July 26, 2003, SW Chutes, Mt Adams
7/26/03
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
3071
1
I knew I was going too late in the season but what the hell. Based on other reports here I knew that the SW chutes had the best quality snow so that was my preferred descent route. Because of that, I decided to camp down at 6800' next to Morrison Creek. Great camping down there with only a few random patches of snow lingering.
Despite the warm temperatures during the day, it did cool down enough to firm up the snow so I did put on crampons above 8000'. They're probably not needed for most people but I liked having the extra security. The snow from 8000' up to the lunch counter is fairly suncupped & runneled as others have reported recently. For those camping at the Lunch Counter, there is a small melt stream which starts at the base of the Suksdorf Ridge.
At this point, my snowboard boots were starting to kill my heels so my progress was starting to suffer. Still, I joined the caravan up to Pikers Peak. Along the way up, I met Daniel & Louie, a couple of skiers who were planning on descending the SW Chutes. After topping out on Pikers Peak, I didn't feel like heading up to the summit due to my feet & security of descending the SW Chutes with some other people helped make my decision.
Daniel, Louie, & I dropped into the entrance of the middle chute, where the runnels where pretty deep. Once we dropped into the chute proper, conditions got better but the uneven runnels where commonplace pretty much the whole way down. I can only imagine how amazing the route must be when the snow is smooth as butter.
All 3 of us where SW Chute virgins so as we descended, we where evaluating how to get out. Thanks to some GPS points I had logged the previous day, what we ended up doing was descending the chutes down to 7000' and then bushwhacked across the 6 or 7 gullies back to the Morrison Creek campsites at 6800'.
It was a long day but alot of fun. Props to Daniel & Louie for letting me tag along & the pics in the chute turned out great. I'm thinking of putting a map together with some of the GPS points on a topo so look in the random tracks section sometime in the (hopefully) near future..
Steve
Despite the warm temperatures during the day, it did cool down enough to firm up the snow so I did put on crampons above 8000'. They're probably not needed for most people but I liked having the extra security. The snow from 8000' up to the lunch counter is fairly suncupped & runneled as others have reported recently. For those camping at the Lunch Counter, there is a small melt stream which starts at the base of the Suksdorf Ridge.
At this point, my snowboard boots were starting to kill my heels so my progress was starting to suffer. Still, I joined the caravan up to Pikers Peak. Along the way up, I met Daniel & Louie, a couple of skiers who were planning on descending the SW Chutes. After topping out on Pikers Peak, I didn't feel like heading up to the summit due to my feet & security of descending the SW Chutes with some other people helped make my decision.
Daniel, Louie, & I dropped into the entrance of the middle chute, where the runnels where pretty deep. Once we dropped into the chute proper, conditions got better but the uneven runnels where commonplace pretty much the whole way down. I can only imagine how amazing the route must be when the snow is smooth as butter.
All 3 of us where SW Chute virgins so as we descended, we where evaluating how to get out. Thanks to some GPS points I had logged the previous day, what we ended up doing was descending the chutes down to 7000' and then bushwhacked across the 6 or 7 gullies back to the Morrison Creek campsites at 6800'.
It was a long day but alot of fun. Props to Daniel & Louie for letting me tag along & the pics in the chute turned out great. I'm thinking of putting a map together with some of the GPS points on a topo so look in the random tracks section sometime in the (hopefully) near future..
Steve
Was there enough snow to last until August 18th?...that's the next oppurtunity I have for some hiking. Also, would I HAVE to use cramp-ons and picks to be able to get to skiable terrain?
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