Chinook Pass, June 20, 2009
6/15/09
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
2220
3
In light of the weather yesterday I decided not to go to the Tatoosh and instead made the shorter drive to Chinook Pass.
Temperatures were cold at the pass but the snow was soft and granular. Though there was some misting just below the pass, there was no rain on the pass itself all day. Clouds moved in and out but visibility remained good (i.e., no white outs0.
Left skins in the pack as the booting was perfect up the steep rib to the ridge off the pass. Great and deep corn snow. though there is snow all the way down, in a few days I don't think that will be the case.
Made a highly enjoyable run down and at the car I met TAYER DavidG and Letti (spelling?) and we headed over to the bowl under Naches. Conterminuos snow all the way and the corn is still deep on the steep face. The skiing is not done up there by a long shot.
I headed back to the car while David and Letti made for the corniced ridge further south.
At the car I ran into TAYER Piscator and his wife.
Great to be in the mountains; the snow was very nice, I stayed dry, and I met some new friends in the mountains. Pictures at my website:
Temperatures were cold at the pass but the snow was soft and granular. Though there was some misting just below the pass, there was no rain on the pass itself all day. Clouds moved in and out but visibility remained good (i.e., no white outs0.
Left skins in the pack as the booting was perfect up the steep rib to the ridge off the pass. Great and deep corn snow. though there is snow all the way down, in a few days I don't think that will be the case.
Made a highly enjoyable run down and at the car I met TAYER DavidG and Letti (spelling?) and we headed over to the bowl under Naches. Conterminuos snow all the way and the corn is still deep on the steep face. The skiing is not done up there by a long shot.
I headed back to the car while David and Letti made for the corniced ridge further south.
At the car I ran into TAYER Piscator and his wife.
Great to be in the mountains; the snow was very nice, I stayed dry, and I met some new friends in the mountains. Pictures at my website:
As Letty and I hadn't been on Naches before, we thank Keith for pulling us around the rib and up to the summit col. The fog shoals gave way to sweet blue patches and the sun baked us we booted the last pitch before the block. At about this point, I was thinking of renting the tag line of the gentleman poster, here, "yet another hill I've climbed that I can't ski down". Letty booted back down and then Keith dropped in and skiied a flawless line. Before he launched he suggested I wait until he finished the line and got out his camera, and that if I skiied slowly he could get some nice hero shots. I laid down a couple, then biffed it, and as I flew by him, had my mouth not been full of corn, I might have asked him if this was slow enough. :) Anyway, Keith, thanks for the good thoughts.
Skiing around back was great and there's still lots of snow. Lot's of tracks in the bowl below the corniced ridge (Zap and company last week?), so we added ours.
Thanks again, Keith
Skiing around back was great and there's still lots of snow. Lot's of tracks in the bowl below the corniced ridge (Zap and company last week?), so we added ours.
Thanks again, Keith
Hey Keith,
We met up with you down there last year around this time (I had my daughter & friend in tow then). Yesterday, we must have just missed you.
Today is fathers' day, and it's time to honor dad by taking him skiing. But since the weather predictions for today were pretty dicey, we went yesterday. We stayed dry, saw some sun, the snow was good, and yes, there's still plenty of it on the north/northeast aspects of Naches peak. I can't think of any better outing than to get the whole family out skiing. Thanks to Brett for taking the camera for a run and actually capturing dad on film. Here's a couple of chinzy stills pulled from some video to give a feel for the conditions. Don't bother with a circumnavigation - the south side requires a bit of 'shwhacking and "adaptive" route finding ;).
-Dave R
We met up with you down there last year around this time (I had my daughter & friend in tow then). Yesterday, we must have just missed you.
Today is fathers' day, and it's time to honor dad by taking him skiing. But since the weather predictions for today were pretty dicey, we went yesterday. We stayed dry, saw some sun, the snow was good, and yes, there's still plenty of it on the north/northeast aspects of Naches peak. I can't think of any better outing than to get the whole family out skiing. Thanks to Brett for taking the camera for a run and actually capturing dad on film. Here's a couple of chinzy stills pulled from some video to give a feel for the conditions. Don't bother with a circumnavigation - the south side requires a bit of 'shwhacking and "adaptive" route finding ;).
-Dave R
Nice Dave!
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