July 9, 2008, - Mt. St. Helens Worm Flows
7/9/08
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
4274
2
The synopsis: Lots of snow down low, discontinuous skinning begins at ~3100'. ~4k continuous line possible from near the summit. Tomski is burly. Great weather and very good skiing.
Bryce G. and I continued his backcountry journey with a trip to Loowit. After dancing the discombobulated gyrations necessary to secure a permit (why can't Lone Fir just sell permits?!), we got an alpine start a little after the crack of noon. T'was warm, but the clear weather made up for it. We greeted a pleased Tomski near the bottom of his descent from the rim. We raced the sun to the top, hoping to evade icy conditions on the down. The crater is really pretty.
Slightly slow, but smooth, corn greeted us as we descended out of the ashen snow. A continuous line down the main drainage made for aesthetic skiing. Bryce sensibly opted out of some of the more technical chutes at the base, while I reveled in the chance to mix the sensations of whitewater and steeper snow. Interesting avy debris dominated the exit. I followed Tomski's line to the first big waterfall. It's impressive what a good skier can do in leather boots. The sunset was good.
Bryce G. and I continued his backcountry journey with a trip to Loowit. After dancing the discombobulated gyrations necessary to secure a permit (why can't Lone Fir just sell permits?!), we got an alpine start a little after the crack of noon. T'was warm, but the clear weather made up for it. We greeted a pleased Tomski near the bottom of his descent from the rim. We raced the sun to the top, hoping to evade icy conditions on the down. The crater is really pretty.
Slightly slow, but smooth, corn greeted us as we descended out of the ashen snow. A continuous line down the main drainage made for aesthetic skiing. Bryce sensibly opted out of some of the more technical chutes at the base, while I reveled in the chance to mix the sensations of whitewater and steeper snow. Interesting avy debris dominated the exit. I followed Tomski's line to the first big waterfall. It's impressive what a good skier can do in leather boots. The sunset was good.
Nice report - surprising how well the snow has stuck around up there! Any sense if it would still be good for a few more days? Also, how was the monitor ridge route looking?
author=DG link=topic=10618.msg43184#msg43184 date=1215802688]
Nice report - surprising how well the snow has stuck around up there! Any sense if it would still be good for a few more days? Also, how was the monitor ridge route looking?
I fully suspect that you'd be able to get 2500+' for a while yet. I'd be cautious about getting stuck in the sheer-walled section of the canyon if things melt back much more. If Monitor Ridge is the ridge directly to the W of the Worm Flows (we'd not planned to be there, so we were sans topo), then much of the route is skiable, though some of the ridge tops are not. The upper mountain to the W of that ridge looked significantly more bare. Tomski reported respectable amounts of snow on the road in to the climber's bivy.
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