Home > Trip Reports > May 21, 2005, Muir Snowfield

May 21, 2005, Muir Snowfield

5/21/05
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
3401
6
Posted by lapaz25 on 5/22/05 8:51pm

My ski buds, Rob & Silas, and I headed to Paradise for what we all thought would be a quick, short ski day.  The weather way getting a bit grim, but looked promising.  We booted out of the Paradise parking lot towards Pebble Creek and the Muir Snowfield at 9am.  We could have skinned, but it was clearly more efficient to boot up the first few thousand feet since the boot track was well-established and the snow coverage was a bit erratic.

There was evidence of new snow, a light dusting to a few inches and the weather was calm.  We were kept company by a small fox that continued to run across our path (quite amusing, actually).  At Pebble Creek, the wind picked up considerably and the storm began to hit us from the south.  After a 5 min break and a few more layers, we headed off again, still booting it.  Once we were over the little "humps" above Pebble, we put the skis on and headed for Anvil Rock.  Unfortunately, I was not prepared for the increasing wind, snow, and cold temps-no wind protection on the legs.  So, we stopped just below Anvil rock and decided it was time to shred some turns next to the line of hikers heading up to Muir in the storm (they were clearly envious of our skis) :)

The snow was wind-packed, with a few pockets of powder here and there.  No crust, no corn, no ice.  I thought it was quite wonderful given what it could have been! The snow was grippy, yet easy to let down your guard and just fly, which is exactly what we did.  Approx. 3500 ft later, we were at the car, faces beaming.  No base hits, no tree collisions, nothing :)

It was a great ski day and I can't wait to get out there again soon!

~Lara
I think that's a tame fox planted by the Park Service for the amusement of the tourists . . . it hung around the Glacier Travel/Crevasse Rescue class for quite a while the weekend before . . .

You mean this fox?


Saturday's fox was more a traditional rust color, and was delighting tourists in the Paradise lot at about 9:30a.
I was able to skin to the Muir hut without any carries, but just barely. Lapaz25 described the snow conditions well (Was it you I asked about the snow at about 8k? I was wearing a green jacket). Very fun, easy, smooth winter-like turns right from the hut. When I returned to Pebble Creek, I actually considered going back up, but it was a little too late.
Sounds like Pete_Alderson made the right call, though, with Glacier Basin face shots being had. Does having 30 mph winds drive snow into your face for three hours qualify as a face shot? My face was shot afterwards.

I'd have to agree with andyski.  The fox we saw was quite amber and red colored, and skinnier.

Andyski-I think that may have been me you asked, though my memory was so affected by the great skiing I really don't remember :)  I was wearing a gray jacket, black pants, and a red bball cap.

Glad to hear your ski was just as great.  I was a little bummed I neglected to bring a warmer bottom layer to make it to Camp Muir.  Shame on me...I know much better than that.

What's going to be good this weekend?

~Lara

Nice report Lara.  I was hoping someone would post a Muir report this week.  I'm planning on heading up there on Sunday or Monday and wanted to know how much boot packing might be required.

Open invitation to all TAYers...Muir Sun. or Mon. anyone?

No shell?  Martin-the-Mentor will be disappointed ;)

Hey JibberD,
                I'm up for Monday and looking for a partner.
We met once on top of Mazama Ridge.
Chris AKA Scotsman.

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may-21-2005-muir-snowfield
lapaz25
2005-05-23 03:51:51