Home > Trip Reports > October 27, 2015, Paradise

October 27, 2015, Paradise

10/27/15
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
6389
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Posted by silaswild on 10/27/15 12:04pm
Nice (for October) car to car skiing on corn low and chalk high. Some called it wind cake bullshit. Breezy above 9000' made that skiing challenging, thanks for the warning Feathered Friends. One frequent visitor said the first 1000' down from Camp Muir was his worst skiing there in 240+ visits.  Sunny but cool breeze in the parking lot for after ski BBQ.  No photos of actual skiing is indicative of the conditions?

Actually no skiing photos from me is indicative of my skills, freebird's video will soon prove conditions were fine.  There is no bad snow, only bad skiers.
Thanks for the report, Silas!

Sunday-Monday storm left a surprisingly thick and stout layer of base. From Muir to 9K it was heavily wind affected, aka rippled, alternating between very firm and breakable crust.  From 7-9K things skied great. Below abt 6,500 was 6" slushy blueberry and rock dodging with 0-3" over the paved trail.

Weather was awesome, especially on the upskin; Après great!

car to car... Luxury.

Sunday was car-t-car, with 0" snow base from Paradise Lodge to upper entrance of Muir Ice Sheet. I would have GLADLY skied the mank you encountered at 9000'. Your count must be getting up there...congrats for October.

Very fun day. Here is a skiing picture! I had a camera on me so I linked a few turns on my tails thru the weird windcake - gritting teeth to keep balance - almost fell right after this shot. A sporadic 1-1/2 inch's of mush over the asphalt sidewalk was the best snow on the lower ski out.

Good times yesterday! Nice seeing everyone back down at the parking lot for the tailgate too! What a great day to start(?) the 15-16 ski season.

Yea Snow!  Yea car to car! Let the fortunes of snow lovers change! Thanks Silas

Interesting snow quality observations.  We thought it was great from Muir to our P-tex saving stopping point of 6,600'.  Yes was best in the middle as usual, but was a far cry from the worst I've seen there and certainly was a blast for late October.  Maybe call it good snowboarding conditions?  Was a perfect one day window; I'll take as many "High Pressure Tuesday's" as possible, esp. this year  ;).  The best part of all, for the early starters, was that the Park had their heads out and left the gate open; or does that mean they left their heads in?  Was a perfect example of the fun that could be had if they left the gate open or opened it early when no changes occur over night.  Crazy me, they just forgot to close it, but will shortly :(.

Sun is the enemy of powder do if imagine the early risers got better stuff. I'd also bet that it was hood enough for snowboarders snow.

https://vimeo.com/144007393

The Birds of Paradise!  Thanks dschieber.

Some of the better snow that I have had in my 24+ visits :D
Great day spent with old & new friends! And a Big Thanks to Silas for the Direction to Fun! Kaw!



Perfect weather window with good snow to claim month # 60. May the next 60 be as much fun. 
Awesome video - thanks for sharing

Great vid! So psyched to end my 33 month streak of being sidelined from the backcountry and start my first TAY streak. That really made me smile!

Great day Tuesday, nice to get the party ski back in full swing.  Seeing a glimmer of hope for Thursday's forecast a few of us returned and scored a sleeper pow day.  Substantial snowfall (above Pan) and a helpful breeze made for great turns from Muir to Pan Point . Blue skies (above Pan) did not hurt either. We had smiles on our faces as we walked back into the clouds and rain below.

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october-27-2015-paradise
silaswild
2015-10-27 19:04:56