April 1-2, 2015, Rainier, Mazama and Cowlitz POWDER!
4/1/15
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
7840
7
As many of you know, I used to write a lot of trip reports on TAY. But somehow I haven't posted a trip report here in exactly 11 months now, since a memorable jaunt up
In this most anomalous and unusual of Cascade snow seasons, the start of spring has finally brought a long-awaited return to normal winter-like weather conditions for the first time in 2015, with the first sustained cool-and-wet pattern of the year arriving during the last week of March and continuing into April. About 10" of new snow (low-density powder!) fell at Paradise on Mount Rainier during the final 8 hours of March, with lighter snowfall continuing into April 1 and snow levels dropping below 2000 ft by the tail end. A steady decrease in both temperature and winds throughout the intense snowfall (see telemetry data below) ensured a very stable right-side-up density profile, while a nice transition from sunshine and warm temperatures over 50 °F on March 30 to rain to wet snow around 33 °F earlier in the day on March 31 followed by continued cooling ensured an excellent bond of the new snow to the previous days' suncrust.
I didn't have a ski partner lined up for April 1 since it was a Wednesday, but I was prepared to ski solo given the expected stability (I solo a lot out of necessity in corn snow conditions with low avalanche hazard, but very rarely solo in powder conditions). Luckily late on Tuesday evening, I convinced Radka to join me over a Gmail chat, so no need to solo. Given the 10" of new, I expected the Longmire gate to open about an hour late around 10am on April 1, so we planned to arrive at that time. The park's morning Twitter update also stated 10am and lo and behold, the gate opened right then! Only 2 other cars in the Paradise parking lot, Vogtski as usual and a pair of snowshoers in a pickup. Really shocked to see it so empty on such a big powder day, even midweek.
It was partly sunny at times looking south, but with a solid cloud deck overhead obscuring everything above 6500 ft and also occasional light snow. Given that weather, we planned to take laps on Mazama Ridge and all skied down Paradise Valley Road to 4th Crossing before transitioning to skins. Thankfully the snowshoers continued down the road instead of following our skintrack, which we hoped to reuse for several laps.
I broke trail up to the top of Mazama Ridge in excellent wintry powder conditions with no sign that anyone had ever been there before, it felt great to break trail again in deep cold powder after several months without doing so. Pole tests confirmed the expected snow profile, with a couple inches of wet snow atop the solid crust topped by 8-12" of lighter and lighter snow, with no wind affect except in very isolated spots atop the Mazama ridgeline.
Given the lack of any sign of other people thus far, we were shocked to arrive atop Mazama Ridge and find a skintrack already there! A deep trench in fact, clearly the work of at least several skiers. I guessed that it had to be a guided group, and it was, a small RMI ski seminar led by my friends Seth & Solveig Waterfall, which had been camped on the ridge the previous 3 nights.
They were out early making laps in the new powder in the east-facing Mazama back bowl, and a nice chat with them confirmed my conjectures about snow profiles and excellent stability throughout that area. We quickly changed our plans from lapping the west-facing Mazama slope and decided to ski the bowl instead, especially with a skintrack in place (at least in the upper part of the bowl) and only a handful of tracks from the guided group on a couple of aspects.
Over the next few hours we took 5 laps in the bowl, with the highest starting around 6100 ft just east of Stevens-Van Trump Memorial and continuing down the gullies to around 5300 ft, well below where the RMI group had stopped and skinned upward from. There the slope rolls over steeply into the Stevens Creek drainage, and the snowpack became too thin for safety with large open creek holes through the 5-6 ft deep snowpack. Normally those gullies would be filled 15-20 ft deep by April with no trace of a creek, but that's just the way it is this year.
Occasional sun breaks were starting to build a thin sun crust on the longest SE-facing lines by mid-afternoon, so we stuck to the shorter NE aspects for the last 2 laps, which still held excellent powder all day.
On the way out, the west side of Mazama Ridge still held decent snow especially by staying on areas which had gotten the least sun. By the time we started the last short skin up the road from 4th Crossing to Paradise, it was snowing HARD, and about 1/4" of new snow accumulated on our hats and packs during the 10 minute skin back. Fresh pow for the next day!
We arrived to an empty parking lot a bit after 5pm, and were out the Longmire gate comfortably before its 6pm closure. About 4000 vert for the day, almost entirely in high-quality powder, outstanding!
The forecast for the next day, April 2, was somewhat uncertain, with only an inch or two of new snow expected overnight. Either partly sunny (NWAC forecast) or mostly cloudy (NWS Rainier forecast) or variably cloudy (UW model) conditions were predicted the next day, although freezing levels were expected to stay cool in the 3000 ft range in all forecasts. After getting home to Seattle around 9pm, I wasn't sure if I'd ski the next day since it was unlikely to be nearly as good a powder day as I had just had. But once again, luck and serendipity intervened. My friend Cori had been posting on FB looking for a ski partner for the next day, with no luck, and I saw that after I got home. When I texted her after 10pm, luckily she decided to look at her phone despite being in bed already. I quickly convinced her that Paradise might be good the next day, especially if we stayed on NE aspects which had gotten the least sun, and so ski plans were set.
