the top, then nicely softened all the way to near the bottom of the glacier. We stayed skier's left to avoid the mass of ski tracks, which in some places had become fairly raised above the dirtier snow surface. Back into the fog entering Glacier Basin and for the hike back. I was a little disappointed overall in the snow given that it is early July in a good snow year, but I think that Inter Glacier is still worth skiing - for a little while anyway.
Charles |
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