Home > Trip Reports > June 8-9, 2013, Mt. Rainier Summit Ski via Emmons

June 8-9, 2013, Mt. Rainier Summit Ski via Emmons

6/8/13
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
7268
13
Posted by skier8484 on 6/10/13 11:27am
Given that Allen and I were both long overdue for a Rainier summit ski we pretended we didn't see the high wind forecast, packed up light overnight gear and sped our way to the White River Ranger Station Saturday afternoon, hoping we'd make it before the 5 PM closing.  We arrived at 5:05, but luckily Ranger Jonathan was cool (comment card filled out :) ) and issued us a climbing permit, saving us the drive around to Paradise. 

Permit in hand we hit the trail and enjoyed a very nice hike/skin into Glacier Basin where we made camp for (half of) the night.  Great views on the approach:



We were skinning by 2:45 AM and enjoyed a truly stunning sunrise from the top of Steamboat Prow after missing the saddle to Camp Schurman:







After realizing our error we down climbed to Camp Schurman and enjoyed the rest of the morning light:


https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-YTbD2eqc1nM/UbaC1tTXtFI/AAAAAAAAFQc/xMab87xmA-A/w570-h857-no/Emmons-13.jpg" />



A combination of altitude fatigue and strong high elevations winds meant the camera didn't come out till we hit the top.  We climbed the lower Emmons and then followed the established bootpack traverse over onto the Winthrop which we ascended to the summit.  Overall the route was in great shape with minimal crevasse issues.  The winds were mostly gusty until we hit 13k, at which point we pretty  much entered a wind tunnel to the summit.  The top was particularly windy - somewhere in the sustained 50 mph range.  We literally made a mad dash to the true summit, then hunkered down in the low spot to the West, where we ate, drank and put our skis on. 

Stoked to have summited!


Fully layered up, we were eager to warm up and get out of the wind.  To get a more direct fall line descent, we opted to skit he Emmons instead of retracing our ascent route.

Allen about to drop into the longest run of his life:


The snow on the top 3,000+ vert was on the firm to very firm side, but was reasonably smooth, so fun turns were  had:






Back at Camp Schurman we enjoyed lunch and some of the other oddities around the camp:


Below Camp Schurman the snow on Interglacier was nearly perfect hero corn around 1 PM, providing the perfect cap for an awesome day (and tired legs!).

Looked like a great trip despite the winds and firmness. Kept you heads up I'm sure! Beautiful pictures.

Great job on the climb and the photography.  We spoke with you in the parking lot on Saturday evening -- I guess you were more determined to summit than you let on at the time!

Nice stuff all around.

Great photography. Which camera are you using?

author=JibberD link=topic=28790.msg121081#msg121081 date=1370926588">
Nice stuff all around.

Great photography. Which camera are you using?


Thanks!  I shoot with a Sony Nex5, with the stock 18-55mm lens, lightroom post-processing.  More photos/full resolution photos here.

Nicely done, guys! The photos are stunning and you made quite the push for the summit in the conditions you had. Congrats!

Thanks for the report, we're looking at doing this in the next couple weeks. Why does the boot-pack go over to the Winthrop? Many years there is a huge crevasse across the top of the Emmons. Did you guys find a good route to ski over/around it?

Great pics!

author=skier8484 link=topic=28790.msg121084#msg121084 date=1370930160">
Thanks!  I shoot with a Sony Nex5, with the stock 18-55mm lens, lightroom post-processing.  More photos/full resolution photos here.


Really nice! Thanks for sharing.

Stellar for sure! Thanks!

author=JimD link=topic=28790.msg121091#msg121091 date=1370954328]
Thanks for the report, we're looking at doing this in the next couple weeks. Why does the boot-pack go over to the Winthrop? Many years there is a huge crevasse across the top of the Emmons. Did you guys find a good route to ski over/around it?

Great pics!


