Home > Trip Reports > Juneuary 16-26, 2014, Rainier, 10K to Bridge CORN!

Juneuary 16-26, 2014, Rainier, 10K to Bridge CORN!

1/16/14
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
25486
22
Posted by Amar Andalkar on 1/26/14 4:57pm
Juneuary 16, 2014, Mount Rainier, The Turtle to Nisqually Bridge via Van Trump Glaciers
Juneuary 17, 2014, Mount Rainier, Camp Muir to Nisqually Bridge via Nisqually Chute
Juneuary 20, 2014, Mount Rainier, The Turtle to Nisqually Bridge via Van Trump Glaciers
Juneuary 23, 2014, Mount Rainier, Camp Muir to Nisqually Bridge via Pebble Creek Gully
Juneuary 24, 2014, Mount Rainier, Camp Muir to Nisqually Bridge via Nisqually Chute
Juneuary 25, 2014, Mount Rainier, Camp Muir to Nisqually Bridge via Nisqually Chute
Juneuary 26, 2014, Mount Rainier, Muir Rock to Nisqually Bridge via Nisqually Chute

I originally wrote a combined trip report for just the first 2 of these days, but didn't quite finish it enough to post it before heading back for more runs this week. So I decided to just include the subsequent days too. I've never tried to combine 7 separate trips into a single trip report -- we'll see how it goes . . .


Two-shot panorama from about 4100 ft on the Paradise Road on January 24, showing the full sweep of terrain covered in this report:
The Turtle and Van Trump Glaciers at center, with the Muir Snowfield, Nisqually Chute, and Nisqually Bridge at right. (click for double-size version)


Taking full advantage of nearly 2 weeks of high pressure and sunny weather following the
Skiing smooth corn at sunset on the Van Trump Glaciers, January 16.

I wanted to ski from the summits of Mounts Hood and Saint Helens and Adams and Baker too during this high pressure, instead of repeating runs on Rainier so much, but partners and freezing levels and access and circumstances did not come together for those other peaks. So it was back to Rainier by default again and again, where the goods were known to be great, resulting in the most concentrated period of ski mountaineering on a single mountain that I've ever done (in this case, only a single side of a single mountain). The freezing level also never quite rose high enough for me to be tempted into making a Rainier summit ski attempt this time, especially given that I already have a

Yours truly, carving high-speed arcs down smooth untracked corn in Nisqually Chute, January 17. (photo by Scott Larson)

I don't see any reason to complain about the ski conditions during the second half of January 2014, especially after the major storm cycle dumped 2-8 ft of new snow on the Washington and Oregon Cascades, finally building a reasonably deep snowpack for the first time this season. If you go to the right places (above treeline, especially on the volcanoes) and ski the right aspects (south and southwest) and right slope angles (steep enough to catch the low wintertime sun) during the mostly calm and sunny weather provided by the persistent ridge of high pressure, the snow conditions are truly epic and all-time spectacular now. This is not hyperbole, nor just trying to make lemonade out of lemons -- conditions are really ridiculously good, and have remained so for over 10 days (except for a couple of high-wind and cloudy weather days). By any objective standard, these are among the best January ski conditions on the south side of Mount Rainier (and by extrapolation, at higher elevations and above timberline on southerly aspects throughout much of the Washington Cascades and northern Oregon Cascades) during the last 18 years that I've been ski mountaineering. Don't miss out on this rare opportunity we've been granted, to venture comfortably way up high during midwinter and ski down in outstanding summerlike snow conditions, a much rarer opportunity overall than typical January powder laps down in the forest. (Most of this paragraph was written several days ago, while the present tense was still appropriate -- the window of opportunity is now closing, the sunny high pressure is on its way out, and the proper tense is now the past.)


Sunset glow on the Mountain above the Nisqually River at Longmire, January 24.

Thanks to my ski partners on these trips (Carl, Tara, Jeff, Rory, Jameson, Kam, Paresh, Kane, Phil, Jeremy, Khanh, Tim, Stephanie, Josh, and Alisa), and also to the other skiers who joined me on an impromptu basis for the 4 Nisqually Chute descents (Scott, Jason, Adam, Ron, Julie, Allen, Megan, Cam, Jeremy, Allison, Jordan, Andres, Mic, Kevin, ... hope I got your names right, sorry if I didn't or forgot anyone).

The following tables and daily trip reports are intended to document a narrow slice and one skier's viewpoint of this extraordinary and rare period of summerlike weather and snow conditions in January in the Pacific Northwest.

[tt]
Summary Table of Ski and Weather Statistics:               --- NWS Rainier Forecast ---  ---------------- NWAC Telemetry ----------------
                                                                       Free Air   Free   Afternoon   Temperature    Total Solar  Paradise
                      Max   Total   Ski     Ski     Ski      Weather   Freezing   Wind   Muir Wind  Muir Paradise    Radiation     Snow
Date    Destination   Elev  Ascent Ascent Descent Partners  Conditions   Level   at 10K   Min-Max   Lo-Hi  Lo-Hi   Muir Paradise   Depth
                      (ft)   (ft)   (ft)    (ft)                          (ft)    (mph)    (mph)     (F)    (F)    (watt-hrs/m2)   (in)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[color=gray]Jan 14  Marmot Mtn Works                                   Partly Sunny   9000    NW 45    19-34    27-38  28-34    1680  1431     102   
Jan 15  Crystal Mtn   6870    --     --    50300           Mostly Sunny  10000    NW 40     2-49    28-36  28-42    2124  2229      98[/color]
Jan 16  The Turtle   10500   5300   4800    6800    5          Sunny     11000    NW 25     4-31    34-43  39-65    2151  2274      96
Jan 17  Camp Muir    10100   4700   4700    6200    1(+3)      Sunny     11000    NW 25     0-17    36-43  47-69    2402  2604      95
[color=gray]Jan 18  Marmot Mtn Works                                   Mostly Sunny  10000    SW 30    12-60    33-38  39-50    2178  2391      94
Jan 19                                                     Partly Sunny   8000     W 35     0-24    26-38  36-44    2351  2204      92[/color]
Jan 20  The Turtle   10500   5300   5300    6800    2      Mostly Sunny  10000     W  5     0-19    29-40  36-55    2354  2611      91
[color=gray]Jan 21  Crystal Mtn   6870    --     --    55800           Mostly Sunny   9000     W 25    17-54    22-34  36-50    2081  2359      90
Jan 22                                                     Mostly Cloudy  6000    NW 20     2-16    18-33  28-40    2409  1590      89[/color]
Jan 23  Camp Muir    10100   4700   4700    6200    2          Sunny      9000     E 20     7-33    25-32  30-45    2379  2704      89
Jan 24  Camp Muir    10100   4700   4700    6200    0(+5)      Sunny     10000    SE  5     0-7     31-42  42-63    2376  2727      88
Jan 25  Camp Muir    10100   4700   4700    6200    4(+3)      Sunny     11000    NW 20     0-6     31-47  40-52    2534  2817      87
Jan 26  Muir Rock    10188   4800   4800    6300    3(+3)      Sunny     10000    NW 20     0-9     30-42  40-56    2539  2788      86
[color=gray]Jan 27  Crystal Mtn   6870    --     --    46700           Mostly Sunny?? 9000    NW 15     0-11    23-31  37-42    1334  1269      85[/color]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ski Mountaineering Totals:  34200  33700   44700[color=gray](+152800 lift-served)[/color]
[/tt]
The "Ski Partners" column lists main trip partners (+ skiers who joined on an impromptu basis for Nisqually Chute descents).
The "Afternoon Muir Wind" column gives the range of wind speeds recorded between noon and 4pm, the critical time period for these trips.
The "Total Solar Radiation" column is the sum of the Solar W/m2 from the telemetry, which roughly gives the total sunlight for the day in units of watt-hours per square meter.

One interesting thing to note in this table is that the snowpack at Paradise has been settling at an almost constant rate of 1" per day throughout the 13-day period from January 15-27, after settling rapidly during the first day after the storm cycle ended on the 14th. During that entire period, no precipitation was recorded at Paradise either on the NWAC telemetry or the NPS daily manual measurements after the early AM hours of January 14, but webcam images of the Paradise parking lot reveal that about 1/2" of snow did fall sometime overnight prior to the morning of Wednesday, January 22, enough for the park to actually plow. The solar data shows that every day from January 15-26 ended up sunny or mostly sunny at Camp Muir, with similar conditions at Paradise except on January 22 when Paradise was in the clouds most of the morning while Muir was above them. The final day of the period on the 27th ended up much cloudier than forecast, with a thick layer of high clouds providing only filtered sunshine at either site all day.



New skis: Dynafit Cho Oyu, 182 cm, 125-89-111, 3530 g (7 lbs 12 oz) with Radical ST bindings.
Old skis: Volkl Amaruq, 177 cm, 127-88-109, 4030 g (8 lbs 14 oz) with Vertical FT bindings.

[tt]
Equipment Table:
Date     Destination   ---- Skis ----    ---- Bindings ----    ---- Boots ----
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[color=gray]Jan 15   Crystal Mtn   Volkl 7 24 Pro    Marker (alpine)       Garmont Adrenalin[/color]
Jan 16   The Turtle    Volkl Amaruq      Dynafit Vertical FT   Dynafit TLT 5P
Jan 17   Camp Muir     Volkl Amaruq      Dynafit Vertical FT   Dynafit TLT 5P
Jan 20   The Turtle    Dynafit Cho Oyu   Dynafit Radical ST    Dynafit TLT 5P
[color=gray]Jan 21   Crystal Mtn   Dynafit Cho Oyu   Dynafit Radical ST    Scott Cosmos[/color]
Jan 23   Camp Muir     Dynafit Cho Oyu   Dynafit Radical ST    Dynafit TLT 5P
Jan 24   Camp Muir     Dynafit Cho Oyu   Dynafit Radical ST    Dynafit TLT 5P
Jan 25   Camp Muir     Dynafit Cho Oyu   Dynafit Radical ST    Dynafit TLT 5P
Jan 26   Muir Rock     Dynafit Cho Oyu   Dynafit Radical ST    Dynafit TLT 5P
[color=gray]Jan 27   Crystal Mtn   Volkl 7 24 Pro    Marker (alpine)       Garmont Adrenalin[/color]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[/tt]


January 13-14, 2014, Mount Rainier, Paradise Digs Out from the Big Storm

The major week-long storm cycle ended on January 14, and the persistent ridge of high pressure off the West Coast quickly rebuilt northward. Wednesday the 15th was forecast to be mostly sunny but with high winds aloft, followed by a 2-day window on January 16-17 of near-perfect weather: totally sunny with 10-11000 ft freezing level and light winds even above 10000 ft, so I was planning to ski Mounts Saint Helens and Hood back-to-back on those days.

It wasn't clear if the road to Paradise would open on January 14, given that it had not opened since January 10 as the second half of the major storm cycle dumped 3-4 ft of additional snow, all of it sitting unplowed in the parking lot until the afternoon of January 13 when the first plows and snowblowers finally arrived:

[img width=1000 height=562]http://www.skimountaineer.com/TR/Images2014/east-2014Jan13-1409.jpg" />

Then the plows left by 3pm (budget constraints are restricting the park to only 1 shift of plow drivers per day), leaving behind a partially plowed lot and uncertainty about the next day's opening time. But the next morning, the plows arrived by 7am and quickly finished the job, opening the road to the public shortly after 9am.

[img width=1000 height=562]http://www.skimountaineer.com/TR/Images2014/east-2014Jan14-0751.jpg" />

[img width=1000 height=562]http://www.skimountaineer.com/TR/Images2014/mountain-2014Jan14-0756.jpg" />
First sunrise on the Mountain after the storm, January 14.

I probably should have gone up there just to ski around a bit, but expected the snow conditions to be marginal given the warming at the end of the storm cycle. Then later that morning, I heard that

View from atop Crystal Mountain of a pretty lenticular cloud adorning the Mountain and revealing the high winds aloft around noon on January 15.

I ran into Mr & Mrs Freebird on the gondola, skied a few runs with them, and decided to join their group on Rainier the next day instead of going to Saint Helens as planned (which was no longer skinnable from the trailhead). They were planning to ski the Turtle (a glacial remnant adjacent to Wilson Glacier and below the Kautz Ice Cliff) from Paradise with a car shuttle, and that sounded like a great plan to me.


