March 6, 2010, Ruth Mountain Bluebird Powder

We headed up to Ruth Mountain Saturday morning.  As we approached the TH the road was blocked by a fallen tree.  After about 10mins of work we were able to move it out of the way.  Remaining was one large boulder, too big for us to move, but a few more skiers showed up and helped roll it out of the way, (Thanks Guys) so the road was clear all the way to the TH.

It was a long approach, we followed the "trail", a lot of avy debris and sections requiring a couple of carries.

The approach was well worth it, once we broke out of the trees we were rewarded with a bluebird day and light, soft, powdery snow.

We followed skin tracks up the pass, under some ominous cornices, across the saddle, all the way to the summit.  Our Route up and down was the same as the trailblazer that made the tracks on the attached photo.

At the summit we were rewarded with fantastic views, the air was so clear we could see Rainier.  Then the much anticipated descent.  Perfect snow, about a foot of soft fluffy powder.  A real dream to ski.  We descended all the way down to the creek bed and followed that a ways then connected back up with the "trail" to exit.