June 22, 2004, Mt. Rainier via Russel Cliff Ridge

Good weather, previous route experience, and motivation to want to ski something new, who needs sleep ;D. I decided to climb and ski Rainier from the Summit again in 1 day. This time I decided to step it up! Having been up since 10:00am yesterday, my evening job kept me from getting any sleep. It's around Midnight and I head up to White River Camp Ground. I head off at around 2:30 in the morning, gotta watch for those bears. Knocking of the first 3.1 miles to Glacier Basin in just around an hour all seems well until I drank some Ensure just after finishing a Rock Star energy drink, not a good combination. With summiting Rainier 2 days prior and lack of sleep the last 2 days I basically struggled all the way to the Summit. I managed to climb in under 9:30 hours from the car. This time I climbed the Emmons and went more climbers right for some variation and some route finding. I figured why not do something different. Once again I beat out the afternoon rain showers. Winds at the Summit were at around 30mph. The snow however was much better and more spring like on top with a few icy sections.

Instead of skiing the Emmons like on Saturday I decided to add some spice to my skiing by skiing off the Ridge next to the Russel Cliff, which feeds into the Winthrop Glacier. 45-50degrees with serious exposer presented me with a no fall zone for around 800 vertical feet, a fall in the wrong spot could result in ragdolling over 1000 feet. Not an easy thing to ski fluidly after climbing 10 grand in vertical on no sleep. The snow on the descent was around 3-5 inches of corn like snow, however it had a loose feel to it and would slide each time I made a turn. The Crux of the line was a mandatory straight line but being able to stop in time to avoid falling into a crevasse. Once I finished skiing the steeps I decided to ski the Winthrop Glacier. From 13,000 to around 11,500 feet the snow was a combination of corn and wind drifted snow. Fairly smooth and made for good fast turns. Lower down the snow turned to a foot of guanch. Add the fact that crevasses were opening up made me a bit nervous. If anyone decides to ski this run, I recommend skiing it before 9 or 10am to avoid falling in a hidden crevasse. Study the route from the bottom as well to avoid any navigational problems.

As for the Inter Glacier, ealier the better. Avoid the boot pack. Snow is a bit rough at the base of the Glacier for those who like to open it up as I actually sensed a bit of squirlliness on my Salomons for the first time. After a 15 minute nap on a rock it's back to the car, no bears today. Watch for holes opening up at Glacier Basin, you might get wet feet if you fall through. ;D