July 5, 2014, Little Tahoma, MRNP

With the snowpack hanging in quite well above 5,000€™ I decided on another attempt at Little Tahoma. It is a long haul in from Frying Pan Creek so we broke the trip with an overnight camp at Summerland. We were lucky to snag a walk-in spot, despite showing up at the Ranger station at 9:15 on July 4th! After setting up camp on dry ground I had a pleasant afternoon tour up to Panhandle gap, then up to a high point on the ridge trending SW. After observing a couple of dozen goats grazing in the meadows near Cowlitz chimney I skied a short, steep chute into goat cirque and then on sticky snow back to camp.
Heading up at 6:35 on July 5th, I cramponed up Meany Crest to about 7,500€™ where I transitioned to skinning on the Frying Pan glacier. After crossing the notch to the Whitman glacier I skinned the lower portion then changed to boots (sans crampons) when the slope steepened. The snow was soft enough for good steps but it was still a haul to the highest skiable snow (about 10,700€™). I left skis and pack at the depot and scrabbled up the chossy gullys to the summit block. Rainier was shrouded in an uninviting lenticular, the wind was gusty and there was little temptation to linger in that exposed spot! The best skiing of the tour was on the steeper pitches, first on the Whitman and then on the upper part of Meany crest. The rest of the snow was smooth enough, but pretty grabby on the low angle pitches. Being mindful of the hike out with a heavy pack I hustled back to camp by 2 pm after a fun but challenging tour in awesome surroundings.