Home > Trip Reports > March 13, 2004, Nisqually Couloir to Bridge

March 13, 2004, Nisqually Couloir to Bridge

3/13/04
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
3270
6
Posted by The_Snow_Troll on 3/14/04 10:29pm
We set out from West Seattle at 5:40, got to Longmire at 7:45, waited for the gate to open until about 8:10.

The climb up was good, but going up the Pan face was a little firm, most folks booted up we left our skis on and it worked fine.

We started the ski down the couloir (from about 8400') at about 11:50.  The snow was about perfect, maybe 30 minutes later would have been better.  As it was we had about 2-4 inches of butter on top of a firm base, sweet corn skiing. There was a big sluff from the day before so an early decent was the way to go.  The lower slops that face more west were still quite firm, but still quite enjoyable.  We got to the bridge, hiked up and out and got a ride from one of the first cars that passed!

You have to like 4300' down for only 2800' up!
How was the the coverage on the Nisqually?  We considered the same trip Saturday, but headed up to the Paradise glacier instead.

We debated between this and the Paradise Glacier as well.  The coverage at the bridge was pretty good.  Maybe 3 feet?  But that's just a guess I wasn't really paying much attention....

Sounds great ,After you left the couloir  Which side of  nisqually did you ski down?

We skied down the couloir, out the bottom, then glided across the flat (and up) to the 'rib' on the left edge of the glacier (in the moraine?).  

At about 6200 we cut back onto the glacier proper with some turns down off the 'rib'.  Then we cut back to the left to follow the glacer down stream and worked our way around to the left of the 'nanatuk', at least I think that's what you call the big rock at the bottom.

We then skied the steeper slope on the skiers left of the nanatuk.  The coverage was really sketchy here.  If we did it over we would have gone down the skiers right of the Nanatuck as the glacier looked totally navigable.

Have fun if you go, it's a great tour, but keep in mind that most of the great skiing is in the first 2000 feet, the rest us just for kicks :)

In the past few year s the skiers right  of nanatucks has been better

Thanks for the useful information. I haven't skied down to the bridge in several years, but I was hoping to do it again this spring before the snow melts down there. By the way, I think the word you're looking for is "nunatak", meaning "a hill or mountain completely surrounded by glacial ice."

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march-13-2004-nisqually-couloir-to-bridge
The_Snow_Troll
2004-03-15 06:29:06