Feb 25 MRNP
2/15/11
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
1689
0
I dropped my 3 year old son off at school at 9am this morning and made a mad dash for the Paradise parking lot. I figured if I was skinning before noon I could get some exercise, make Muir before 4pm and be back in time for a late dinner. Drooling and daydreaming while staring at the norwand instead of the cars in front of me on Hwy 167 I noticed some clouds forming on the south side of the mountain.
I parked at 11:45 amongst a swarm of scouts getting ready for a cold night out above the tubing area, you could still see most of the mountain.It was a chilly 12 degrees. I set out at 12:15 and by the time I got 100 feet above pan point I couldn't see my hand in front of my face. I parked for about 40 minutes and fired up my stove for a beverage hoping things would blow over. No such luck. I took advantage of the first sucker hole that came along and high tailed it for the lot. I'm glad I did. It was snowing pretty good by the time I headed back down the road.
I was surprised by the snow conditions. I expected cold blower. Shaded wind protected aspects below Alta Vista managed to escape the wind buffed low density crust that covered the softer stuff underneath that was 4" to 16" on top of a hard layer. Ran across a few shallow soft slabs around the top of pan point but otherwise things seemed well bonded.
Noticed good hoar growth around tree line that could be a problem with the cold new snow on top of it.
I parked at 11:45 amongst a swarm of scouts getting ready for a cold night out above the tubing area, you could still see most of the mountain.It was a chilly 12 degrees. I set out at 12:15 and by the time I got 100 feet above pan point I couldn't see my hand in front of my face. I parked for about 40 minutes and fired up my stove for a beverage hoping things would blow over. No such luck. I took advantage of the first sucker hole that came along and high tailed it for the lot. I'm glad I did. It was snowing pretty good by the time I headed back down the road.
I was surprised by the snow conditions. I expected cold blower. Shaded wind protected aspects below Alta Vista managed to escape the wind buffed low density crust that covered the softer stuff underneath that was 4" to 16" on top of a hard layer. Ran across a few shallow soft slabs around the top of pan point but otherwise things seemed well bonded.
Noticed good hoar growth around tree line that could be a problem with the cold new snow on top of it.
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