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June 2, Mission Ridge

6/15/12
WA Cascades East Slopes Central
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Posted by mikerolfs on 6/2/12 11:17pm
The snow is melting fast.  The skiing at the top is still very good, but only the top half.  With creativity and a willingness to paddle across some bare spots, it is still possible to ski to the intersection of Sitkum and Mimi near the base area.  Yesterday I skied near the Microwave Tower and in Bowl 4.  Here is a 47 second video of the skiing conditions:  https://vimeo.com/43330549

The first pitch in the video was from the day prior on my light summer skis with three pin bindings.  What a difference the free pivot makes in skinning.  I was way more tired from the skin up with the three pins.  The light setup is nice to carry in my backpack though.

A few days ago I did this low snow tour which I give 4 stars and I recommend to anyone still thinking about Mission Ridge:

Hike to midway with skis on back, skin toward the top of Bomber Bowl (creativity required to stay on snow) and continue into the Mission Peak area beyond the snow-making reservoir.  Here make a couple 400' runs from the ridge to the reservoir and ski out the bottom past the wing, across the top of Lip Lip to the bottom of Maggi, which is still in great condition.  Skin up and ski Maggi and/or Lemolo.  From the bottom of Maggi, a snow covered access road heads uphill toward the bottom of Windy Ridge and accesses the Microwave Tower where there is still great skiing.  My laps here go from the tower to Skookum at the Chair Three cuttoff.  This is about a 700' run.   (You can't do just one).  Final skin is back up to the Microwave Tower and then slide over to bowl 4.  (See photo below - Bowl 4 is still skiable from the base of the cliffs to the bottom).  Don't skip this!  Exit requires creativity from snow patch to snow patch.  Yesterday I took my skis off twice for longer stretches between snow.

Bowl 4 still filled in!


Bowl 4!:


Great video Mike -- cute dog too :)

Nice, I have been making regular laps on bowl 4 myself, really sorry to see the snow go on the lower mountain, but I'm with you, the skiing on the upper reaches of the mountain are still great.  Went to Washington pass yesterday, drizzled on us, and the snow was soft, but had a good time

author=Marcus link=topic=24984.msg105580#msg105580 date=1338736158]
cute dog too :)


Thanks, Marcus.  He's a good partner.

Very cool Mike.

I saw that bowl four line in another tr.

Nice to see it from the top down. (shot from the lower lot fom cascadian warrior I think.). Good season for you guys over there.

We've been biking.

Mike, I did not watch your video until today, you just keep making them better.

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june-2-mission-ridge
mikerolfs
2012-06-03 06:17:50