Home > Trip Reports > November 30, 2003, Paradise, MRNP

November 30, 2003, Paradise, MRNP

11/30/03
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
53498
11
Posted by ron j on 12/2/03 2:25am
It looked like a "Usual Suspects" convention as we pulled into the lot at Paradise:  Robie had a full load with Dorothea, Ken and Roger.  Charles was driving for Silas and Matthaeus.  Just to give credit where credit is due, on the way up Charles was kind enough to do "speed blocker" runs through Eatonville to save us all from getting tickets (and taking one for the team for his efforts!).  Thanks, Charles.  You're a true team player.  I left my wheels at Narada and rode up to Paradise with Darryl and Maureen in hopes that there might be a final run to Narada from Paradise... but as it turned out it would have scored WAY too many torture points to be fun.
As others have pointed out, the snow at the parking lot was a, cement hard and heavily boot tracked, rain crust that was causing a lot of eye-rolling, "what am I doing here" looks, but we all bucked up and headed up the hill bunched in our little "car groups", with goretex and straps a-flutter in semi-howling winds; each with a secret plan to flush out the goods.
30 minutes out of Paradise you could see the little groups huddled all over the mountain, heads together like horses in a hailstorm, "holding court" to reassess "the plan" as the winds increased as they climbed.
Our plan, too, got rethunk, mainly 'cause the weightiest one of the bunch (um, yeah, that would be me) started breaking through the crust as we got higher.  With me having just barely enough experience to know that skiing with the old boards under the crust elevates the torture point scale to a level that shorts out my fun meter & makes me wish for the car, I had and intense need to avoid those conditions.
After a brief palaver we concluded that we had a good chance of avoiding the dreaded breakables on either south facing (Edith/PV) aspects, of which we could see, or the nearby west facing moraine slopes, which we couldn't.  With the south facing also soaking up sun on the bluebird but windy day we figured there might also be some corning action there (which turned out to be the case as Charles and Silas reported back at the parking lot later).  West facing, on the other hand might have less wind (wind was out of the ENE) and was closer, not to mention, can usually be counted on to be fairly well wind packed.  Being lazy, we chose the west facing first (back to the bird in the hand theory again) and found just what we wanted:  A bombproof silky smooth skiable surface.  
Opting out of the usual exploratory snowpit 'cause Maureen forgot to bring her D-9 with ripper teeth, we rigged for silent running (yeahright) for our first run.
Before we made it down our first run (like about here:

Stefan, who slept in and didn't even LEAVE Seattle until after eight, caught up with us.  What an animal.  He's just peeking his head over those rocks above Maureen and Darryl.  In fact he took a pretty cool shot from up there looking down the slope; see the link below.
We had so much fun we did a few more laps on that run then skied out the moraine trail and down corkscrew for a round about way to miss all the frozen boot tracks on our way back to the car.
For no freshies, an outstanding day.
More pics at:
http://groups.msn.com/WildHeartsSkiing/paradise113003.msnw
Thanks, Ron.  Nice photos.  Unfortunately, whenever I look I hear the scritching sound of metal edges skidding on steep crust.  It's kind've disconcerting.


Yes, cool photos, Ron and Stefan. The lighting is great with the cool shady and warm sunny slopes together. It looks like some of the turns must have been quiet? Not a quiet as our little corn field, however.  ;)

How many times have I driven through that speed trap and remembered to stay slow even when the surroundings say "speed up"? The one time I forget, there's the man. I think Silas is partly to blame, as he had engaged me in a stimulating discussion of the culinary delights of the Tall Timbers. With all of the dough I'm going to pump into the Eatonville economy, I guess I'll plan on not "eaton" in Eatonville for a while - don't want to get the place over-stimulated.

With all of the skiers and boarders out there (we know how they drive), there must be some collective wisdom about how to fight this. I don't think I'd be able to convince the judge that I wasn't actually speeding, but with my impeccable driving record (one speeding ticket about 30 years ago), I'm thinking of the beg-for-mercy-and-penalty-reduction approach. One of my passengers is actually quite experienced in this field and suggested that simply showing up for a "mitigation hearing" would likely cut the fine in half. Anyone else have recent experience or other suggestions?  

