Home > Trip Reports > May, 14, 2005, Mount Adams

May, 14, 2005, Mount Adams

5/15/05
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
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Posted by Aaron_Riggs on 5/14/05 9:28pm
Pics here: http://www.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=22881294/t_=25439066
It did not look promising on the way down Friday night. Top of Adams was shrouded in rain clouds. Camped at Morrison because of the dark and snow on the road. Rained hard all night. Ugh. Woke at 5:30 to light drizzle. Decided to go go for it anyway. Punched through a couple snow drifts in Adam's truck and (voila!) we drove to within 1/4 mile of South Climb trailhead. By now the rain had stopped and the sun was poking through. Left car at 7:40. Ski up was sunny and smooth. At false Summit at 1:30 it was totally socked in and we decided to bail because we couldn't see up or down. All of a sudden the clouds blew out the summit said "come get me" so we went on up to the top. 2:30 summit. Could see the top of Rainier, but the rest of the state below us was clouded over. Top 2,000 skiing was survival style, but the bottom 5,000 was buttery soft. And oh sooo good. Back to car at 5:00. We were the only skiers on the upper mountain (we encountered a hiker and 2 boarders lower) and the only ones to summit Adams. Home last night at 12:00.
I take it the you skied the climbing route, not the SW Chutes?  Did you take the back way from Randal (23), if so, how did the snow cover at the bottom of the chutes look?

Thanks....

I don't know what Randal (23) is, but we did ski the climbing route down along Suksdorf Ridge (and it didn't suk--couldn't resist!) We first headed for the SW chutes, but after a ski cut released a pretty impressive avalanche, we booted back up and onto the ridge. There was plenty of snow to ski the chutes though, and for traversing back over from the bottom.

I don't know what Randal (23) is . . .


He's asking if you drove via FR 23 from Randle, instead of SR 141 from the Columbia Gorge (that's assuming you're from Seattle and not Portland or elsewhere).


Oh, thanks! I left from Snoqualmie and got Adam at Snoqualmie Pass. We drove down the East side through Yakima and then took the 141 route. We binged on some memorable Mexican food in Bingen. I think that's where the turnoff is.

How long a drive was that? I'm also in Snoqualmie and usually take FR23 to get there, then 141/Gorge/I-5 etc. to get home because I don't like driving FR23 in the dark completely exhausted. I'm always looking for a better route.

From the GP web site:

"Road 23 is open between Randle and Trout Lake."

"8040 South Climb Gravel - One Lane 04/18/2005: Snow at Gotchen Creek Trailhead."

We had a skip in our step on the way down--being all full of gumption and such, so it took about 4 hours. Being my first time there, I just looked at the map and drove. I imagine any route is long...

We first headed for the SW chutes, but after a ski cut released a pretty impressive avalanche


What kind of snow/avalanche was it?  Slab/cold/fracture, or soft/warm/sluffy?  How wide was it and how deep was the crown?  How fast was it moving? thanks

Hmmm...no formal avy training or terminology to rely on from me--just "field work"--but here is my best explanation. The slide was not actually triggered by the ski cut, so no fracture, but some soccer-ball-size snow balls from Adam's skis quickly built up. I was not concerned at first, but after about 75 feet the release came, probably 50 feet wide. Not sure how deep, but it went several hundred feet down. It was very soft, warm and wet. Seemed to move slow. This ocurred at about 3:30pm in direct sunlight.

Thanks that is what I thought and it makes me wonder about this weekend...

edit: nevermind, the forecast is totally different now.  lol.  Was worried about 14K freezing levels.

no kidding!!  the forecast between wed and thurs were completely opposite.

anyway, according to the climbing report the road is currently open to Cold Springs!!

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may-14-2005-mount-adams
Aaron_Riggs
2005-05-15 04:28:35