The next day dawned partly sunny, and the Mountain was out in full glory during most of the drive down there, with only a smattering of clouds hugging the lower flanks. With only 2" more new snow overnight, I was guessing that the gate should open by 9am, and the park's morning Twitter update also stated that. We arrived at Longmire at 9:20am to find the gate still closed, and no idea why it wasn't open yet. Once again though, luck was on our side: waiting in the Longmire lot were 2 couples, more friends and TAY regulars, who had been planning to ski the Tatoosh that day to find north-facing snow. Given the difficulty of Tatoosh access due to lack of snow coverage on the road getting there, and the clear skies above now allowing easy travel past treeline, I convinced them to join us instead on a mission to seek out the best NE-facing slopes in the Paradise vicinity. I was glad to have more friends along for camaraderie, safety, and to help break trail on the lengthy route to our destination.
The gate finally opened at 9:45am, and we followed a pair of vehicles full of climbing rangers up to the Paradise lot. They were planning to ski Paradise Glacier dropping in from Muir Snowfield, but we were headed just a bit farther east. I was shocked to see that since yesterday evening, the Paradise Valley Road had suddenly been "groomed" earlier this morning -- but no corduroy here, just nasty rough snowcat tracks 20 ft wide across the whole road, ruining the beautiful smooth ski/skin track we had ascended in the snowstorm 17 hours earlier.
Anyway, we made quick work of the descent to 4th Crossing and the ascent up Mazama Ridge via yesterday's skintracks to Stevens-Van Trump Memorial. Then we set out across pristine untracked snow, breaking trail towards the lower end of the Paradise Glacier.
Three-shot panorama of the Mountain and Paradise Glacier (in bright sunlight) from near Stevens-Van Trump Memorial. (click for double-size version)
With FreeBird and DOD leading the charge, we soon topped out at our first highpoint near 7300 ft at half-past noon.
And then, it was finally time to ski powder! Beautiful, foot-deep, light, sunny, sparkly, wintry POWDER!
Cori and I skied a less-steep and more NE-facing line, while the other 4 took a steeper but more easterly line, and we regrouped at 6000 ft in warm springlike sunshine.
Anything that was getting direct sun (SW, south, SE) was quickly getting baked into dense mank by the higher solar angles of spring, despite temps still in the 20s °F. However, anything sufficiently east or NE-facing to get only very oblique solar radiation was still remaining nice powder.
We headed up for a second run, this time topping out at a different high point farther north at 7650 ft.
Then we dropped in for another outstanding run of deep east and NE-facing powder, maybe even 15-18" deep in spots.
Three-shot panorama of the Cowlitz Glacier, with our first set of powder tracks at far left, and the group skiing the second run in the center distance. (click for double-size version)
We regrouped once again at 6200 ft, still in warm springlike sunshine at 3pm. Avalanches were repeatedly roaring down the steep sunlit slopes of the huge glacial amphitheater surrounding us, as they had been since we'd first arrived in the area almost 3 hours earlier. But as expected, stability remained excellent on anything not getting intense sun, as did the quality of the powder even in late afternoon.
Then it was time to skin back up to the saddle for another run, using our lovely skintrack in the sunshine.
After a brief discussion, we decided to continue back up to the same 7650 ft spot and repeat our previous run, even though we knew that with it approaching 4pm already, we were unlikely to make it back to Longmire before the 6pm gate closing if we took that run. I assured the others that it was no big deal, as long as we were late enough that the LEs had already left Paradise, there would be no hassle getting out.
Two-shot panorama of the Mountain and Paradise Glacier, with our skintrack at center, ski tracks (presumably of the climbing rangers) at left, and Little Tahoma at right. (click for double-size version)
Ski conditions remained excellent and unchanged from the previous run, despite much of the slope now having gone into shadow.
Halfway down the 3rd run, looking down at our tracks from the previous run.
As we skinned back up to the saddle, the weather window that had surrounded us in an oasis of sunshine all day began to close. The clouds moved in overhead, and soon it was snowing again!
By the time we got back to the 7100 ft saddle after 5pm, it was pretty much a complete whiteout. In addition, the SW-facing snow on the route back home had been well sun-baked all day, and the surface had now frozen into fairly bad breakable crust. Slow and cautious skiing was needed until we reached the safety of the basin below, where it was flat enough that we could just point it straight down our skintrack, and the snow conditions were better off the skintrack too (flat areas receive much less solar radiation than sunward sloping areas, so they did not crust this day). We all agreed it was a small price to pay for the goodness we had enjoyed all day.
We finally dropped out of the cloud deck and whiteout near 6200 ft, so much nicer to be able to see. The ski down the west side of Mazama Ridge was mediocre given the sun affect, but at least it was low enough to have not frozen yet into breakable crust. We were relieved to arrive at 4th Crossing at 6pm, with only an easy short skin left back to the cars.
As expected, we had no issue getting out of the Longmire gate at 7pm, the clerk at the Longmire Inn desk was happy to let us out with no hassle. We were too late to eat at Copper Creek Inn, so we continued on to Bruno's in Eatonville to enjoy a fine and filling meal. Total vert for the day was about 6200 ft by my map-based mental calculation, although GPS watches reported significantly higher totals.
