June 4, 2006, Unicorn Peak (MRNP)
6/4/06
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
1513
3
GregL already created a very profession web page for our tour:
http://www.randosaigai.com/unicorn.htm
. . . so I dont have any substance to add. But I have to note how skiing with RonJ and MadDog is always so special for me, not just because of how we all know what great people they are to tour with, but also because I first met up with them on a rainy late-August morning in 1999 at the Paradise parking lot. I had flown out to Seattle the previous morning for a business trip during the upcoming week, and my gear was a mix of borrowed, newly acquired, and marginally adequate. My main strength in the backcountry was that I was well aware of my numerous weaknesses. With the vis near zero, and the route unfamiliar, I was starting to resign myself to very short laps above the visitor center when I noticed two people unloading ski gear from the adjacent vehicle. Maybe, just maybe, I thought, if I ask in a polite friendly manner, these two skiers might be nice enough to let a clueless guy from Massachusetts tag along with them on whatever trip they were planning . . . and that ended up being my first ever real backcountry ski tour!
Anyway, this tour was also really fun for me because I *finally* got to ski w/ GregL after emailing him for years about Dynafits, rando races, and also Dynafits at rando races of course. (And I am happy to report that GregL did not disappoint in person, both because he is a great guy to tour with, and because he was sporting F1 boots, the exotic Dynafit Ti bindings, and ultra-Euro appeal Trab skis - wow, some setup!)
Ill conclude by self-centeredly posting a pic of myself in retaliation for everyone else assigning me official TR posting duties. (I suggested we make Gaper Jeffey do it instead, since although he wasnt there, he likes posting TRs almost as he much as he likes skiing or extolling the virtues of Dynafits over telemarktips.com.)
http://www.randosaigai.com/unicorn.htm
. . . so I dont have any substance to add. But I have to note how skiing with RonJ and MadDog is always so special for me, not just because of how we all know what great people they are to tour with, but also because I first met up with them on a rainy late-August morning in 1999 at the Paradise parking lot. I had flown out to Seattle the previous morning for a business trip during the upcoming week, and my gear was a mix of borrowed, newly acquired, and marginally adequate. My main strength in the backcountry was that I was well aware of my numerous weaknesses. With the vis near zero, and the route unfamiliar, I was starting to resign myself to very short laps above the visitor center when I noticed two people unloading ski gear from the adjacent vehicle. Maybe, just maybe, I thought, if I ask in a polite friendly manner, these two skiers might be nice enough to let a clueless guy from Massachusetts tag along with them on whatever trip they were planning . . . and that ended up being my first ever real backcountry ski tour!
Anyway, this tour was also really fun for me because I *finally* got to ski w/ GregL after emailing him for years about Dynafits, rando races, and also Dynafits at rando races of course. (And I am happy to report that GregL did not disappoint in person, both because he is a great guy to tour with, and because he was sporting F1 boots, the exotic Dynafit Ti bindings, and ultra-Euro appeal Trab skis - wow, some setup!)
Ill conclude by self-centeredly posting a pic of myself in retaliation for everyone else assigning me official TR posting duties. (I suggested we make Gaper Jeffey do it instead, since although he wasnt there, he likes posting TRs almost as he much as he likes skiing or extolling the virtues of Dynafits over telemarktips.com.)
Great to finally meet and ski with you, Jonathan, after years of electronic communication! Fun day, not as wet as it could have been, and you couldn't ask for better guides to the Tatoosh than Ron and Jeanette.
author=Jonathan_S. link=topic=4865.msg20570#msg20570 date=1149618055]
My main strength in the backcountry was that I was well aware of my numerous weaknesses.
That is the best line I have heard in a long time.
MadDog did you get a new jacket? It sure is fancy.
Good trip, how were the north facing chutes going into the lake?
Joe
author=Joedabaker link=topic=4865.msg20574#msg20574 date=1149622363]
MadDog did you get a new jacket? It sure is fancy.
Good trip, how were the north facing chutes going into the lake?
Joe
Yep, I got a new jacket, nice and bright, but don't like it, so guess what I've got a different one on order. Love this internet shopping, it's sooooo fun ;D.
North facing was GOOD. Thought of you and Carol, and our trip in there last year, kind of had the same 2% conditions for part of the time.
Thanks to Greg and Jonathan for the kind words and putting up with the "geezers". Gee you should see these guys take off with the skate skiing. Ron and I just sort of looked at each other, smiled and said, wonder if they will still even be at the parking lot by the time we show up ;D.
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