Home > Trip Reports > Nov 29, 2016, Mt Rainier, Muir Solitude + Powder!

Nov 29, 2016, Mt Rainier, Muir Solitude + Powder!

11/29/16
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
16223
9
Posted by Amar Andalkar on 12/2/16 11:33am
Nowadays, people who meet me at events or recognize me on ski days in the mountains often ask me why I don't write trip reports any more. I'm not sure of the answer, given that I used to post trip reports here quite frequently in previous years, and given that 2016 has been one of my best ski years. But somehow I haven't written almost any trip reports this year, for unknown reasons really. Just this one TR for an amazing 8-day trip in May (http://www.skimountaineer.com/TR/Images2016/RainierMuirUntrackedPano3000-29Nov2016.jpg" />
Untracked powder on the Muir Snowfield. (iPhone 7 Plus panorama spanning about 240°, click for triple-size version)


Took advantage of an unexpectedly fine weather window on Tuesday, and skied from Camp Muir to the parking lot in nearly 100% powder conditions. Just 4-6" of silky smooth dense powder atop a thick base of several feet of concrete which plastered over almost all the rocks, and mostly not wind-affected at all either, other than a short section from 9700-9200 ft. No avalanche activity seen anywhere along the route. Pretty rare to find top-to-bottom powder on that route, although surprisingly it was very similar only 12 days earlier too the last time I'd been up to Muir. Both trips probably rank among my top 10 or 15 winter-conditions Muir ski descents over the last 20 years, out of now 280 times skiing from Camp Muir since June 1996, including 101 times during the months of November-March when winter conditions are most likely (although I've often found corn up there even during the wintry months too). So the conditions really were exceptional by some objective standard.

The forecast was a bit uncertain this time: the highly reliable cloud forecast had indicated mostly sunny skies at upper elevations with low clouds below, with a thick band of high clouds passing overhead after 1pm but then clearing out completely by 4pm:



Winds at the 700 mb level near 10000 ft were also forecast to decrease during the day to only 10 mph or so. I decided to take a chance on the UW model's prediction and head high instead of just going to Crystal. But I figured I could get a late start and check the first dawn webcam views before leaving Seattle, since with new snow overnight the Longmire gate was unlikely to open at 9am sharp, with 10am more likely. The morning webcam from Paradise was totally socked in, with light snow still falling in the parking lot, but both of the cams atop Crystal Mountain which occasionally point towards Rainier (gondola upper terminal and the new cam at the top of Chair 6) showed that the UW model had been correct:





Time to get ready and hit the road! The park's 7:30am Twitter update unexpectedly said the gate would open at 9am, but I would be leaving far too late to make it for that, at 8am from Seattle. Turns out the gate did open on time despite their having to plow 5" of new snow overnight (good to see that!), but I passed through it at 10am and wasn't skinning until 10:50am, in a mix of partial sunshine and light snow.



Despite the late start, only a handful of skiers were ahead of me and a few more behind me, very deserted even for a midweek day. Of course, now suddenly there are lots of other locations for accessible ski touring after the last week of heavy snowfall down to 4000 ft, even 3000 ft. Broke out above the cloud deck by 6100 ft, to a glorious vista of smooth powder covering everything.


Breaking out above the clouds near 6100 ft. (iPhone 7 Plus panorama, click for double-size version)


Easy skinning up Panorama Face on 4-6" new well-bonded to a deep base, with ski crampons not even needed. The previous time 12 days earlier, the summer trail route was still far preferable for skinning and skiing, compared to the very thin coverage up Pan Face.

http://www.skimountaineer.com/TR/Images2016/RainierPanFaceCloudsPano2000-29Nov2016.jpg" />
Very wintry panorama of Rainier and Panorama Point. (click for double-size version)


