Newbie Advice (Etiquette Etc.)

You could take my approach and only go to Muir on days with a clear/sunny forecast. I don't mess with a partly sunny/partly cloudy forecasts. I agree it's good to check if clouds are rolling in while hiking up. I got in a dense white-out once but luckily I was already near the top of pan point. There's always a boot pack to follow, but I managed to lose it based on making turns or something. I heard some nearby voices and met up with a few other people. We slowly proceeded down and we went a bit too far skiers right of the parking lot but figured it out. After that I decided if I'm going to do the 3 hour drive to Paradise from my house, it's going to be on clear days only.

Man, that's terrifying! Did you learn anything from that experience, like something you should have planned or done differently? Was it avoidable, in retrospect?

Sure, we should have thought about the forecast more carefully, talked to experienced people and taken their advice! Also, we shouldn't have been young and care-free! Just kidding about that! Doesn't seem that long ago, but in those days I got my forecast from the evening news. We were young, stoked to be where there was snow in summer, and keen to explore regardless of conditions. So we'd pick someplace we could find snow and go there on the weekend and take whatever came our way.

We should have turned around when it started dumping snow (or before)! Instead, we ran up the bootpack to get to Muir before the tracks disappeared! All in all it was actually a good experience that I'll remember until my mind drifts south. It was the first time I saw a barrel marked human waste, and first summer snow storm!

Had a similar day on St Helens that first year in the PNW. Up, up, and up we went in the cloud, until visibility was down to 20' or so and we were upon a slope that steepened suddenly. Probably just a little wind feature in retrospect, but it made us realize we could possibly stumble off something or take a fall and get hurt. We turned around and descended to better visibility and better skiing, even though it was drizzling down under the cloud .

All the information available now makes for more informed choices & "better" experiences but kind of takes some of the fun out of it too.

All the information available now makes for more informed choices & "better" experiences but kind of takes some of the fun out of it too.

Ha! Classic!

I'm psyched. Driving from Calgary-ish July 4-ish. Can anyone chime in on whether it's worth stopping by Whistler for a few lift/glacier runs? Maybe even for the novelty? I've never skiied Whistler, and it's kind of on the way, but I'm also ready to hit Rainier.

I'm psyched. Driving from Calgary-ish July 4-ish. Can anyone chime in on whether it's worth stopping by Whistler for a few lift/glacier runs? Maybe even for the novelty? I've never skiied Whistler, and it's kind of on the way, but I'm also ready to hit Rainier.

Whistler isn't really on the way to Calgary from Washington... Would recommend you skip the crowds and ski one of the numerous pocket glaciers in the Selkirks/Purcells/Rockies. Mt. McCrae out of Revelstoke is the easiest, but countless others are available by way of logging roads. Just make sure you bring a can of bear spray with you (; Perhaps Farnham will still be good, but I suspect it may not look so pretty by that time, this year.

Whistler isn't really on the way to Calgary from Washington... Would recommend you skip the crowds and ski one of the numerous pocket glaciers in the Selkirks/Purcells/Rockies. Mt. McCrae out of Revelstoke is the easiest, but countless others are available by way of logging roads. Just make sure you bring a can of bear spray with you (; Perhaps Farnham will still be good, but I suspect it may not look so pretty by that time, this year.

Good tips; any other season-worthy spots by name (between Calgary and Rainier)?

Skier of the "HOOD" apparently could not recall the location of North America's best lift-served summer runs. While technically not between Calgary and Rainier, it's easier to get to from the Seattle area than Rainier is.

Coming this far, you should do a quick shot down to [name withheld]. Four lanes of freeway the whole way, it's a doable day trip.