June 20, 2004, Paradise Glacier (wink, nod)
6/20/04
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
3613
6
Fortunately for me, I invited myself to join the Club Paradise crew of ron j, JW and sag for their weekly Sunday ski. As a bonus, Kelvin showed up just as we were leaving the rendezvous.
We left the Paradise parking lot bound for the Paradise Glacier ~9:30. Quite unlike the zoo in the lot and the zoo on the Snowfield, we encountered only one other party and a solo skier, leaving most of the climb to enjoy the sun and that blue, blue sky.
You'll have to forgive my memory, but I don't recall where we went exactly. Perhaps I was too involved with the scenery. I can tell you the Paradise Glacier remains mostly crack-free; we wore harnesses for the off-chance occurrence that someone fell into a hole, but climbed and skied without ropes. The snow was a variety of corn conditions, dependent upon aspect, ranging from 6 inches of snow-cone slush on southern facing rollers to nice firm stretches on other aspects.
The highlight of the afternoon was a ~700' pitch of 45-degree slope that, once ski-cut, held perfect snow. It's difficult to grasp the steepness from my location, but here's Ron tearing it up; don't let all that old-man talk fool you:
It took putting on the skins a few times, but the total day's tally was just under 3400 vt ft. All in all, it was a beautiful day and well worth the price of my oh-so burnt nose.
More shots available at: http://community.webshots.com/album/154998885eGlxXZ
We left the Paradise parking lot bound for the Paradise Glacier ~9:30. Quite unlike the zoo in the lot and the zoo on the Snowfield, we encountered only one other party and a solo skier, leaving most of the climb to enjoy the sun and that blue, blue sky.
You'll have to forgive my memory, but I don't recall where we went exactly. Perhaps I was too involved with the scenery. I can tell you the Paradise Glacier remains mostly crack-free; we wore harnesses for the off-chance occurrence that someone fell into a hole, but climbed and skied without ropes. The snow was a variety of corn conditions, dependent upon aspect, ranging from 6 inches of snow-cone slush on southern facing rollers to nice firm stretches on other aspects.
The highlight of the afternoon was a ~700' pitch of 45-degree slope that, once ski-cut, held perfect snow. It's difficult to grasp the steepness from my location, but here's Ron tearing it up; don't let all that old-man talk fool you:
It took putting on the skins a few times, but the total day's tally was just under 3400 vt ft. All in all, it was a beautiful day and well worth the price of my oh-so burnt nose.
More shots available at: http://community.webshots.com/album/154998885eGlxXZ
;) ;D
Very nice, and very well crafted report, Skipper ;) ;D
And Fantastic photog work. Anyone that can make a geezer look like he's NOT about to fall over can really handle a lens. Nice pics.
The ones that I managed to get are at:
http://groups.msn.com/WildHeartsSkiing/paradiseglacier62004.msnw
And Fantastic photog work. Anyone that can make a geezer look like he's NOT about to fall over can really handle a lens. Nice pics.
The ones that I managed to get are at:
http://groups.msn.com/WildHeartsSkiing/paradiseglacier62004.msnw
Very nice, and very well crafted report, Skipper ;) ;D;) ;D one of my favorite spots!! Sorry I missed it but I was having a great time riding the Tour de Blast bike ride from Toutle High School to the Johnston Observatory. It was a great weekend for that too. If anyone would like to see some recent photos of Mt St Helen's you can see them at the end of Ron's ski picutres here.
http://groups.msn.com/WildHeartsSkiing/paradiseglacier62004.msnw?Page=2
Great bike pics, MadDog. You certainly seemed to make good use of your weekend even tho you weren't skiing with us.
JW you got some pretty good shots, too.
Oh, wait, Jerry, we forgot to tell them about the new "Skip the Cliffs" name you came up with for that new line the Skipper described.
JW you got some pretty good shots, too.
Oh, wait, Jerry, we forgot to tell them about the new "Skip the Cliffs" name you came up with for that new line the Skipper described.
That was the most fun I've had on skis ...EVER.
nice pics gang, mine are at.
http://community.webshots.com/album/154753629ngccuc
nice pics gang, mine are at.
http://community.webshots.com/album/154753629ngccuc
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