Home > Trip Reports > April 12 and 13, 2014, Mt. Rainier, Fuhrer Finger

April 12 and 13, 2014, Mt. Rainier, Fuhrer Finger

4/12/14
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
6479
10
Posted by Daver on 4/16/14 2:59am
Jonn-E and I skied the Fuhrer Finger on Sunday. I left the car at the bridge on Saturday and was promptly picked up by Charlie, Jamie, and Chris (big thanks guys!). We left paradise at around 10:30 and made our way to the Lower Nisqually. The ramp off the Lower Nisqually to the Wilson was isothermal mush, but we went up it anyways. We camped at the Castle and started moving at around 7:00 after a sleepless night. We stopped at 9:30 around 11,300' due to wind and very icy conditions up high. After waiting for 3 hours for the snow to soften up a bit we made our descent. There were ALOT of people up there, most of whom turned around. The Finger skied with great corn and the descent to the bridge was absolutely delightful!

Highlights of the trip included:

Watching "Shred" decked out in shorts and tanktop tow his daughter uphill on their way to Muir.

Watching the Kautz calve off and trigger a big slide 30 minutes after seeing some people ski directly below it on the Lower Wilson Headwall.

And of course skiing the Finger to the bridge!

Video of the trip.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YSJOjdj8EI

Enjoy,
Dave
Really well done video, enjoyed watching. Thanks.

thanks for posting the TR.... i was down on the snowfield on Sunday- saw all the little dots working their way up the upper Nisqually and was really curious what conditions were like up there. 

Cool.  Did the Kautz calve on Sat or Sun?  After dropping camp, we skied the Wilson headwall on Sat--wonder if we narrowly escaped the crush.  Wilson HW skied soft enough, and it's beautifully clean and smooth right now.

Also noted that Sunday was "warmer" but seemed windier--unfortunate for the upper reaches of the ski slopes.

The Kautz Calved on Saturday. That must have been you we saw skiing the headwall. It came down exactly where you guys skied. We were glad you guys were out already. Safe to say you were lucky!

Awesome video Dave!

I got a lot of practice at that "brace for the ice-pebble blast" maneuver shown in the video  8)

Nice to meet you! Looks like you guys had some nice turns down that thing! We got to watch you drop in, from moon rocks.  We should get together for a ski sometime.

author=Daver link=topic=31466.msg131941#msg131941 date=1397671171]
Highlights of the trip included:

Watching "Shred" decked out in shorts and tanktop tow his daughter uphill on their way to Muir.


My friend and I witnessed this event around McClure Rock - impressive doesn't begin to describe it. We both said we should make friends with him as it seemed like the best way to get to the top!

[img width=1000 height=664]https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-7R6yKRVIf1s/U1h3FHS_qJI/AAAAAAAABO0/1KWVgJYs9j8/w1577-h1048-no/DSC02522.JPG" />


[img width=1000 height=664]https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/GVnkB3Mm_dMpY5u-Y50YwIuNnfHgpF8OEY-VUUbrGRE=w1577-h1048-no" />


[img width=1000 height=560]https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/ZlmBoVfVKnD21YsEMmIllHfC3z22oD2TLycftz6Pxgo=w1678-h941-no" />


[img width=1000 height=664]https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/gYzWV6AIVljaCRCN9S_8rlwiL1Y3Md2x5BQHl2DOfeI=w1577-h1048-no" />


It was fun hanging out with these guys. Say hi if you're out there!
[img width=1000 height=664]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/--QnFHAo7oHc/U1h2yhbBrlI/AAAAAAAABLE/hVoVmq1T6NY/w1256-h835-no/DSC02575.JPG" />


Abbey Road, Nisqually Edition
[img width=1000 height=664]https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/--kdzh5lV8Kc/U1h25KOvB0I/AAAAAAAABMY/IwZRH6FfXeU/w1256-h835-no/DSC02585.JPG" />

Awesome photos and video, guys. C'mon weather window!

Sick. Shred has set the bar!!!

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april-12-and-13-2014-mt-rainier-fuhrer-finger
Daver
2014-04-16 09:59:31