Home > Trip Reports > July 22-24, 2010, Mt. Adams SW Chutes Corn

July 22-24, 2010, Mt. Adams SW Chutes Corn

7/22/10
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
3595
4
Posted by jhamaker on 7/26/10 10:12am

Summary:
Snow starts at the last of the tree-line around 7000'.
Badly sun-cuped between summit and Piker's Pk.
Large crowns from previous avalanches visable on steepest portions of SW chutes above the tarn at 8500'.
Derbis on Avalanche gl.
Nice boot pack, no crampons needed.
5000' runs of AAA corn skiing.

How to get out of the heat?  Go up!
What great fun!
Taking advantage of Jenny's week off I organize a snow-camp trip on Adams to play, get the corn I've been waiting for for 3 months, and test my new Hileburg Namtje 3 tent!  Mike Bell joined us but hauled all his own gear for some reason.

After stopping at the Trout Lk. F.S. R.S. to pay a bribe we headed to the zoo at Cold Sp. Tr. Hd.
The map gave us three good choices to get to the tarn below the SW chutes.
1)Round the mountain tr. then strait up. - more walking than I wanted to do.
2)Contour over too many ridges.  Oops.  No snow cover on the talus.  Don't repeat  our mistake.
3)Up to the Lunch Counther then ski down. - more elevation than I wanted to gain/loose.

After fighting talused ridges and knock-down winds we retreated to
a camp two gullies N of the poled trail at about 7200'.
A crack of noon start on day two got us to Piker's Pk. and the SW chutes by 5? and down to camp hours before sunset.  Marvelous corn, 5" of corn over ice down low, so the late return was not an issue.
Continous snow to the summit, easy skining and booting.  Great skiing back down.  More SW chutes to ski later.
Day three we were whipped from the heat but I had not skied of the summit this year, so I went up to the lunch-counter to join the boot track, to the summit, and back down to camp (5+hrs r-t).
On the way out we were suckered down a snow-finger into the trees two ridges over from the climbers trail.  A few blocks of travel strait down got us on the melted out round-the-mtn-tr.  5 min back to the climbers tr.

But wait, the adventure continues!  We tried to find the Wind R Hot Sp by Carson, and may have.  We found mineral springs in the warm Wind R.  Anyway we got clean and frightened away a large animal lurking in the brush at dusk.

Campgrounds looked full, but the camp Parasite/Host at Beaver on the Wind R guided us to a near-by unofficial site, nicer than the pay sites.

Sunday was HOT.  We moseyed back to the Puget Sound via the new Bonneville resort hot sp.  Last time I visited the hot sp. at Bonneville it was nothing more than an abandoned pool and changing room, a pipe coming out of the hillside, and a claw-footed tub.  Now there is a three-star hotel spa!  One more cool-off stop was made at a local park on the river (siesta) on the S. Toutle!  We got back on I-5 just in time for the Sunday eveing rush-hour.  Oh, one last stop in Chehailus for shake and onion rings and gas.
Oh, did I mention I blew a binding near the summit?  I knotted off the cable and fitted a runaway strap in its place.  It skied nearly 5k'!
Anyone have a spare Riva-3 Cable?

Ya said ya were gonna do it and ya did.  Good job.

In fact, I may have a spare Riva Z cable, if I haven't thrown it out.  Let me check and I'll PM you if I do.

Considering the Chutes this w/e. Still worth it? Thanks.

Reply to this TR

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july-22-24-2010-mt-adams-sw-chutes-corn
jhamaker
2010-07-26 17:12:52