March 23, 2003, Paradise Area
3/23/03
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
2369
2
Our quest for good snow was delayed by 2 hrs due to a late opening of the road to Paradise. Our group under the leadership of Ron and "Mad Dog" consisted of 10 randonnee and telemark skiers plus one snowboarder. Since it was snowing and the visibility poor, we decided to once again address the south facing slope opposite Mazama Ridge, AKA Bundy's Blunder or Sweet Potato. Gary, our very strong, knowledgeable friend from Ashford broke trail through the 8" new powder all the way to the top. Although the snow was excellent, some participants, notably the author of this report, had some problems on the first descent due to the poor visibility, skiing into gullies and small cornices. Luckily, the weather soon cleared up so everyone could enjoy several excellent runs. For our return trip we skied a variation of Devil's Dip, down 40 degree treed slopes with excellent powder on a hard base. From Stevens Canyon Road we took the trail down to Narrada Falls, which this time, unlike the Friday before, proved to be a great run in powder. Great trip, although a short day due to the late road opening.
It was a great day ;D. Lots of new snow, good ski partners and lots of fun. The skies cleared, and the mountain came out in all it's glory just as we started to ski down to Narada. It surely proved to be a great powder run through the trees.
Great report, Dorothea.
Thanks for posting it.
Yes, it was quite a crowd, and a great time was had by all. Not sure I was leading anything tho. It's kinda hard to lead when you're at the tail end all day :)
I MAY have contributed to the assemblage of the crowd, but anyone can do that with nothing more than a reasonably well timed joke from time to time. Gary was responsible for the fine terrain choices.
I didn't get much in the way of pics (that's kinda hard to do from the end of the pack! :D ), but I'll dump my camera in the next day or two and if there's anything usable, I'll put them up.
Thanks for posting it.
Yes, it was quite a crowd, and a great time was had by all. Not sure I was leading anything tho. It's kinda hard to lead when you're at the tail end all day :)
I MAY have contributed to the assemblage of the crowd, but anyone can do that with nothing more than a reasonably well timed joke from time to time. Gary was responsible for the fine terrain choices.
I didn't get much in the way of pics (that's kinda hard to do from the end of the pack! :D ), but I'll dump my camera in the next day or two and if there's anything usable, I'll put them up.
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