The first 10-15 ft high snow roll atop Pan Point was a different story, though, with its wind-sculpted face oversteepened to 50-60° and variable amounts of 6-36" deep powder making it very hard to put in a skintrack as it sluffed down the steep face. The other 4 ahead of me were all switching to booting, but even that was no easy task, and soon they were making 4 separate boot packs up the roll (?!?!) in an attempt to find the path of least resistance. I really should have put on the ski crampons (for their anchoring effect) and somehow forged a skin track up it, at the right end where there's a partial ramp, but figured it would be quicker to just boot in one of the other tracks. NOT! Not at all! I tried climbing up at the left end, gave up after wallowing in the previous bootpack for a couple minutes, then skinned back to the right end and tried one of those tracks instead. Ugh! It took almost 10 minutes of unpleasant effort to climb those 10 ft, even in a previous bootpack. Just miserable. It might be the single worst spot of difficulty I've had during any of my Muir ascents! Just reinforcing my longstanding belief that the skis belong on your feet, not in your hands, and that it's almost always best to skin if it's even remotely possible to do so without serious risk. The slope was sluffing but not slabbing in any way, and the runout is flat, so trying to skin here involved little risk this day.

http://www.skimountaineer.com/TR/Images2016/RainierPanPointRollPano2000-29Nov2016.jpg" />
Quandary at the Pan Point roll. (click for double-size version)


Anyway, no more issues after that spot, the next roll and the last steep slope near 7000 ft were easy skinning to reach the rightward traverse of the winter route. As we cruised along, I glanced to my right and was amazed by this sight:


12:30pm: First views of the very unusual solar halo in the clouds below. (iPhone 7 Plus pic)

I'm fascinated by solar halos, and have written about them extensively in several previous trip reports. This one I assumed was a "subsun", a bright reflection of the sun from ice crystals in a cloud deck located beneath the observer. It's a halo that can only be seen from elevated locations, and I've seen it a few times before, even seen it on the 7th Heaven webcam at Whistler (see TAY post: http://www.skimountaineer.com/TR/Images2016/RainierCloudsHaloPano3000-29Nov2016.jpg" />
12:45pm: Panorama spanning about 260° along the winter route, with the solar halo at left. (click for triple-size version)


After I got home, I decided to do some research, and discovered that this halo was in fact a new one that I had never seen before (in this form): the lower tangent arc! That halo can occur as part of the same group of halos which produces the subsun, but it's located above the sunsun and is a lovely rainbow-colored downward-facing arc, just as I had seen. The excellent Atmospheric Optics website has several pages with useful info and photos, see for a nifty user-changeable simulated image. As you can see by mousing over the slider, the sharply-curved arc seen in these photos only occurs for a solar elevation of about 20°, with the halo located just below the horizon:



This almost exactly matches the halo seen in my photos. The maximum solar elevation this time of year is only 21° at Mount Rainier, which occurs at solar noon of 11:55am PST (see my

Kurt Hummel breaking trail up the untracked powder of the Muir Snowfield.


1:25pm: Still an awesome lower tangent arc an hour later from above 8000 ft on the Muir Snowfield. (iPhone 7 Plus pic)

I unexpectedly passed all the others by 8000 ft, and soon I was skinning up all alone on a gleaming smooth untracked slope.

http://www.skimountaineer.com/TR/Images2016/RainierMuirUntrackedPano2000-29Nov2016.jpg" />
An untracked canvas awaits my skin track. So stoked! Note the incipient lenticular cloud atop the summit. (click for double-size version)



Breaking trail up the untracked powder of the Muir Snowfield, looking back at Goat Rocks, Mount Adams, Mount Hood, and Mount Saint Helens in the distance (left to right).

As 2pm approached and the sun dropped lower, thin high clouds overhead caused the halo display to grow to include the common 22° circular halo around the sun, with the also-common parhelion (sundog) superimposed just outside that arc. See


1:45pm: The halo display grows to include the 22° halo, seen as a partial arc at right, with a sundog superimposed just outside that arc. (Canon SX720 HS pic)


Same view. (iPhone 7 Plus pic)

As predicted by the UW model, a thick band of high clouds soon blotted out the sun, and temperatures dropped quickly, with an extra hoody immediately going on. (See the Muir telemetry below, which shows a drop from 32 °F to 24°F between 2-3pm, as solar radiation dropped from over 400 watts per square meter to only 170.) Breaking trail up the Snowfield still felt like an easy cruise, but I realized by the altimeter watch that I wasn't moving very fast, barely over 1000 ft/hr as I continued above 9000 ft. Not a big deal as I wasn't in a rush this day, but I just can't be fast at my current excessive weight, despite very good underlying fitness.


