May 19, 2001, Muir Snowfield, Mt. Rainier NP

Left paradise at 10:30 and climbed Pan pt, vigorous wind; at the top of Pan, probably 30 mph; by 8,100 feet 40+ mph with occasional breaks with fog blowing in and out and wind picking up chunks of snow and throwing them at us. Snow kind of funky. Above paradise there was a 6-inch crust over unconsolidated. Up on the Muir, again a thick wind pack, but nonbreakable--about 12+ inches of new. Skiing was o.k down to MclCure then got trickier but still not bad. Edith Basin a little mushy. Ridge down to road, very mushy, set off a 10 X50 foot slide (I was intentionally skiing the steepest lines to keep momentum in the mush and was expecting a small slide to happen). Back to car at 1:30. Will skip tomorrow :-). abc