April 14, 2001, Mt. Rainier

Well it worked today; no fog; clear blue, light wind low, no wind high; new powder. Climbed 4,000 vf from the parking lot; Regine and I did powder 8's for the 1st 2,500 vf down; after that it was just fun traversing and me adapting to breaking thru some crust buried under the powder that Regine floated on; that's the one disadvantage to me (225 lbs + pack and gear) skiing 185 cm 94-70-84 Excalibur Pluses. Didn't bother to use cables (just 3-pins) for the 4,200 vf descent and ended up with some sore knees after negotiating the inconsistent snow for the last 500-1,000 vf. Good day tho. We were very pleased. Saw lots of tracks off Castle Saddle and Pinnacle, but as we climbed to the parking lot, we saw one party had skied the north face of Denman Peak, 1,000 vf from the summit down through a steep hourglass chute; we've never seen anyone ski that before.

acarey