What an awesome way to start off April! Two days of excellent powder and fine company, thanks to all my ski partners for making it even better than the snow conditions alone would have indicated.
In this most anomalous and unusual of Cascade snow seasons, the start of spring has finally brought a long-awaited return to normal winter-like weather conditions for the first time in 2015, with the first sustained cool-and-wet pattern of the year arriving during the last week of March and continuing into April. About 10" of new snow (low-density powder!) fell at Paradise on Mount Rainier during the final 8 hours of March, with lighter snowfall continuing into April 1 and snow levels dropping below 2000 ft by the tail end. A steady decrease in both temperature and winds throughout the intense snowfall (see telemetry data below) ensured a very stable right-side-up density profile, while a nice transition from sunshine and warm temperatures over 50 °F on March 30 to rain to wet snow around 33 °F earlier in the day on March 31 followed by continued cooling ensured an excellent bond of the new snow to the previous days' suncrust.
I didn't have a ski partner lined up for April 1 since it was a Wednesday, but I was prepared to ski solo given the expected stability (I solo a lot out of necessity in corn snow conditions with low avalanche hazard, but very rarely solo in powder conditions). Luckily late on Tuesday evening, I convinced Radka to join me over a Gmail chat, so no need to solo. Given the 10" of new, I expected the Longmire gate to open about an hour late around 10am on April 1, so we planned to arrive at that time. The park's morning Twitter update also stated 10am and lo and behold, the gate opened right then! Only 2 other cars in the Paradise parking lot, Vogtski as usual and a pair of snowshoers in a pickup. Really shocked to see it so empty on such a big powder day, even midweek.
It was partly sunny at times looking south, but with a solid cloud deck overhead obscuring everything above 6500 ft and also occasional light snow. Given that weather, we planned to take laps on Mazama Ridge and all skied down Paradise Valley Road to 4th Crossing before transitioning to skins. Thankfully the snowshoers continued down the road instead of following our skintrack, which we hoped to reuse for several laps.
I broke trail up to the top of Mazama Ridge in excellent wintry powder conditions with no sign that anyone had ever been there before, it felt great to break trail again in deep cold powder after several months without doing so. Pole tests confirmed the expected snow profile, with a couple inches of wet snow atop the solid crust topped by 8-12" of lighter and lighter snow, with no wind affect except in very isolated spots atop the Mazama ridgeline.
Given the lack of any sign of other people thus far, we were shocked to arrive atop Mazama Ridge and find a skintrack already there! A deep trench in fact, clearly the work of at least several skiers. I guessed that it had to be a guided group, and it was, a small RMI ski seminar led by my friends Seth & Solveig Waterfall, which had been camped on the ridge the previous 3 nights.
They were out early making laps in the new powder in the east-facing Mazama back bowl, and a nice chat with them confirmed my conjectures about snow profiles and excellent stability throughout that area. We quickly changed our plans from lapping the west-facing Mazama slope and decided to ski the bowl instead, especially with a skintrack in place (at least in the upper part of the bowl) and only a handful of tracks from the guided group on a couple of aspects.
Over the next few hours we took 5 laps in the bowl, with the highest starting around 6100 ft just east of Stevens-Van Trump Memorial and continuing down the gullies to around 5300 ft, well below where the RMI group had stopped and skinned upward from. There the slope rolls over steeply into the Stevens Creek drainage, and the snowpack became too thin for safety with large open creek holes through the 5-6 ft deep snowpack. Normally those gullies would be filled 15-20 ft deep by April with no trace of a creek, but that's just the way it is this year.
Occasional sun breaks were starting to build a thin sun crust on the longest SE-facing lines by mid-afternoon, so we stuck to the shorter NE aspects for the last 2 laps, which still held excellent powder all day.
On the way out, the west side of Mazama Ridge still held decent snow especially by staying on areas which had gotten the least sun. By the time we started the last short skin up the road from 4th Crossing to Paradise, it was snowing HARD, and about 1/4" of new snow accumulated on our hats and packs during the 10 minute skin back. Fresh pow for the next day!
We arrived to an empty parking lot a bit after 5pm, and were out the Longmire gate comfortably before its 6pm closure. About 4000 vert for the day, almost entirely in high-quality powder, outstanding!
The forecast for the next day, April 2, was somewhat uncertain, with only an inch or two of new snow expected overnight. Either partly sunny (NWAC forecast) or mostly cloudy (NWS Rainier forecast) or variably cloudy (UW model) conditions were predicted the next day, although freezing levels were expected to stay cool in the 3000 ft range in all forecasts. After getting home to Seattle around 9pm, I wasn't sure if I'd ski the next day since it was unlikely to be nearly as good a powder day as I had just had. But once again, luck and serendipity intervened. My friend Cori had been posting on FB looking for a ski partner for the next day, with no luck, and I saw that after I got home. When I texted her after 10pm, luckily she decided to look at her phone despite being in bed already. I quickly convinced her that Paradise might be good the next day, especially if we stayed on NE aspects which had gotten the least sun, and so ski plans were set.
