May 15, 2007, Fuhrer Finger, Mt. Rainier

Peter and I set out at midnight to climb and ski the Kautz Glacier in a single push.  The going was quite easy and we set a even pace up to the Turtle.  We stopped to brew some drinks and rest up for the second half of the climb until the sun started to rise.  We cruised up toward the Kautz Ice Cliff and looked enviously down at the Turtle, looking forward to skiing down it.  After attempting a short cut to the glacier, we ended up descending the gully under the ice cliff.  The first steep slope went easily, but the second was soft snow-covered ice which Peter didn't enjoy leading out on in his aluminum crampons and tele boots.  I had a much easier time in my AT boots and sabretooths! 

After that it was a long grind up to the summit.  The altitude really hit us and we struggled slowly up the final 2000', eventually reaching the summit at 2:30pm.  The wind was really whipping so we headed down right away.  The poor snow conditions on the Kautz, the potentially tricky ice section, and the necessity of upclimbing the gully to the top of the Turtle (not to mention being physically beat from the long effort) convinced us to ski down the Fuhrer Finger.  We negotiated our way down to the top of the Wilson Headwall and took a short break before winding over to the top of the Finger.  Awesome, never-ending steep turns commenced on mostly decent snow.  Nice turns were also to be found on the Wilson Glacier before the snow turned to mashed potatoes.  Then it was back to the parking lot after cruising across the Nisqually where we were greeted by several curious tourists.  Other than the wind at the top, the weather treated us nicely and allowed for a big long day.  8)