June 8, 2009, Mt St Helens, Monitor Ridge
6/8/09
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
1468
1
The road to Climber's Bivouac parking lot is still gated- most of the road is melted out but still some snowy stretches. The Parking lot is all snow- not so for the trail to the base of the ridge which is patchy at best. Short report here as I've been up since 3 in the morning and need food- badly!!!!
In brief- magnificent day!!! Partly cloudy weather began as a gray out that I thought might lead to an early turn around, but the sun broke through and it was pretty much tele-heaven all the way from the crater rim. The line a drainage or two to the skier's right of monitor ridge looked like it had significantly more vertical, so I gleefully made it mine- largely untracked. Snow quality was likely preserved by early morning cloud cover.
Pup pal Sugaree ripped it up on my heels all the way down- what a good dog. This was her second Cascade volcano descent.
In brief- magnificent day!!! Partly cloudy weather began as a gray out that I thought might lead to an early turn around, but the sun broke through and it was pretty much tele-heaven all the way from the crater rim. The line a drainage or two to the skier's right of monitor ridge looked like it had significantly more vertical, so I gleefully made it mine- largely untracked. Snow quality was likely preserved by early morning cloud cover.
Pup pal Sugaree ripped it up on my heels all the way down- what a good dog. This was her second Cascade volcano descent.
Shake it, shake it Sugaree! Nice report....just skied the line left of Monitor on Saturday, and wondered about the areas over to the right you mention. Identical thoughts about turning around early too....until we got above the cloud cover!
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