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July 20, 2003, Paradise and Surrounds

7/20/03
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
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Posted by ron j on 7/21/03 6:04am
Well, with the pickin's getting slimmer and slimmer as the summer heat rolls on, we had to roll out the big guns.  
With 7 of the "chosen few" on the roster we convened on Paradise.  Charles (with Pete and Ryan), had prognosticated a late arrival with no worries, as he exuded confidence that they'd overtake the "old timers" before they made it to the goods... and he was right.
We found the object of our obsessions virginal (i.e. untracked) and awaiting our pleasure.
Here's a shot of Jerry's first turn at the top of his first run:


More pics are at:
http://groups.msn.com/WildHeartsSkiing/paradise72003.msnw
Thanks, Gang, you were all great...
And a special thanks to MadDog, who brought the BBQ and the hot dogs, and the Dutchess who brought the endless containers of fresh fruit!!
It just doesn't get much better!
Nice report, Ron.  The steep-skiing photos—snow, skier, rocks—are especially striking.  

I admit that I am puzzled (nothing unusual so far) about this virginity of which you speak, a state which seems to have proven (careful now, Mark)  rather more elastic than I might have thought.  Why, it was just a few short weeks ago that Robie and I sullied and soiled that slope with admittedly callous disregard for any who might follow.  Just a couple of weeks, and already it is proclaimed "virginal."  Interesting.  We live in an age of relative truths and unstable meanings, aye, indeed we do.  

Mark

edit: murky grammar

I've been out of the "loop" for a while, but wanted to check in.  Nice pics Ron!  Glad to see you're out and about.  

Do you have a trip report from this years Hood trip?  Megan and I hopefully will make it this next year.

I've been doing mostly Olympic ski trips this spring.  They've been "interesting", which means "bushwackable".  We did try something off the Middle Fork "Nosnoqualmie Road" recently.  It's really melting fast ain't it?  

But just a couple more months til ski season, yeahh!

 Just a couple of weeks, and already it proclaims itself "virginal."  Interesting.  We live in an age of relative truths and unstable meanings, aye, indeed we do.  

Mark



Gosh Mark, it was a virginal experience for three in this group.  And since we couldn't see that you had "sullied and spoiled" it two weeks ago, we treated it as if we had just found it  8)

Whoa MArk it might not be virginal as you and I know. but that is some shot of JW ! Wishing I could have have been there. Just got in from Vacating and that shot comes up on my screen.
Robie

Thanks to all for a great trip !   8) My photos sadly lacking any action are at

MArk ,Me again. did you notice that little schund /crevasse.
That's what I was looking for when we were there.Glad to see the Duchess out and about.Flew over Mt hood this morning and looked at Palmer GL. A little more than the last year maybe.

Mark - a man as worldly as you should know that the term "virginal" is only a relative term.  Hasn't anyone ever said "I've never done this before" to you?  ;)

Allen - good to hear you're back in the fold.

Robman - good to see you're back from guzzling wine.  That kind of lifestyle is way to high falootin' for a kentuckian.  So can you come out and play now?

Nice - pics, Jerry.  You got the ones I missed.

Too close to home, Ron: I'm struck speechless.

JW, you've got some nice shots in there, too.  I really like # 7 and #10.  Thanks for posting.

(Aside, sotto voce: "One thing about that Ron Jarvis: he really knows how to put you in your place if you ever step out of line.")

Ron and Jerry, great photos! I got some good action shots, but it will be a couple of weeks before I get them into a home page gallery.

Robie, I'm afraid that I misled you about the cracks. I was sure I saw a big one in June where cracks have appeared the past couple of years, but nothing was open last Sunday where I thought I had seen them (as you already discovered). As the photos show, however, cracks are appearing and will probably spread to the previous locations.

Adding to Ron's aura as a GPS guru, he accurately positioned his car in the hot morning sun so that it would be in the shade of a stand of trees precisely at the time of the BBQ. We're sure that he used waypoints gathered over the years to do this!

Charles, You're too kind.
However, being a "gps guru" seems a dubious distinction.  
I thing I'd rather be known as the "tailgate/BBQ apre' ski party king" but MadDog and the Dutchess seem to have that title all wrapped up.

CAN SOMEBODY TELL ME WHERE SOME GOOD SNOW IS?  I've read a lot of reports and I live over in Spokane and I really want to go snowboarding again.  I just got back from Skyline Divide and I want to try and avoid ice picks and all that.  Please Help Me!

I'm a little confused, Beaver.
What about the other 3 threads you just posted on?
The Muir Snowfield and the SW Chutes of Mt. Adams are pretty east to find.  Are you saying you want the snow to be around Spokane?

My answer to Beaver's questions would have to be that, at this point in a sunny and hot summer, the only GOOD snow is in one's mind.

I nominate Ron's response as post of the week.

Beaver, I can't remember if you said you have Rainier Burgdorfer's guide book or not.  It's called 100 Backcountry Ski Tours in Washington or something similar.  If you don't, look in Sponake for it or order it from Amazon.  There are directions to a good portion of the places posted about on this board in there. Read the posts, see if there is good snow and go.

Charles, I think you and I share very similar philosophies.  A while back a friend was troubled by some paradoxes in mathematics and questioned fundamental truth.  I tried to convince him that there was none, the only truth is the one we create for ourselves.  Each person creates their own reality through their interpretation of their experiences and, for each person, this is the only reality that exists.  It coincides with others' because we all share the same vehicles to perception, experiences and have similar ways to interpret them.  But they don't have to.  I used to firmly believe this, I think I still do, mostly because I haven't experienced anything to refute it.  I worry though, if this allows us to become complacent or lazy, or simply unimaginative.

After re-reading the last paragraph above, I can see how it might be misinterpreted.  It isn't an attack against members of this board, or I'm as guilty as any.  I was expressing worry that our power as humans to create our own reality allows us to rest on our laurels and stop questioning or striving for excellence.

There's always good snow.
The only question is how hard you are willing to work for it.
Is there a limit to how far you will hike/how high you will climb?
Furthermore, there is no such thing as bad snow.
All snow is good snow, some good snow just presents more opportunity for technique refinement than other good snow.

ski_photomatt, thanks for the nomination (I think  ;) ).
I didn't intrepret your "philosophies" paragraph as critical of others... I just saw it as an interesting philosophy worth contemplation.

skykilo, I couldn't have said it better.  I totally agree with you on the subject of "good snow".

You guys bothe seem to be finding the goods quite well.  Keep up the good work!!!

Sorry about the confusion.  I don't care where the snow is, as long as its within a day's drive.  I just added in there that I live in Spokane.  I was in a hurry when I typed this.  And yes, I do have the book.  There are a few places that are listed as skiable in July, but that always depends on the year, and this year, at least over here, wasn't to good of a year for snow.

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july-20-2003-paradise-and-surrounds
ron j
2003-07-21 13:04:33