May 30/31, 2009, Rainier, Ingraham up / FF down
5/15/09
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
2273
3
Had a great ski of the fuhrer finger from a highpoint of about 13,300ft two weekends ago with fantastic weather, perfect snow, and wonderful company¦ but I wanted to go back and ski it from the top ¦ fortunately Ross was more than willing to give it a go this past weekend.
After playing 'dodge the buzzing rocks climbing the finger the last time and reading how Amar had gone up the Ingraham and down the FF, it seemed like a great idea to climb the route that doesn't spit rocks at ya and ski back down the Finger.
Borrowing as much lightweight gear as possible, our overnight packs were bearable for two desk-jockeys to heft up and over Rainier...we didnt wanna try a one-day push from Paradise. Had a windy, cold night at Ingraham Flats (might not try again to save six ounces by squeezing into Beckys short-length 30 degree sleeping bag) started up the route around 5:30am¦ I think we were the last ones up the route that day¦we were constantly having to get out of the way for all the parties on their way back down from the top.
It stayed cold and windy the whole way up, but we kept hoping that as the sun swung south, it would get out from behind the lenticular parked off to the east and start cooking the mountain. Fortunately just as we hit the top, we started to get full sunshine.
Sitting behind the crater rim rocks out of the wind and in the sun, it was quite comfy to hang there till around 12:30 so the south side could soften a bit. Ran into plenty of skiers also waiting and met a few TAYers too. Joined up with a party of three whod come up via a much more interested route for a ski back down the Nisqually and on into the FF (Stugie, lookin forward to seeing yalls TR).
Snow wasnt as good as last weekend, icey but edgeable, funky sastrugai up top, pretty good assorted snow between 13.5k and 9k, and then mashed potatoes from 9k to the car. The upper Nisqually and Finger have been skied so much lately, there are freakin ski tracks all over the place¦.it looked like Nisqually chutes on a busy day! The top of the finger is starting to get kinda dirty and little neve penitities are beginning to form right around 12k, plus quite a few more small crevasses have opened up right near the top of the finger¦amazing to see how fast a route changes in just a week. The route thru the gut of the lower Nisqually is opening too...several sizable crevasses to snake around now.
Very satisfying to ski it top to bottom, now I can go obsess about some other route :)
After playing 'dodge the buzzing rocks climbing the finger the last time and reading how Amar had gone up the Ingraham and down the FF, it seemed like a great idea to climb the route that doesn't spit rocks at ya and ski back down the Finger.
Borrowing as much lightweight gear as possible, our overnight packs were bearable for two desk-jockeys to heft up and over Rainier...we didnt wanna try a one-day push from Paradise. Had a windy, cold night at Ingraham Flats (might not try again to save six ounces by squeezing into Beckys short-length 30 degree sleeping bag) started up the route around 5:30am¦ I think we were the last ones up the route that day¦we were constantly having to get out of the way for all the parties on their way back down from the top.
It stayed cold and windy the whole way up, but we kept hoping that as the sun swung south, it would get out from behind the lenticular parked off to the east and start cooking the mountain. Fortunately just as we hit the top, we started to get full sunshine.
Sitting behind the crater rim rocks out of the wind and in the sun, it was quite comfy to hang there till around 12:30 so the south side could soften a bit. Ran into plenty of skiers also waiting and met a few TAYers too. Joined up with a party of three whod come up via a much more interested route for a ski back down the Nisqually and on into the FF (Stugie, lookin forward to seeing yalls TR).
Snow wasnt as good as last weekend, icey but edgeable, funky sastrugai up top, pretty good assorted snow between 13.5k and 9k, and then mashed potatoes from 9k to the car. The upper Nisqually and Finger have been skied so much lately, there are freakin ski tracks all over the place¦.it looked like Nisqually chutes on a busy day! The top of the finger is starting to get kinda dirty and little neve penitities are beginning to form right around 12k, plus quite a few more small crevasses have opened up right near the top of the finger¦amazing to see how fast a route changes in just a week. The route thru the gut of the lower Nisqually is opening too...several sizable crevasses to snake around now.
Very satisfying to ski it top to bottom, now I can go obsess about some other route :)
Nice work I hear thats a good route ;)
That was our thoughts exactly
author=Pete A link=topic=13511.msg56315#msg56315 date=1243907142]
it seemed like a great idea to climb the route that doesn't spit rocks at ya and ski back down the Finger"
That was our thoughts exactly
;D sorry...i shoulda wrote "reading how Amar and Kyle and Benk had gone up the Ingraham and down the FF, it seemed like a great idea to climb the route that doesn't spit rocks at ya and ski back down the Finger"
Nice meeting you two up there! Here's a few shots - I'll have to upload the rest of you guys on the way down...
Pete and Ross
Ross and Brad share some tele turns...
Pete and Ross
Ross and Brad share some tele turns...
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