April 8, 2007, Tatoosh
4/8/07
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
4151
6
With good weather forecast, and fresh snow, Brad and I thought it would be good to not work. The warming temps and increasing avalanche danger made higher elevations sound better and safer, so we headed towards Paradise. Believe it or not, we discussed the Nisqually Chutes, wondering if we'd be able to assess the danger once we got there.
In the end, the Tatoosh just seemed a lot wiser. Plus the terrain is just so varied up there, it has never failed to challenge me at least, and give us tons of fun. In the parking lot we met The Kyle Miller and his friend and Crystal Mountain videographer Jake. They were heading to do one of the couloirs on Lane. We followed The Kyle Miller up from the parking lot. Thanks for a perfect skin track, Kyle!
The Narada Face was just beautiful, with the 15+ inches of cold powder still unaffected by sunshine. Only two tracks down from yesterday. I have two fantasies when I go touring - no three. The first is to stay in bed. The second is to bring a book and stay in the car reading and napping all day while my partners sweat and toil up hill. The third always hits me at the Narada Face. I am always tempted to just farm it all day, so that when the tourers come back at the end of the day, it's totally and perfectly striped. But all those fantasies are still unfulfilled. We went on to Reflection Lake and climbed the standard route to the Castle.
Brad hiked up from the ridge to catch the steepest drop in on the side of the Castle. I transitioned, and stayed low to watch and film, ready to help. And I'm chicken to drop those steeps. As usual, Brad skied like a Norse god. Everything was very stable, but wind hardened up high. We then headed east, then north over the lower ridge, and into the lower basin, that comes out on the road above Louise Lake. The snow was a little bit variable - some wind buff, a very few hard spots, but mostly very nice higher density powder. Best in the shade. There was no propensity to slide, ski cuts didn't move anything. Even later in the day when sunny areas grew heavier, there was only minimal surface sluff. We didn't dig any pits, just pole tests and ski cuts.
We did two laps, top to bottom, and I was toast. The trudge back to Narada was fueled by the final joy of shooting down that perfect slope, to the glorious oohs and aahs of my admiring tourist fans! I'm sorry, but I do so enjoy having somebody say "Did you just ski THAT??!! To which I outwardly just nod and grin, but inwardly it goes something like..."Well yes, little lady, I did but that tweren't nuthin - why I slayed much bigger giants up in them thar hills." Yes, I have a pretty active fantasy life. Brad may post some pics later, just so you know I didn't make it all up. And don't be surprised if, on some late return from a tour you find the Narada Face already perfectly striped...
In the end, the Tatoosh just seemed a lot wiser. Plus the terrain is just so varied up there, it has never failed to challenge me at least, and give us tons of fun. In the parking lot we met The Kyle Miller and his friend and Crystal Mountain videographer Jake. They were heading to do one of the couloirs on Lane. We followed The Kyle Miller up from the parking lot. Thanks for a perfect skin track, Kyle!
The Narada Face was just beautiful, with the 15+ inches of cold powder still unaffected by sunshine. Only two tracks down from yesterday. I have two fantasies when I go touring - no three. The first is to stay in bed. The second is to bring a book and stay in the car reading and napping all day while my partners sweat and toil up hill. The third always hits me at the Narada Face. I am always tempted to just farm it all day, so that when the tourers come back at the end of the day, it's totally and perfectly striped. But all those fantasies are still unfulfilled. We went on to Reflection Lake and climbed the standard route to the Castle.
Brad hiked up from the ridge to catch the steepest drop in on the side of the Castle. I transitioned, and stayed low to watch and film, ready to help. And I'm chicken to drop those steeps. As usual, Brad skied like a Norse god. Everything was very stable, but wind hardened up high. We then headed east, then north over the lower ridge, and into the lower basin, that comes out on the road above Louise Lake. The snow was a little bit variable - some wind buff, a very few hard spots, but mostly very nice higher density powder. Best in the shade. There was no propensity to slide, ski cuts didn't move anything. Even later in the day when sunny areas grew heavier, there was only minimal surface sluff. We didn't dig any pits, just pole tests and ski cuts.
We did two laps, top to bottom, and I was toast. The trudge back to Narada was fueled by the final joy of shooting down that perfect slope, to the glorious oohs and aahs of my admiring tourist fans! I'm sorry, but I do so enjoy having somebody say "Did you just ski THAT??!! To which I outwardly just nod and grin, but inwardly it goes something like..."Well yes, little lady, I did but that tweren't nuthin - why I slayed much bigger giants up in them thar hills." Yes, I have a pretty active fantasy life. Brad may post some pics later, just so you know I didn't make it all up. And don't be surprised if, on some late return from a tour you find the Narada Face already perfectly striped...
Nice read, Don.
Phewww! I was worried where you might go with the third fantasy. Tracking up Narada face is pretty benign.
A pleasure to read. Thanks.
A pleasure to read. Thanks.
Don, I like your 3 fantasies especially number 3 . As I've matured, I find it's more difficult to get ahead of the pack to be the first to reach the "promised land/slope". So I practice a Jarvis routine and allow the young and strong to set the track , then ski as much of the low hanging terrain as possible. Then return to the vehicle and head for a warm establishment that serves cold refreshments.
Those admiring fans will be at Sunrise this July awaiting your return from skiing the backside chutes. ;)
Those admiring fans will be at Sunrise this July awaiting your return from skiing the backside chutes. ;)
Excellent!
great story ... yes we'd love to see some pix .. neat talking with you guys ... someday we'd love to be skilled enough to ski up on castle .. though even the thought of just dropping off narada's face scares the holy crap outta us
It was great running into you guys and hearing about your day when we met up again in the afternoon.
You know you made it big time when you have a "the" before your name. ;)
You know you made it big time when you have a "the" before your name. ;)
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