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Topic: may 14-15, 2005, Pan Point and Nisqually Glacier (Read 3871 times)
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kam
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three weekends ago, rain forced us to cancel a Mountaineers' glacier travel and crevasse rescue field trip to the Nisqually Glacier. hoping for better weather this time around, we rescheduled to this weekend. on Saturday, we practiced pulley systems on snow above Paradise to prepare for the Nisqually on Sunday. (by the way, the coverage is deminishing rapidly, and if the current weather trend keeps up, it might not be possible to skin from Paradise by next weekend.) lucky for us, Saturday's weather was decent. no rain. at 5pm after practice, a small group of instructors and students toured to Pan Point for a quick ski, and to scope out the Nisqually for Sunday's outing. the summer trail leading to Pan Point is boney, but skinning is possible, as Amar demonstrates. the snow below Pan Point is patchy, but you can still link some nice turns here and there (skier: gregL)
Sunday morning at 6am we all gathered at Paradise to prepare for the trek to the Nisqually. as we started, dark ominous clouds lingered behind us over the Tatoosh. in front of us the cloud line appeared to be around 8500 ft. from Glacier Vista, we dropped down to the moraine, roped-up and skinned onto the Nisqually. an hour later, we reached a nice practice site at ~7500 ft.. then one after another, students were lowered into large gapping holes with ski/snowboard gear attached (sample pictures: snoslut, Bonnie and gregL). on the surface, teams of students constructed pulley systems to "rescue" their victim friends. just when we thought the weather was going to hold, someone turned on the sprinklers. at first it rained. after our gore-gear was nicely soaked, the rain stopped. it stopped just long enough for things to dry a bit. then came the freezing rain, followed by a pause. next was snow. after the snow, it went back to rain again. by that time it was time to go and we all retreated as quickly as possible, and via the most direct line as possible, to Paradise. though saturated, the snow felt okay -- it turned well, when turning was possible. Sunday's weather was great...for a penguin. 
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What do you mean you didn't bring skis?
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Darryl
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Kam - thanks for the great pictures from the crevasse.
I really appreciate the dedication of our excellent instructors (Ronj, Maddog, Tom, Allyson, Amar, Carter, Cinnamon, Kam, Jerry and Ed) to provide great instruction during some interesting weather. Thanks instructor!!!
I'm looking forward to the movie!!
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snoslut
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I think I found Jimmy Hoffa about 50 or so feet down there along with some barking crevasse spiders. Even saw a short cut to the parking lot from down here!
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« Last Edit: 05/16/05, 03:28 AM by boarddude »
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You will know when Americas in trouble when the Mexicans stop coming...Carlos Mencia
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Mad_Dog
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...and i think we'd all agree to hold skip accountable for our lack of luck on weather with this year's class .
With the weather being quite tolerable on Saturday, our practice refresher day, I thought for sure that Skip was lurking somewhere around Paradise proper, but Sunday we knew for sure that Skip had once again avoided the wrath of nature . All joking aside, it was another great class with a fine bunch of people. One thing for sure, we didn't have to worry about sunburn  I'm still in the process of drying all sorts of things out.
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There is nothing worse than refusing to learn: this is where old age begins.
Jeanette
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ultragrrl
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One thing for sure, we didn't have to worry about sunburn
Not true...I managed to receive quite the nasty sunburn on my hands Saturday. ouch!
And thanks to everyone for making this happen! Despite the wet....it rocked!
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kam
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... barking crevasse spiders.
did the spiders scare you? while making photos from the bottom of the hole, i heard a familiar cry, "dude, it's sketch down here...!" 
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What do you mean you didn't bring skis?
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ron j
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While we're on the subject of it being a bit scary going down into the crevasse, I have a "class improvement suggestion", Darryl and Ed please take note...
Just about the time that the "victim" is being lowered over the edge, it might be better if the safety belayer did NOT ask of the "victim": "If something goes wrong and you don't make it back out can I have your Beemer"?
Josh asked that of Marco as he was about to be lowered over the edge, which is scary enough without the comment. I wish I had thought of that.
Thanks, Josh, now I have a great reassuring line for the students for next year. 
BTW, Josh, Marco, Michael and Rick, you guys were quick studies; great to work with -- Jeanette and I both agreed. I hope to see you all back next year as instructors to sharpen your skills further.
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"When I stop having fun I'm turnin' around"
“Prediction is very difficult, especially if it's about the future.” - Niels Bohr
"If a given person makes it a priority not to die in an avalanche, he or she stands a very good chance of living a long, happy life in the mountains." - Jill Fredston
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Darryl
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Ron - that's a good line.
I heard another good line when snoslut was being lowered to the center of the earth, Tom yelled down to him that his rope team members were having some rope issues.
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Marco
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"If something goes wrong and you don't make it back out can I have your Beemer"?
I actually found Josh's comment highly motivating! My wife had been kind enough to loan me the car for the weekend, so I would simply think of the trouble I'd be in if it wasn't returned on time and suddenly I'd get this huge adrenaline rush good for several prussic cycles up the rope...
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« Last Edit: 05/19/05, 09:27 AM by angel »
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scotteryx
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Was this your group on Sunday?
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Life is short, spray hard
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ron j
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Yep.
That was us. Thanks for the overview shot, Scott.
Where was it taken from? Looks like maybe somewhere over by the entrance to the main Nisqually chute. Nice shot.
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"When I stop having fun I'm turnin' around"
“Prediction is very difficult, especially if it's about the future.” - Niels Bohr
"If a given person makes it a priority not to die in an avalanche, he or she stands a very good chance of living a long, happy life in the mountains." - Jill Fredston
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scotteryx
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Yep.
That was us. Thanks for the overview shot, Scott.
Where was it taken from? Looks like maybe somewhere over by the entrance to the main Nisqually chute. Nice shot.
It was taken from below Pebble Creek as we were heading up to Muir but turned around at 7K or so by freezing rain and soaked clothing.
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Life is short, spray hard
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gregL
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Cool picture, Scott. I'm third from the right, the one who's shivering.
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kam
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Scott: that is a nice photo. what a cool perspective. thanks for sharing.
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What do you mean you didn't bring skis?
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