February 20, 2012, Mt. Rainier-Mazama

We managed to Squeeze in a tour on and around Mazama Ridge before the Black Wheel reared it's ugly head.  Threw on the chains at Longmire and arrived at Paradise around 10AM to low visibility and mixed precipitation. While the wintry mix was surprising and somewhat disheartening, it was nice to find a mostly empty parking lot.  We decided to stay close based on the visibility and the certainty of Gortex failure.   Dropped off the road and was met with a thin, breakable crust and soft snow underneath.  Found a creek crossing and headed to the road.  From there we toured up 4th Crossing where the visibility, precipitation and crust all improved significantly.  Made 5 laps on Mazama with conditions improving each run.  By the time we left, the Ridge skied incredibly fast and smooth with 4-5 inches of new snow over the soft base.   Overall, conditions turned out to be excellent with no signs of instability.  Bonus points go to my partner for executing a perfect tree assisted kick turn on a steep section of skin track.  It was a great day to break in the new Dynafit Speeds and Scarpa Maestrales.

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