Home > Trip Reports > August 21, 2005, Flett and Russell Glacier

August 21, 2005, Flett and Russell Glacier

8/21/05
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
3223
4
Posted by TonyM on 8/23/05 8:43am
Don't Laugh.  Now I know why there are very few August Flett/Russell TR's.   The thought of yet another walk up to camp Muir wasn't appealing, so having never been to the Northern side of Rainier, I decided to explore the Flett and Russell Glaciers on the opposite side of the mountain.  The drive was short, the hike was great and the scenery stunning, but the skiing was hardly worth the trip.  The Flett was littered with rocks and fine wind blown volcanic sand over a mixture of sun cups and ice runnels.  And that was the good stuff.  I went a little ways up the Russell but it looked to be in the same general condition (albeit with less ice showing, but more cracks).  So I turned back and "skied" back to the bottom of the Flett (with a few short carries).  It's a beautiful area, so I'll definitely return for the scenery, but until snow falls, this area is finished.  
It's kind of you to report, Tony.  
Might save some of the rest of us from racking up needless torture points.
For an interesting reference, here's what the Flett looked like in August of 2000:

Pretty stark contrast to the conditions of your trip, eh?
Nonetheless, it shows that your idea was not so bad, just the year was a little off.  ;)
Let's hope this next season is a more bountiful one, snow wise.  Maybe we'll be able to do the Flett in September of 2006!! 8)

. . . and skinning from Spray Park!

It's a beautiful area, so I'll definitely return for the scenery, but until snow falls, this area is finished.

Even though you suffered some "torture points" there is no laughing in this corner.  We too have had our share of carries and few turns in this area, but when the snow is good, as you can see from the photo above, the skiing is fantastic  ;D.  It truly is a beautiful part of the country, and you did get to see the potential for very nice untracked lines.  Actually it's not the getting in that's the hard part, for some reason that trail on the way out seems like it's nine miles long, instead of 4  >:(.

Flett Russell should have been a fine call, it's one of three places that seem to come up again & again in August and Septembers in each years archived reports (I went to Flett each of past 2 Augusts, and also early this July, and unfortunately the July 4 coverage particularly on Flett was already looking more like a typical LATE August). I've been to the other two already in August (Muir+Paradise;Ptarmigan Ridge+Sholes) and the former is marginal, the latter is totally out. It seems like there just isn't that much appealing looking snow anywhere except pretty darn high on Baker, like as reported/photographed on Boulder-Park or Roman Wall, or as I observed from a distance on parts of the Park proper well past the Portals.

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august-21-2005-flett-and-russell-glacier
TonyM
2005-08-23 15:43:59