[hr][tt]MOUNT RAINIER RECREATIONAL FORECAST
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
342 AM PST WED JAN 15 2014

SYNOPSIS...AN UPPER RIDGE WILL GIVE DRY WEATHER THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT. A WEAK FRONT MAY BRING A LITTLE PRECIPITATION TO THE AREA THIS WEEKEND. HIGH PRESSURE WILL STRENGTHEN AGAIN NEXT WEEK.

WEDNESDAY...BREEZY. MOSTLY SUNNY. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 10000 FEET.
WEDNESDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLEAR. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 11000 FEET.
THURSDAY...SUNNY. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 11000 FEET.
THURSDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLEAR. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 10500 FEET.
FRIDAY...MOSTLY SUNNY. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 11000 FEET.

TEMPERATURE AND WIND FORECASTS FOR SELECTED LOCATIONS.

                       WED    WED    THU    THU    FRI
                            NIGHT         NIGHT

SUMMIT   (14411 FT)     15     16     18     17     17
                     NW 60  NW 45  NW 50  NW 40   W 25

CAMP MUIR(10188 FT)     31     34     36     37     38
                     NW 40  NW 25  NW 35  NW 30  NW 15

PARADISE  (5420 FT)     47     36     45     37     53
                      W  5   CALM   CALM  NW  5   N  5

LONGMIRE  (2700 FT)     51     38     48     39     56
                     SE  5  NE  5  NE  5  NE  5  NE  5

++ TEMPERATURES AND WIND FOR THE SUMMIT AND CAMP MUIR ARE AVERAGE
   CONDITIONS EXPECTED IN THE FREE AIR AT THOSE ELEVATIONS.
++ TEMPERATURES FOR PARADISE AND LONGMIRE ARE THE EXPECTED HIGHS AND
   LOWS. WIND IS THE AVERAGE WIND EXPECTED DURING THAT PERIOD.

EXTENDED FORECAST...

FRIDAY NIGHT...PARTLY CLOUDY. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 11500 FEET.
SATURDAY...PARTLY SUNNY. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 10000 FEET.
SATURDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF RAIN AND SNOW. SNOW LEVEL NEAR 6000 FEET.
SUNDAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF RAIN AND SNOW. SNOW LEVEL NEAR 4500 FEET.
SUNDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF RAIN AND SNOW. SNOW LEVEL NEAR 5500 FEET.
MARTIN LUTHER KING JR DAY...MOSTLY SUNNY. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 8500 FEET.
MONDAY NIGHT...PARTLY CLOUDY. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 9000 FEET.
TUESDAY...SUNNY. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 8500 FEET.
[/tt]

Juneuary 16, 2014, Mount Rainier, The Turtle to Nisqually Bridge via Van Trump Glaciers

An exceptionally nice day with exceptionally good snow conditions, a pleasant surprise to find the snow surface already well-consolidated on all aspects and mostly smooth corn on steeper southerly aspects just 2 days after the major storm cycle ended. What a way to get Juneuary really rolling!


Morning view of the Mountain above the Nisqually River at Longmire, January 16.


Zoomed view from Longmire, with the Van Trump Glaciers and Turtle at right center.

Met the group of 5 others (the Freebirds, shred, Rory, Jameson) at the Longmire gate just after its 9am opening the next morning, still planning to continue on to Hood solo that evening, and we set up the car shuttle: I convinced them to leave the extra car at Nisqually Bridge (3900 ft) instead of Christine Falls trailhead (3600 ft), since the snowpack in the steep woods above the trailhead looked much too thin (1-2 ft) for decent skiing, while the ski down to the bridge would be an easy cruise on 3-4 ft of well-consolidated continuous snow out in the open. I also knew a nice hidden exit route (one I'd last done 17 years earlier in May 1997) that would allow us to ski the south-facing Van Trump Glaciers from the 10000 ft level on the Turtle and still exit out to Nisqually Bridge via the moraine just west of the Nisqually Glacier terminus. This would be much better than having to ski the SE aspects along Wilson Glacier which we would ascend to reach the Turtle, as those would be out of the sun and re-freezing by the time we skied down in late afternoon.


The park's snowcat begins constructing the snowplay area on the slope behind the snowblower -- the snowdepth at Paradise had finally reached the required 5 ft during the previous week's storm cycle.

Before the trip I hadn't been sure if the snow would be consolidated enough for good skiing, or perhaps an unconsolidated mess, given that the first major storm cycle of the 2013-14 season had just ended a few days earlier, bringing over 5 ft of new snow to Paradise and increasing the snow depth from 56" on January 7 (only 55% of normal for that date) to 106" on January 12 (100% of normal!), then settling to 98" by January 15 (88% of normal). But that turned out to be a non-issue: a solid surface wind-and-sun crust covered almost everything on all aspects, topped by a couple inches of windblown powder in spots, fully-supportive and edgeable on skis, but not really so on foot with deep postholing into 2 ft of partially-consolidated snow below the crust for those not on skis. Easy travel on skis and skins, but with ski crampons essential on most steeper or shadier aspects.


Leaving the Paradise stampede path and breaking our own trail in a new direction towards Glacier Vista.

We left Paradise a bit after 10am and skinned to Glacier Vista at 6350 ft, then ripped skins for the steep and frozen 150 ft descent down to the Nisqually Moraine -- unfortunately one of us took a slide without gloves on, bloodying a hand pretty well. That little slope is always dangerous in frozen morning conditions. From this point on, we would see no one else all day until reaching Longmire well after dark.


Four-shot panorama from Glacier Vista, showing the full sweep of our ascent route across the Nisqually and Wilson Glaciers and up to the Turtle at top center, with the Muir Snowfield and Nisqually Chute (the next day's objectives) at right. The steep debris funnel of the Fan is at left center. (click for double-size version)


Crossed the Nisqually Glacier near the 6400 ft level below an outcrop of icy spires not yet buried by winter snows, then up via the Wilson Gully from 6800-7400 ft. This portion is exposed to serac fall hazard from a small ice cliff looming overhead, with no real way to avoid this hazard (over the last 2-3 years) if you currently wish to do the route at all. The Fan, a distasteful gully to the left of the large vertical rock cliff, is steeper and exposed to cornice fall hazard, and also the only place that even had a chance of avalanche hazard this day -- large crowns from storm-slab avalanches a few days earlier were visible on the steep wind-loaded E and SE aspects at its top, too.


Three-shot panorama from the west edge of the Nisqually Glacier, looking up at Wilson Gully at left and the large jumble of seracs which marks the junction of the Wilson and Nisqually Glaciers at center. (click for double-size version)


Ski crampons became essential for the next portion of the route, a rising traverse left from the big plateau at 7400 ft up to the notch in the ridge near 7700 ft. This was the sketchiest part of the entire ascent, a 40-degree sidehill in firm conditions with ski edge penetration varying from a few inches to barely a few millimeters at times on firmer patches. Postholing deeply on foot would have been worse though, and we all made it up on skins with ski crampons -- thanks for the nice low-angle track, Jeff and Carl.



The next bit of ridge up to 8100 ft also featured some firm sketchy sidehill, on the left edges this time and already partially shaded by just after noon. I checked out the easier detour via the broad south-facing (sun-warmed!) bowl to the left of the ridge, but was unsure if that had enough snow at its top to connect (it does not yet this year) and so returned to the track on the firm shady side.


Skinning the firm NE-facing sidehill along the edge of Wilson Glacier near 7900 ft, with our ski descent onto the Nisqually Glacier visible above the jutting rock outcrop.

[img width=1000 height=600">http://www.skimountaineer.com/TR/Images2014/RainierVanTrumpWilsonGlacierPano2000-16Jan2014.jpg" />
Two-shot panorama from the west edge of the Wilson Glacier at 8100 ft, looking up at the moraine crest which we would ascend, with the Van Trump Glaciers at left and the Turtle above at top center. (click for double-size version)


We took a lunch break atop a small outcrop near 8100 ft, and then enjoyed an easy cruise up the broad moraine crest beside Wilson Glacier which extends to 8600 ft. Another steeper set of switchbacks above that, but quite easy on nicely softened snow, and then angling sharply left around the large rock outcrops near the standard 9200 and 9400 ft campsite areas, staying on the sunny south aspects as much as possible and away from the steep shady SE slopes of the Wilson Glacier itself.



It was already 3pm by the time we reached the Turtle at its 9800 ft terminal moraine, and the sun was now barely warming this SSE aspect, glancing obliquely across it. The slope was steep, firm, and very sketchy to skin even with ski crampons.


The skins and ski crampons barely leave a mark on the steep firm snow of the Turtle, with the Kautz Ice Cliff looming overhead and the hidden gully of Fuhrer Thumb at right.



Half of us switched to booting with foot crampons at 10000 ft, but the others made it the whole way on ski crampons to our high point at 10500 ft at a flat spot on the ridge west of the Turtle. Winds were very light and variable, mostly 5-10 mph with some higher gusts, and temps were in the mid 30s °F.



Skied down at 4:15 pm, 2 of us choosing the easy way via the Turtle, the other 4 traversing across 100 yards of loose scree to ski a south facing gully instead. Regardless, it was too late and too high on this day, and snow conditions were firm until we dropped below 9800 ft, at which point it was nicely corned if you stayed on the smoother and dustier aspects (which had absorbed the most sun).


Four-shot panorama from our high point at 10500 ft, with Rory carving turns on the Turtle at left, and the Wilson, Nisqually, and Van Trump Glaciers all falling away below, with Goat Rocks and Mounts Adams, Hood, and Saint Helens on the horizon at upper right. (click for double-size version)



Smooth corn on the uppermost slopes of the Van Trump Glaciers near 9000 ft.

We skied the open bowls which hold various small remnants of the Van Trump Glaciers, and our descent routes reunited below 9000 ft.


Skiing smooth corn at sunset on the Van Trump Glaciers.


By staying on the most southwesterly aspects which were still getting direct sunlight, we enjoyed smooth corn almost the entire way down to treeline at 6200 ft by sunset (4:45pm this day). The lighting conditions were just as spectacular as the snow conditions, a golden glow slowly turning rosy on the upper Mountain.



It was now time to pull off the exit back into the Nisqually drainage, the goal being to end up at 5400 ft atop the moraine just west of the Nisqually Glacier terminus -- about 3/4 mile of traversing to do, with 800 vert to work with from 6200 ft. I took a quick look at the map and then navigated through the open subalpine forests by dead reckoning and my internal compass, along with faint memories of having gone roughly this way 17 years earlier -- however 1996-97 was a huge snow year, and snowdepth at Paradise was well over 200" in early May 1997, so things looked very different that time with a deep snowpack burying most terrain features.


Two-shot panorama along the exit traverse from Van Trump back into the Nisqually drainage near 6000 ft, looking across at the sunset glow on the Tatoosh and Mount Adams. (click for double-size version)


Lots of small gullies to cross this time, the route traverses left through a couple open bowls and across some semi-steep slopes, avoiding cliff bands both above and below at various points. Thankfully the routefinding worked great in the fading light, and we popped out at the upper end of the moraine near 5400 ft exactly as planned, a few minutes after 5pm. Yay!



Snow conditions had deteriorated severely in the twilight though, turning to a mix of supportive and breakable crust. The 600 ft ski descent from the moraine crest to the Nisqually River was not very good, requiring careful skiing to avoid knee injury. The snow improved nicely along the river though, well consolidated and supportive, and we quickly cruised down to the ramp at the east end of Nisqually bridge by 5:30pm as the last light faded away. The rising traverse through the slide alder to reach the road needed headlamps, and I should have put on skins to make it easier too, as the snow was firmly frozen and very slick without skins, while booting was nearly impossible due to thigh-deep postholing.



The vehicle we had left at the bridge parking lot had a warning notice on it, but our two other cars in the Paradise parking lot had none. Exiting the Longmire gate at 6:45pm was no problem, just go in the front desk of the Longmire Inn, enter your name, address, and vehicle info in the logbook, and the clerk walks all the way out to open the gate for you. Unfortunately the Copper Creek had just closed when we got there at 7pm, but we enjoyed a fine meal of burgers and fish&chips and salads at the Highlander in Ashford instead, along with $13 pitchers of Moose Drool. An outstanding day with a great group and truly fine skiing, 6600 vert in a single run from our high point to the bridge.

