Home > Trip Reports > July 6, 2017, MRNP, Russell Glacier

July 6, 2017, MRNP, Russell Glacier

7/6/17
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
4039
7
Posted by Kenji on 7/7/17 7:23am
If you are planning to ski Spray/Russell this weekend, be prepared for long hike. At this point, the snow coverage is about the same as the last year.  Russell glacier still has a solid cover but with runnels, Spray Park is very spotty below the cat-eye lake.

Russell coverage:


Good luck connecting dots:


I hiked over knapsack Pass both direction:
Today I was able to ski down to 5800' in Spray park with two ~50' carries and two ~6' grass scoots. The dots connect in the usual places if one tries.

Nice pics, good beta.
On Sat. we got only about half a dozen turns down from Knapsak Pass.  Camped. 
Be prepared to walk most of the way up to below Feltt Gl, the snow fingers are melting *fast*
Still the Russel and Feltt are in good enough shape (suncups can oft be avoided, not *too* dirty yet) that it is worth the trip in.
On the wk-end we did contend w/ about a mile of cars parked along the road before Mowich Lk.

Thanks for the info and photos!

Any chance you have more detailed/zoomed in photos of the mowich face or the edmunds glacier->headwall?

author=El Destructor link=topic=38725.msg156755#msg156755 date=1499720548">
...more detailed/zoomed in photos of the mowich face or the edmunds glacier->headwall?


Maybe these?







You can browse here.

What you cannot see in these photos is the (apparently) wall-to-wall bergschrund below the Edmunds headwall nor the full extent of the one on Central Mowich.

those are great, thank you much!






author=kamtron link=topic=38725.msg156757#msg156757 date=1499727937]
What you cannot see in these photos is the (apparently) wall-to-wall bergschrund below the Edmunds headwall nor the full extent of the one on Central Mowich.


Routes that depend on seasonal mid-elevation snowpack to cover very difficult features are in dire straits on Rainier. Back in May I couldn't see a way from the top of Gib Rock down into the upper Ingraham basin due to a similar large crevasse that I've never seen that exposed in May.

Reply to this TR

13867
july-6-2017-mrnp-russell-glacier
Kenji
2017-07-07 14:23:56