Home > Trip Reports > July 4, 2004, Adams SW Chutes

July 4, 2004, Adams SW Chutes

7/4/04
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
4440
7
Posted by wolfs on 7/5/04 9:38am
I was in the Chutes probably starting at about 2 PM, being my usual antisocial self I was there on a "solo" run - meaning me, about a hundred fifty people, and nearly that many dogs all on the mountain at once. Starting after 7 from TH (and my at best average pace) made me one of the last up, but at least the steps were well chopped. I skipped true summit as it was already almost 2 and the chutes were probably as soft as they were going to get. Plus, I remember the hoof over there being quite odious.

Several other folks were waiting on Pikers for it to soften. Probably there were a whole gaggle of TAY people there and I shoulda stopped to be sociable and asked whether the half dozen people or so I dropped in just before were TAY folks or not. The ice that folks might have been waiting for to soften was only present for maybe 4 turns and thereafter the high part was just great. Apparently (tracks and now looking at another thread re Adams) lots of others had gone in even before one o clock, I'd be curious at what hour the first onto chutes on the 4th went and at what point it got good.  Lower down (below 10K) there was evidence of a serious sluff-fest some time in recent past - vertical grooves and ridges in places and even a small 4" crown but still soft enough to blast through w a snowboard and still fun. Some strangely not-in-fall-line skitracks running across the entire face (up skin tracks?) made when snow was way soft also marred the slope a little. There's snow enough for weeks yet, and it isn't suncupped, but maybe those sluff runnel things will just keep growing? Some fallen rocks on skiers L too and then tons of rocks etc. from 8500 down.

I tried the Amar-approved method of dropping to RTMT at 6200, since I knew the traverse or climb back to South Spur was going to blow chunks and I didn't have a camp on the Counter to return to. I did this via a falling leftward traverse, starting from where it totally wasn't skiable from 6800 down at the exit of the basin below chutes, then rounding some occasional obstacles such as small cliffs and rockslides. It took about 30 minutes to gain RTMT this way, then 30 minutes on the RTMT and finally 20 minutes of the hot and dusty South Climb trail. It wasn't straightforward, and not the ideal way to come down from the rush of a great 4K+ run, but I guess it worked, would have been just fine w more snow albeit finding RTMT would be harder then, it still had snow patches even at 6200.
Good info, Wolfs, Thanks.


I'd be curious at what hour the first onto chutes on the 4th went and at what point it got good.

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I think there was a group of four and maybe another group of two that skied it before or at 12:30pm.
We determined to wait awhile after watching them ski.
I went for a warm-up run down the climbers route a few hundred feet where I met some climbers and told them not to worry they were in no way late for the chutes. (There had been a guy at Pikers that told me twice the chutes would never be skiable that day).

At 1:00pm we watched a married couple from Bellingham (nice folks) rip it up on telemark gear. That's when we decided to go. We dropped in at 1:10 or so.  The turns right at the top were on firm snow (very skiable);  the turns in the middle (before the roll-over and on down almost to the large snow runnels) were perfect could-do-no-wrong turns; after that it was pretty mushy but skiable.

Hi Wickstad, was that you and your partner from Marysville? Should of brought up TAY while waiting....Did you try FSR 23 back? It took us 5.5 hrs. from T.H. to our door in B'ham!

Yes.  I am wickstad and I'm a TAY-aholic. ;D

We did take FS 23 home.  The views were worth it.  I don't think I drive as fast as most people.  Probably took us 5.5hrs to reach Marysville.  But I'm glad we did it.


Still good on Monday the 5th!!!  Skied down at about 2 after the summit had softened up a bit.  I love that run!!!  We had to walk were other people had skied through the day before, so the snow is going quickly on the lower slopes.  Glad we waited until monday, we only had ~3 dozen people on the mountain with 14 or so skiing the chutes and only one very nice dog.

As for the road back, FS 23 cuts a bit more that an hour off my drive compared to going I-84 to I-5 to Bellevue.  

Did I mention I love that run ;D

More unsolicited advice:

Dress appropriately.  It's cold waiting at the top and layers will go on.  Try to remember to take them off before skiing down.  It gets warmer and warmer as you drop.  The slope is so relentless that you never get a chance to stop at a "flat spot" to fumble with gear.
Elisa dropped a glove and it tumbled a couple hundred feet down the slope only stopping just out of reach of my ski pole (of course!).

Even more unsolicited advice:

I would not recommend using the metal toe piece on the tele binding to open glass beer bottles on the summit.  The sharp edge of the binding tends to break the lip off the bottle, leaving you straining glass shards out with your teeth, not quite the effect I was looking for........but the beer was good ;D

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july-4-2004-adams-sw-chutes
wolfs
2004-07-05 16:38:51