April 12 ,2013, Paradise Environs
4/12/13
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
2251
1
Looked out the kitchen window and thought about calling it off glad I didn't As we found 3" of fresh on bomber base. Walkable around base of Pan and top of Mazama. Ecxcellent skiing. We skied steep off Alta Vista and not liking the flat light we skied our ups and downs over to west facing Mazama for some tree definition and better snow. Excellent coverage and creek crossings.
The bond between the fresh snow and base was not so good causing us to slip out a little on traverses. Not a big deal with 3 in but could bear watching with more snow. Never rained and in fact was snowing all the way down to Nisqually bridge when we left around 2pm .
The Park is now on a tear plowing roads despite, lack of operators budget and sequester (Sarcasm intended). Paradise valley road is plowed beyond 4th crossing heli pad/parking area . Stevens Canyon/Reflection road is plowed above Narada slope and blocked off.
We ended up at Hairpin downclimbing 10' plowed wall and skinning back up to P lot on 2" of snow. That's all till the next storm.
The bond between the fresh snow and base was not so good causing us to slip out a little on traverses. Not a big deal with 3 in but could bear watching with more snow. Never rained and in fact was snowing all the way down to Nisqually bridge when we left around 2pm .
The Park is now on a tear plowing roads despite, lack of operators budget and sequester (Sarcasm intended). Paradise valley road is plowed beyond 4th crossing heli pad/parking area . Stevens Canyon/Reflection road is plowed above Narada slope and blocked off.
We ended up at Hairpin downclimbing 10' plowed wall and skinning back up to P lot on 2" of snow. That's all till the next storm.