May 14-16, 2010, Cryatal and Chinook Pass pre-corn
5/14/10
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
2220
0
Timing is everythig.
Strategy: Skin up re-frozen snow in the early a.m., ski down stuff before the sun rotted it and stay out from under anything steep or corniced. Thank you Jenny for your inclination to early starts!
A week of sun did little to melt new snow into corn.
The sun did, however, release lots of sluffs, weaken cornices, and help initiate climax slides.
The gate is closed at Cayuse Pass. The rd along the E side of Mt. Rainier NP is open.
The DOT from the Yakima side of Chinook Pass will have to clear several new slides over the road from this week-end. The W-side DOT is luckier. They have one and a half lanes to clear through a couple miles of switch-backs, but no do-overs. My money is on the Yakima team beating the W-side team to the pass *again*.
The snow is just barely down to the lodge at Crystal. Skinnable to Boulion Basin, Norse Pk, Silver Basin etc. Less than a hundred ft of dirt was involved to head up Employee Houseing to I-5, Otto Bahn and finaly to the top of the Northway Chair where finaly we found some shady (and N facing) runs that had not disintegrated. Skiied down Lower Northway to w/in a hundred ft of the parking lot.
The snow was harder and better skiing higher up except where the May 3-4 snow had not melted or re-frozen.
I've almost convineced myself that it would be worth dodging sprinkles Tue and Wed for a lowish-angle volcano ski.
Strategy: Skin up re-frozen snow in the early a.m., ski down stuff before the sun rotted it and stay out from under anything steep or corniced. Thank you Jenny for your inclination to early starts!
A week of sun did little to melt new snow into corn.
The sun did, however, release lots of sluffs, weaken cornices, and help initiate climax slides.
The gate is closed at Cayuse Pass. The rd along the E side of Mt. Rainier NP is open.
The DOT from the Yakima side of Chinook Pass will have to clear several new slides over the road from this week-end. The W-side DOT is luckier. They have one and a half lanes to clear through a couple miles of switch-backs, but no do-overs. My money is on the Yakima team beating the W-side team to the pass *again*.
The snow is just barely down to the lodge at Crystal. Skinnable to Boulion Basin, Norse Pk, Silver Basin etc. Less than a hundred ft of dirt was involved to head up Employee Houseing to I-5, Otto Bahn and finaly to the top of the Northway Chair where finaly we found some shady (and N facing) runs that had not disintegrated. Skiied down Lower Northway to w/in a hundred ft of the parking lot.
The snow was harder and better skiing higher up except where the May 3-4 snow had not melted or re-frozen.
I've almost convineced myself that it would be worth dodging sprinkles Tue and Wed for a lowish-angle volcano ski.
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