March 28, 2007, Bullion Basin
3/28/07
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
1799
0
After all the positive reports this weekend and "Boots" report on March 27, telemetry numbers seemed to indicate another fine day in the Crystal backcountry. I followed the track of 3 skiers and climbed the sun exposed ridge towards Bullion. A late start put me at 6000' and the sun was cooking the slope. Clouds/fog kept moving around and I was finally able to see the northeast bowl of Bullion. It was untracked and protected from the sun. Decided to pull the skins and ski down to the meadow and climb up the bowl. The sun affected slope was turning to wet snow about 6" deep and you could feel the firm base underneath as descending.
Once at the meadow, temperatures were cooler and the snow was powdery. Skinned the narrow gully to the hanging bowl and ascended the bowl in the trees. The bowl was without a track. The snowfall on Monday/Tuesday had covered all the tracks from the weekend crew. Breaking trail in 6" of powder reminds me why it's more enjoyable watching someone do the work. The descent was enjoyable in boot deep powder and sunshine. When I returned to the uptrack it came back to me why I seldom ski Bullion, the lower half of the uptrack is usually heavy mush on a spring descent, hmmm.
FWIW, I pulled out the binoculars and looked into the South backcountry at Crystal and it appeared to still be untracked/closed.
Zap
Once at the meadow, temperatures were cooler and the snow was powdery. Skinned the narrow gully to the hanging bowl and ascended the bowl in the trees. The bowl was without a track. The snowfall on Monday/Tuesday had covered all the tracks from the weekend crew. Breaking trail in 6" of powder reminds me why it's more enjoyable watching someone do the work. The descent was enjoyable in boot deep powder and sunshine. When I returned to the uptrack it came back to me why I seldom ski Bullion, the lower half of the uptrack is usually heavy mush on a spring descent, hmmm.
FWIW, I pulled out the binoculars and looked into the South backcountry at Crystal and it appeared to still be untracked/closed.
Zap
Reply to this TR
Please login first: