Home > Trip Reports > July 5. Interglacier

July 5. Interglacier

7/15/12
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
4226
5
Posted by Scotsman on 7/5/12 12:20pm
Was damn near perfect corn the whole way down. We dropped in at noon, would have been even better at 11am.

Saw heli long-lining fallen Ranger off the mountain. Very sad, RIP.
Good one boys...
Would like to have joined, but that work thing really gets in the way on some good fun.

author=Joedabaker link=topic=25292.msg106892#msg106892 date=1341595631]
Good one boys...
Would like to have joined, but that work thing really gets in the way on some good fun.



It sure does....we missed you.
And yes, that is my thumb ...I am the worst ski photographer in the world.

Hey Scotsman,

I am headed up to interglacier Sunday.  Since it's going to be warmer, it looks (based on your experience at noon) like I should be shooting for descending at 10:00 or so.  That is pretty unlikely given our normal schedule, so how sloppy do you think it will be with warmer temps if we are descending around noon or 1:00?

Thanks for the intel!

author=mtngirl link=topic=25292.msg106900#msg106900 date=1341604374]
Hey Scotsman,

I am headed up to interglacier Sunday.  Since it's going to be warmer, it looks (based on your experience at noon) like I should be shooting for descending at 10:00 or so.  That is pretty unlikely given our normal schedule, so how sloppy do you think it will be with warmer temps if we are descending around noon or 1:00?

Thanks for the intel!


Depends on the day...but I always prefer a real early start on that route...the walk to the Glacier Basin camp is so much nicer when it's still cool. Based upon what we got IMHO 10am to 11am  would be best for the most consistent corn all the way down...there's such a big elevation difference that getting it perfect the whole way is hard.
On the other hand we met a skier on the way out who was heading up for turns at 2:00 Pm in the afternoon and had waterskied slush down the lower portion on powder boards the day before and was raving about the conditions at that late in the day. YMMV.

Even by noon or 1:00 it will still be good but the slush level will just be a bit higher.

We hit overcooked, resistant feeling cornslush on the bottom third but then traversed hard right as high on the Mt Ruth apron as we could and then traversed until it the aspect became more North facing and eked out another 400 VF of perfect corn down to the change over point.
Have fun.

Went down the 7th. I dropped in around 11:45 on lightweight gear: pleasant for the uphill, interesting for the down.  It was so mushy it had to be skied in a specific way, but I found if I was willing to pay attention to that exact style, the snow was actually pretty fun.  After the mandatory "inny" and "outy faceplant" tele falls I adjusted to the middle.  The stuff away from the boot tracks was predictable and only lightly suncupped.  This was my first trip to Steamboat prow in many years and I really enjoyed it. No visible cracks on Interglacier although some parties were traveling roped. I will post a few photos and video of an icefall to http://www.flickr.com/photos/koelle/

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Scotsman
2012-07-05 19:20:33