October 18, 2008, Muir Snowfield
10/18/08
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
2756
4
Snowtroll and I headed up Saturday morning to get our October turns in. Burst through the clouds just below Paradise to catch a few glimpses of the mountain and were on th trail by 9:30. The cloud level continued to rise with us finally clearing at about 7200'. We made a short detour to visit a friend before heading up the snowfield. Snow was firm but there looked to be hope as the sun was warming things. We decided to break for lunch at about noon at about 8600' feet and while waiting for things to warm up did a little beacon practice. We saw a skier and snowboarder come down just above us and to our delight - it didn't sound like ice! So we packed up and headed up to 9300' where the snow became very wind affected and bullet proof. The ride down was quite enjoyable (slushy corn) and we were able to get to just above Pebble Creek with one short carry. The trip down from Pebble Creek to Paradise was in the clouds - a lot of disappointed visitors who were unable to see the mountain in her full glory. An "Overload" burger and fries at Scale Burgers completed a beautiful fall day...now bring on the powder!!
Thanks for the TR. Sounds like wednesday might be a good day to head out.
Also does anyone know about the avalanche potential on the paradise to muir route i.e. leaving aside obvious areas around panorama point and the glacier facing slopes? Looking at the number of people on that trail I was wondering if theres ever been any incidents.
Also does anyone know about the avalanche potential on the paradise to muir route i.e. leaving aside obvious areas around panorama point and the glacier facing slopes? Looking at the number of people on that trail I was wondering if theres ever been any incidents.
Thanks for the good snow rpt. I'll let ya know if we get some before you guys do (Sierra - Tahoe) area.
Are you talking about avalanches in the existing snowpack or in snow that might fall in the near future? There will certainly be some avalanching if there is a sufficient quantity of new snow. If just a bit of snow falls, then maybe it's important to figure out if, recently, crust or other unfriendly elements formed at or near the snow surface. ( Future instabilities often form in exposed snow. ) You can't easily produce a forecast of the type you request without very specific information for a given day ( and some past information is helpful too ). I wonder what the surface is like right now. Would a lot of new snow bond nicely?
author=spltbrdr link=topic=11072.msg45472#msg45472 date=1224519700]We went to Baker which was beautiful, but we should have been at Muir-more vertical feet; sounds like turns were great.
Snowtroll and I headed up Saturday morning to get our October turns in. Burst through the clouds just below Paradise to catch a few glimpses of the mountain and were on th trail by 9:30. The cloud level continued to rise with us finally clearing at about 7200'. We made a short detour to visit a friend before heading up the snowfield. Snow was firm but there looked to be hope as the sun was warming things. We decided to break for lunch at about noon at about 8600' feet and while waiting for things to warm up did a little beacon practice. We saw a skier and snowboarder come down just above us and to our delight - it didn't sound like ice! So we packed up and headed up to 9300' where the snow became very wind affected and bullet proof. The ride down was quite enjoyable (slushy corn) and we were able to get to just above Pebble Creek with one short carry. The trip down from Pebble Creek to Paradise was in the clouds - a lot of disappointed visitors who were unable to see the mountain in her full glory. An "Overload" burger and fries at Scale Burgers completed a beautiful fall day...now bring on the powder!!
HAIKU
Precipitation
Yes-snow, cold, ski, turns all year.
Chair lift, here I come.
Ski on!
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