But I was beat, way too beat to even consider driving the 190 miles from Ashford to Timberline on Mount Hood -- the route from Paradise to the Turtle is always much more tiring and takes more effort than numbers alone would indicate. It would be much better to just stay somewhere nearby, and ski on Rainier again the next day. I had cell service in the Highlander parking lot, and tried to drum up some partners to meet me at the Longmire gate the next morning and repeat the car shuttle, this time intending to ski Muir and Nisqually Chute. Eventually I headed back to Longmire for the night, still unsure of partners for the next day, and spent the night in my car at the Eagle Peak trailhead with its spectacular view, mesmerized by the full moon's glow on the Mountain all night long through the windshield. Too bad that I didn't think to try some night photos using the mini-tripod (Ultrapod II) that I always carry, oh well, they might not have come out too great since I only had a compact ultrazoom camera (Canon SX160 IS) and not a DSLR.


[hr">[tt">MOUNT RAINIER RECREATIONAL FORECAST
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
400 AM PST THU JAN 16 2014

SYNOPSIS...AN UPPER RIDGE WILL BRING DRY WEATHER THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT AT LEAST. A WEAK FRONT MAY BRING A LITTLE PRECIPITATION TO MOUNT RAINIER NATIONAL PARK THIS WEEKEND. HIGH PRESSURE WILL STRENGTHEN AGAIN NEXT WEEK.

THURSDAY...SUNNY. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 11000 FEET.
THURSDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLEAR. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 10500 FEET.
FRIDAY...SUNNY. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 11000 FEET.
FRIDAY NIGHT...PARTLY CLOUDY. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 11500 FEET.
SATURDAY...PARTLY SUNNY. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 10500 FEET.

TEMPERATURE AND WIND FORECASTS FOR SELECTED LOCATIONS.

                       THU    THU    FRI    FRI    SAT
                            NIGHT         NIGHT

SUMMIT   (14411 FT)     17     18     17     17     14
                     NW 40  NW 40  NW 30  SW 25  SW 40

CAMP MUIR(10188 FT)     36     38     39     38     32
                     NW 25  NW 30  NW 20   W 10   W 30

PARADISE  (5420 FT)     43     39     55     34     46
                     NE  5   CALM   CALM   N  5   W 10

LONGMIRE  (2700 FT)     50     38     57     36     49
                      CALM   CALM   CALM  NE  5   N  5

++ TEMPERATURES AND WIND FOR THE SUMMIT AND CAMP MUIR ARE AVERAGE
   CONDITIONS EXPECTED IN THE FREE AIR AT THOSE ELEVATIONS.
++ TEMPERATURES FOR PARADISE AND LONGMIRE ARE THE EXPECTED HIGHS AND
   LOWS. WIND IS THE AVERAGE WIND EXPECTED DURING THAT PERIOD.

EXTENDED FORECAST...

SATURDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF RAIN AND SNOW. SNOW LEVEL NEAR 7500 FEET.
SUNDAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF RAIN AND SNOW. SNOW LEVEL NEAR 6500 FEET.
SUNDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF RAIN AND SNOW. SNOW LEVEL NEAR 6000 FEET.
MARTIN LUTHER KING JR DAY...MOSTLY SUNNY. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 8000 FEET.
MONDAY NIGHT...PARTLY CLOUDY. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 10000 FEET.
TUESDAY...MOSTLY SUNNY. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 9500 FEET.
TUESDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 8500 FEET.
WEDNESDAY...PARTLY SUNNY. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 7500 FEET.
[/tt">


Juneuary 17, 2014, Mount Rainier, Camp Muir to Nisqually Bridge via Nisqually Chute

Enjoyed a glorious dawn and sunrise the next morning, standing and shivering and shooting photos on the bank of the Nisqually River for 20 minutes, before heading to the Longmire Inn for a nice breakfast omelet while I waited for the 9am gate opening.


Sunrise glow on the Mountain above the Nisqually River at Longmire, January 17.

As I came back outside, I was glad to see that Kam had arrived to join me and set up another car shuttle (there's no cell service at all in Longmire, so I had not gotten his text reply). We dropped off a car at the bridge and skinned up from Paradise just before 10:30am, even though I was really slow getting ready and then really dragging after that, exhausted from 2 straight big days. The route up Panorama Face looked way too firm for easy skinning, everyone we could see was being forced to boot up it, so I suggested we head around to the right and ascend the south face of the SW ridge of Panorama Point, a standard winter variation which gets sun and softens at least 2-3 hours earlier than Pan Face does.


Three-shot panorama along the stampede path towards Panorama Point, with the highly preferable ski ascent route up the south face of the SW ridge visible at right, Nisqually Chute just above and left of Kam's head, and the Nisqually and Wilson Glaciers at center. (click for double-size version)


This worked out great, the snow was nicely softened although we used ski crampons anyway for insurance, and 4 quick switchbacks put us atop the ridge crest for an easy cruise the rest of the way up Pan Point. This also avoided the potentially serious hazard of falling bodies on Pan Face, which can be a significant risk on busy days with firm frozen conditions in the morning.


The excellent route up the the south face of the SW ridge of Panorama Point, no crowds, no hassle, and a nice clean skin track.

The steep rolls near 7000 ft were also nicely softened in the sun, and skinned easily too. The iciest part of the entire route was from about 7000-7200 ft, with large areas of hard water ice for about a 1/4 mile along the winter route, and isolated icy patches continued past McClure Rock and 7500 ft.


Two-shot panorama skinning along the winter route, with the Goat Rocks and Mounts Adams, Hood, and Saint Helens along the horizon. (click for double-size version)


The ski crampons were not needed above 7700 ft, and the rest of the route was an easy cruise in gorgeous calm weather. We strolled into Camp Muir just after 2pm, just amazingly nice weather for January or June or anytime, over 40 °F and winds 0-5 mph.



Met a few others up there who were interested in joining us for the run down to the bridge, especially given the offer of a car shuttle, and we skied down as a group of five around 2:45pm. Mostly smooth windpack on the upper snowfield, fairly good skiing, and very very nice compared to typical winter snow conditions up there.





Below 9000 ft, steeper rolls were softened into good corn, and the well-corned rollover at 8400 ft above the entrance to Nisqually Chute made us confident that the entire Chute would be in prime shape. There were already a dozen or more tracks in the gut of the Chute, from earlier in the day and the previous 2 days, but the entire open slope to skier's left had not a single track on it yet.


Three-shot vertical panorama from the entrance of Nisqually Chute. (click for double-size version)


Just awesome smooth soft corn, perfect for carving big sweeping turns down the entire untracked face in a single shot.

[img width=521 height=800">http://www.skimountaineer.com/TR/Images2014/RainierNisquallyChuteCornSkiingAnimation-17Jan2014.gif" />
Five-shot animation of me skiing untracked corn down the skier's left side side of Nisqually Chute. (photos by kamtron, click for double-size version)



Six-shot panorama / multiple exposure of Kam skiing a line of untracked corn down the skier's right rib of Nisqually Chute. (click for double-size version)


The snow was perhaps a bit too soft on the lower half, an hour earlier might have been better, but it never got sticky or gloppy. The flattening angle near the bottom of the Chute made the snow near-perfect again, as we zoomed out onto the smooth surface of the Nisqually Glacier at high speed.


Three-shot panorama from Nisqually Glacier, with Nisqually Chute at right center with numerous tracks and several skiers. (click for double-size version)


The run down the glacier to its terminus was mostly great, lots of smooth corn with only a few over-softened parts that had not consolidated well yet.



We skied down the east side of the glacier terminus and then joined the fast track out along the river, now smoothed into a highway by dozens of skis.




Three-shot panorama from beside the Nisqually River, with its source from an ice cave at the Nisqually Glacier terminus visible at center, and the moraine we skied down the previous day after traversing out from Van Trump Glaciers at left. (click for double-size version)



Zoomed view from the edge of the alder, looking back at numerous ski tracks in Nisqually Chute and on the glacier below.

We made sure to use skins for the slide alder ramp leading up from the east side of the river to the bridge this time. It's always nice to enjoy a little flavor of the North Cascades at the end of a trip on Rainier.



We were out to the bridge before 4pm, comfortably well before dark unlike the previous day.


View from Nisqually Bridge looking back up the river, with Nisqually Chute visible in the bright sunlight at center.

Another run of over 6000 vert, two days in a row of epic corn conditions in mid-January! And a total of 13000 vert of skiing for only 10000 ft of gain, the car shuttle gaining us an extra 1500 vert each time. By the time we finished shuttling the cars, the glow of another awesome sunset was upon the Mountain again too.


Two-shot panorama from about 4100 ft on the Paradise Road at sunset on January 17, showing the Turtle and Van Trump Glaciers at center, with the Muir Snowfield, Nisqually Chute, and Nisqually Bridge at right, and Pyramid Peak at far left. (click for double-size version)





[hr">[tt">MOUNT RAINIER RECREATIONAL FORECAST
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
400 AM PST FRI JAN 17 2014

SYNOPSIS...AN UPPER RIDGE WILL BRING SUNNY MILD WEATHER TO MOUNT RAINIER NATIONAL PARK FRIDAY. HIGH CLOUDS WILL INCREASE SATURDAY...AND SUNDAY SHOULD BE CLOUDY BUT REMAIN DRY AS THE REMAINS OF A WEAKENING FRONT MOVE THROUGH. THE UPPER RIDGE WILL STRENGTHEN AGAIN NEXT WEEK FOR MORE DRY WEATHER.

FRIDAY...SUNNY. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 10500 FEET.
FRIDAY NIGHT...PARTLY CLOUDY. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 11000 FEET.
SATURDAY...PARTLY SUNNY. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 10000 FEET.
SATURDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 9000 FEET.
SUNDAY...CLOUDY. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 8500 FEET.

TEMPERATURE AND WIND FORECASTS FOR SELECTED LOCATIONS.

                      FRI    FRI    SAT    SAT    SUN
                            NIGHT        NIGHT

SUMMIT  (14411 FT)    16    16    16    15    12
                    NW 30  SW 25  W 40  W 55  W 40

CAMP MUIR(10188 FT)    38    37    31    29    28
                    NW 25  W 15  SW 30  W 30  W 15

PARADISE  (5420 FT)    60    35    46    31    43
                    NE  5  N  5  W 10  SW  5  SW  5

LONGMIRE  (2700 FT)    55    37    49    36    47
                    NE  5  NE  5  NW  5  CALM  CALM

++ TEMPERATURES AND WIND FOR THE SUMMIT AND CAMP MUIR ARE AVERAGE
  CONDITIONS EXPECTED IN THE FREE AIR AT THOSE ELEVATIONS.
++ TEMPERATURES FOR PARADISE AND LONGMIRE ARE THE EXPECTED HIGHS AND
  LOWS. WIND IS THE AVERAGE WIND EXPECTED DURING THAT PERIOD.

EXTENDED FORECAST...

SUNDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 8000 FEET.
MARTIN LUTHER KING JR DAY...PARTLY SUNNY. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 8000 FEET.
MONDAY NIGHT...PARTLY CLOUDY. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 10000 FEET.
TUESDAY...MOSTLY SUNNY. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 9500 FEET.
TUESDAY NIGHT...PARTLY CLOUDY. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 8500 FEET.
WEDNESDAY...MOSTLY SUNNY. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 7500 FEET.
WEDNESDAY NIGHT...PARTLY CLOUDY. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 8000 FEET.
THURSDAY...MOSTLY SUNNY. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 7500 FEET.
[/tt">


Juneuary 18, 2014, Marmot Mountain Works: New Skis!

I really needed a rest day after 3 straight tiring days, and with winds forecast to increase substantially on Saturday the 18th, it seemed like a good day to rest, followed by a day of watching the AFC/NFC championships during even windier and cloudier weather on Sunday the 19th as a weak system brushed the northern edge of the upper level ridge of high pressure.

Trip reports from Saturday indicated strong winds which prevented the corn from softening nearly as nicely as the previous 2 days. The webcam showed a lenticular cloud above the summit and a stack of lenticular lee-wave clouds off to the east of the Mountain, indicative of the strong winds aloft:

[img width=1000 height=562">http://www.skimountaineer.com/TR/Images2014/mountain-2014Jan18-1120.jpg" />


Spent most of Saturday at Marmot Mountain Works during their going-out-of-business sale, thermofitting the new Scott Cosmos boots that I bought on the 14th, and also buying new skis which they mounted while I was there: the new 2014 Dynafit Cho Oyu (182 cm, 125-89-111), to replace the Volkl Amaruq (177 cm, 127-88-109) which has been my main ski mountaineering setup since my previous similar skis, the K2 Mount Baker Superlight, had a toepiece rip out at 13200 ft on Rainier in June 2011 (see TR). But the Amaruqs now have over 160 days of hard use primarily in spring and summer conditions and are quite thoroughly thrashed, with at least 6 separate cracks in the edges, and the Vertical FT bindings on them have over 310 days of similar hard use and abuse, with repeated exposure to volcanic ash and grit. Not a setup I could really trust anymore on steep exposed terrain or heavily crevassed glaciers, where one's life depends on the edges and bindings, so they're now my late-summer and early-autumn rock skis.


