June 8, 2008, Muir Snowfield and Sticky skis
6/8/08
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
1318
0
Headed out from Bothell @ 530 am on Sunday. Arrived at Paradise around 730am with partly cloudy skies.
Not many skiers, with the majority of the population being snowshoe folks (so sad).
We encountered a nice unbreakable crust in the morning hours. Snowshoe folks were breaking through, but we were able to skin on top and not break through. Pan point was a little struggle, but held an edge well as we traversed up.
Dozens upon dozens of Tacoma Mountaineers and others were camped in the vicinity as well as on the slope practicing ice axe arrest. When we arrived at the top, we made a decision to hit pan point before it corned up.
We skinned back up and scouted the Chutes, but a natural release about halfway down on skiers right made us think of an alternative plan.
We skinned up to about 8,000 feet and basked in the sun and had lunch around 11 am. De skinned and thought out our line. Unfortunately, I ran into an issue I had never encountered before. After peeling off my skins, about half of the adhesive stuck to the ski. After trying everything, I would up sking down with glue on my skis in some mank.
The clouds started to rise and we began our descent
We hit hard skiers left over Pan Point and hit the slope near Edith Basin
Below Pan Point was total mank, and I had to stay in the track line just to keep momentum. Near the bottom I had to steer away from some hikers and got both skis off track and wound up doing a double ejection along with a new BD pole break and severed the lower shaft and new powder basket. Never able to find the lower shaft......it's somewhere around there. Anyone find it?
More photos
Not many skiers, with the majority of the population being snowshoe folks (so sad).
We encountered a nice unbreakable crust in the morning hours. Snowshoe folks were breaking through, but we were able to skin on top and not break through. Pan point was a little struggle, but held an edge well as we traversed up.
Dozens upon dozens of Tacoma Mountaineers and others were camped in the vicinity as well as on the slope practicing ice axe arrest. When we arrived at the top, we made a decision to hit pan point before it corned up.
We skinned back up and scouted the Chutes, but a natural release about halfway down on skiers right made us think of an alternative plan.
We skinned up to about 8,000 feet and basked in the sun and had lunch around 11 am. De skinned and thought out our line. Unfortunately, I ran into an issue I had never encountered before. After peeling off my skins, about half of the adhesive stuck to the ski. After trying everything, I would up sking down with glue on my skis in some mank.
The clouds started to rise and we began our descent
We hit hard skiers left over Pan Point and hit the slope near Edith Basin
Below Pan Point was total mank, and I had to stay in the track line just to keep momentum. Near the bottom I had to steer away from some hikers and got both skis off track and wound up doing a double ejection along with a new BD pole break and severed the lower shaft and new powder basket. Never able to find the lower shaft......it's somewhere around there. Anyone find it?
More photos
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