2:45pm: High clouds blotting out the sun, but hope for a brighter future is visible at far right.

I looked back at the others trailing me, and was surprised to see that all of them were switching over, most by 9000 ft and one around 9300 ft, and soon skiing down well before 3pm. Maybe they were worried about the thickening clouds overhead? But I knew, given both the UW model forecast and my own observations of approaching conditions to the SW, that it would soon be completely sunny and glorious once again, as the sun continued to drop lower and the thick high cloud band continued to drift slowly eastward. There was no reason for me to bail.


3:00pm: Here comes the sun ...

After enduring an hour of semi-darkness, it was truly glorious when the sun finally began to drop below the shifting high cloud deck, like a strange new dawn returning from below. Intense slanting sunlight, combined with winds that were almost calm at about 0-2 mph, rapidly warmed things back up to a comfortable temperature.

http://www.skimountaineer.com/TR/Images2016/RainierMuirHighCloudsSunPano3000-29Nov2016.jpg" />
3:20pm: Sun, sun, sun, here it comes! Panorama spanning about 220° along the Muir Snowfield near 9800 ft. (click for triple-size version)


http://www.skimountaineer.com/TR/Images2016/RainierMuirAlmostTherePano3000-29Nov2016.jpg" />
3:30pm: Almost there, only a couple minutes from Camp Muir. Panorama spanning about 220° near 10000 ft. (click for triple-size version)


At Camp Muir itself, there was a bit of a SW wind, maybe 5-15mph. So I went to the far right end of camp and the most wind-protected but still brightly sunlit spot, located behind a wind lip at the new (not yet completed) restroom building.


Lovely rime formations adorn the Muir public shelter at left, the new restroom building at right. Lovely ski slope below Cathedral Gap at center.

http://www.skimountaineer.com/TR/Images2016/RainierMuirSkinTrackPano2000-29Nov2016.jpg" />
3:50pm: Looking out from the wind lip changeover spot, just about ready to ski back down the Muir Snowfield. (click for double-size version)


The ski down was glorious, as expected given the conditions while skinning up, and also the cold temps + high elevation to preserve the powder despite full sun most of the day. Silky smooth fast powder. Not very deep, but it didn't need to be.



http://www.skimountaineer.com/TR/Images2016/RainierMuirSkiTrackPano3000-29Nov2016.jpg" />
Silky smooth fast powder. Panorama spanning about 240° near 9900 ft. (click for triple-size version)


Also as expected from the skin up, the most variable conditions were from about 9700-9200 ft where a bit of wind had affected the new snow as it fell, but even on that part the conditions were not bad at all, with minimal breakable crust. But at 4pm I was surprised to see another skier still skinning up at 9300 ft. I mentioned to him that he would miss the 5pm gate closing time for sure if he continued up, given that he was still 800 ft from Muir, but he seemed unconcerned and went on his way.


Continued in next post, exceeded 20,000 character limit . . .
Continued from previous post . . .


Not bad looking turns, even on the worst part of the snow, looking up from 9200 ft.

Ski conditions were back to outstanding the rest of the way below 9200 ft, so smooth and fast, carving GS turns in the glow of sunset.



A minute later I was again surprised to see a pair of snowshoers ascending up my skintrack near 8500 ft, with heavy overnight packs and largely destroying the skintrack as usual. I asked them if they were running a GPS track, since a storm was coming in overnight which would bury the skintrack completely, they would be descending in whiteout conditions the next day, and I had intentionally placed the skintrack far away from the "handrail", the rocks along the east edge of the Muir Snowfield which are commonly used by parties on foot to navigate in whiteout. I also mentioned, although it didn't matter this time since the track would be buried shortly anyway, in general it was good etiquette to not destroy skintracks and instead make a separate foot track to the side. They thanked me for my advice.

