Jan 21, 2008, Mt Rainier Paradise to Panorama Point

Wow! What a difference in snow conditions from last Sunday. Where the snow was deep powder from Panorama Point to the Parking Lot and loads of fun last week, this week it was blown clean down to ice and wind packed in ridges (along the area where the skyline trail runs along the tops of the hills). The wind was knocking us around like ragdolls and the snowboard acted like a sail on our back as we went up with snowshoes.We decided to turn around just below Panorama Point where the wind was not too bad. Some points it was like metal and glass scrapping each other when the skies or snowboard was on the ice. There was a lot of the old "Boiler Plate" to make our snowboards grate and scrape as we make some turns. We decided to go on down through the trees to the Jackson Visitor Center and found some pretty nice snow that  the wind hadn't scoured. The gate was open at 0800 at Longmire. The temp at Paradise was 12 degrees and with a wind chill factor I was glad to have ski goggles over a thick balaclava. Still I couldn't face the wind head on for too long.