February 15, 2015, Paradise
2/15/15
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
2483
2
Beautiful day, less wind than forecast, large crowd as expected. Gate opened promptly at 9 and closed right at 5. Plenty of rangers even tho no entry fee is charged this weekend. Nisqually chutes were reported to ski well, even with 160cm long 62mm wide rando race skis boots and bindings.
Paradise glacier was as bad as I may have ever skied it. Plenty of sastrugi 8600-8000'. Fortunately 8000-6800' skied quite well with 1-2" corn on less steep slopes but the head wall had 1/4" crust over 4-6" settled (wind blown?) powder. The ski out to 4th crossing was straightforward, hard scrapey in the shade and creamy in the setting sun. Sure was fun to have enough coverage to take brand new skis on their first outing. And fun to join the posse of a dozen 30yo REI employees walking their talk!
https://vimeo.com/119786489
Paradise glacier was as bad as I may have ever skied it. Plenty of sastrugi 8600-8000'. Fortunately 8000-6800' skied quite well with 1-2" corn on less steep slopes but the head wall had 1/4" crust over 4-6" settled (wind blown?) powder. The ski out to 4th crossing was straightforward, hard scrapey in the shade and creamy in the setting sun. Sure was fun to have enough coverage to take brand new skis on their first outing. And fun to join the posse of a dozen 30yo REI employees walking their talk!
https://vimeo.com/119786489
Actually on Saturday the Paradise skied nice except the top portion. It was actually a tiny bit of new snow or corn on it. You may have seen our tracks. We actually turned around before reaching the upper part of it since you could tell the snow was getting icky. There was also a shorter run we skied a couple of times just below the Paradise that was really nice turning. I rated this part of the skiing which was most of the day a +6 on my scale of +10 to -10. It may have been the cider we were drinking that made us think it was great skiing. However, we sobered up coming out because we hit -6 on my scale. Breakable ice crust from Mazama Ridge to the road. It was nasty. I guess we should have drank the other bottle...LOL.
Despite this being in my bottom three years out of 52 you can still find OK skiing. Amar is right about that. By the way only two others even skied out in that area on Saturday besides our group. I think most people are putting away their gear and mowing their yards. My approach is ski a day here and there and make the most of it. I need to hit the ski sales should be some great ones after this year.
Despite this being in my bottom three years out of 52 you can still find OK skiing. Amar is right about that. By the way only two others even skied out in that area on Saturday besides our group. I think most people are putting away their gear and mowing their yards. My approach is ski a day here and there and make the most of it. I need to hit the ski sales should be some great ones after this year.
Silas, Did you happen to see what the route looked like over to the Cowlitz Rocks (or see anyone over there)? It's been on my list for awhile and I'd like to get up there maybe next weekend.
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