June 5, 2013, Mt Rainier, Lower Curtis Ridge

Radka and I toured up the snowy portion of Curtis Ridge which is the next ridge over St Elmo pass and across Winthrop glacier. I camped at Chinook Pass star-gazing, messing with a new star tracking device.  We started early enough 8:30 from W.R. (~2 hrs earlier than last year attempt!).  This was my first time on the new trail since the washout, it is an impressive re-construction, must have been a lot of work.

Watched a few people going up Inter Glacier as we reached the pass around the noon, Winthrop Glacier has a few crevasse opening up and we followed a path going around them up/down across the glacier.  Once on the ridge, we ran out steam, and ended up taking a nap around 8500'.  Just too nice day to keep moving.  We did go up to a gap around 9000' over looking the upper Carbon Glacier.  What a spectacular closeup view of Willis Wall and those overhanging ice cliffs above.  We both agreed the view alone was worth the long tour.

Skiing down was un-eventfull, a little mushy but pretty enjoyable.  The slope below the pass into Glacier Basin was very good after some late afternoon cooling. An interesting variation from a familiar place, not sure if I recommend it just for skiing, maybe for a few days of exploring the area.