May 13, 2016, Mt, Adams, SW Chutes
5/13/16
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
2776
0
What a difference a week of hot weather makes! The road to Cold Springs was melted out to within 1/2 a mile of the campground on Thursday night and melted out all the way by Friday afternoon. The campground itself still has has significant snow, but there is ample roadside parking available.
We started skinning from Cold Springs around 7am, reaching Piker's Peak by 12pm. After a 30 minute rest, we started the descent of the SW chutes, traversing skier's left into the left-most chute after skiing off of Piker's Peak a bit too far skier's right. A 12:30 descent time was perfect! It skied great. We started the traverse back to the south ridge at about 8,000 ft, which allowed us to ski back to Cold Springs without having to put skins back on, only a few sidesteps and small carries required. Outta there by 2pm and the start the looong drive back to Seattle.
We started skinning from Cold Springs around 7am, reaching Piker's Peak by 12pm. After a 30 minute rest, we started the descent of the SW chutes, traversing skier's left into the left-most chute after skiing off of Piker's Peak a bit too far skier's right. A 12:30 descent time was perfect! It skied great. We started the traverse back to the south ridge at about 8,000 ft, which allowed us to ski back to Cold Springs without having to put skins back on, only a few sidesteps and small carries required. Outta there by 2pm and the start the looong drive back to Seattle.
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