New skis: Dynafit Cho Oyu, 182 cm, 125-89-111, 3530 g (7 lbs 12 oz) with Radical ST bindings.
Old skis: Volkl Amaruq, 177 cm, 127-88-109, 4030 g (8 lbs 14 oz) with Vertical FT bindings.

The new setup is amazingly light: the Amaruq is a very lightweight ski (1400 g at 177 cm), but the Cho Oyu is truly ultralight at 1140 g for 174 cm or 1190 g for 182 cm (measured weights). The total weight of the new 182 cm Dynafit Cho Oyu setup with Radical ST bindings and leashes is 3530 g (7 lbs 12 oz), versus 4030 g (8 lbs 14 oz) for the Amaruqs with Vertical FT bindings and leashes -- a huge savings especially considering that the Amaruqs had already been 200 g (7 oz) lighter than the K2 Mount Baker Superlights they had replaced. I picked the 182 cm Cho Oyu over the 174 cm because of its rockered tip, which makes the running length somewhat shorter than the traditional-camber 177 cm Amaruq, and the tail-to-heelpiece distance (important for easily skinning switchbacks if you're not tall) ended up slightly less than the Amaruq also.

Just for fun, here's a look at my current quiver of touring skis, acquired slowly over a period of many years -- it's easy to build a nice quiver that covers a broad range of snow conditions and keep current with improving technology if you buy a new setup every few years. Surprisingly, the new Cho Oyu are even lighter than either of my two pairs of 70-mm-underfoot Volkl Mountain Norbert Joos, which was in its day (introduced 2004) considered an "ultralight", high-performance ski-mountaineering ski. Also included in the table ([color=gray">gray[/color">) are two non-Dynafit-binding setups which I now use only for lift skiing due to their unwieldy weight, and the other retired setups which I've used since I began ski mountaineering in 1996:

[tt">
Skis                  Length  Tip Waist Tail  Area  Bindings              Total Weight            Date Purchased
                        (cm)  (mm) (mm) (mm)  (cm^2)                        (with brakes, + leashes on some)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Volkl Mountain N.Joos  177    104  70  92    1490  Dynafit Comfort      3770 g ( 8 lbs  5 oz)  Feb 2008 (bindings Feb 2005)
Volkl Amaruq            177    127  88  109    1820  Dynafit Vertical FT  4030 g ( 8 lbs 14 oz)  Jun 2011 (bindings Mar 2008)
Dynafit Cho Oyu        182    125  89  111    1880  Dynafit Radical ST    3530 g ( 7 lbs 12 oz)  Jan 2014
Dynafit Stoke          182    130  106  122    2100  Dynafit Vertical ST  4420 g ( 9 lbs  5 oz)  Apr 2010
[color=gray">Lifts Only:
K2 Mount Baker    174(=177)  120  88  108    1790  Fritschi Freeride    5530 g (12 lbs  3 oz)  Jan 2006
Black Diamond Megawatt  188    153  125  130    2510  Marker Baron          7150 g (15 lbs 12 oz)  May 2009
Retired:
Tua Excalibur          190    90  70  80    1470  Fritschi Diamir      5050 g (11 lbs  2 oz)  Dec 1996 (bar broke, unmounted)
Tua Mito                185    98  70  88    1510  Fritschi Diamir 2    5100 g (11 lbs  4 oz)  Aug 2000 (still usable)
Volkl Mountain N.Joos  177    104  70  92    1490  Dynafit Comfort      3600 g ( 7 lbs 15 oz)  Feb 2005 (edge cracked, unmounted)
K2 Mount Baker SL  174(=177)  125  88  108    1810  Dynafit Vertical FT  4220 g ( 9 lbs  5 oz)  Mar 2008 (toe ripped, unmounted)[/color">
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[/tt">The listed "Area" is approximate, based on a simple 2-trapezoid formula, but gives a rough comparison of their flotation in powder.


Dynafit Stoke, 182 cm, 130-106-122, 4420 g (9 lbs  5 oz) with Vertical ST bindings.
Dynafit Cho Oyu, 182 cm, 125-89-111, 3530 g (7 lbs 12 oz) with Radical ST bindings.
Volkl Amaruq, 177 cm, 127-88-109, 4030 g (8 lbs 14 oz) with Vertical FT bindings.
Volkl Mountain N.Joos, 177 cm, 104-70-92, 3770 g (8 lbs  5 oz) with Comfort bindings.


[hr">[tt">MOUNT RAINIER RECREATIONAL FORECAST
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
400 AM PST SAT JAN 18 2014

SYNOPSIS...THE REMAINS OF A WEAKENING FRONT WILL BRING MID AND HIGH CLOUDS TO MOUNT RAINIER NATIONAL PARK TONIGHT AND SUNDAY...BUT NO PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED. AN UPPER RIDGE OVER THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST WILL STRENGTHEN AGAIN NEXT WEEK FOR MORE DRY WEATHER AND MILD CONDITIONS.

SATURDAY...MOSTLY SUNNY. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 11000 FEET.
SATURDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 10500 FEET.
SUNDAY...BREEZY. PARTLY SUNNY. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 8000 FEET.
SUNDAY NIGHT...PARTLY CLOUDY IN THE EVENING THEN BECOMING MOSTLY CLOUDY. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 8000 FEET.
MARTIN LUTHER KING JR DAY...PARTLY SUNNY. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 10500 FEET.

TEMPERATURE AND WIND FORECASTS FOR SELECTED LOCATIONS.

                      SAT    SAT    SUN    SUN    MON
                            NIGHT        NIGHT

SUMMIT  (14411 FT)    16    16    14    14    16
                      W 40  W 45  W 55  NW 40  NW 20

CAMP MUIR(10188 FT)    33    30    27    29    33
                    SW 30  W 35  W 30  NW 20  NW 15

PARADISE  (5420 FT)    50    35    44    33    45
                      W 15  W 15  W 20  NW  5  N  5

LONGMIRE  (2700 FT)    48    36    48    34    46
                    NW  5  NW  5  W  5  CALM  E  5

++ TEMPERATURES AND WIND FOR THE SUMMIT AND CAMP MUIR ARE AVERAGE
  CONDITIONS EXPECTED IN THE FREE AIR AT THOSE ELEVATIONS.
++ TEMPERATURES FOR PARADISE AND LONGMIRE ARE THE EXPECTED HIGHS AND
  LOWS. WIND IS THE AVERAGE WIND EXPECTED DURING THAT PERIOD.

EXTENDED FORECAST...

MONDAY NIGHT...PARTLY CLOUDY. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 10500 FEET.
TUESDAY...MOSTLY SUNNY. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 9000 FEET.
TUESDAY NIGHT...PARTLY CLOUDY. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 9000 FEET.
WEDNESDAY...MOSTLY SUNNY. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 8500 FEET.
WEDNESDAY NIGHT...PARTLY CLOUDY. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 8500 FEET.
THURSDAY...MOSTLY SUNNY. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 7500 FEET.
THURSDAY NIGHT...PARTLY CLOUDY. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 8000 FEET.
FRIDAY...MOSTLY SUNNY. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 7500 FEET.
[/tt">


Juneuary 19, 2014:

Sunday morning was mostly cloudy, but by early afternoon the clouds were mostly gone, leaving behind only a shape-shifting lenticular cap which eventually vanished entirely by mid-afternoon:





Time to get ready for another big trip and another big serving of summerlike corn on Martin Luther King Day.


Juneuary 20, 2014, Mount Rainier, The Turtle to Nisqually Bridge via Van Trump Glaciers

After the somewhat windier and cloudier weather over the weekend, the MLK holiday on Monday was forecast to be stellar once again, almost identical weather to January 16-17. Time to take my new skis out for a spin. Paresh and Kane were already heading to Rainier, planning to ski the Nisqually Chute to bridge car-shuttle, and they asked me to join them. I convinced them to ski the Turtle and Van Trump route instead, and it worked out great again.



Snow conditions were very similar to 4 days earlier, but notably icier in some areas and softer in others. The snow on the Nisqually Glacier crossing in the morning was much firmer and icier after several more days of sun, and we all used ski crampons from 6800 ft at the base of Wilson Gully on up the rest of the day. The sketchy rising traverse from 7400-7700 ft on Wilson Glacier was icier too, and the previous skin track was partially filled with loose snow that had frozen in place, requiring the track to be re-stomped-in firmly with each step.



Higher up though, the skinning conditions were in general better, more sun-softened and grippier even at almost exactly the same time of day.



The skin up the Turtle from 9800 ft to the same 10500 ft spot was simple this time, not sketchy at all and fairly easy to put in a skin track like a highway in the well-softened corn at 3pm.



We topped out at 3:30pm, with temps in the mid 30s °F and a 10-15 mph westerly breeze on the ridge.



Skied down just before 4pm, this time enjoying corn right from 10500 ft on down, especially in the sun, but refreezing already in the shade.



Just stellar conditions, getting better with each warm sunny day.





Once again we skied down in the golden glow of sunset, only a few minutes earlier than 4 days previously. It appeared that no one else had skied this route since my previous descent on Thursday.



The exit was even easier this time given that we had Thursday's tracks to follow, although snow conditions below treeline were once again crusty after sunset (no surprise). The ski down from the crest of the moraine was quite a bit easier this time -- maybe it was the new skis and the rockered tip working better in those conditions? Overall, the new skis worked great this day, light on the feet and skiing really well throughout the descent.

Another quick schuss along the river, then skinning through the alders for a few minutes and back out to the bridge by headlamp once again, a bit after 5:30pm.



MOUNT RAINIER RECREATIONAL FORECAST
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
400 AM PST MON JAN 20 2014

SYNOPSIS...AN UPPER RIDGE WILL REMAIN OVER THE AREA THIS WEEK...WITH THE EXCEPTION OF TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY WHEN A WEAK UPPER LOW WILL BRING A CHANCE OF LIGHT PRECIPITATION. OTHERWISE DRY WEATHER WILL CONTINUE WITH SOME DAYTIME SUNSHINE AND MILD CONDITIONS.

MONDAY...MOSTLY SUNNY. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 10000 FEET.
MONDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLEAR. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 10000 FEET.
TUESDAY...MOSTLY SUNNY. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 10000 FEET.
TUESDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY. A CHANCE OF RAIN AND SNOW AFTER MIDNIGHT. SNOW LEVEL NEAR 5500 FEET AFTER MIDNIGHT. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 8500 FEET IN THE EVENING.
WEDNESDAY...WINDY. MOSTLY CLOUDY. A CHANCE OF RAIN AND SNOW. SNOW LEVEL NEAR 4500 FEET.

TEMPERATURE AND WIND FORECASTS FOR SELECTED LOCATIONS.

                       MON    MON    TUE    TUE    WED
                            NIGHT         NIGHT

SUMMIT   (14411 FT)     18     15     12      5     12
                      W 10  SW 25  SW 35   W 75   N 50

CAMP MUIR(10188 FT)     34     33     29     18     25
                      W  5  SW 15  SW 25   W 40   N 25

PARADISE  (5420 FT)     46     39     48     29     38
                     NE 10  NW  5   W 10   W 15  NW 10

LONGMIRE  (2700 FT)     48     34     50     35     47
                      E 10   CALM   N  5  NW  5   S  5

++ TEMPERATURES AND WIND FOR THE SUMMIT AND CAMP MUIR ARE AVERAGE
   CONDITIONS EXPECTED IN THE FREE AIR AT THOSE ELEVATIONS.
++ TEMPERATURES FOR PARADISE AND LONGMIRE ARE THE EXPECTED HIGHS AND
   LOWS. WIND IS THE AVERAGE WIND EXPECTED DURING THAT PERIOD.

EXTENDED FORECAST...

WEDNESDAY NIGHT...PARTLY CLOUDY. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 5500 FEET.
THURSDAY...MOSTLY SUNNY. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 7000 FEET.
THURSDAY NIGHT...PARTLY CLOUDY. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 9000 FEET.
FRIDAY...MOSTLY SUNNY. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 10000 FEET.
FRIDAY NIGHT...PARTLY CLOUDY. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 10500 FEET.
SATURDAY...MOSTLY SUNNY. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 10500 FEET.
SATURDAY NIGHT...PARTLY CLOUDY. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 10500 FEET.
SUNDAY...MOSTLY SUNNY. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 10500 FEET.