[img width=1000 height=233">http://www.skimountaineer.com/TR/Images2016/RainierMuirSunsetPano3000-29Nov2016.jpg" />
Sunset panorama spanning about 260° near 7300 ft along the winter route. (click for triple-size version)


Even along the traverse of the winter route, ski conditions remained outstanding, and the numerous rock outcrops were well plastered with enough hard-frozen base to make ski damage unlikely. Could have also skied via Pebble Creek, which would have had equally good snow (or better) and far less rock outcrops.


4:15pm: Almost sunset from 7200 ft along the winter route.

The one area where the sun had affected the snow was on Pan Face, which had a bit of suncrust on the most sun-exposed SW aspect in the middle. A lone telemarker was still traversing slowly down that crusty part. But that was easy to avoid by hugging the skier's left edge, which faces more directly west and therefore gets little sun until almost sunset this time of year. Still lovely smooth powder on that side.

[img width=1000 height=233">http://www.skimountaineer.com/TR/Images2016/RainierPanFaceSunsetPano3000-29Nov2016.jpg" />
4:25pm: Sunset panorama of Rainier and Pan Face, with my tracks at farthest looker's right on the steep part of the face. (click for triple-size version)


Back to Paradise at 4:30pm, where the wet parts of the parking lot had rapidly refrozen into a hazardous sheet of ice. I realized that the upper parts of the road were likely to have similar ice and had no wish to rush down it to try to make the 5pm gate closing. Luckily, the LE ranger on duty was super friendly, and he even recognized me from this February, when he had very kindly given me and a friend a ride back up from Nisqually Bridge after we skied down to it from Muir. We had a nice chat about the park's winter nordic patrol as I changed over in the twilight, and I told him about the 2 skiers still not yet down, as well as the snowshoers headed up. He said there was no need for me to rush, as he had to call in the remaining vehicles in the lot to park dispatch anyway before heading down to lock the gate. So that worked out perfect!

Just another outstanding, inspiring day on the great Mountain, with stellar views, solar halos, and stunning ski conditions!




MOUNT RAINIER RECREATIONAL FORECAST
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
520 AM PST TUE NOV 29 2016

SYNOPSIS...HIGH ALOFT WILL PREVAIL DURING THE DAY TODAY FOR MOSTLY DRY CONDITIONS. A WEAK LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL BRING RAIN AND MOUNTAIN SNOW TO THE AREA STARTING TONIGHT AND CONTINUING INTO WEDNESDAY. THE REMNANTS OF A WARM FRONT MAY BRING A SLIGHT CHANCE FOR SHOWERS ON AN OTHERWISE DRY THURSDAY.

IMPACTS...STORMY WEATHER TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY WILL CREATE DIFFICULT MOUNTAINEERING CONDITIONS NEAR THE SUMMIT WITH LOCAL BLIZZARD- LIKE CONDITIONS...STRONG WINDS...AND NEAR ZERO VISIBILITY. A HIGH LEVEL OF SKILL AND EXPERIENCE IN ALPINE TERRAIN, INCLUDING USE OF GPS...IS RECOMMENDED FOR NAVIGATION AND CAMPING IN THESE CONDITIONS.

TUESDAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 4500 FEET.
TUESDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF RAIN AND SNOW IN THE EVENING...THEN RAIN AND SNOW AFTER MIDNIGHT. SNOW ACCUMULATION NEAR PARADISE OF 2 TO 4 INCHES. SNOW LEVEL NEAR 4000 FEET.
WEDNESDAY...SHOWERS. SNOW ACCUMULATION NEAR PARADISE OF 2 TO 3 INCHES. SNOW LEVEL NEAR 2500 FEET.
WEDNESDAY NIGHT...SHOWERS LIKELY. LIGHT SNOW ACCUMULATIONS. SNOW LEVEL NEAR 2500 FEET.
THURSDAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY. A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS IN THE MORNING...THEN A CHANCE OF SHOWERS IN THE AFTERNOON. SNOW LEVEL NEAR 2000 FEET.

