Sun, March 12, 2006, Nisqually Chute
3/15/06
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
4431
11
Today we set out to ski the Nisqually chute to the bridge.
Participants where myself, JibberD, JasonG,MikeC and Robert.
We arrived at Paradise to sunny weather and cool temps at about 10.00 am and set off by 10.30.During the way up we had left a car at the bridge and after scoping the line with binoculars we where not hopeful that conditions would allow us to ski it given the considerable avy report.
We skinned up to 9,000 ft on the Muir snowfield and it was very cold at that elevation and clouds had started to appear. We skied very variable snow down to 8,400 ft and after some uncertainty regarding the entrance we found it OK. The snow leading down to the entrance was very worrisome. Very well defined wind crust that sheared very easily and you could jump on your skis and produce a break-off-slab very easily. At that stage we very nearly gave up. However we decided that the only way to really test the slope was to get onto it and get a representative sample. The chute had been skied before us and we could see tracks down it but where not prepared in such conditions to rely upon that to make our decision. I had brought a 100' rope and harness so we set up a belay with a sling around a horn of rock and Mike belayed me into the chute proper. There I dug two columns and performed a shovel shear test and a compression test. Shear test slid at 18" depth but not very clean, compression test failed at the same layer after 24 blows( 10 wrist, 10 elbow,4 shoulder) Snow was consistent down to a thin crust about 18" down and had a very thin crusty layer on top. Based upon results and group discussion we decided to ski it. MikeC decided to go first and as soon as he started turning we knew we where in trouble as Mike is a very, very good telemark skier and he was having trouble in really bad, deep breakable crust.
He got down and Jason went next on his spitboard and proceeded to rip the thing. The remaining three skiers on AT gear proceeded down not being able to match the snowboarders turns. I don't think I linked a single turn and the snow was really bad crust. It just worked you and by the time we were all down we where very tired puppies.
We proceeded down the glacier and decided not to climb up to Glacier Vista but continue to the bridge. The only decent snow was the last steep section on the glacier snout but I was so tired by then that linking turns was a struggle. The legs had been destroyed by the breakable crust. We made it to the bridge by 5.30 PM.
The skiing was really, really bad but we where very satsified with our day in that we had managed a fairly bury descent in difficult conditions using good safety protocol. It's a fantastic line and we are all going to do it again when it's corned up later in the season and our memory has faded.
Thanks to my partners and also to the skiers who went before us and whose tracks we followed. ;D
Participants where myself, JibberD, JasonG,MikeC and Robert.
We arrived at Paradise to sunny weather and cool temps at about 10.00 am and set off by 10.30.During the way up we had left a car at the bridge and after scoping the line with binoculars we where not hopeful that conditions would allow us to ski it given the considerable avy report.
We skinned up to 9,000 ft on the Muir snowfield and it was very cold at that elevation and clouds had started to appear. We skied very variable snow down to 8,400 ft and after some uncertainty regarding the entrance we found it OK. The snow leading down to the entrance was very worrisome. Very well defined wind crust that sheared very easily and you could jump on your skis and produce a break-off-slab very easily. At that stage we very nearly gave up. However we decided that the only way to really test the slope was to get onto it and get a representative sample. The chute had been skied before us and we could see tracks down it but where not prepared in such conditions to rely upon that to make our decision. I had brought a 100' rope and harness so we set up a belay with a sling around a horn of rock and Mike belayed me into the chute proper. There I dug two columns and performed a shovel shear test and a compression test. Shear test slid at 18" depth but not very clean, compression test failed at the same layer after 24 blows( 10 wrist, 10 elbow,4 shoulder) Snow was consistent down to a thin crust about 18" down and had a very thin crusty layer on top. Based upon results and group discussion we decided to ski it. MikeC decided to go first and as soon as he started turning we knew we where in trouble as Mike is a very, very good telemark skier and he was having trouble in really bad, deep breakable crust.
He got down and Jason went next on his spitboard and proceeded to rip the thing. The remaining three skiers on AT gear proceeded down not being able to match the snowboarders turns. I don't think I linked a single turn and the snow was really bad crust. It just worked you and by the time we were all down we where very tired puppies.
We proceeded down the glacier and decided not to climb up to Glacier Vista but continue to the bridge. The only decent snow was the last steep section on the glacier snout but I was so tired by then that linking turns was a struggle. The legs had been destroyed by the breakable crust. We made it to the bridge by 5.30 PM.