The next day dawned partly sunny, and the Mountain was out in full glory during most of the drive down there, with only a smattering of clouds hugging the lower flanks. With only 2" more new snow overnight, I was guessing that the gate should open by 9am, and the park's morning Twitter update also stated that. We arrived at Longmire at 9:20am to find the gate still closed, and no idea why it wasn't open yet. Once again though, luck was on our side: waiting in the Longmire lot were 2 couples, more friends and TAY regulars, who had been planning to ski the Tatoosh that day to find north-facing snow. Given the difficulty of Tatoosh access due to lack of snow coverage on the road getting there, and the clear skies above now allowing easy travel past treeline, I convinced them to join us instead on a mission to seek out the best NE-facing slopes in the Paradise vicinity. I was glad to have more friends along for camaraderie, safety, and to help break trail on the lengthy route to our destination.
The gate finally opened at 9:45am, and we followed a pair of vehicles full of climbing rangers up to the Paradise lot. They were planning to ski Paradise Glacier dropping in from Muir Snowfield, but we were headed just a bit farther east. I was shocked to see that since yesterday evening, the Paradise Valley Road had suddenly been "groomed" earlier this morning -- but no corduroy here, just nasty rough snowcat tracks 20 ft wide across the whole road, ruining the beautiful smooth ski/skin track we had ascended in the snowstorm 17 hours earlier.
Anyway, we made quick work of the descent to 4th Crossing and the ascent up Mazama Ridge via yesterday's skintracks to Stevens-Van Trump Memorial. Then we set out across pristine untracked snow, breaking trail towards the lower end of the Paradise Glacier.
Three-shot panorama of the Mountain and Paradise Glacier (in bright sunlight) from near Stevens-Van Trump Memorial. (click for double-size version)
With FreeBird and DOD leading the charge, we soon topped out at our first highpoint near 7300 ft at half-past noon.
And then, it was finally time to ski powder! Beautiful, foot-deep, light, sunny, sparkly, wintry POWDER!
Cori and I skied a less-steep and more NE-facing line, while the other 4 took a steeper but more easterly line, and we regrouped at 6000 ft in warm springlike sunshine.
Anything that was getting direct sun (SW, south, SE) was quickly getting baked into dense mank by the higher solar angles of spring, despite temps still in the 20s °F. However, anything sufficiently east or NE-facing to get only very oblique solar radiation was still remaining nice powder.
We headed up for a second run, this time topping out at a different high point farther north at 7650 ft.
Then we dropped in for another outstanding run of deep east and NE-facing powder, maybe even 15-18" deep in spots.
Three-shot panorama of the Cowlitz Glacier, with our first set of powder tracks at far left, and the group skiing the second run in the center distance. (click for double-size version)
We regrouped once again at 6200 ft, still in warm springlike sunshine at 3pm. Avalanches were repeatedly roaring down the steep sunlit slopes of the huge glacial amphitheater surrounding us, as they had been since we'd first arrived in the area almost 3 hours earlier. But as expected, stability remained excellent on anything not getting intense sun, as did the quality of the powder even in late afternoon.
Then it was time to skin back up to the saddle for another run, using our lovely skintrack in the sunshine.
After a brief discussion, we decided to continue back up to the same 7650 ft spot and repeat our previous run, even though we knew that with it approaching 4pm already, we were unlikely to make it back to Longmire before the 6pm gate closing if we took that run. I assured the others that it was no big deal, as long as we were late enough that the LEs had already left Paradise, there would be no hassle getting out.
Two-shot panorama of the Mountain and Paradise Glacier, with our skintrack at center, ski tracks (presumably of the climbing rangers) at left, and Little Tahoma at right. (click for double-size version)
Ski conditions remained excellent and unchanged from the previous run, despite much of the slope now having gone into shadow.
Halfway down the 3rd run, looking down at our tracks from the previous run.
As we skinned back up to the saddle, the weather window that had surrounded us in an oasis of sunshine all day began to close. The clouds moved in overhead, and soon it was snowing again!
By the time we got back to the 7100 ft saddle after 5pm, it was pretty much a complete whiteout. In addition, the SW-facing snow on the route back home had been well sun-baked all day, and the surface had now frozen into fairly bad breakable crust. Slow and cautious skiing was needed until we reached the safety of the basin below, where it was flat enough that we could just point it straight down our skintrack, and the snow conditions were better off the skintrack too (flat areas receive much less solar radiation than sunward sloping areas, so they did not crust this day). We all agreed it was a small price to pay for the goodness we had enjoyed all day.
We finally dropped out of the cloud deck and whiteout near 6200 ft, so much nicer to be able to see. The ski down the west side of Mazama Ridge was mediocre given the sun affect, but at least it was low enough to have not frozen yet into breakable crust. We were relieved to arrive at 4th Crossing at 6pm, with only an easy short skin left back to the cars.
As expected, we had no issue getting out of the Longmire gate at 7pm, the clerk at the Longmire Inn desk was happy to let us out with no hassle. We were too late to eat at Copper Creek Inn, so we continued on to Bruno's in Eatonville to enjoy a fine and filling meal. Total vert for the day was about 6200 ft by my map-based mental calculation, although GPS watches reported significantly higher totals.