Interlude: Juneuary 21, 2014, Crystal Mountain

Ski testing...

The Cho Oyu has been great so far -- probably the best ski-mountaineering ski I've ever owned, given the combination of ultralight plus surprisingly good performance. I'm rarely this enthusiastic about any ski, but maybe they just suit my skiing style really well too. And SO light!

I've skied them 6 days so far during the first 8 days after I bought them, including 32,000 vert on 5 trips from Turtle or Muir to the bridge, plus taking them to Crystal and putting in 55,000 vert on the lifts to really get used to how they ski. Skied a wide range of conditions that day, mostly firm groomers and sun-softened ungroomed, plus some icy refreezing crust and other various bad snow that I sought out for testing in late afternoon as the shadows took over. They did well in all of that, edge hold was excellent and they'll carve a nice GS turn on firm groomers at 40-50 mph with no problem -- a real feat for such a featherweight ski, must be the carbon fiber in it. Really good torsional stiffness, but not very stiff flex overall. They do get deflected by frozen icy chunks, but that's inevitable given their lack of mass. They've handled the few icy sections encountered during the Rainier trips just fine too.

The rocker definitely makes them ski shorter than their overall length -- I'm glad I got the 182 instead of the 174, as the 182 has a much shorter running length than my 177 Volkl Amaraq (or any of my other several pairs of 177 skis). Despite almost identical tip-waist-tail dimensions to the Amaruq, they have more sidecut and a shorter radius due to their shape. Definitely noticeable while skiing, they carve a short radius turn much more easily than the Amaruqs will (I'm not a fan of short radius turns as you may know, I really prefer to make big sweeping turns, but it is nice to have the capability when needed in tight spots).



MOUNT RAINIER RECREATIONAL FORECAST
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
405 AM PST TUE JAN 21 2014

SYNOPSIS...AN UPPER RIDGE OVER THE AREA WILL SHIFT EAST TUESDAY. A WEAKENING LOW PRESSURE TROUGH WILL CROSS THE REGION TUESDAY NIGHT. AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE WILL REBUILD OFF THE COAST ON WEDNESDAY AND SHIFT OVER WESTERN WASHINGTON ON FRIDAY WITH LOW LEVEL OFFSHORE FLOW DEVELOPING. THE PATTERN WILL REMAIN LITTLE CHANGED THROUGH THE WEEKEND.

TUESDAY...MOSTLY SUNNY. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 9000 FEET.
TUESDAY NIGHT...PARTLY CLOUDY IN THE EVENING...THEN MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF LIGHT RAIN OR SNOW AFTER MIDNIGHT. SNOW LEVEL LOWERING NEAR 5500 FEET AFTER MIDNIGHT.
WEDNESDAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY. A CHANCE OF LIGHT RAIN AND SNOW IN THE MORNING. SNOW LEVEL NEAR 4500 FEET.
WEDNESDAY NIGHT...PARTLY CLOUDY. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 6500 FEET.
THURSDAY...SUNNY. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 7500 FEET INCREASING TO 10000 FEET IN THE AFTERNOON.

TEMPERATURE AND WIND FORECASTS FOR SELECTED LOCATIONS.

                       TUE    TUE    WED    WED    THU
                            NIGHT         NIGHT

SUMMIT   (14411 FT)     12      6     12     10     15
                     SW 35   W 65   N 50   N 60  NE 45

CAMP MUIR(10188 FT)     31     20     26     24     32
                      W 25   W 35   N 20   N 25   E 30

PARADISE  (5420 FT)     54     31     41     30     50
                      CALM   W 10   CALM  NE 10  NE 20

LONGMIRE  (2700 FT)     54     34     44     33     46
                      CALM   CALM   CALM   CALM   CALM

++ TEMPERATURES AND WIND FOR THE SUMMIT AND CAMP MUIR ARE AVERAGE
   CONDITIONS EXPECTED IN THE FREE AIR AT THOSE ELEVATIONS.
++ TEMPERATURES FOR PARADISE AND LONGMIRE ARE THE EXPECTED HIGHS AND
   LOWS. WIND IS THE AVERAGE WIND EXPECTED DURING THAT PERIOD.

EXTENDED FORECAST...

THURSDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLEAR. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 10500 FEET.
FRIDAY THROUGH SUNDAY...SUNNY DAYS AND MOSTLY CLEAR NIGHTS. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 12000 FEET.
SUNDAY NIGHT...PARTLY CLOUDY. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 11000 FEET.
MONDAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY. A CHANCE OF RAIN AND SNOW LATE. SNOW LEVEL NEAR 8500 FEET.



January 22, 2014, Mount Rainier, New Snow at Paradise

Wednesday, January 22, was forecast to be the worst weather day of the entire period of extended high pressure, as a small weak upper-level low fought through the persistent ridge and arced southeastward through the region, dropping snow levels to 4500 ft overnight into the morning, with mostly cloudy conditions and a chance of light snow. A good day for a rest day as Juneuary was rudely interrupted by a tiny bit of January.

No precipitation or snowfall was recorded at Paradise either on the NWAC telemetry or the NPS daily manual measurements, but webcam images of the Paradise parking lot reveal that about 1/2" of snow did fall sometime overnight prior to the morning of Wednesday, January 22, enough for the park to actually plow:






The ridge quickly took over again, and by mid-afternoon the clouds had vanished, not to be seen again for 5 days:




Juneuary 23, 2014, Mount Rainier, Camp Muir to Nisqually Bridge via Pebble Creek Gully
Juneuary 24, 2014, Mount Rainier, Camp Muir to Nisqually Bridge via Nisqually Chute

Reports to be written, and posted soon...




Juneuary 25, 2014, Mount Rainier, Camp Muir to Nisqually Bridge via Nisqually Chute
Juneuary 26, 2014, Mount Rainier, Muir Rock to Nisqually Bridge via Nisqually Chute

Reports to be written, and posted soon...





Telemetry Data:

Northwest Avalanche Center                                    Northwest Avalanche Center
Paradise, Mt Rainier National Park, Washington                Camp Muir, Mt Rainier National Park, Washington

Wind speed not reliable and may record periodically           Wind gages unheated and may rime