The skiing was really, really bad but we where very satsified with our day in that we had managed a fairly bury descent in difficult conditions using good safety protocol. It's a fantastic line and we are all going to do it again when it's corned up later in the season and our memory has faded.
Thanks to my partners and also to the skiers who went before us and whose tracks we followed. ;D
Way to slay that dragon, Scotty.
Did you get any wet boots in the lower moraine?
Did you get any wet boots in the lower moraine?
Chris, thanks for heading up this adventure. We had a good group that worked well together, although I did have some serious gear envy watching Jason riding on top of what was for us skiers a very nasty trap crust. I fell more yesterday than in all my previous backcountry adventures combined, I think. Looking sporty Jason G!!
So we've done it! And it certainly will be worth return trips in skiable snow conditions.
It is fairly steep, although I think it is probably steeper when it's not as filled in with snow. Mainly it is a nice long run. From our starting point at 9100' at Moon Rocks we estimated 5300' to the bridge. I can only imagine what the chute proper must be like on a powder day ;) mmmm...powder....(insert drooling smiley here)
The destination shines in the central background:
Mike drops into the chute under flat light while Chris visualizes his best Polar Star icebreaker technique:
So we've done it! And it certainly will be worth return trips in skiable snow conditions.
It is fairly steep, although I think it is probably steeper when it's not as filled in with snow. Mainly it is a nice long run. From our starting point at 9100' at Moon Rocks we estimated 5300' to the bridge. I can only imagine what the chute proper must be like on a powder day ;) mmmm...powder....(insert drooling smiley here)
The destination shines in the central background:
Mike drops into the chute under flat light while Chris visualizes his best Polar Star icebreaker technique:
Thanks Ron , no wet boots. We kept to skier's left the whole way down and did not have to cross the creek.
Thanks for the photos Jibber ;D
Thanks for the photos Jibber ;D
Nisqually chutes and beyond! Anyways Josh and I were part of one of the groups that hit the chute before you. Josh and I left the lot a little after 11:00am and had our sights set on the chutes. We had decided that if we got to paradise to bluebird skies....we'd go for the chutes....and rainier delivered wonderful sunshine. This being our first time I was a bit nervous about finding the entrance but we kept and eye on it the whole way....a rise or so past mclure rock we left the main slog trail up to muir and made our own track ascending towards the chute entrance. As we neared the far side of the snow field we spied 2 skiers who had been setting their own track up that side of the snow field and were also headed for the chutes. They arrived 5 minutes before us and dropped in as we were re-engaging our boards and getting ready to strap in. (In the small world that is the pnw I just happened to be acquainted with one of the skiers from the climbing gym...hi greg!)
I too was a bit nervous about the conditions in the chutes as we left the parking lot. But, as we made our way up things seemed very consolidated, then on watching one of the skiers before us take several falls in the death crust....and after my own first turn I was pretty sure that things weren't going to move. And while the crust was better on a board I would say that it wasn't exactly ideal. Anyways we made it down the chute and continued on down to the bridge. Where we wallowed back to the road and I waited as Josh hitched a ride with a nice family to retrieve our car. What an excellent day. I cannot wait to hit the chutes in more primo conditions...powder would be stellar, but hero corn would be excellent too!
*zoom*
I too was a bit nervous about the conditions in the chutes as we left the parking lot. But, as we made our way up things seemed very consolidated, then on watching one of the skiers before us take several falls in the death crust....and after my own first turn I was pretty sure that things weren't going to move. And while the crust was better on a board I would say that it wasn't exactly ideal. Anyways we made it down the chute and continued on down to the bridge. Where we wallowed back to the road and I waited as Josh hitched a ride with a nice family to retrieve our car. What an excellent day. I cannot wait to hit the chutes in more primo conditions...powder would be stellar, but hero corn would be excellent too!
*zoom*
Thanks for trialbalzing Utragrrl, your route finding was great on the glacier and we where glad to follow your tracks. ;D
If you could have known the conditions across the valley in the Tatoosh I think you would have been kicking yourselves. Some of the powder over there was as light as anything I'd ever skied.
Well thanks MD2020, you sure made me feel better :D
How was stability over in the Tatoosh?
How was stability over in the Tatoosh?
If you could have known the conditions across the valley in the Tatoosh I think you would have been kicking yourselves.
No need to kick ourselves. The trap crust in the chute did a fine job of that.
The Tatoosh did look beautiful yesterday.
