January 17 - Windy Rainier

Decided to give my new Dynafit gear a try - headed up to Rainier a bit late but figured that I would make it up at least to the 8,000 ft level and have a nice run down to Paradise.  Snow was pretty nice - a bit heavy but still fun.  The light gear was wonderful - lost about five pounds on my feet - made skinning up a pleasure. Everything went well until hitting Pan Point - the winds were absolutely wicked - the snow had been scoured down to rain crust and was blowing so hard that I think I got a free dermabrasion today ;)  Decided that was enough - transitioned to head down and had a nice run back to Paradise.  Talked with a ranger when I got down - said that they were expecting winds around 70mph at 9,000 feet tonight and potentially a lot of new snow - could make for some nasty wind loaded slabs.  All in all - a good trip!  The photos are at Pan Point - saw a couple other skiers heading down - they had the right idea...