April 21, 2012, McClure rock to Golden Gate
4/21/12
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
2644
2
Originally intended to ski Nisqually chutes, but fog above 7300 discouraged group so we headed down The snow on the SE slopes below McClure was somewhat grabby proto scmoo. The Golden Gate skied nicely, snow wasn't sticky on this aspect, just wet enough for glide, but still firm enough to not sink in too much. Noted some small natural avalanches on steep east aspects in Edith creek basin.
We skied the chutes: visibility was good; very sticky snow--so sticky we decided not to ski the last 1500 to the bridge but went back to Paradise. Gorgeous day, though. N
Niko, Keith and I must have met you in the Nisqually bridge parking lot - skied up just as you were leaving. We did the main chute and took it down to the bridge.
Visibility wasn't great on the way up, but it provided for comfortable and quick skinning. Winds seemed a bit stronger than forecasted too, but no way to confirm with the rimed wind gauge at Muir. We were up to Muir in just a hair under 3 hours and ducked into the shelter to relax for a bit. Popped out at 2:30 and the clouds were completely burned off. The right side of the snowfield held fantastic corn.
The snow was very grabby at the bottom of the chutes, but actually got quite a bit better again on some of the short steeper sections down the Nisqually drainage. Took the right side of the river and navigation was straightforward, plenty of coverage.
Visibility wasn't great on the way up, but it provided for comfortable and quick skinning. Winds seemed a bit stronger than forecasted too, but no way to confirm with the rimed wind gauge at Muir. We were up to Muir in just a hair under 3 hours and ducked into the shelter to relax for a bit. Popped out at 2:30 and the clouds were completely burned off. The right side of the snowfield held fantastic corn.
The snow was very grabby at the bottom of the chutes, but actually got quite a bit better again on some of the short steeper sections down the Nisqually drainage. Took the right side of the river and navigation was straightforward, plenty of coverage.
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