Home > Trip Reports > 5 june, 2016, adams nfnwr

5 june, 2016, adams nfnwr

6/5/16
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
6609
7
Posted by bs. on 6/8/16 2:35pm
i'm sure i'm not the only one who has had this line at the back of his mind for years.  last year i had just returned from alaska and was ready for steep riding, but a work trip cost me my chance to join my friends on their mission to the north side of adams.  this year i got back from the steep lines of northern norway with adams on my mind and was happy to hear i had not missed the boat again.

we drove out on saturday in record breaking heat that wreaked a little havoc on my engine transplant that has really only been tested in the cold.  but fortunately nothing that couldn't be fixed on the side of a forest service road.  the beta we had was to drive in from packwood rather than randle.  the road was in great shape until the last few miles.  with some careful driving we made it through the first washout, but the second was much worse.  plan on walking the last mile to the trailhead unless you have about 33" tires.  the party ahead of us made it through.

we reached camp around dusk and encountered the earlier party--a large group of seasoned skiers who had backed off the line that day after encountering huge wet sluff on the lower angle top section.  this was not encouraging, but we decided to get up early and hope the snow would set up a bit over night.  as we climbed the north ridge, we encountered wet isothermal snow on blue water ice.... also not encouraging, but we pushed on.  reached the pinnacle about noon and found firm, edgable snow on the entrance to the line.  i was still dubious, but adam volunteered to drop in first and yelled back that the snow was great.  at this point there was no turning back.

we must have hit the timing just right, because we found good corn snow that was fairly stable for the entire descent.  it was my first time on this line, and i feel quite lucky to have ridden it with such good snow. 

thanks adam for leading the charge, and carl & paul for being patient while i swapped out an overheated fuel pump.  it was a great time, and i'm quite happy to have finally experienced this run that deserves its status as a cascade classic.  seemed everyone had video cameras buzzing away, so expect some footage one of these days.

sorry no nudity in these photos.
















photo credit: paul stanley


photo credit: paul stanley




photo credit: paul stanley

An awesome line with a solid group  8)

https://vimeo.com/170027481

RAD! Nice work Fellas! Hahaha, Ben applying his helmet for safety protocol of the sketch road section!  :D

When one is drinking Jack and passes it over, only to have his own bottle still in the other hand, nice. Turns weren't too bad either.......

Looks like you guys played it right. Nice skiing except for the faceplant, head-first falling bit. Adam proves that no-fall zones are no big deal again?

Way to get it done!

holy shit.  that crash.  my balls just sucked into my stomach


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5-june-2016-adams-nfnwr
bs.
2016-06-08 21:35:05