I really have no idea why the route detoured over to the Winthrop.  Given it was our first time on the route, we opted to follow the established bootpack (hoping to save some energy) in lieu of taking the direct route up the Emmons.  The Emmons was in great shape, with minimal crevasse hazard, and route finding on the descent was pretty straight forward.  I didn't see evidence of a big crevasse on top of the Emmons - there is one beginning to open up at the top of the Wintrop, but it can be easily avoided climbers right. 

Thanks for the great pictures, and report, it gives me inspiration to get going, and do that trip. thanks

author=skier8484 link=topic=28790.msg121095#msg121095 date=1370965807]
I really have no idea why the route detoured over to the Winthrop.  Given it was our first time on the route, we opted to follow the established bootpack (hoping to save some energy) in lieu of taking the direct route up the Emmons.  The Emmons was in great shape, with minimal crevasse hazard, and route finding on the descent was pretty straight forward.  I didn't see evidence of a big crevasse on top of the Emmons - there is one beginning to open up at the top of the Wintrop, but it can be easily avoided climbers right. 


Thanks JimD for asking about the Emmons crevasse hazard, and skier8484 for the answer. I was hoping to do a ski summit at the end of June as well, but don't fancy any sketchy crevasse dodging.

Gorgeous photos! Thanks for the report!

author=skier8484 link=topic=28790.msg121084#msg121084 date=1370930160">
Thanks!  I shoot with a Sony Nex5, with the stock 18-55mm lens, lightroom post-processing.  More photos/full resolution photos here.
the 16-50 retractable is pretty sweet as well, and SMALL.

author=skier8484 link=topic=28790.msg121074#msg121074 date=1370917639]
Given that Allen and I were both long overdue for a Rainier summit ski we pretended we didn't see the high wind forecast, packed up light overnight gear and sped our way to the White River Ranger Station Saturday afternoon, hoping we'd make it before the 5 PM closing.  We arrived at 5:05, but luckily Ranger Jonathan was cool (comment card filled out :) ) and issued us a climbing permit, saving us the drive around to Paradise. 

Permit in hand we hit the trail and enjoyed a very nice hike/skin into Glacier Basin where we made camp for (half of) the night.  Great views on the approach:



We were skinning by 2:45 AM and enjoyed a truly stunning sunrise from the top of Steamboat Prow after missing the saddle to Camp Schurman:





[img width=1000 height=226]https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-CMFgnw3W7Dc/UbaDF1vY5NI/AAAAAAAAFUM/eQ-Ajn9fxJw/w1598-h362-no/Emmons-9.jpg" />

After realizing our error we down climbed to Camp Schurman and enjoyed the rest of the morning light:






A combination of altitude fatigue and strong high elevations winds meant the camera didn't come out till we hit the top.  We climbed the lower Emmons and then followed the established bootpack traverse over onto the Winthrop which we ascended to the summit.  Overall the route was in great shape with minimal crevasse issues.  The winds were mostly gusty until we hit 13k, at which point we pretty  much entered a wind tunnel to the summit.  The top was particularly windy - somewhere in the sustained 50 mph range.  We literally made a mad dash to the true summit, then hunkered down in the low spot to the West, where we ate, drank and put our skis on. 

Stoked to have summited!


Fully layered up, we were eager to warm up and get out of the wind.  To get a more direct fall line descent, we opted to skit he Emmons instead of retracing our ascent route.

Allen about to drop into the longest run of his life:


The snow on the top 3,000+ vert was on the firm to very firm side, but was reasonably smooth, so fun turns were  had:




[img width=1000 height=528]https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-MS_bHX2Rmb4/UbaC_cKBcTI/AAAAAAAAFSc/765GCuULucE/w1598-h845-no/Emmons-28.jpg" />

Back at Camp Schurman we enjoyed lunch and some of the other oddities around the camp:


Below Camp Schurman the snow on Interglacier was nearly perfect hero corn around 1 PM, providing the perfect cap for an awesome day (and tired legs!).




nice job!  we summited, skied from 13500 on tuesday/wednesday.  similar conditions.  pics are great

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2013-06-10 18:27:19