MM/DD Hour Temp   RH Wind Wind Wind HourTotal 24HrTotalSolar  MM/DD Hour  Temp    RH  Wind  Wind  Wind  Wind Solar
       PST    F    %  Avg  Max  Dir Prec Prec Snow Snow W/m2         PST     F     %   Min   Avg   Max   Dir  W/m2
          5400'5400'5380'5380'5380'5400'5400'5400'5400'5400'            10110'10110'10110'10110'10110'10110'10110'
------------------------------------------------------------  ----------------------------------------------------
1 27 2300   37   60    0    0   27    0    0   -0   86    0   1 27 2300    25    98    16    22    26    17     0
1 27 2200   37   59    0    0   29    0    0   -0   86    0   1 27 2200    23    98    13    22    27    19     0
1 27 2100   38   57    0    0   31    0    0   -0   86    0   1 27 2100    25    91     1     8    13    18     0
1 27 2000   37   55    0    0   31    0    0   -0   85    0   1 27 2000    25    81     2    17    24    18     0
1 27 1900   38   51    0    0   40    0    0   -0   86    0   1 27 1900    26    71     3    11    20    18     0
1 27 1800   38   51    0    0   43    0    0   -0   86    0   1 27 1800    26    57     0     3     8    18     0
1 27 1700   38   51    0    0   43    0    0   -0   86   11   1 27 1700    27    30     0     2     9    19    15
1 27 1600   37   61    0    0   63    0    0   -0   86   60   1 27 1600    28    35     0     2     7    18    66
1 27 1500   37   66    0    0   72    0    0   -0   85  123   1 27 1500    27    44     0     4     8    20   133
1 27 1400   37   65    0    0   75    0    0   -0   85  172   1 27 1400    29    40     0     2     6    20   187
1 27 1300   38   60    0    0   78    0    0   -0   86  245   1 27 1300    30    33     0     3    11    21   257
1 27 1200   39   56    0    0   74    0    0   -0   86  314   1 27 1200    31    33     0     1     4    18   309
1 27 1100   38   50    0    0   70    0    0   -0   86  175   1 27 1100    30    36     0     2     6    18   185
1 27 1000   39   46    0    0   75    0    0   -0   85  123   1 27 1000    29    33     0     2     8    18   127
1 27  900   39   46    0    0   59    0    0   -0   85   43   1 27  900    30    32     0     3     9    17    49
1 27  800   40   44    0    0   22    0    0   -0   85    3   1 27  800    28    35     0     5    10    17     6
1 27  700   40   40    0    0   15    0    0   -0   86    0   1 27  700    29    32     0     2     7    16     0
1 27  600   40   39    0    0   13    0    0   -0   86    0   1 27  600    28    36     0     4     9    16     0
1 27  500   39   43    0    0   16    0    0   -0   86    0   1 27  500    28    34     0     3     9    16     0
------------------------------------------------------------  ----------------------------------------------------
1 27  400   40   41    0    0   14    0    0   -0   86    0  (1 hour of missing data)
1 27  300   41   39    0    0  335    0    0   -0   86    0   1 27  300    29    34     0     5    14    16     0
1 27  200   41   41    0    0  338    0    0   -0   86    0   1 27  200    29    34     0     2     8    16     0
1 27  100   41   40    0    0    4    0    0   -0   86    0   1 27  100    28    44     0     4    10    16     0
1 27    0   42   38    0    0  346    0    0   -0   86    0   1 27    0    29    40     2     5    12    17     0
1 26 2300   41   39    0    0  340    0    0   -0   85    0   1 26 2300    31    34     4    13    23    16     0
1 26 2200   42   40    0    0  360    0    0    0   86    0   1 26 2200    30    27     2     5    15    16     0
1 26 2100   42   39    0    0   11    0    0   -0   86    0   1 26 2100    30    35     0     4    10    16     0
1 26 2000   42   41    0    0   17    0    0   -0   86    0   1 26 2000    30    32     0     3    12    16     0
1 26 1900   44   37    0    0   16    0    0   -0   86    0   1 26 1900    31    34     0     0     2    17     0
1 26 1800   44   39    0    0   12    0    0   -0   85    0   1 26 1800    30    42     0     0     3    19     1
1 26 1700   47   35    0    0  260    0    0   -0   86   66   1 26 1700    32    39     0     2     4    25    68
1 26 1600   54   28    0    0  264    0    0   -0   85  219   1 26 1600    38    31     0     2     7    11   207
1 26 1500   55   27    0    0  263    0    0   -1   84  354   1 26 1500    38    28     0     1     4   279   345
1 26 1400   56   23    0    0  257    0    0   -0   84  448   1 26 1400    38    35     0     1     3     2   443
1 26 1300   51   25    0    0  260    0    0   -0   85  491   1 26 1300    40    20     0     3     9   344   483
1 26 1200   50   26    0    0  245    0    0   -0   85  457   1 26 1200    42    23     0     1     4    24   463
1 26 1100   49   26    0    0   19    0    0    0   87  376   1 26 1100    37    19     0     4     7    21   259
1 26 1000   48   27    0    0   28    0    0   -0   86  255   1 26 1000    42    17     0     3     9    20   123
1 26  900   48   26    0    0  313    0    0   -0   86  113   1 26  900    35    22     1     6    10    17   130
1 26  800   41   31    0    0  354    0    0   -0   86    9   1 26  800    33    26     1     7    16    17    17
1 26  700   40   32    0    0  346    0    0   -0   86    0   1 26  700    34    25     2     7    19    18     0
1 26  600   42   30    0    0  295    0    0   -0   86    0   1 26  600    35    19     6    13    23    17     0
1 26  500   41   31    0    0  347    0    0   -0   86    0   1 26  500    33    24     7    15    22    17     0
------------------------------------------------------------  ----------------------------------------------------
1 26  400   42   30    0    0  354    0    0   -0   87    0   1 26  400    34    35     2    11    24    16     0
1 26  300   41   35    0    0  348    0    0   -0   87    0   1 26  300    33    31     3     8    17    17     0
1 26  200   41   35    0    0   14    0    0   -0   86    0   1 26  200    35    25     3    11    24    16     0
1 26  100   40   38    0    0   11    0    0   -0   86    0   1 26  100    34    27     4    12    24    17     0
1 26    0   43   34    0    0    9    0    0   -0   87    0   1 26    0    34    21     4    12    19    17     0
1 25 2300   40   38    0    0   15    0    0   -0   86    0   1 25 2300    33    23     4    13    22    15     0
1 25 2200   40   38    0    0   19    0    0   -0   86    0   1 25 2200    34    22     0     6    17    15     0
1 25 2100   40   37    0    0   21    0    0   -0   87    0   1 25 2100    34    20     1     5    10    16     0
1 25 2000   42   35    0    0   25    0    0   -0   87    0   1 25 2000    31    29     0     4     8    15     0
1 25 1900   42   35    0    0   18    0    0   -0   86    0   1 25 1900    32    24     2     4     9    16     0
1 25 1800   41   37    0    0  302    0    0   -0   86    0   1 25 1800    32    23     0     1     6    19     1
1 25 1700   43   42    0    0  258    0    0   -0   87   70   1 25 1700    34    13     0     1     4   340    68
1 25 1600   47   36    0    0  257    0    0   -0   86  215   1 25 1600    37    11     0     3     6   338   207
1 25 1500   51   29    0    0  258    0    0   -1   85  350   1 25 1500    35    10     0     3     5   312   345
1 25 1400   52   25    0    0  262    0    0   -0   86  446   1 25 1400    47     9     0     1     4   273   446
1 25 1300   47   26    0    0  263    0    0   -0   87  487   1 25 1300    42    10     0     1     3     0   490
1 25 1200   45   26    0    0  268    0    0   -0   87  468   1 25 1200    41    11     0     1     4   337   474
1 25 1100   45   23    0    0  268    0    0   -0   87  390   1 25 1100    38    15     0     2     5    21   212
1 25 1000   46   19    0    0  263    0    0   -0   88  265   1 25 1000    34    13     0     2     6   317   140
1 25  900   47   17    0    0  317    0    0   -0   88  118   1 25  900    36    10     7    11    16   275   135
1 25  800   40   23    0    0  316    0    0   -0   87    8   1 25  800    35     6     7    11    16   280    16
1 25  700   41   22    0    0  301    0    0   -0   88    0   1 25  700    34     8     5     9    14   280     0
1 25  600   42   22    0    0  312    0    0   -0   87    0   1 25  600    35     8     4    11    16   282     0
1 25  500   43   16    0    0  287    0    0   -0   88    0   1 25  500    33     6     5    11    16   282     0
------------------------------------------------------------  ----------------------------------------------------
1 25  400   45   12    0    0  290    0    0   -0   88    0   1 25  400    34     8     3     7    11   283     0
1 25  300   47    9    0    0  271    0    0    0   88    0   1 25  300    33     5     9    13    15   283     0
1 25  200   50    6    0    0   13    0    0   -0   87    0   1 25  200    32     5    11    16    23   282     0
1 25  100   49    7    0    0    5    0    0   -0   88    0   1 25  100    31     7    10    15    22   286     0
1 25    0   49    5    0    0   33    0    0   -0   87    0   1 25    0    33     5     4     8    14   282     0
1 24 2300   49    4    0    0   15    0    0   -0   88    0   1 24 2300    32     7     0     3     8   278     0
1 24 2200   49    6    0    0   32    0    0   -0   88    0   1 24 2200    33    11     0     3     9   280     0
1 24 2100   50   10    0    0   52    0    0   -0   88    0   1 24 2100    37    39     3     8    12   287     0
1 24 2000   51    7    0    0   43    0    0   -0   88    0   1 24 2000    36    18     3     5     7   276     0
1 24 1900   49    9    0    0   20    0    0   -0   87    0   1 24 1900    35     3     0     1     5   321     0
1 24 1800   50    7    0    0  313    0    0   -0   87    1   1 24 1800    35    13     0     4     9     6     2
1 24 1700   52    9    0    0  256    0    0   -0   87   72   1 24 1700    33    28     2     4     7    36    63
1 24 1600   59    8    0    0  260    0    0   -0   87  213   1 24 1600    36     9     2     4     7    49   195
1 24 1500   63    6    0    0  272    0    0   -1   86  345   1 24 1500    40    11     1     4     7    46   329
1 24 1400   61    7    0    0  247    0    0   -0   87  439   1 24 1400    39    12     0     2     5   291   433
1 24 1300   57    8    0    0  182    0    0   -0   87  471   1 24 1300    41    15     0     3     7   272   469
1 24 1200   57   10    0    0  104    0    0   -0   87  452   1 24 1200    40    21     1     3     5   281   459
1 24 1100   56    9    0    0   96    0    0   -0   88  379   1 24 1100    42    12     0     3     6   275   165
1 24 1000   55    6    0    0   61    0    0   -0   88  247   1 24 1000    39    18     2     4     6   292   131
1 24  900   54    7    0    0   61    0    0   -0   88  100   1 24  900    38    19     0     4     7   282   115
1 24  800   44   12    0    0   67    0    0   -0   88    8   1 24  800    34    17     2     4     6   274    15
1 24  700   43   13    0    0   72    0    0   -0   88    0   1 24  700    34    11     2     4    11   271     0
1 24  600   42   13    0    0   64    0    0   -0   88    0   1 24  600    34    29     0     1     5   182     0
1 24  500   43   12    0    0   50    0    0   -0   88    0   1 24  500    33     4     0     1     5   172     0
------------------------------------------------------------  ----------------------------------------------------
1 24  400   42   14    0    0   62    0    0   -0   89    0   1 24  400    34     3     0     1     4   244     0
1 24  300   45   11    0    0   69    0    0   -0   88    0   1 24  300    35     5     0     6    10   245     0
1 24  200   44   12    0    0   55    0    0   -0   88    0   1 24  200    32     9     1     6    10   250     0
1 24  100   46    7    0    0   44    0    0   -0   89    0   1 24  100    31     8     3     6     9   256     0
1 24    0   44   12    0    0   62    0    0   -0   89    0   1 24    0    31     7     2     4     6   246     0
1 23 2300   43   12    0    0   64    0    0   -0   89    0   1 23 2300    32     5     4     6    10   265     0
1 23 2200   45   13    0    0   47    0    0   -0   89    0   1 23 2200    29     9     2     5    10   283     0
1 23 2100   41   24    0    0   53    0    0   -0   88    0   1 23 2100    32     8     4     6     8   246     0
1 23 2000   40   32    0    0   63    0    0    0   89    0   1 23 2000    31     9     4     5     7   286     0
1 23 1900   42   27    0    0   66    0    0    0   89    0   1 23 1900    28     9     4     5     8   289     0
1 23 1800   42   34    0    0   62    0    0   -0   88    0   1 23 1800    28    11     3     7    12   292     1
1 23 1700   42   41    0    0   68    0    0   -0   88   68   1 23 1700    26    18     6    11    20   285    64
1 23 1600   45   32    0    0   76    0    0   -0   88  207   1 23 1600    30    16     7    16    23   294   200
1 23 1500   43   56    0    0   81    0    0   -0   88  337   1 23 1500    30    22     8    20    32   299   337
1 23 1400   43   56    0    0   91    0    0   -0   88  428   1 23 1400    31    27    12    21    33   293   436
1 23 1300   42   55    0    0   89    0    0   -0   88  466   1 23 1300    30    30    12    22    32   291   481
1 23 1200   38   65    0    0   83    0    0    0   89  463   1 23 1200    29    33    16    26    32   296   467
1 23 1100   36   71    0    0   90    0    0   -0   89  372   1 23 1100    29    31    16    27    36   296   108
1 23 1000   34   72    0    0   88    0    0   -0   89  249   1 23 1000    28    29    19    29    41   295   142
1 23  900   35   70    0    0   82    0    0   -0   88  108   1 23  900    28    30    14    27    37   301   129
1 23  800   33   74    0    0   86    0    0   -0   88    6   1 23  800    27    28    14    24    42   301    14
1 23  700   36   63    0    0   87    0    0   -0   89    0   1 23  700    26    29    16    28    36   298     0
1 23  600   33   71    0    0   87    0    0    0   89    0   1 23  600    26    31    20    29    34   299     0
1 23  500   33   73    0    0   90    0    0   -0   89    0   1 23  500    25    33    20    28    34   295     0
------------------------------------------------------------  ----------------------------------------------------
1 23  400   30   84    0    0   83    0    0    0   88    0   1 23  400    26    34    11    22    37   297     0
1 23  300   31   82    0    0   88    0    0   -0   88    0   1 23  300    26    40    11    21    28   293     0
1 23  200   32   77    0    0   86    0    0   -0   88    0   1 23  200    26    39    10    22    36   294     0
1 23  100   33   74    0    0   73    0    0   -0   89    0   1 23  100    26    49    10    20    28   273     0
1 23    0   33   72    0    0   81    0    0   -0   89    0   1 23    0    28    39    10    17    25   273     0
1 22 2300   32   75    0    0   78    0    0   -0   89    0   1 22 2300    27    39     9    19    29   277     0
1 22 2200   32   75    0    0   64    0    0   -0   89    0   1 22 2200    26    45    16    25    38   265     0
1 22 2100   35   67    0    0   83    0    0   -0   88    0   1 22 2100    25    50    18    28    42   282     0
1 22 2000   37   60    0    0   73    0    0   -0   89    0   1 22 2000    19    80    12    25    37   295     0
1 22 1900   36   60    0    0   81    0    0   -0   89    0   1 22 1900    19    71    16    27    47   290     0
1 22 1800   36   61    0    0   70    0    0    0   88    0   1 22 1800    18    70    11    22    36   298     1
1 22 1700   36   63    0    0   73    0    0   -0   89   56   1 22 1700    19    50     3     8    16   297    55
1 22 1600   40   65    0    0  240    0    0   -0   88  175   1 22 1600    23    43     2     5    10   286   195
1 22 1500   38   80    0    0  244    0    0   -0   88  212   1 22 1500    26    39     4     9    16   257   328
1 22 1400   36   79    0    0  262    0    0   -0   88  340   1 22 1400    30    31     3     6    16   135   428
1 22 1300   35   83    0    0  266    0    0   -0   87  310   1 22 1300    30    32     2     5    11    75   474
NOTE: 24 Hr Snow sensor was malfunctioning prior to this hour
1 22 1200   32   92    0    0  256    0    0   85   88  229   1 22 1200    33    24     2     6    13   265   460
1 22 1100   32   91    0    0  261    0    0   85   88  159   1 22 1100    30    21     5    12    19   257   193
1 22 1000   31   92    0    0  187    0    0   89   89   78   1 22 1000    30    18     6    14    25   279   143
1 22  900   30   94    0    0    7    0    0   91   89   29   1 22  900    27    22     8    23    34   219   119
1 22  800   30   96    0    0    9    0    0   88   88    2   1 22  800    23    30    18    25    39   213    13
1 22  700   30   95    0    0   85    0    0   92   89    0   1 22  700    22    41    15    25    38   223     0
1 22  600   30   95    0    0   46    0    0   90   89    0   1 22  600    23    48    13    24    41   221     0
1 22  500   30   98    0    0  317    0    0   97   88    0   1 22  500    21    30     6    17    29   249     0
------------------------------------------------------------  ----------------------------------------------------
1 22  400   30   98    0    0  281    0    0   87   89    0   1 22  400    22    32     2     9    27   339     0
1 22  300   29   99    0    0  289    0    0   80   89    0   1 22  300    22    22     1     6    14   315     0
1 22  200   28   92    0    0  276    0    0   75   90    0   1 22  200    21    24     2     8    17   148     0
1 22  100   28   95    0    0  274    0    0   81   90    0   1 22  100    21    54     6    17    29   152     0
1 22    0   33   66    0    0  270    0    0   83   90    0   1 22    0    22    88    11    19    35   152     0
1 21 2300   36   51    0    0  273    0    0   84   90    0   1 21 2300    22    80    15    35    49   146     0
1 21 2200   36   46    0    0  273    0    0   81   90    0   1 21 2200    23    71    20    41    58   139     0
1 21 2100   37   43    0    0  267    0    0   82   90    0   1 21 2100    24    61    18    31    51   145     0
1 21 2000   38   38    0    0  270    0    0   82   90    0   1 21 2000    23    25    16    33    58   146     0
1 21 1900   35   78    0    0  281    0    0   79   90    0   1 21 1900    26    42    18    35    52   144     0
1 21 1800   40   44    0    0  270    0    0   78   90    0   1 21 1800    27    33    23    38    61   140     1
1 21 1700   43   30    0    0  266    0    0   77   90   25   1 21 1700    29    29    18    37    55   130    22
1 21 1600   42   48    0    0  265    0    0   74   90   91   1 21 1600    24    37    28    42    54   133    97
1 21 1500   45   36    0    0  261    0    0   74   90  235   1 21 1500    28    27    18    31    44   137   238
1 21 1400   50   26    0    0  259    0    0   76   88  400   1 21 1400    28    33    17    33    43   128   414
1 21 1300   49   25    0    0  260    0    0   74   90  459   1 21 1300    33    31    22    30    36   135   428

