July 9, 2006, Flett and Russell Glaciers
7/9/06
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
3008
5
Vince and I decided to get a day of skiing in while the weather was nice, and brought our light waxless stuff. We turned up a snow finger off the trail in the hopes that it would go all the way to the bottom of the Flett, but no such luck. There is no continuous snow, we had to carry and do some heather skiing. Once at the Flett the coverage was good and we skied Cat-eye lake run with decent corn, Cat-eye lake was a beautiful brown.
Looking at the Russel glacier we noticed some crevasses starting to open and just below 7,500ft there were a number of large ice patches showing. Maybe not too much longer on that if the weather stays nice.
Looking at the Russel glacier we noticed some crevasses starting to open and just below 7,500ft there were a number of large ice patches showing. Maybe not too much longer on that if the weather stays nice.
Brenda and I were up there on Sat and found decent conditions. The strip of snow out of Spray Park up to the Flett Headwall was a bit of a disappointment compared to the last couple of years - this is probably the latest we've ever toured up there however. It was the first time for us up on the Russell Glacier so we weren't sure what to expect. Lots of small cracks and some crevasses opening on the west edge. Some ice coming through that we had to be aware of - the dirtier snow was usually the icy snow. There was another group of 4 skiers that we followed and several climbers on there way up to someplace I don't want to be. We climbed to just below the last snow pitch at 9600' and called it good enough. Ski down first couple of steeper sections was really nice, but a bit bumpy. The strip down blow the headwall was suncupped and cut up by ski tracks, but soft enough to be fun. Saw some goats just above Cat Eye Lake.
I'm going to hijack your photo allotment if you don't mind.
I'm going to hijack your photo allotment if you don't mind.
Ahhh! My heart was with ya !
One thingthat is fun up there as the year progresses is small ice caves above Cateye.
One thingthat is fun up there as the year progresses is small ice caves above Cateye.
I was in the Gang o Four on Sat, parked right next to md2020 I am thinking now.
'twas a very nice day for skiing. Perhaps a bit cuppy in parts, but firmness of underlayer way better than a previous trip Jul 4 2005, where the Russell was rather mushy. OTOH coverage on the Russell headwall was considerably less; was not possible to ski from the 10200 point this year, would have been last year this time.
Some notable observations on the first photo for benefit of future tourers. The two horizontal dark bands in the middle there are not necessarily crevasses opening up, as I had suspected when seeing them from a distance. Instead, I think these are dust trails made by prevailing winds as they picked crap off of exposed Ptarmigan Ridge. They do wreck the snow a little, but just on the surface, I think. The many tracks you can see (compare to this , to see just how much more popular the Russell seems to be this year) are of two types. The ones lookers left are more recent. But the ones lookers right are from previous weekend or earlier. And they are already significantly raised. Fortunately they were tightly spaced by their makers, but their sheer number and raised nature really would decrease the fun factor if you wanted to ski that same line. We went farther lookers left to avoid these. I think/hope there's still SOME part of the glacier you can put a fresh line on ... but by next weekend more of the tracks will be raised.
'twas a very nice day for skiing. Perhaps a bit cuppy in parts, but firmness of underlayer way better than a previous trip Jul 4 2005, where the Russell was rather mushy. OTOH coverage on the Russell headwall was considerably less; was not possible to ski from the 10200 point this year, would have been last year this time.
Some notable observations on the first photo for benefit of future tourers. The two horizontal dark bands in the middle there are not necessarily crevasses opening up, as I had suspected when seeing them from a distance. Instead, I think these are dust trails made by prevailing winds as they picked crap off of exposed Ptarmigan Ridge. They do wreck the snow a little, but just on the surface, I think. The many tracks you can see (compare to this , to see just how much more popular the Russell seems to be this year) are of two types. The ones lookers left are more recent. But the ones lookers right are from previous weekend or earlier. And they are already significantly raised. Fortunately they were tightly spaced by their makers, but their sheer number and raised nature really would decrease the fun factor if you wanted to ski that same line. We went farther lookers left to avoid these. I think/hope there's still SOME part of the glacier you can put a fresh line on ... but by next weekend more of the tracks will be raised.
No problem adding the photos. In fact, they match exactly the view the next day, Sunday. It was a beautiful day!
I was up at Flett Glacier on Sunday too, with Scotsman and our spouses. It was a great day for hiking and taking pictures 8). We stopped climbing and took a 1700' run on the Flett just below Observation Rock (I have my own picture of the brown lake). Snow cups were soft enough that they did not hinder us.
Though the run was not long, glacier runoff water tasted great and alpine wild flowers were out of this world!
This ski season has been fun.
Though the run was not long, glacier runoff water tasted great and alpine wild flowers were out of this world!
This ski season has been fun.
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