TEMPERATURE AND WIND FORECASTS FOR SELECTED LOCATIONS.

                       TUE    TUE    WED    WED    THU
                            NIGHT         NIGHT

SUMMIT   (14411 FT)     11      5     -9     -3     -2
                     NW 25  SW 40   W 35  NW 45  NW 35

CAMP MUIR(10188 FT)     23     20      8      8      9
                     NW 15  SW 30   W 30  NW 25  NW 30

PARADISE  (5420 FT)     31     25     29     24     30
                      W 10   S 10   W 15   W 10   W 10

LONGMIRE  (2760 FT)     37     33     36     33     36
                      S  5   E  5   W 10   W 10   W 10

++ 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...

THURSDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A SLIGHT CHANCE OF RAIN AND SNOW. SNOW LEVEL NEAR 2500 FEET.
FRIDAY...RAIN AND SNOW LIKELY. SNOW LEVEL NEAR 3500 FEET.
FRIDAY NIGHT...RAIN AND SNOW. SNOW LEVEL NEAR 4500 FEET.
SATURDAY...RAIN AND SNOW LIKELY. SNOW LEVEL NEAR 3500 FEET.
SATURDAY NIGHT...RAIN AND SNOW. SNOW LEVEL NEAR 3000 FEET.
SUNDAY...RAIN AND SNOW. SNOW LEVEL NEAR 2000 FEET.
SUNDAY NIGHT...SHOWERS LIKELY. SNOW LEVEL NEAR 500 FEET.
MONDAY...CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF SNOW SHOWERS.



Plots of NWAC telemetry data from Paradise and Camp Muir over the previous 8 days and into the next day. Note in particular the rapid increase in snowdepth starting November 23, as about 4-5 ft of new snow fell from that day through the morning of November 29 (unfortunately the 24-hour snowdepth board was not cleared off for 4 days in the middle of that, so the new snow amount was under-recorded due to settlement). Also note the sudden change in conditions at Camp Muir shortly after I skied down, with winds rapidly increasing to 40 mph and then 60+ mph, along with a sharp drop in temperature by the next morning, and almost a foot of new snow at Paradise by the next afternoon. Hope those 2 snowshoers did OK in all that!!

[img width=1000 height=570">http://www.skimountaineer.com/TR/Images2016/osopvc1-29Nov2016.png" />
[img width=1000 height=454">http://www.skimountaineer.com/TR/Images2016/osopvc2-29Nov2016.png" />

[img width=1000 height=580">http://www.skimountaineer.com/TR/Images2016/osomur-29Nov2016.png" />

And the actual telemetry data for the last 3+ days of those plots. The wind speed at Muir was rimed and frozen for many days prior to melting free after noon on November 29:


Northwest Avalanche Center                                                Northwest Avalanche Center
Paradise, Mt Rainier National Park, Washington                            Camp Muir, Mt Rainier National Park, Washington

