June 21, 2008, Paradise Glacier via Muir

Where did the "partly sunny" go?  It was interesting the descend this route in a high snow year.  The ascent was routine with continuous snow to Pan Point but then a brief carry just above the bathrooms at Pan.  Sustained 20-25 MPH south winds on the upper snow field "blew us up" but has us thankful for the public shelter at Muir.  Met up with scottrx and his split-board buddy, headed to Nisq. chutes. With my new-found companion Dennis from Idaho, we skied down un-tracked snow surrounding Anvil, and then dropped into the Paradise just below Anvil rock.  It was necessary to end-run one major crevasse on the steepest roll where it is a little convex.  We knew we were on the right track when a party of 4 having lunch appeared immediately below us.  The "flats" seemed flatter this time, especially as there was a brief rain shower.  There were some very impressive avy debris paths coming down from the western margins of the lower Paradise, with a lot of embedded rocks and mud and snow features 12-18 inches high in the jumble-fields.  We finished via the SW-facing slopes of Mazama ridge, hitting the road at the "U".    More snow than last year May 25 skiing this route.  A few pictures at http://www.flickr.com/photos/koelle/