What an awesome way to start off April! Two days of excellent powder and fine company, thanks to all my ski partners for making it even better than the snow conditions alone would have indicated.
MOUNT RAINIER RECREATIONAL FORECAST
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
409 AM PDT WED APR 1 2015
SYNOPSIS...AN UPPER TROUGH WILL BRING SHOWERS AND COOL WEATHER WEDNESDAY. SHOWERS WILL DIMINISH THURSDAY AS WEAK HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS OVER THE AREA. A FRONTAL SYSTEM WILL AFFECT THE AREA ON FRIDAY. AN UPPER LOW WILL MAINTAIN A CHANCE OF SHOWERS THROUGH THE WEEKEND.
..WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 5 AM PDT EARLY THIS MORNING...
WEDNESDAY...BREEZY. RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS LIKELY IN THE MORNING...THEN RAIN SHOWERS...SNOW SHOWERS AND A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS IN THE AFTERNOON. SNOW ACCUMULATION OF 1 TO 2 INCHES. SNOW LEVEL NEAR 2500 FEET.
WEDNESDAY NIGHT...RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS LIKELY IN THE EVENING... THEN MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS AFTER MIDNIGHT. SNOW ACCUMULATION AROUND 1 INCH. TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATION 2 TO 3 INCHES. SNOW LEVEL NEAR 3000 FEET.
THURSDAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS. SNOW LEVEL NEAR 3000 FEET.
THURSDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF RAIN AND SNOW. SNOW LEVEL NEAR 3500 FEET.
FRIDAY...RAIN AND SNOW. LIGHT SNOW ACCUMULATIONS. SNOW LEVEL NEAR 3000 FEET.
TEMPERATURE AND WIND FORECASTS FOR SELECTED LOCATIONS.
WED WED THU THU FRI
NIGHT NIGHT
SUMMIT (14411 FT) -11 -10 -5 -4 -5
NW 35 NW 25 NW 25 W 30 SW 40
CAMP MUIR(10188 FT) 7 9 10 12 13
NW 25 NW 20 NW 15 W 20 SW 25
PARADISE (5420 FT) 39 24 35 26 34
W 15 NW 10 W 10 SW 10 S 15
LONGMIRE (2700 FT) 48 32 44 30 43
W 5 CALM CALM CALM S 5
++ TEMPERATURES AND WIND FOR THE SUMMIT AND CAMP MUIR ARE AVERAGE
CONDITIONS EXPECTED IN THE FREE AIR AT THOSE ELEVATIONS.
++ TEMPERATURES FOR PARADISE AND LONGMIRE ARE THE EXPECTED HIGHS AND
LOWS. WIND IS THE AVERAGE WIND EXPECTED DURING THAT PERIOD.
EXTENDED FORECAST...
FRIDAY NIGHT...WINDY. RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS LIKELY. SNOW LEVEL NEAR 3000 FEET.
SATURDAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS. SNOW LEVEL NEAR 3000 FEET.
SATURDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS. SNOW LEVEL NEAR 3500 FEET.
SUNDAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS. SNOW LEVEL NEAR 3000 FEET.
SUNDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS. SNOW LEVEL NEAR 3000 FEET.
MONDAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS. SNOW LEVEL NEAR 2500 FEET.
MONDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS. SNOW LEVEL NEAR 4500 FEET.
TUESDAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS. SNOW LEVEL NEAR 4500 FEET.
NWAC telemetry for the days of these trips and the previous 2 days:
Northwest Avalanche Center Northwest Avalanche Center
Paradise, Mt Rainier National Park, Washington Camp Muir, Mt Rainier National Park, Washington
Total snow sensor readings unsteady Wind gages unheated and may rime
MM/DD Hour Temp RH Wind Wind Wind Hour Total 24 Hr Total Solar MM/DD Hour Temp RH Wind Wind Wind Wind Solar
PST F % Avg Max Dir Prec. Prec. Snow Snow W/m2 PST F % Min Avg Max Dir W/m2
5400' 5400' 5380' 5380' 5380' 5400' 5400' 5400' 5400' 5380' 10110' 10110' 10110' 10110' 10110' 10110' 10110'
------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------------------------------------------