                                                                          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'
------------------------------------------------------------------------  ---------------------------------------------------------------
11 30  1400    27    97     4     8   263   .05   .71     6    51    67    11 30   1400     10     94     16     41     59    249    139
11 30  1300    27    97     5    12   262   .06   .66     5    50    87    11 30   1300      9     94     20     42     59    249    170
11 30  1200    27    97     4     6   258   .12    .6     4    51    60    11 30   1200     10     94     29     49     63    247    144
11 30  1100    27    97     4     6   260   .12   .48     2    48    61    11 30   1100     10     94     35     50     63    249    147
11 30  1000    27    98     4     8   258   .12   .36     0    44    48    11 30   1000     10     94     46     55     63    251    114
11 30   900    27    98     5    10   261   .07   .24     5    46    20    11 30    900     10     94     34     48     63    248     46
11 30   800    27    98     6    10   260   .06   .17     4    46     3    11 30    800      9     94     40     52     64    248     17
11 30   700    27    98     7    11   260   .04   .11     4    46     0    11 30    700      9     94     23     49     65    249      0
11 30   600    27    98     7    11   260   .05   .07     4    45     0    11 30    600      9     94     28     47     63    248      0
11 30   500    27    98     9    13   257   .02   .02     4    45     0    11 30    500      8     94     12     34     57    256      0
------------------------------------------------------------------------  ---------------------------------------------------------------
11 30   400    28    98    11    16   262   .05    .4     3    45     0    11 30    400     10     94     24     39     59    255      0
11 30   300    28    98    13    18   270   .05   .35     2    42     0    11 30    300     12     95     19     46     62    250      0
11 30   200    28    98    11    15   267   .07    .3     2    43     0    11 30    200     13     95     49     58     66    247      0
11 30   100    28    98     5    11   252   .05   .23     0    41     0    11 30    100     15     96     50     59     68    246      0
11 30     0    27    98     4     9   290   .02   .18     0    42     0    11 30      0     17     97     49     60     70    247      0
11 29  2300    27    97     4    11   293     0   .16     0    41     0    11 29   2300     19     98     39     51     65    248      0
11 29  2200    27    96     3     6   151     0   .16     0    42     0    11 29   2200     17     97     46     56     66    247      0
11 29  2100    27    97     2     5    26     0   .16     0    42     0    11 29   2100     20     98     39     50     57    247      0
11 29  2000    27    97     3     5    31     0   .16     0    43     0    11 29   2000     21     98     35     47     59    247      0
11 29  1900    26    97     3     5    44     0   .16     0    42     0    11 29   1900     22     99     29     43     52    248      0
11 29  1800    25    97     5     7    35     0   .16     0    42     0    11 29   1800     21     98     30     38     46    248      0
11 29  1700    26    97     4     9    43     0   .16     0    41     8    11 29   1700     22     97     15     31     45    247     12
11 29  1600    32   100     3     6    61     0   .16     0    41   155    11 29   1600     21     97      0      5     19    303    159
11 29  1500    31    98     3     7   147     0   .16     0    41   140    11 29   1500     24     98      0      0      4    357    171
11 29  1400    33    98     1     4   234   .01   .16     0    41   362    11 29   1400     32     98      0      0      5    255    418
11 29  1300    32    98     4     6   246   .01   .15     0    43   314    11 29   1300     31     97      0      0      5    262    460
11 29  1200    32    98     3     6   266     0   .14     0    43   258    11 29   1200     27     96      0      0      0     41    416
11 29  1100    30    98     2     5   254   .02   .14     0    44   211    11 29   1100     28    100      0      0      0    340    306
11 29  1000    29    98     3     6   262   .03   .12     5    44   153    11 29   1000     31    100      0      0      0    231    137
11 29   900    28    98     4     6   259   .03   .09     5    42    57    11 29    900     24     97      0      0      0    296    129
11 29   800    28    98     4     9   254   .01   .06     5    45     8    11 29    800     22     98      0      0      0    320     21
11 29   700    28    98     5     8   250   .03   .05     5    45     0    11 29    700     24     97      0      0      0    320      0
11 29   600    27    98     5    10   254   .01   .02     4    45     0    11 29    600     23     97      0      0      0    347      0
11 29   500    27    98     9    13   255   .01   .01     4    45     0    11 29    500     22     96      0      0      0    343      0
------------------------------------------------------------------------  ---------------------------------------------------------------
11 29   400    27    98     9    16   240   .01  1.32    47    37     0    11 29    400     19     96      0      0      0    251      0
11 29   300    28    98     8    14   226   .03  1.31     4    45     0    11 29    300     17     95      0      0      0    251      0
11 29   200    28    98     8    15   235   .04  1.28     4    45     0    11 29    200     16     96      0      0      0    251      0
