Feb 12, 2012, Tatoosh
2/12/12
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
1962
0
Girls tour was headed to the Tatoosh so a bunch of us dumb boys decided to tag along. Aren't tours with hot cocoa more fun anyway?
Eight of us got a 10am start from Narada Falls and headed up the skin highway to Pinnacle-Castle Saddle. Saw a few other groups out, but didn't really feel crowded ever.
Started with a run down the south side: the first 500 feet were nice - soft chalky snow on top of a crust. We chose to keep on rocking since the visibility was better down lower. Skied down to about 4800', the crust was gone, the snow was soaked and fairly unstable. Saw a few signs of creeping and failures at the ground below 5000' on steep slopes (45+). I was not very excited about conditions or stability down low...
Headed back up to the saddle and then skied the north bowl down to Reflection Lakes. The top skied very nice, a few more inches had blown in and the crust was supportive.
Hot cocoa at the car to end a great day!
Eight of us got a 10am start from Narada Falls and headed up the skin highway to Pinnacle-Castle Saddle. Saw a few other groups out, but didn't really feel crowded ever.
Started with a run down the south side: the first 500 feet were nice - soft chalky snow on top of a crust. We chose to keep on rocking since the visibility was better down lower. Skied down to about 4800', the crust was gone, the snow was soaked and fairly unstable. Saw a few signs of creeping and failures at the ground below 5000' on steep slopes (45+). I was not very excited about conditions or stability down low...
Headed back up to the saddle and then skied the north bowl down to Reflection Lakes. The top skied very nice, a few more inches had blown in and the crust was supportive.
Hot cocoa at the car to end a great day!
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