3 30 500 35 98 1 5 300 0 0 0 64 0 3 30 500 30 26 33 47 64 270 0
3 30 600 36 97 4 7 281 0 0 0 59 0 3 30 600 31 27 32 47 63 271 0
3 30 700 37 96 3 6 261 0 0 0 58 15 3 30 700 31 26 19 40 67 271 0
3 30 800 38 91 1 5 246 0 0 0 64 113 3 30 800 31 33 22 38 52 277 0
3 30 900 42 73 3 6 247 0 0 0 63 421 3 30 900 30 37 26 44 63 271 0
3 30 1000 44 66 4 8 243 0 0 0 63 648 3 30 1000 30 42 39 53 64 276 0
3 30 1100 46 56 6 9 256 0 0 0 64 687 3 30 1100 30 44 40 50 60 272 0
3 30 1200 50 48 9 14 262 0 0 0 63 810 3 30 1200 29 51 40 51 60 273 0
3 30 1300 53 45 10 15 269 0 0 0 63 921 3 30 1300 28 54 46 56 68 266 0
3 30 1400 53 37 10 16 250 0 0 -0 63 828 3 30 1400 28 54 42 52 59 272 0
3 30 1500 55 39 10 16 249 0 0 -0 64 740 3 30 1500 27 53 42 52 60 272 0
3 30 1600 53 42 11 15 268 0 0 -0 62 565 3 30 1600 26 65 37 51 61 266 0
3 30 1700 52 41 10 18 269 0 0 -0 62 349 3 30 1700 25 65 44 53 61 273 0
3 30 1800 46 60 9 16 266 0 0 0 79 154 3 30 1800 24 63 46 56 65 262 0
3 30 1900 42 79 8 13 271 0 0 -0 63 10 3 30 1900 23 56 50 60 68 268 0
3 30 2000 40 80 5 8 268 0 0 0 63 0 3 30 2000 22 56 55 68 74 264 0
3 30 2100 38 93 6 14 265 0 0 0 58 0 3 30 2100 19 76 56 66 79 269 0
3 30 2200 40 69 11 19 275 0 0 0 64 0 3 30 2200 18 99 53 73 91 270 0
3 30 2300 39 76 11 18 273 0 0 0 58 0 3 30 2300 19 98 57 71 84 266 0
3 31 0 37 85 9 17 270 0 0 0 65 0 3 31 0 19 98 56 65 75 247 0
3 31 100 33 97 10 18 265 .05 .05 0 63 0 3 31 100 19 98 40 56 69 258 0
3 31 200 33 98 13 21 275 .06 .11 -0 63 0 3 31 200 18 98 50 58 67 252 0
3 31 300 33 99 16 25 266 .04 .15 0 62 0 3 31 300 16 97 33 51 66 255 0
3 31 400 31 100 18 32 267 .04 .19 -0 63 0 3 31 400 13 96 24 49 65 253 0
------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------------------------------------------
3 31 500 29 99 16 25 261 0 0 0 79 0 3 31 500 12 92 34 53 77 269 0
3 31 600 27 98 17 29 246 0 0 0 58 1 3 31 600 12 65 23 48 64 270 0
3 31 700 27 98 18 29 255 0 0 0 64 43 3 31 700 12 31 32 52 69 274 0
3 31 800 26 98 18 29 257 .01 .01 0 64 119 3 31 800 12 40 13 29 48 269 0
3 31 900 28 95 16 28 258 0 .01 0 64 284 3 31 900 10 79 6 19 42 272 0
3 31 1000 28 95 13 24 251 .01 .02 1 63 339 3 31 1000 12 73 0 12 44 256 0
3 31 1100 29 95 14 20 251 0 .02 0 32 648 3 31 1100 10 80 0 21 39 269 0
3 31 1200 29 92 13 22 250 .01 .03 1 300 509 3 31 1200 10 84 5 22 41 255 0
3 31 1300 30 93 13 27 263 .02 .05 1 61 315 3 31 1300 11 72 5 18 40 255 0
3 31 1400 31 94 13 22 253 0 .05 1 62 403 3 31 1400 12 62 5 16 35 256 0
3 31 1500 28 97 13 21 255 .02 .07 0 56 337 3 31 1500 9 95 4 12 25 259 0
3 31 1600 29 97 10 23 257 .07 .14 48 81 142 3 31 1600 10 70 1 7 21 265 0
3 31 1700 27 98 11 21 250 .03 .17 3 34 126 3 31 1700 9 93 3 8 18 262 0
3 31 1800 26 97 7 11 251 .07 .24 5 62 18 3 31 1800 9 94 3 16 33 244 0
3 31 1900 26 98 6 11 257 .09 .33 7 70 2 3 31 1900 8 82 0 16 34 274 0
3 31 2000 26 98 5 10 260 .08 .41 8 66 0 3 31 2000 7 87 3 13 29 278 0
3 31 2100 25 97 6 11 257 .08 .49 9 72 0 3 31 2100 7 93 6 22 47 276 0
3 31 2200 25 97 6 10 256 .04 .53 9 73 0 3 31 2200 6 87 11 20 38 285 0
3 31 2300 25 97 6 11 264 .06 .59 10 69 0 3 31 2300 7 80 8 16 32 306 0
4 1 0 24 97 6 13 263 .06 .65 10 76 0 4 1 0 7 57 11 21 29 12 0
4 1 100 24 97 6 13 259 0 .65 9 74 0 4 1 100 6 67 10 24 34 11 0
4 1 200 24 97 6 11 260 .01 .66 10 36 0 4 1 200 6 48 13 26 35 5 0
4 1 300 23 97 6 10 259 .01 .67 10 36 0 4 1 300 5 61 19 30 36 4 0
4 1 400 23 97 5 10 255 0 .67 10 300 0 4 1 400 6 52 8 13 20 296 0
------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------------------------------------------
4 1 500 22 97 5 10 249 0 0 10 73 0 4 1 500 6 48 8 20 33 349 0
