Turtle, MRNP, 5 May 2012
5/15/12
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
1490
0
We arrived at the Longmire gate at 5:50am, only to see the dreaded sign notifying us that the road was closed to uphill traffic. It had snowed on Friday night and they were plowing. The gate finally opened at 8:30am. We parked at Christine Falls and started climbing by 8:50am after fully kitting up at Longmire. Our plan was to ascend the Van Trump with the objective of getting to around 11,000' to ski the Turtle.
Skinning conditions were generally fine, although you definitely needed ski crampons on the steep sections. There was about 5-7cm of new snow covering a firm crust (supportive and hard) throughout most of the ascent. Visibility was 5-7 meters and towards the end of our climb, out of the trees and on to the open slopes, there was definitely some feeling of vertigo. Pretty much no reference at all. Temperatures were just below freezing, there was little wind and it was snowing intermittently throughout the blimb.
We made our way with the help of GPS and map reading up to about 7,000'. By around 12:15pm we were running out of time, due to my need to get back to Seattle in the late afternoon, so we removed the skins and had a great ski back to Christine Falls. Conditions were surprisingly good -- creamy powder with a solid base underneath. It would have been an amazing ski if you could have seen anything.
About the snowpack, the limited amount of new snow was bonding well to the hard surface with no natural activity observed. There are for sure some layers in the pack and the conditions certainly warranty caution. While skinning in certain sections, you could feel the layers collapsing gently under your skis. No shooting cracks or whumping was observed. At our turnaround point, we started to get into deeper, wind deposited snow that was 30-40cm deep. It was bonding well, but since we couldn't see anything and I needed to get back home, we turned around.
This was my first attempt to get up the Turtle and it won't be my last. Even though you couldn't see anything, it was clear that this is one of the real classics off Mount Rainier.
Thanks to my friends, Ned, Rory, Keith and Mark. Great day on the mountain.
Skinning conditions were generally fine, although you definitely needed ski crampons on the steep sections. There was about 5-7cm of new snow covering a firm crust (supportive and hard) throughout most of the ascent. Visibility was 5-7 meters and towards the end of our climb, out of the trees and on to the open slopes, there was definitely some feeling of vertigo. Pretty much no reference at all. Temperatures were just below freezing, there was little wind and it was snowing intermittently throughout the blimb.
We made our way with the help of GPS and map reading up to about 7,000'. By around 12:15pm we were running out of time, due to my need to get back to Seattle in the late afternoon, so we removed the skins and had a great ski back to Christine Falls. Conditions were surprisingly good -- creamy powder with a solid base underneath. It would have been an amazing ski if you could have seen anything.
About the snowpack, the limited amount of new snow was bonding well to the hard surface with no natural activity observed. There are for sure some layers in the pack and the conditions certainly warranty caution. While skinning in certain sections, you could feel the layers collapsing gently under your skis. No shooting cracks or whumping was observed. At our turnaround point, we started to get into deeper, wind deposited snow that was 30-40cm deep. It was bonding well, but since we couldn't see anything and I needed to get back home, we turned around.
This was my first attempt to get up the Turtle and it won't be my last. Even though you couldn't see anything, it was clear that this is one of the real classics off Mount Rainier.
Thanks to my friends, Ned, Rory, Keith and Mark. Great day on the mountain.
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