October 24, 2004, Grand Park, Mt. Rainier NP
10/24/04
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
3156
5
Matt and I met Robie and Dorothea at the rest stop on Hwy 410. It didn't seem like there was going to be much snow on this side of Mt. Rainier and we discussed the possibilities. Needing to be back early, Robie and Dorothea decided to check out Chinook Pass and hope to find enough snow to at least cross-country ski the PCT a bit (see trip report). Matt and I decided to take a chance on Grand Park, which at this time of year requires a 2.5 mile hike to find out if there is enough snow to ski. Where FS73 turns into the Eleanor Creek drainage, everything became white, though only with a thin coat, and at the trailhead (4500 feet) there was about an inch of snow.
It was a beautiful morning, with lots of blue sky and the low angled sun shining into the forest as we hiked the trail up to Lake Eleanor, then over to Grand Parklet, which had 2 inches of snow at the most. As the trail started to climb up to Grand Park, I kept waiting for the snow depth to increase more dramatically. It never did, and topped out at about 4 inches once into Grand Park itself (5500 feet).
October backcountry skiing on a 4 inch snowpack? A quick snow pit - to the ground - revealed that this might just be possible: the lower 2 inches of the snow pack was rain-soaked and well refrozen, and had nicely buried all of the Park's vegetation, except for some dried flower stalks. This made a perfect base for the top 2 inches of new snow, cold, cohesionless, and fast. A crude shear test suggested a good bond between the two layers, so we felt confident about continuing even though we had not brought avalanche gear.
The cross-country skiing was superb! For 2 miles we kicked and glided across the snowy meadows, feasting our eyes on the spectacle of Mt. Rainier and all of the surrounding peaks and ridges. In the large open areas of the Park there were some places where the new snow had been blown away and only the crust remained, but with good routefinding we avoided most of those. We reached the southern tip of Grand Park and then skied as far along the narrowing ridge as we could - not much farther - before returning to a sunny sheltered spot for some lunch.
Here's a photo of Matt striding across Grand Park meadows, with Curtis Ridge and the Willis Wall:
And here's a movie of Matt striding across Grand Park:
After a while there wasn't much untracked powder left, so we packed up and headed back across Grand Park to pick up the trail. We were able to ski a little way down the trail, but then the snow thinned out too much and we hiked the rest of the way back to the car.
Movies on the way back:
More Striding, 4MB, .MOV
It was a beautiful morning, with lots of blue sky and the low angled sun shining into the forest as we hiked the trail up to Lake Eleanor, then over to Grand Parklet, which had 2 inches of snow at the most. As the trail started to climb up to Grand Park, I kept waiting for the snow depth to increase more dramatically. It never did, and topped out at about 4 inches once into Grand Park itself (5500 feet).
October backcountry skiing on a 4 inch snowpack? A quick snow pit - to the ground - revealed that this might just be possible: the lower 2 inches of the snow pack was rain-soaked and well refrozen, and had nicely buried all of the Park's vegetation, except for some dried flower stalks. This made a perfect base for the top 2 inches of new snow, cold, cohesionless, and fast. A crude shear test suggested a good bond between the two layers, so we felt confident about continuing even though we had not brought avalanche gear.
The cross-country skiing was superb! For 2 miles we kicked and glided across the snowy meadows, feasting our eyes on the spectacle of Mt. Rainier and all of the surrounding peaks and ridges. In the large open areas of the Park there were some places where the new snow had been blown away and only the crust remained, but with good routefinding we avoided most of those. We reached the southern tip of Grand Park and then skied as far along the narrowing ridge as we could - not much farther - before returning to a sunny sheltered spot for some lunch.
Here's a photo of Matt striding across Grand Park meadows, with Curtis Ridge and the Willis Wall:
And here's a movie of Matt striding across Grand Park:
After a while there wasn't much untracked powder left, so we packed up and headed back across Grand Park to pick up the trail. We were able to ski a little way down the trail, but then the snow thinned out too much and we hiked the rest of the way back to the car.
Movies on the way back:
More Striding, 4MB, .MOV
I was able to get in 12, 18, and then 15 consecutive turns on my first three runs, over a vertical drop of around 80 feet - it was that good! I stopped counting after that, because I knew I had October in the bag.
Sounds like you had a great day on that gigantic vertical drop Charles, nothing like flying in just under the radar for your October turns ;D.
Charles it turned out good for ya! Nice picture.
That 3 or 4" crust is what made our tour work too. The downside is if that bottom layer goes depth hoar.
That 3 or 4" crust is what made our tour work too. The downside is if that bottom layer goes depth hoar.
And what time was the photo taken? ???
Eli and I were on the Muir and it seemed like mostly 50-a couple hundred feet visibility with occasional 'get your bearings' and 'look at that, 25 skiiers lined up below Anvil Rock' breaks all day. We didn't see the mountain til after 4 on the way back.
bill
Eli and I were on the Muir and it seemed like mostly 50-a couple hundred feet visibility with occasional 'get your bearings' and 'look at that, 25 skiiers lined up below Anvil Rock' breaks all day. We didn't see the mountain til after 4 on the way back.
bill
PS--just read Gusk's TR I was one of those that stopped at 8700, so I missed the pretty stuff up high. Great day out nonethless.
bill :)
bill :)
The time stamp on that photo says 11:15. You can see a little bit of cloud wrapping around the far right side of the north face, so maybe the winds were hitting the mountain from the SW, producing more clouds where we couldn't see them? Rainier itself seemed to stay fairly cloud-free, but later on lower clouds did become common to our south and east. Robie, it sounds like you found a little more snow at Chinook, glad you had a good day too.
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