4 1 600 23 97 5 11 250 0 0 10 36 1 4 1 600 6 46 16 27 37 1 0
4 1 700 24 97 4 7 252 .01 .01 10 88 69 4 1 700 9 34 7 17 28 357 0
4 1 800 25 97 12 20 252 .02 .03 10 -24 205 4 1 800 11 32 6 13 21 346 0
4 1 900 29 95 13 23 249 .03 .06 10 32 509 4 1 900 13 56 3 9 22 308 0
4 1 1000 30 96 12 19 247 0 .06 6 65 723 4 1 1000 13 52 2 8 18 6 0
4 1 1100 30 94 12 18 260 0 .06 4 73 496 4 1 1100 12 90 2 7 14 249 0
4 1 1200 33 94 10 16 256 0 .06 6 72 650 4 1 1200 18 80 2 9 17 211 0
4 1 1300 31 94 11 17 255 0 .06 6 66 649 4 1 1300 20 78 3 10 15 208 0
4 1 1400 31 95 9 15 255 0 .06 4 72 472 4 1 1400 10 92 0 4 12 192 0
4 1 1500 29 95 10 14 260 0 .06 6 70 237 4 1 1500 13 89 0 0 0 248 0
4 1 1600 28 96 10 16 256 0 .06 5 72 136 4 1 1600 12 89 0 0 0 247 0
4 1 1700 28 96 6 11 262 .01 .07 6 72 122 4 1 1700 12 79 0 0 0 14 0
4 1 1800 27 98 7 11 267 .02 .09 7 65 70 4 1 1800 7 90 0 0 0 357 0
4 1 1900 26 98 6 9 262 .02 .11 7 68 8 4 1 1900 8 80 0 0 0 65 0
4 1 2000 26 97 5 9 260 .01 .12 7 73 0 4 1 2000 10 49 0 0 0 13 0
4 1 2100 26 97 4 8 267 0 .12 7 72 0 4 1 2100 10 39 0 0 0 24 0
4 1 2200 26 97 4 6 257 0 .12 7 68 0 4 1 2200 10 46 0 0 0 307 0
4 1 2300 25 97 3 6 272 .01 .13 7 204 0 4 1 2300 9 55 0 0 0 294 0
4 2 0 24 97 2 6 247 .01 .14 7 300 0 4 2 0 10 20 0 0 0 343 0
4 2 100 24 97 0 1 245 .01 .15 7 74 0 4 2 100 9 24 0 0 0 355 0
4 2 200 25 97 0 3 309 0 .15 6 300 0 4 2 200 8 23 0 0 0 7 0
4 2 300 23 96 0 2 320 .01 .16 6 68 0 4 2 300 8 29 0 0 0 13 0
4 2 400 22 95 1 2 350 .03 .19 7 73 0 4 2 400 8 45 0 0 0 356 0
------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------------------------------------------
4 2 500 22 96 0 2 113 0 0 7 68 0 4 2 500 8 33 0 0 0 15 0
4 2 600 21 95 1 3 10 0 0 7 173 1 4 2 600 9 28 0 0 0 357 0
4 2 700 22 95 1 3 40 0 0 7 74 81 4 2 700 11 16 0 0 0 9 0
4 2 800 28 96 0 4 63 0 0 6 34 258 4 2 800 11 22 0 0 0 294 0
4 2 900 30 93 0 4 146 0 0 7 72 254 4 2 900 11 15 0 4 11 288 0
4 2 1000 30 91 0 5 154 0 0 8 72 263 4 2 1000 14 26 3 8 10 284 0
4 2 1100 32 87 4 7 171 0 0 8 72 562 4 2 1100 21 25 0 3 6 245 0
4 2 1200 32 90 3 6 198 0 0 7 72 554 4 2 1200 17 23 0 4 8 213 0
4 2 1300 33 88 4 7 229 0 0 7 72 496 4 2 1300 15 24 2 6 9 249 0
4 2 1400 32 92 5 8 276 .01 .01 7 70 497 4 2 1400 21 15 0 5 11 246 0
4 2 1500 37 84 6 11 263 0 .01 7 86 605 4 2 1500 22 32 0 3 9 249 0
4 2 1600 33 91 8 13 258 0 .01 -0 70 572 4 2 1600 11 94 0 3 11 263 0
4 2 1700 31 94 7 14 244 0 .01 -0 71 333 4 2 1700 10 96 2 7 14 251 0
4 2 1800 28 98 7 12 254 0 .01 0 66 59 4 2 1800 8 89 1 6 15 268 0
4 2 1900 28 98 5 9 263 0 .01 0 71 10 4 2 1900 11 20 0 1 5 327 0
4 2 2000 27 97 2 4 257 0 .01 0 71 0 4 2 2000 11 33 0 4 9 293 0
4 2 2100 27 96 0 4 291 0 .01 0 71 0 4 2 2100 13 52 0 19 33 274 0
4 2 2200 26 96 0 0 286 0 .01 0 295 0 4 2 2200 11 62 21 27 34 277 0
4 2 2300 26 96 0 2 293 0 .01 0 71 0 4 2 2300 12 57 23 30 36 278 0
4 3 0 26 96 0 2 97 0 .01 0 72 0 4 3 0 12 70 15 27 32 276 0
4 3 100 25 95 1 4 122 0 .01 0 71 0 4 3 100 12 60 14 26 35 276 0
4 3 200 24 93 2 5 17 0 .01 0 71 0 4 3 200 12 61 21 28 34 282 0
4 3 300 24 93 2 4 323 0 .01 0 71 0 4 3 300 11 54 20 28 38 277 0
4 3 400 24 94 2 5 321 0 .01 0 71 0 4 3 400 10 56 22 33 39 274 0
------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------------------------------------------
[/size]
Nice to have you back. ;)
Wow what a surprise. If you saw a black Honda CRV in the parking lot on Wednesday it was mine. Oh and you know why I was there. Same reason you were to do a little work in the White Room. Sadly I did not get out to the gate until 6:10. My GPS for some reason still is on standard time and when I am getting busy I lose track of time.......
