April 3, 2015, Chinook Pass
4/3/15
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
2084
0
Amazingly beautiful weather starting out near 9:00 - toured in a short sleeve base layer and vest. Very lonely and quiet, more so than I expected. Saw only one other party in our area.
Snow (obviously) starts right from the pullouts, and consisted of a thin fragile crust on variable soft powder, with a few wind swept zones. N aspect sheltered snow was great - soft, light, and no crust anywhere! About 6", on top of a slick melt-freeze layer, that made sidehilling a challenge. Coverage is already questionable in lower locations; looks like June out there.
By about 14:00 the weather started coming in, light flakes followed by some graupel. Vis dropped considerably after that. We stayed in the Yakima Peak basin.
Snow (obviously) starts right from the pullouts, and consisted of a thin fragile crust on variable soft powder, with a few wind swept zones. N aspect sheltered snow was great - soft, light, and no crust anywhere! About 6", on top of a slick melt-freeze layer, that made sidehilling a challenge. Coverage is already questionable in lower locations; looks like June out there.
By about 14:00 the weather started coming in, light flakes followed by some graupel. Vis dropped considerably after that. We stayed in the Yakima Peak basin.
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