11 29   100    28    98     8    17   236   .07  1.24     4    45     0    11 29    100     15     96      0      0      0    251      0
11 29     0    28    98     6    11   251   .07  1.17     4    45     0    11 29      0     15     97      0      0      0    251      0
11 28  2300    28    99     6    11   244   .08   1.1     3    45     0    11 28   2300     14     95      0      0      0    251      0
11 28  2200    28    98     6    10   242    .1  1.02     3    45     0    11 28   2200     14     96      0      0      0    251      0
11 28  2100    29    99     5     9   275   .03   .92     3    45     0    11 28   2100     12     95      0      0      0    251      0
11 28  2000    28    99     5    12   282   .05   .89     3    45     0    11 28   2000      9     94      0      0      0    251      0
11 28  1900    28    99    10    18   266   .02   .84     2    44     0    11 28   1900     10     94      0      0      0    251      0
11 28  1800    29    99    14    23   275   .02   .82     2    45     0    11 28   1800     11     95      0      0      0    251      0
11 28  1700    29    99    14    20   268   .04    .8     2    44     2    11 28   1700     11     95      0      0      0    251      2
11 28  1600    29    99    16    26   263   .03   .76     2    44    36    11 28   1600     13     95      0      0      0    251     17
11 28  1500    30    98    18    31   265   .05   .73     2    43   196    11 28   1500     14     95      0      0      0    251     72
11 28  1400    30    98    18    24   264   .06   .68     0    38   201    11 28   1400     15     95      0      0      0    251     85
11 28  1300    31    98    17    28   265   .06   .62     0    42   380    11 28   1300     15     95      0      0      0    251    105
11 28  1200    31    98    14    23   267   .14   .56     0    42   287    11 28   1200     15     96      0      0      0    251    124
11 28  1100    30    98    13    18   269   .14   .42     0    36   271    11 28   1100     15     96      0      0      0    251    141
11 28  1000    29    98    11    17   264    .1   .28    30    43   171    11 28   1000     14     95      0      0      0    251     90
11 28   900    29    98     9    18   258   .04   .18    30    42   144    11 28    900     13     95      0      0      0    251    164
11 28   800    27    98     4     9   259   .03   .14    30    43     7    11 28    800     10     94      0      0      0    251     61
11 28   700    26    98     5     9   258   .03   .11    30    43     0    11 28    700      9     94      0      0      0    251      0
11 28   600    26    98     5    10   256   .05   .08    30    43     0    11 28    600      8     94      0      0      0    251      0
11 28   500    26    98     6    10   255   .03   .03    29    42     0    11 28    500      8     94      0      0      0    251      0
------------------------------------------------------------------------  ---------------------------------------------------------------
11 28   400    26    98     7    16   257   .06   1.4    29    42     0    11 28    400      8     93      0      0      0    251      0
11 28   300    25    98     9    16   259   .06  1.34    29    43     0    11 28    300      8     93      0      0      0    251      0
11 28   200    26    98     9    14   259   .09  1.28    29    43     0    11 28    200      8     94      0      0      0    251      0
11 28   100    26    97     9    16   258   .13  1.19    29    42     0    11 28    100      8     94      0      0      0    251      0
11 28     0    25    97    11    18   259   .09  1.06    28    40     0    11 28      0      8     93      0      0      0    251      0
11 27  2300    26    98    10    20   257    .1   .97    28    41     0    11 27   2300      9     94      0      0      0    251      0
11 27  2200    26    98     9    22   265   .05   .87    27    42     0    11 27   2200      9     94      0      0      0    251      0
11 27  2100    27    98     5    14   266   .08   .82    27    42     0    11 27   2100     10     94      0      0      0    251      0
11 27  2000    28    98     5    10   267   .12   .74    27    40     0    11 27   2000     12     95      0      0      0    251      0
11 27  1900    28    98     5     9   271    .1   .62    25    37     0    11 27   1900     13     95      0      0      0    251      0
11 27  1800    27    98     5     8   270   .08   .52    23    36     0    11 27   1800     12     95      0      0      0    251      0
11 27  1700    27    98     5     9   271   .12   .44    22    37     0    11 27   1700     11     95      0      0      0    251      1
11 27  1600    27    98    11    22   271   .09   .32    23    36     6    11 27   1600     10     94      0      0      0    251     17
11 27  1500    26    97    16    30   271   .03   .23    21    35    21    11 27   1500      9     94      0      0      0    251     44
11 27  1400    27    97    17    25   271   .02    .2    21    34    52    11 27   1400      9     93      0      0      0    251     82
11 27  1300    28    97    19    27   273   .01   .18    47    32   102    11 27   1300      9     94      0      0      0    251    126
11 27  1200    28    97    20    32   269   .01   .17    47    32   174    11 27   1200     10     94      0      0      0    251    233
11 27  1100    28    96    19    26   266   .03   .16    21    34   143    11 27   1100     12     95      0      0      0    251    189
11 27  1000    27    96    16    26   258     0   .13    21    34   139    11 27   1000     12     95      0      0      0    251     65