(continued in next post)
[/size][/tt]



Northwest Avalanche Center                                    Northwest Avalanche Center
Paradise, Mt Rainier National Park, Washington                Camp Muir, Mt Rainier National Park, Washington

MM/DD Hour Temp   RH Wind Wind Wind HourTotal 24HrTotalSolar  MM/DD Hour  Temp    RH  Wind  Wind  Wind  Wind Solar
       PST    F    %  Avg  Max  Dir Prec Prec Snow Snow W/m2         PST     F     %   Min   Avg   Max   Dir  W/m2
          5400'5400'5380'5380'5380'5400'5400'5400'5400'5400'            10110'10110'10110'10110'10110'10110'10110'
------------------------------------------------------------  ----------------------------------------------------
1 21 1200   48   27    0    0  262    0    0   76   90  476   1 21 1200    33    35    19    34    41   132   459
1 21 1100   48   24    0    0  260    0    0   76   90  370   1 21 1100    33    42    22    29    42   131   231
1 21 1000   47   24    0    0  269    0    0   77   90  204   1 21 1000    32    56    16    23    27   140    87
1 21  900   47   25    0    0  294    0    0   79   90   92   1 21  900    31    51    10    17    23   143    93
1 21  800   44   38    0    0  260    0    0   79   91    7   1 21  800    33    39     2     5    14   146    11
1 21  700   44   44    0    0  264    0    0   81   90    0   1 21  700    32    40     0     2     5   204     0
1 21  600   45   55    0    0  254    0    0   79   91    0   1 21  600    31    34     0     9    23   171     0
1 21  500   44   45    0    0  230    0    0   78   90    0   1 21  500    33    32     4    15    28   147     0
------------------------------------------------------------  ----------------------------------------------------
1 21  400   44   41    0    0  218    0    0   77   91    0   1 21  400    32    33    10    21    27   142     0
1 21  300   44   41    0    0  217    0    0   79   91    0   1 21  300    33    30     2    13    25   148     0
1 21  200   45   40    0    0  215    0    0   79   90    0   1 21  200    34    26     0     4    13   133     0
1 21  100   45   42    0    0  210    0    0   78   91    0   1 21  100    34    23     4     9    17   148     0
1 21    0   45   38    0    0  205    0    0   78   91    0   1 21    0    34    24     5    12    21   146     0
1 20 2300   44   38    0    0  200    0    0   79   91    0   1 20 2300    34    27     3    11    18   148     0
1 20 2200   44   33    0    0  198    0    0   80   91    0   1 20 2200    34    25     2     9    14   147     0
1 20 2100   44   32    0    0  195    0    0   77   91    0   1 20 2100    36    22     4     9    14   147     0
1 20 2000   44   32    0    0  200    0    0   79   90    0   1 20 2000    34    28     8    12    16   151     0
1 20 1900   46   33    0    0  200    0    0   78   91    0   1 20 1900    35    25     0     3     9   140     0
1 20 1800   43   31    0    0  202    0    0   75   90    0   1 20 1800    32    41     0     3     6   130     1
1 20 1700   44   40    0    0  202    0    0   73   90   55   1 20 1700    35    33     0     3     7   143    53
1 20 1600   50   32    0    0  202    0    0   72   91  193   1 20 1600    40    27     0     3     6   151   185
1 20 1500   55   25    0    0  181    0    0   76   89  324   1 20 1500    35    40     5    10    17   153   319
1 20 1400   55   23    0    0  129    0    0   80   90  418   1 20 1400    33    45     8    13    17   155   419
1 20 1300   49   25    0    0   80    0    0   79   91  461   1 20 1300    34    43     9    15    19   150   465
1 20 1200   48   26    0    0   76    0    0   80   91  443   1 20 1200    35    32    10    15    18   146   451
1 20 1100   46   31    0    0   66    0    0   83   91  366   1 20 1100    36    29     6    13    16   142   226
1 20 1000   41   36    0    0   73    0    0   83   91  243   1 20 1000    33    34     7    12    16   151   103
1 20  900   39   36    0    0   73    0    0   83   92  103   1 20  900    34    30     4     8    12   149   121
1 20  800   36   39    0    0   76    0    0   83   91    5   1 20  800    33    31     4     6    10   150    11
1 20  700   38   39    0    0   66    0    0   83   91    0   1 20  700    32    33     5     6     8   148     0
1 20  600   38   42    0    0   69    0    0   83   91    0   1 20  600    32    34     4     6     9   149     0
1 20  500   37   44    0    0   75    0    0   83   91    0   1 20  500    31    39     7    10    12   154     0
------------------------------------------------------------  ----------------------------------------------------
1 20  400   36   49    0    0   75    0    0   83   91    0   1 20  400    31    39     6     8    10   149     0
1 20  300   36   53    0    0   73    0    0   83   91    0   1 20  300    30    42     7     9    11   151     0
1 20  200   36   57    0    0   73    0    0   78   91    0   1 20  200    30    44     4     7     9   148     0
1 20  100   36   67    0    0   63    0    0   84   91    0   1 20  100    30    43     0     2     7   152     0
1 20    0   36   66    0    0   70    0    0   82   91    0   1 20    0    29    42     0     3     7   215     0
1 19 2300   37   64    0    0   56    0    0   73   92    0   1 19 2300    26    48     2     6    11   301     0
1 19 2200   37   67    0    0   41    0    0   73   92    0   1 19 2200    28    48     0     3    11   273     0
1 19 2100   37   51    0    0   29    0    0   82   91    0   1 19 2100    29    49     0     4     8   148     0
1 19 2000   38   57    0    0   28    0    0   82   92    0   1 19 2000    30    47     2     3     6   158     0
1 19 1900   36   63    0    0   29    0    0   82   91    0   1 19 1900    30    47     0     3     8   153     0
1 19 1800   36   74    0    0   19    0    0   81   91    0   1 19 1800    27    48     0     5    15   112     1
1 19 1700   37   71    0    0  263    0    0   82   91   52   1 19 1700    30    39     0     1     7   192    49
1 19 1600   41   65    0    0  262    0    0   80   91  185   1 19 1600    33    37     0     4     9   251   177
1 19 1500   44   63    0    0  262    0    0   81   91  241   1 19 1500    38    40     3     8    16   156   311
1 19 1400   44   55    0    0  252    0    0   83   91  410   1 19 1400    35    32     3    11    24   145   411
1 19 1300   43   68    0    0  269    0    0   82   92  459   1 19 1300    35    17     4    11    19   159   465
1 19 1200   41   77    0    0  279    0    0   82   92  330   1 19 1200    36    12     2    10    24   150   412
1 19 1100   40   76    0    0  271    0    0   73   92  264   1 19 1100    35    18     7    26    47   147   287
1 19 1000   39   77    0    0  263    0    0   83   92  210   1 19 1000    34    14    10    26    44   144   158
1 19  900   39   80    0    0  267    0    0   75   92   50   1 19  900    34    10    16    28    52   145    74
1 19  800   37   83    0    0  268    0    0   75   92    3   1 19  800    32    10    10    24    45   152     6
1 19  700   37   76    0    0  265    0    0   74   92    0   1 19  700    32    11    12    24    41   148     0
1 19  600   36   62    0    0  269    0    0   73   92    0   1 19  600    33     8    15    25    43   147     0
1 19  500   38   77    0    0  261    0    0   73   93    0   1 19  500    32     9    20    34    45   145     0
------------------------------------------------------------  ----------------------------------------------------
1 19  400   39   82    0    0  266    0    0   72   93    0   1 19  400    32     9    12    23    41   145     0
1 19  300   41   83    0    0  275    0    0   71   92    0   1 19  300    30    11     9    18    26   147     0
1 19  200   42   83    0    0  272    0    0   73   92    0   1 19  200    32     8     4    14    29   128     0
1 19  100   41   75    0    0  269    0    0   72   92    0   1 19  100    30    11     1     8    21   168     0
1 19    0   41   61    0    0  272    0    0   73   93    0   1 19    0    30    12     3    19    31   124     0
1 18 2300   40   54    0    0  251    0    0   73   93    0   1 18 2300    38     5    22    39    55   134     0
1 18 2200   40   53    0    0  270    0    0   83   93    0   1 18 2200    38     5    25    38    63   146     0
1 18 2100   39   25    0    0  268    0    0   83   93    0   1 18 2100    37     6    33    47    61   142     0
1 18 2000   40   21    0    0  272    0    0   82   93    0   1 18 2000    34    13    12    22    41   146     0
1 18 1900   40   20    0    0  290    0    0   81   93    0   1 18 1900    34    10     9    19    35   152     0
1 18 1800   39   30    0    0  274    0    0   79   93    0   1 18 1800    33    19    10    17    25   151     0
1 18 1700   40   40    0    0  276    0    0   76   93   27   1 18 1700    33    16    13    21    34   147    28
1 18 1600   44   38    0    0  268    0    0   73   93  186   1 18 1600    35    32    15    31    49   150   178
1 18 1500   49   31    0    0  269    0    0   76   92  321   1 18 1500    35    25    12    23    35   142   314
1 18 1400   49   27    0    0  265    0    0   76   92  417   1 18 1400    35    15    16    29    48   143   414
1 18 1300   50   19    0    0  266    0    0   65   92  450   1 18 1300    33    12    19    42    60   145   459
1 18 1200   49   19    0    0  258    0    0   67   93  415   1 18 1200    34    14    35    51    62   135   419
1 18 1100   50   13    0    0  259    0    0   68   93  344   1 18 1100    34    24    34    50    65   130   228
1 18 1000   48   12    0    0  275    0    0   70   93  183   1 18 1000    34    29    37    52    62   136    85
1 18  900   46   13    0    0  291    0    0   67   94   43   1 18  900    33    31    29    44    57   139    41
1 18  800   45   20    0    0  285    0    0   70   94    5   1 18  800    34    24    24    35    55   148    12
1 18  700   45   20    0    0  272    0    0   70   94    0   1 18  700    37     8    26    42    54   144     0
1 18  600   45   21    0    0  274    0    0   69   94    0   1 18  600    36     8    18    35    52   144     0
1 18  500   46   20    0    0  273    0    0   78   94    0   1 18  500    36     8    19    26    35   139     0
------------------------------------------------------------  ----------------------------------------------------
1 18  400   48   17    0    0  283    0    0   77   94    0   1 18  400    36     8    14    20    31   144     0
1 18  300   49   10    0    0  289    0    0   75   94    0   1 18  300    37     7    10    19    26   145     0
1 18  200   49    8    0    0  325    0    0   75   94    0   1 18  200    36     7     7    15    21   142     0
1 18  100   51    9    0    0  338    0    0   64   94    0   1 18  100    37     7     1     7    16   151     0
1 18    0   52    8    0    0    2    0    0   64   94    0   1 18    0    37     6     0     2     6   178     0
1 17 2300   50   10    0    0    7    0    0   64   94    0   1 17 2300    36     8     0     1     4   213     0
1 17 2200   52    9    0    0   16    0    0   64   94    0   1 17 2200    37     6     0     2     6   229     0
1 17 2100   51   10    0    0   25    0    0   64   94    0   1 17 2100    36     6     0     3     7   232     0
1 17 2000   51    9    0    0   28    0    0   64   94    0   1 17 2000    39     7     2     6    11   203     0
1 17 1900   51   10    0    0   21    0    0   62   94    0   1 17 1900    38     6     2     6     9   204     0
1 17 1800   52   10    0    0   25    0    0   71   94    0   1 17 1800    38     6     4     9    16   200     0
1 17 1700   53   11    0    0   20    0    0   67   94   47   1 17 1700    39     7     5    11    17   223    42
1 17 1600   62    8    0    0  133    0    0   68   93  215   1 17 1600    40     8     6    11    16   215   181
1 17 1500   69    5    0    0   46    0    0   72   93  339   1 17 1500    43     9     0     7    16   154   338
1 17 1400   67    6    0    0   76    0    0   72   93  419   1 17 1400    43     8     1     6    13   143   426
1 17 1300   61    6    0    0   17    0    0   71   94  465   1 17 1300    41     8     2     7    17   195   474
1 17 1200   58   10    0    0  346    0    0   72   94  408   1 17 1200    41    10     7    14    19   229   423
1 17 1100   58    9    0    0  281    0    0   71   95  358   1 17 1100    40    12     9    15    21   230   243
1 17 1000   56   11    0    0  303    0    0   74   95  260   1 17 1000    39    10    11    21    26   232   165
1 17  900   55    8    0    0  352    0    0   68   96   90   1 17  900    38    12    14    22    28   230   101
1 17  800   50    8    0    0  353    0    0   78   96    3   1 17  800    37    10    14    19    24   230     9
1 17  700   49    9    0    0   16    0    0   76   95    0   1 17  700    37    10    14    20    23   226     0
1 17  600   48   11    0    0   17    0    0   75   95    0   1 17  600    37    12    16    22    28   233     0
1 17  500   50   10    0    0   28    0    0   76   95    0   1 17  500    36    12    12    16    21   218     0
------------------------------------------------------------  ----------------------------------------------------
1 17  400   49   12    0    0   30    0    0   76   95    0   1 17  400    39     7     7    12    20   217     0
1 17  300   48   13    0    0   20    0    0   77   96    0   1 17  300    39     9     3     9    18   205     0
1 17  200   47   14    0    0   16    0    0   77   95    0   1 17  200    39     7     4    10    26   208     0
1 17  100   47   18    0    0   19    0    0   77   95    0   1 17  100    37     7     3     9    24   196     0
1 17    0   47   18    0    0   16    0    0   77   95    0   1 17    0    38     7     2     9    20   206     0
1 16 2300   48   19    0    0    3    0    0   77   95    0   1 16 2300    37    10     3     9    17   218     0
1 16 2200   47   23    0    0  347    0    0   78   96    0   1 16 2200    38     9     4    11    23   194     0
1 16 2100   47   30    0    0  357    0    0   78   96    0   1 16 2100    39    10     5    14    25   217     0
1 16 2000   45   36    0    0   27    0    0   78   96    0   1 16 2000    39     9    13    16    22   218     0
1 16 1900   45   50    0    0   20    0    0   78   96    0   1 16 1900    38    10    11    18    23   228     0
1 16 1800   45   47    0    0  358    0    0   76   95    0   1 16 1800    37     6    13    19    24   223     0
1 16 1700   45   61    0    0  334    0    0   73   95   47   1 16 1700    37    10     7    14    23   220    46
1 16 1600   52   48    0    0   11    0    0   75   95  182   1 16 1600    38     9    10    19    31   228   180
1 16 1500   65   30    0    0   11    0    0   78   94  332   1 16 1500    40     8     9    17    22   225   353
1 16 1400   61   32    0    0   10    0    0   80   95  340   1 16 1400    40     7     8    14    19   221   333
1 16 1300   52   57    0    0    9    0    0   79   94  369   1 16 1300    43     7     4     9    23   190   436
1 16 1200   50   55    0    0   13    0    0   83   94  391   1 16 1200    42     9     1     6    16   230   423
1 16 1100   49   51    0    0   18    0    0   73   95  347   1 16 1100    38    26     0     2     6   178   205
1 16 1000   46   57    0    0   21    0    0   79   96  203   1 16 1000    38    19     0     2     6   164    92
1 16  900   41   59    0    0   20    0    0   80   95   59   1 16  900    36    21     0     3     9   179    74
1 16  800   40   59    0    0   18    0    0   83   96    4   1 16  800    35    22     0     5    16   146     9
1 16  700   39   60    0    0   12    0    0   85   96    0   1 16  700    34    26     2     9    16   231     0
1 16  600   39   66    0    0  338    0    0   87   96    0   1 16  600    37    22    13    17    21   241     0
1 16  500   41   50    0    0  337    0    0   88   97    0   1 16  500    39    18     8    14    18   238     0
------------------------------------------------------------  ----------------------------------------------------
1 16  400   40   66    0    0  338    0  .01   93   96    0   1 16  400    39    15     2     7    17   206     0
1 16  300   42   62    0    0  345    0  .01   97   95    0   1 16  300    36    29     0     3     8   169     0
1 16  200   40   72    0    0  346    0  .01  100   97    0   1 16  200    34    34     1     4    11   176     0
1 16  100   41   70    0    0  340    0  .01  104   93    0   1 16  100    36    30     0     6    13   174     0
1 16    0   39   70    0    0   20    0  .01  109   96    0   1 16    0    32    43     0     3     7   275     0
1 15 2300   38   74    0    0   28    0  .01  109   95    0   1 15 2300    33    39     0     3     7   216     0
1 15 2200   39   69    0    0   23    0  .01  107   96    0   1 15 2200    32    44     0     3     5   171     0
1 15 2100   38   69    0    0   19    0  .01  103   96    0   1 15 2100    31    45     0     1     6   175     0
1 15 2000   38   68    0    0   11    0  .01  100   96    0   1 15 2000    31    46     0     3    12   291     0
1 15 1900   35   81    0    0   25    0  .01  104   96    0   1 15 1900    30    51     2     7    20   200     0
1 15 1800   35   83    0    0   20    0  .01  102   97    0   1 15 1800    32    47     2     7    20   166     0
1 15 1700   34   91    0    0   21    0  .01   90   96   35   1 15 1700    32    46     3     8    15   212    31
1 15 1600   36   89    0    0   21    0  .01   68   96  145   1 15 1600    32    50     2     9    27   185   139
1 15 1500   38   90    0    0    6    0  .01   84   96  289   1 15 1500    33    49     6    14    31   169   267
1 15 1400   42   83    0    0  337    0  .01   86   95  335   1 15 1400    34    43     6    16    49   228   365
1 15 1300   37   86    0    0  297    0  .01   86   96  371   1 15 1300    35    47     4    15    32   223   365
1 15 1200   36   92    0    0  301  .01  .01   79   94  415   1 15 1200    36    46     5    17    34   247   441
1 15 1100   35   91    0    0  336    0    0   80   97  311   1 15 1100    35    27     7    18    32   242   242
1 15 1000   35   92    0    0   19    0    0   81   96  221   1 15 1000    35    47     8    16    25   240   145
1 15  900   35   91    0    0   36    0    0   88   97  106   1 15  900    33    22    12    22    31   208   127
1 15  800   30   92    0    0   32    0    0   90   97    1   1 15  800    29    27    12    22    37   194     2
1 15  700   28   93    0    0   38    0    0   90   98    0   1 15  700    31    13    13    21    31   183     0
1 15  600   28   92    0    0   23    0    0   90   98    0   1 15  600    28    14    16    24    37   200     0
1 15  500   28   95    0    0  333    0    0   89   98    0   1 15  500    29    16    17    25    34   187     0
------------------------------------------------------------  ----------------------------------------------------
MM/DD Hour Temp   RH Wind Wind Wind HourTotal 24HrTotalSolar  MM/DD Hour  Temp    RH  Wind  Wind  Wind  Wind Solar
       PST    F    %  Avg  Max  Dir Prec Prec Snow Snow W/m2         PST     F     %   Min   Avg   Max   Dir  W/m2
          5400'5400'5380'5380'5380'5400'5400'5400'5400'5400'            10110'10110'10110'10110'10110'10110'10110'
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Amar - I admit the skiing was quite decent, very nice corn the last two days I skied on the southerly type aspects.    However, I am not going to rave about it since this is the time of the year when we should be ghost skiing, hat skiing or at least here in the Northwest getting the occasional face shot and building a decent snowpack for our water inventory.