I was there when the gate opened actually at about 9:35 and the parking lot was empty at Paradise which shocked me due to the pow. When I left the parking lot my car was the only one there and yes I was solo. I played it conservative and did Bundies run and a few others. I did see a couple folks down by Mazama Ridge, I believe. Yes it was pow and yep I was solo. I was pretty excited and was able to do about 6k of skiing. You might have seen some of my tracks. I wished we had hooked up.
I think you out did me by skiing Thursday, in the afternoon I experienced some cookie dough so I bagged out on Thursday. You I believe went pretty big based on the pics.
The most epic was a week ago on the past Tuesday at believe it or not Crystal. Oh it was hat skiing yes in my worst year skiing in 52 years in the Year I have dubbed "The Harbinger Pig". You heard it hat skiing with two feet of new up in Silver Basin and on the King. I am so happy that my nephew convinced me to get touring gear back in 1995 considering what is happening. Here we were at Crystal and the lifts were not open and we are floating going big all day long getting continuous face shots. I was with two fellas that lived up there and happy to be with them it was shady and sketchy and there was a lot of avvie stuff going on. That day was totally epic utterly sick. They said it was the best day they had all year despite no lifts operating.
Avvie issues were not a worry on April 1 when you were alone that is so nice, but I still dial it back.
Having this touring stuff allows you to take years that if you were a lifty you would have stowed your gear away and instead take that sow's ear and at least spin it into a crummy purse. It is totally cheating......you can take horrible years and milk them and still have fun.......! Oh and I will be out tomorrow you have to milk this for all its worth.
You are the man Amar! Yes you are the Sultan of Rainier!!! You are so awesome you know when it is time to head to the room, you float out of the sky and are there and hit the pow!! I should have known you were up there working the White Room - BE BIG!
I was there when the gate opened actually at about 9:35 and the parking lot was empty at Paradise which shocked me due to the pow. When I left the parking lot my car was the only one there and yes I was solo. I played it conservative and did Bundies run and a few others. I did see a couple folks down by Mazama Ridge, I believe. Yes it was pow and yep I was solo. I was pretty excited and was able to do about 6k of skiing. You might have seen some of my tracks. I wished we had hooked up.
I think you out did me by skiing Thursday, in the afternoon I experienced some cookie dough so I bagged out on Thursday. You I believe went pretty big based on the pics.
The most epic was a week ago on the past Tuesday at believe it or not Crystal. Oh it was hat skiing yes in my worst year skiing in 52 years in the Year I have dubbed "The Harbinger Pig". You heard it hat skiing with two feet of new up in Silver Basin and on the King. I am so happy that my nephew convinced me to get touring gear back in 1995 considering what is happening. Here we were at Crystal and the lifts were not open and we are floating going big all day long getting continuous face shots. I was with two fellas that lived up there and happy to be with them it was shady and sketchy and there was a lot of avvie stuff going on. That day was totally epic utterly sick. They said it was the best day they had all year despite no lifts operating.
Avvie issues were not a worry on April 1 when you were alone that is so nice, but I still dial it back.
Having this touring stuff allows you to take years that if you were a lifty you would have stowed your gear away and instead take that sow's ear and at least spin it into a crummy purse. It is totally cheating......you can take horrible years and milk them and still have fun.......! Oh and I will be out tomorrow you have to milk this for all its worth.
You are the man Amar! Yes you are the Sultan of Rainier!!! You are so awesome you know when it is time to head to the room, you float out of the sky and are there and hit the pow!! I should have known you were up there working the White Room - BE BIG!
Thanks everyone for the super fun day 8)
https://vimeo.com/124082512
https://vimeo.com/124082512
Way to work the aspects for powder in sunny April! I love the shot right after "Then we dropped in for another outstanding run of deep east and NE-facing powder, maybe even 15-18" deep in spots." That looks like the sort of run that stokes the dry soft snow addiction well for at least another year.
Keep the reports coming Amar - they are always first rate and educational as well.
Thanks!
Thanks!
Regarding blue lake mudflow...we were just as surprised to see you last year as you were of us! Don't get many visitors on the West Side.
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