Welcome back. ;)

Well, I really am rusty on this whole TR-writing thing -- accidentally posted this in December! I've asked the moderators to move it.

Looks beautiful, Amar. Glad to hear you got no grief from the LE's, too.

Glad to see an Amar TR!


Thanks for the amazing TR/Pic's from the epic day.
I was one of the skiers you passed on the up and turned at 9000'.

Definitely felt like I got a high five from the Universe.

Nice seeing you in the parking lot, Amar.  We followed you up a ways, but still conditioning the old legs and joints:


author=Amar Andalkar link=topic=37188.msg150892#msg150892 date=1480736100]
A minute later I was again surprised to see a pair of snowshoers ascending up my skintrack near 8500 ft, with heavy overnight packs and largely destroying the skintrack as usual. I asked them if they were running a GPS track, since a storm was coming in overnight which would bury the skintrack completely, they would be descending in whiteout conditions the next day, and I had intentionally placed the skintrack far away from the "handrail", the rocks along the east edge of the Muir Snowfield which are commonly used by parties on foot to navigate in whiteout. I also mentioned, although it didn't matter this time since the track would be buried shortly anyway, in general it was good etiquette to not destroy skintracks and instead make a separate foot track to the side. They thanked me for my advice.

.
.
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... Also note the sudden change in conditions at Camp Muir shortly after I skied down, with winds rapidly increasing to 40 mph and then 60+ mph, along with a sharp drop in temperature by the next morning, and almost a foot of new snow at Paradise by the next afternoon. Hope those 2 snowshoers did OK in all that!!


Well, it turns out the snowshoers did NOT do OK in the stormy whiteout conditions! Found out from the climbing rangers today in the Paradise parking lot that there was a rescue last Wednesday, and I knew instantly it had to be those snowshoers. It was. Apparently they had no goggles or eye protection with them, so were unable to descend from Muir in the wind-driven snow and whiteout on Wednesday, and called for help. Although I'm glad I checked on them to make sure they were running a GPS track, that's of little use if you can't open your eyes enough to see the GPS and walk down. Climbing rangers went up to the Muir hut that afternoon with goggles for them, and they all descended safely. Lucky guys!

About 30" of new light powder at Paradise today (Dec 6) atop the previous base. That low-density snow fell from Saturday night through Monday afternoon (Dec 3-5), on top of the 25"+ of much denser snow which fell after my trip to Muir from Nov 30 to Dec 2. Skied great with minimal wind affect under partly sunny skies, although pole penetration was often 24-30" (deeper in spots) and ski penetration generally 12"+, so trail breaking was serious work. Far too cold to even consider going up into the alpine regions, with temps below 0 °F at Muir, so just powder laps up to treeline. Snowing again at times by late afternoon.







Reply to this TR

13455
nov-29-2016-mt-rainier-muir-solitude-powder
Amar Andalkar
2016-12-02 19:33:24

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