The mountain looks like it normally does in September up high and the snow pack is a joke in most places here in the PNW.  We are better than California, but that is about all we can say.  This is the second worst ski season so far in my 50 years.  Thankfully with the AT gear you can, like you say find nice turning snow.

It is what it is you just got to take what nature gives you and make the best of it, but there has been a huge change in the Januarys since I first started skiing in 1962.  Even in big snow years January has not in recent years kicked out many big days.  I would love to be in the trees any day dodging avalanches and working the white room in January rather than thinking I was at Mammoth Mountain in April.  There is one big plus there were tons of ladies in halter tops climbing up Pan Point on their way to the Nisqually now that really adds to the scenery.....LOL.

Anyway keep posting your pictures are awesome!

you sure are getting after it Amar, love it !

Nice meeting you up there, Amar, and thanks for all of the pictures.

It was a terrific day to ski up there on Friday. I am glad I ran into you and the others. Thanks again for the car shuttle from the bridge.

author=Floater link=topic=30520.msg127688#msg127688 date=1390832396]
Amar - I admit the skiing was quite decent, very nice corn the last two days I skied on the southerly type aspects.    However, I am not going to rave about it since this is the time of the year when we should be ghost skiing, hat skiing or at least here in the Northwest getting the occasional face shot and building a decent snowpack for our water inventory.

The mountain looks like it normally does in September up high and the snow pack is a joke in most places here in the PNW.  We are better than California, but that is about all we can say.  This is the second worst ski season so far in my 50 years.  Thankfully with the AT gear you can, like you say find nice turning snow.

It is what it is you just got to take what nature gives you and make the best of it, but there has been a huge change in the Januarys since I first started skiing in 1962.  Even in big snow years January has not in recent years kicked out many big days.  I would love to be in the trees any day dodging avalanches and working the white room in January rather than thinking I was at Mammoth Mountain in April.  There is one big plus there were tons of ladies in halter tops climbing up Pan Point on their way to the Nisqually now that really adds to the scenery.....LOL.

Anyway keep posting your pictures are awesome!


I agree with some of the sentiment here, but it does not diminish the fact that it has been absolutely spectacular on Rainier over the past week.  I agree with Amar's assessment: June weather, but better and safer snow conditions.  The only downside has been the short days and the 5pm gate closing.  I skied Muir to Paradise via the Nisqually chutes last Monday and skied Van Trump yesterday under  perfect conditions.  Both tours were equal to or better than some of my best powder days. 

What exactly is the 'turtle'?  is that the aspect just east of Van Trump where one might slide right back into Nisqually?


Glad we could help with the shuttle,  would have hated to break Amar's string. :)   Actually,  I'm sure he would have hitchhiked it knowing how great the conditions were. 

I owe Amar (and Kamtron) thanks for the ride back to my rig at Paradise on Friday the 17th. My solo day was much improved by meeting you guys and skiing to the bridge!



Also, thanks for the photo credit above.

Here's another, but of Kamtron down below the terminus of the Nisqually that day:




-Scott

Thanks for the pic, Norseman! I like that shot

I made a silly gif of Amar making turns down the chute that day.
http://students.washington.edu/kamdh/nolink/amar.gif

author=kamtron link=topic=30520.msg127797#msg127797 date=1390942906]
I made a silly gif of Amar making turns down the chute that day.
http://students.washington.edu/kamdh/nolink/amar.gif


Thanks for the GIF, Kam. I smoothed it out using Photoshop (Auto-Align Layers is like magic) and re-exported to a new GIF:

http://www.skimountaineer.com/TR/Images2014/RainierNisquallyChuteCornSkiingAnimation-17Jan2014.gif




author=savegondor link=topic=30520.msg127718#msg127718 date=1390857422]
What exactly is the 'turtle'?  is that the aspect just east of Van Trump where one might slide right back into Nisqually?





The Turtle is a glacial remnant above the Van Trump Glaciers, adjacent to Wilson Glacier, and below the Kautz Ice Cliff and Camp Hazard, extending from 9800 ft up to about 10800 ft. It's often mistakenly referred to as a snowfield, but is a real chunk of glacier with a few small crevasses when it melts out to bare blue glacial ice in the summer, just like the upper portion of the Muir "Snowfield" (which is also a glacier) does most years by September.


Thanks Amar.  I've also often wondered if there are any approaches to the VanTrump area from the current Nisqually terminus area and below. 

author=savegondor link=topic=30520.msg127937#msg127937 date=1391109667]
Thanks Amar.  I've also often wondered if there are any approaches to the VanTrump area from the current Nisqually terminus area and below. 


5800 feet?  can i go up where you exited?

This also avoided the potentially serious hazard of falling bodies on Pan Face, which can be a significant risk on busy days with firm frozen conditions in the morning.


... this was after our close call with a snowshoer a few weeks before. Body traveling at terminal velocity, flailing ice axe, massive picket on pack---yikes!

Amar - Thanks for the fantastic photos and thorough detail on your TRs. They're a joy to read!

do you work? way  to get some!

Reply to this TR

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juneuary-16-26-2014-rainier-10k-to-bridge-corn
Amar Andalkar
2014-01-27 00:57:27

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