Home > Trip Reports > January 25-26, 2014, Van Trump Corn

January 25-26, 2014, Van Trump Corn

1/25/14
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
6163
6
Posted by Rowan Stewart on 1/29/14 1:26pm
Two weeks ago I totally struck out on conditions and wound up hiking/skinning/downclimbing over 10 miles, and didn't make a single turn. The conclusion my partner and I came to at the end of the day was; well, you win some and you lose some. This past weekend it felt like I was due for a win.

My buddy Tyler and I started the trip off right with a killer breakfast at the copper creek inn, parked at comet falls th, and started the hike up to van trump park. We switched to skins about half a mile in, then quickly switched back to bootpacking for a few steep icy traverses.


"I'm buying ski crampons!"

Once above comet falls, the terrain mellowed out, and the snow got softer and softer as we climbed.    views of Rainier peaked through the trees at us as we skinned up through the glades below van trump park.  Around 6200ft as we broke out of the trees, we stumbled upon a sweet little cornice that had huge potential for a snowcave.



We decided this would be camp, dropped packs, and started gawking at all of the beckoning terrain around us. I picked out an obvious line and starting skinning, while tyler chilled and worked on the snow cave. As I climbed higher on the mountain I was shocked at how little snow there was at high elevation. much of the van trump glaciers were covered with pummus dust, but the snow was great nonetheless, and the views were spectacular.



Adams, St Helens, Hood, and even mt Jefferson far in the distance were visible. I stopped around 7600 ft and rode back to the canmp just in time for sunset.


really fun run



we took appropriate safety precautions before watching the sun sink below the horizon, then made dinner and finished the snow cave.



I woke early in the morning and tried to capture the magic of the night sky and dimly moonlight  mountains


moon over the tatoosh





Skinning on the re-frozen morning snow sans crampons made for some highly technical kick turns, and we reluctantly switched to booting for a while. The snow softened quickly in the intense sun though, and we slowly made our way up to our high point around 9500 ft. We soaked in the sun, the views, and the quiet for a while, then dropped into to 4500 vert of corn.



We rode down the ridge which divides the wilson glacier and van trump glaciers,



and then dropped into the wilson gulley.




stoked

the snow was great all the way to the bridge where after crossing and recrossing the steam we climbed to the road and hitched a ride down the the car. Even the half flat tire and equally flat spare couldn't dampen our spirits. I felt rewarded for all of the slogging I had put in the previous weekend, and got my fill of corn until spring

now lets get back to riding pow!



Awesome report, and awesome photos.

Sounds like an awesome trip up to Van Trump! Looking at your photos reminded me of this fall. FWIW here is a photo of the mountain from a similar aspect from October 19 of this season. The snow coverage has not increased as much as I expected after three months.

Nice trip report.  You mentioned parking your car at Comet Falls...just curious if the ranger who gave you your camping permit said anything about that.  I've tried in the past to get overnight permits in winter leaving my car at Comet Falls and I've always been shut down and told I could only park overnight at Paradise or Longmire.  Maybe the park service has finally eased up on their overly restrictive parking policy?

Thanks Pete, I didn't even think about a camping permit, (didn't know you needed them in winter) and just hoped I wouldn't get a ticket for parking. I guess I got lucked out.

author=jtmaier link=topic=30575.msg127912#msg127912 date=1391063438]
The snow coverage has not increased as much as I expected after three months.


wow, scary similar snow conditions

My partner and I skied Van Trump on 1-26-14.  We saw your truck when we pulled in and thought it was early enough that you must have gone in the day before.  Nice work on beating down "The Man."  The skiing was absolutely great.  We made it to about 7500K as well and had a great descent from there.  Wish we would have had the energy for The Turtle, but the slog in took a little longer than expected.  We actually strapped on the crampons for the bulletproof side hilling.  All and all another fine June tour.




author=Rowan Stewart link=topic=30575.msg127971#msg127971 date=1391130635]
Thanks Pete, I didn't even think about a camping permit, (didn't know you needed them in winter) and just hoped I wouldn't get a ticket for parking. I guess I got lucked out.


yup, i'd say you definitely lucked out... dodging the parking ticket and the no permit ticket.  So much for my hopes about reasonable parking rules at Comet Falls. 

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january-25-26-2014-van-trump-corn
Rowan Stewart
2014-01-29 21:26:37