March 19, 2006, Pinnacle Saddle, MRNP
3/19/06
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
2088
0
Given the forecast for Sunday, Joel and I decided that it might be a good day to head for the Paradise side of the mountain for a change to do some exploring along Mazama Ridge or in the Tatoosh.
We decided on Pinncale Saddle hoping that the northerly aspect would hold some good snow from the past week. We certainly were not alone in our selection as the uptrack was well packed as we started our climb from Reflection Lake around 10 a.m., and we were met on top with a fair sized crowd.
After a short break up top we started down with only two tracks ahead of us. The snow surface was a bit wind affected, but still soft, mostly untracked and fun to ski with Rainier looming dead ahead. Five minutes later the rest of the crowd started down and the bowl quickly took the appearance of Charles' "after" shot from his ski on Sunday. Lots of smiles as everyone enjoyed the beautiful day.
The snow on the second pitch was slightly more variable with some nice soft sections and pockets of thin surface slab which produced some small sloughs on the steeper sections, but was otherwise very stable.
After a lunch break down at the lake in rapidly warming temps we skinned back up for a shorter second run before calling it a day. All in all a great day to be out and enjoying an area we had not skied before. I look forward to getting back to do some exploring as there appear to be many great lines in this very accessible area.
J.P.
We decided on Pinncale Saddle hoping that the northerly aspect would hold some good snow from the past week. We certainly were not alone in our selection as the uptrack was well packed as we started our climb from Reflection Lake around 10 a.m., and we were met on top with a fair sized crowd.
After a short break up top we started down with only two tracks ahead of us. The snow surface was a bit wind affected, but still soft, mostly untracked and fun to ski with Rainier looming dead ahead. Five minutes later the rest of the crowd started down and the bowl quickly took the appearance of Charles' "after" shot from his ski on Sunday. Lots of smiles as everyone enjoyed the beautiful day.
The snow on the second pitch was slightly more variable with some nice soft sections and pockets of thin surface slab which produced some small sloughs on the steeper sections, but was otherwise very stable.
After a lunch break down at the lake in rapidly warming temps we skinned back up for a shorter second run before calling it a day. All in all a great day to be out and enjoying an area we had not skied before. I look forward to getting back to do some exploring as there appear to be many great lines in this very accessible area.
J.P.
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