June 12, 2008, Mt Ruth

Fantastic snow conditions. Smooth and clean white. Best I've seen on Ruth in June. Above 7K, a lot of really interesting firnspiegel. It had formed at a radiative level that was often just above the rest of the snow surface. It was almost like you were looking at snow under glass, or through a sheet of clear water.

Directly under the Ruth summit there were some spots that were a little more windscalloped but other than that section it was all good snow and you could pick your line. I took one lap down the NE bowl that leads into dogleg chute, stopping where you have to start angling right, Best corn I've skied since Shasta last year. Skinned up and original intention was to go down the ridge route because I knew the dogleg itself had slid and was clinkery. But that slope down was so good I had to do it again, even if it meant ending up in the dogleg. The clinkers skied about as good as slide debris can, actually. It was even starting to firm up just a bit in the shade, which was good because I didn't really want it to slide any more. Even the snow lower down nearing Glacier Basin bottom was silky albeit a little sticky, had to hold speed.


Dogleg chute from Glacier Basin

Great weather all day. Not too hot, occasional wind helped. Long ranging views to Stuart and Glacier Pk. About 6 the wind came up, sometimes picking up little spikes of firnspiegel and tossing them like feathers. Lenticular started to form, but later in evening when I saw from road didn't seem to have grown much. (Coming in, I had passed several climbing parties on trail; all had been turned back by strong winds this morning.)


Light shining off firnspeigel on Inter Glacier, click here for larger image

Crack o noon start from White River led to nice evening light for my runs.


Nice light on 3rd Burroughs

Managed to get a little coasting on skis down the trail part on the way back, to as far as where the rusty dragbucket is lying by the trail. Trail itself is in good shape and easy walking even when snowcovered lots of big guided parties have packed it well down.