11/16 Paradise Lost, Cayouse Kapute, Not So White
11/16/10
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
5083
11
So it rained and rained and rained. And blew 111mph at Muir last night. But who knows what kind of blowing it did lower down? And the snow didn't start falling until it had got done blowing. Alas MRNP closed it's doors completely this Tuesday morning. The road to Paradise was blocked by old growth blow down. The roads to Cayuse and Chinook got blocked by belligerent snow plow drivers...The State evidently decided that 1 inch of snow wasn't worth clearing the brush away for and closed the suckers for the season. Didn't close the gate mind you, just sent their very best PR reps to block the way.
Yes I'm having my own little rage here...but it's just not fun to drive 4 hours to ski no snow at White Pass. And that's exactly what we did.
Did one run from just short of the top of the new expansion terrain, then hit a run under the new 'Basin Quad'. It was a 'blue' run but thankfully was flatter than most greens I've seen in my day...hence it was skiable with 10 solid inches of snowpack above 5200 feet. Nothing really below that.
Yes I'm having my own little rage here...but it's just not fun to drive 4 hours to ski no snow at White Pass. And that's exactly what we did.
Did one run from just short of the top of the new expansion terrain, then hit a run under the new 'Basin Quad'. It was a 'blue' run but thankfully was flatter than most greens I've seen in my day...hence it was skiable with 10 solid inches of snowpack above 5200 feet. Nothing really below that.
author=savegondor link=topic=17967.msg76031#msg76031 date=1289973094]
The road to Paradise was blocked by old growth blow down.
Bummer. I have some favorite old growth, moss-back buddies along that road. Hope they're still standing.
What a drag. The cat track back to the base must have been really thin. Were you able to ski all the way back to the base?
On a good note, it is snowing right now at Hyak 2,600' (8:51 AM Nov. 17th) and should shorten the drive for that fix soon( I hope).
On a good note, it is snowing right now at Hyak 2,600' (8:51 AM Nov. 17th) and should shorten the drive for that fix soon( I hope).
fear not, for white will soon be the new green - unschluctism
I feeel your pain after my recent trip to WA Pass for No skiing.
It's money in the karma bank... Kaa Chinnng.
It's money in the karma bank... Kaa Chinnng.
We drove up to Chinook anyway and took a few laps under the watchful eyes of the DOT people and a State Patrol officer, then bailed at about 11:55. The gate was closed but not yet padlocked at Crystal Mt. road as we drove out, we opened it ourselves and waved at the DOT guy . . .
author=The Snow Troopers link=topic=17967.msg76045#msg76045 date=1290012758]
What a drag. The cat track back to the base must have been really thin. Were you able to ski all the way back to the base?
On a good note, it is snowing right now at Hyak 2,600' (8:51 AM Nov. 17th) and should shorten the drive for that fix soon( I hope).
Nope... 1 inch of snow below the base of Chair 4. quite suddenly there was 10-15 above that point. the road "mainstreet" was nearly bare.
author=gregL link=topic=17967.msg76070#msg76070 date=1290025671]
We drove up to Chinook anyway and took a few laps under the watchful eyes of the DOT people and a State Patrol officer, then bailed at about 11:55. The gate was closed but not yet padlocked at Crystal Mt. road as we drove out, we opened it ourselves and waved at the DOT guy . . .
well, you made it in before the DOT guys became snarky.
author=Scotsman link=topic=17967.msg76052#msg76052 date=1290018978]
I feeel your pain after my recent trip to WA Pass for No skiing.
It's money in the karma bank... Kaa Chinnng.
Money in the Karma bank yes..and really... it's a good place to start from since things get better and better from this low point.
I was up at White Pass on 11/19 and it looked absolutely nothing like your pictures. It's amazing what 3 days and a real nice storm can do for the coverage. We hiked to the top and rode to the bottom. The Black diamond runs were slim on the coverage, but the rest was good. There's a TR posted on here by Snowolf with some nice pics from the day.
I saw that. They looked nice. I wasn't so burned by the lack of snow as I was by Mother Nature shutting down MRNP.
one more pic
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