Regarding the chute I think it needs to be noted that once you enter it's pretty gnarly avalance terrain for the majority of the run out to the bridge. Also that keeping to skiers left all the way down appeared to be the only safe way out to avoid the glacier with its hazards including a nasty snout with large pits, drop-offs, blocks of blue ice... It looks like a straightforward tour and it is as long as you stay on course. Deviating anywhere along the line looked like it could quickly become problematic. This was difinitely the most hazardous tour I've been on in MRNP so far. A fair weather tour for me for sure.
Stability in the Tatoosh seemed good from what I saw. I didn't dig any full pits, but I did a couple hasty pits and found a shear around 18-24"; down that was fairly difficult to pull loose. Looked like a fine layer of surface hoar. Couldn't make any test slopes move except on the obvious wind slab of a few inches thick on higher exposed areas. Nevertheless, we stayed off of steeper stuff and stuck to main bowl below the Castle and some steeper short pitches in the trees. A few folks skied some steeper lines down into the lower treed bowl though. As always the top of the bowl can be variable. There was lots of firmer slab of a couple inches toward the top of the bowl, which was a bit of a challenge. Once we figured it out, it was kind of fun making those chunks of slab fly. A bit lower was nice, and once in the trees it was heaven. None of the crust that we experienced on the previous day over at Paradise, which I'm certain was much worse on Sunday.
Scotsman, JibberD, MikeC and Robert - thanks again for letting me join you! I'll try to post some of the pictures I took tonight.
Some additional notes
* We topped out at 9,000 feet instead of lower as suggested by the rest of the gang, partially because my legs were still functioning and so I figured I might as well keep (slowly) plodding upwards. This really wasn't worthwhile. Although the snow was OK on the Muir snowfield, I probably made three turns during the traverse over to the chute (didn't want to get stuck on flats...). Next time will make a climbing traverse to the chute.
* Although I had a fantastic time on the descent, as Ultragrrl said, the conditions were not good, and I definitely didn't stay on top of the crust during turns. I just kept my speed up and let the board slice through it on turns, which seemed to work (no tips to cross!). But hey, fresh tracks are fresh tracks! :)
* We stayed well away from the wind-deposited snow on the West side of the chute. Probably would've been better skiing, at least until it avalanches on top of you...
* Parts of the way out are flat, some slightly uphill. However, by following the ski tracks, I made it to the big rock at the snout of the glacier with only ~2 places that required a couple minutes of pushing with ski poles, and one place that required a couple minutes of post-holing (thanks Ultragrrl and Josh for the pre-made post-holes!). You might be able to avoid all of this by going out onto the glacier at the bottom of the chute (is it safe?) and staying high on the traverse at the bottom (by the big rock).
* The final descent at the glacier snout was a blast - a great carving surface followed by probably close to a mile of high-speed cruising in the ski-tracks on the flats next to the river. I made it all the way to the bottom of the bridge on my board! :)
Here's Mike entering the chute:
Some additional notes
* We topped out at 9,000 feet instead of lower as suggested by the rest of the gang, partially because my legs were still functioning and so I figured I might as well keep (slowly) plodding upwards. This really wasn't worthwhile. Although the snow was OK on the Muir snowfield, I probably made three turns during the traverse over to the chute (didn't want to get stuck on flats...). Next time will make a climbing traverse to the chute.
* Although I had a fantastic time on the descent, as Ultragrrl said, the conditions were not good, and I definitely didn't stay on top of the crust during turns. I just kept my speed up and let the board slice through it on turns, which seemed to work (no tips to cross!). But hey, fresh tracks are fresh tracks! :)
* We stayed well away from the wind-deposited snow on the West side of the chute. Probably would've been better skiing, at least until it avalanches on top of you...
* Parts of the way out are flat, some slightly uphill. However, by following the ski tracks, I made it to the big rock at the snout of the glacier with only ~2 places that required a couple minutes of pushing with ski poles, and one place that required a couple minutes of post-holing (thanks Ultragrrl and Josh for the pre-made post-holes!). You might be able to avoid all of this by going out onto the glacier at the bottom of the chute (is it safe?) and staying high on the traverse at the bottom (by the big rock).
* The final descent at the glacier snout was a blast - a great carving surface followed by probably close to a mile of high-speed cruising in the ski-tracks on the flats next to the river. I made it all the way to the bottom of the bridge on my board! :)
Here's Mike entering the chute:
Nice job on hitting the chute! Sorry the conditions were, shall we say, much less than ideal. And JibberD, I completely agree this is a fair weather tour. When we did that the weekend prior, we were extremely thankful vis was good, thus making navigation a cinch. I would never attempt the Chutes in flat light or whiteout conditions, even with a GPS/map/compass.
~Lara
~Lara
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