You mean you really weren't doing a blocker run for us  ???

I have another suggestion and it requires no attorneys.  When you show up for your hearing claim deferred finding.  You will know since the judge will offer this to everyone before the docket starts.  Anyway this is to speed things up.  You'll be amazed how fast your outta there!  Everybody gets 1 every 7 years so if you have no priors, which it sounds like no, your okay.  Basically what a deferred finding means is that you admit that you were speeding or whatever and promise to stay out of trouble for the probation period.  In return it stays off your record and all you have to pay is the court fee.  When probation has been completed and assuming you don't get another ticket your in the clear.  However I must warn you that if you get another ticket within the probation period you must pay the fine from the old ticket plus the new and more court fees.  If you need more help just let me know.  There are so many loop holes in the system.  Just gotta know how to work it.  

Anyway if you want to keep your deferred finding, like I did, this is what I did.  I got an HOV violation in King County.  I knew the county was booked so I filed for discovery (police report) just before the 2 week dead line before your hearing.  They have 2 weeks to get it to you.  If they don't the case gets thrown out on technicality.  From there the prosecutors have 90 days to refile the charges.  Well I had to wait 3 months for my court date so no chance with that.  Just make sure to do your research, research, and research or shell out around $250 (going rate now a days).  Just ask yourself how important is a clean driving record to you?  For me really important.

Charles, I think you better hire snoslut  ???

Ron, I think you are right!

snoslut, thanks for all of the info - I will look into this deferred finding. What I'm not sure about is at what point this deferred finding choice comes into play. I've got this ticket in my wallet and 15 days (from last Sunday) to decide which of the three boxes to check:
1 - admit guilt and pay in full now
2 - admit guilt but request a mitigation hearing
3 - deny guilt and request a court date

So do I check #2 and then the deferred finding choice comes up at the mitigation hearing, or check #3 and it comes up in that court date?

You never want to admit guilt.  Wait for your day in court to decide that.  Check box # 3 - deny guilt and request a court date.  Make sure to make copies of everything.  Also have you decided on an attorney or not.  There are benefits for having a lawyer around especially in this case.  Eatonville is a real small town.  Couldn't hurt to call.

I did, last year, just what Snoslut has suggested since I was issued a ticket in a small town too just 1 week before Christmas.  Hired an attorney, checked box #3 went to court got the defered prosecution paid $100.00 for court fees (since the town was in the red) and did not have the infraction on the driving record, which was a good thing since we had just switched car insurance two days prior to the ticket.  Check your PM, I put some aditional information there for you.  And yes, VERY important, make copies of everything.

congrats Ron, you made us locals proud with your photo on telemark tips today! 8)

Thanks for the kind words and recognition, Silas.  :)

Nice, Ron! A good "mood" shot that really conveys the feeling of bc skiing, even if there wasn't much "fluff".

Thank you, Mad_Dog and snoslut, your info has been very helpful. I haven't quite figured out what to start copying yet (so far the only document I have to copy is the original ticket), but I'm sure I will do so along the way. I talked to my auto insurance agent today, and got some reassuring news. Since I'm a "preferred" client, having been with them many years and never had a ticket or accident, a ticket on my record won't affect my insurance at all. That means I don't really have to fight the ticket, but I think I will anyway. I'll cause as much trouble as I can - it'll be an adventure! Hell no - I mean, no sir, judge - I wasn't speeding! This town moves so slow it just seemed like I was!

snoslut, I'm not sure I understand the various steps you mention, or at least their timing. Would you be willing to talk to me by phone about this? If so, I can PM you with my phone #, or you can PM me with yours. I don't think I will get a lawyer, but I will try to learn how to be as devious as one (oops, sorry if there are any skierlawyers out there).

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november-30-2003-paradise-mrnp-2
ron j
2003-12-02 10:25:56