Dec 9, 2011, Rainier, Muir and Nisqually Chute CORN
12/9/11
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
12498
7
Well, I finally found the corn on Rainier that had escaped me on my last trip up to Muir 3 days earlier: on Friday late-afternoon, Nisqually Chute was covered top-to-bottom in nicely softened, smooth, stable, untracked corn. I skied the entire main Chute in a nonstop 1500 vertical-foot shot, undistracted by partners or taking photos, just me and the sun and snow and solitude. A totally breathtaking run, with an uncommon feeling of isolation and remoteness due to the absence of any other people or any previous ski tracks in the entire Nisqually Glacier basin. I was totally buzzed and stoked at the bottom. Followed by a short skin up to watch another mountain sunset from Glacier Vista, then a twilight ski back to Paradise with the full moon rising to the east. What a spectacular day!
(click for double-size version)
Two-shot panorama from beside Nisqually Moraine, with Nisqually Chute at right center and a single set of ski tracks.
Links to my other recent TRs, including three trips to Muir in the last two weeks:
Sunset view of Rainier from Crystal on Thursday, Dec 8.
And then the thought hit me: Nisqually Chute! It was so obvious: a nice 40° steep S and SW facing chute that would catch the maximum possible insolation from the low December sun, and was almost certain to be corned up. I couldn't believe that I hadn't thought of it yet, nor that I hadn't actually gone and skied it already this week, like on Tuesday when I'd been to Muir and skied frozen icy crust for much of the run -- I should have dropped down the Chute that day! I looked through my photos from Tuesday, and the few that viewed the Chute showed adequate snow coverage, a bit thin and rocky at the entrance, but totally skiable and looking quite good down the main part of the run.
View of Nisqually Chute from 7200 ft on Tuesday, Dec 6.
So that would be the plan by default for Friday: head to Paradise at a leisurely hour, and take a look at Nisqually Chute in the afternoon. The UW model predicted a period of near-calm (5-10 knots or less) winds at 10000 ft from Friday morning through late-afternoon, as the dome of high-pressure shifted east from the Pacific and directly over Oregon, along with freezing levels over 10000 ft. So that would be the window to try for corn.
An 8:30am departure from Seattle had me skinning up from Paradise just after 11am, with temps already a toasty 48 °F in the parking lot. The late start was perfect for skinning on properly softened snow instead of frozen crust. To avoid the problems of skinning up the still-firm Pan Face, I put in a skin track up the SW Ridge of Panorama Point, and found ideal skinning conditions with 3-4" of ski penetration on this south-facing slope, allowing me to set a solid track up the steep ridge with no risk of sluffing or sliding.
A nice sun-warmed skin track up the SW ridge of Panorama Point.
On the rolls above Pan Point and above Pebble Creek, portions of my skin track from Tuesday were still easily recognizable (wherever the snow had been soft enough to actually leave a track!) -- clearly not much skier traffic up here this week. There was an occasional easterly breeze at Paradise and as high as Pan Point (due to easterly pass flow), but above Pebble Creek the air became very still and quiet with only the lightest wisp of wind every so often. The lack of wind, strong sunshine, and warm temps were finally allowing much of the Muir Snowfield to soften slightly. It wasn't corn, but the icy crust was semi-softened and skinnable, as were the large areas of windpack -- all noticeably softer than the solidly frozen state on Tuesday, despite Tuesday's higher 11000 ft freezing level.
My skin track from 3 days earlier on one of the rolls above Pebble Creek, no one else had skinned up here since then.
I skinned up along the west edge of the Snowfield, to stay on areas with the most southwesterly exposure and thus maximum afternoon sun. These aspects had actually softened somewhat all the way up to 10000 ft this day, right to Camp Muir. However, there were still many icy patches with clear water ice, and I put the ski crampons on above 8700 ft for greater efficiency, but someone with mad skinning skills could have have probably made it without them.
I never intended to go all the way to Muir today, because of the icy crust I had encountered on Tuesday above 8500 ft. But as I passed the elevation of the entrance to Nisqually Chute at 8400 ft, I realized that I had to keep going up. It was only 1:15pm, and the weather was just too nice to not continue on to Muir, even if the skiing above was poor. I figured I'd be back to the Chute by around 3pm, which would be the ideal time to get the maximum softening of the snow. Saw 4 other skiers descending the Snowfield (including one carrying their skis down) as I continued skinning up, but no one was heading for the Chute.
Shadow self-portrait at Camp Muir, with Cathedral Gap and Little Tahoma in the distance, both looking very bare.
Reached Muir at 2:30pm, all other skiers and hikers and last night's summit attempters (who turned around near 12000 ft on DC/ID) were long gone, leaving behind only quiet and solitude. Since the winds were nearly calm, I made a quick check of the Muir webcam and NWAC instrument tower (it was too gusty to want to do so the previous 3 times I'd been to Muir in the last 11 days). As expected, the webcam and the instrument tower are entirely free of ice and rime. The webcam appears to be undamaged externally, and all cabling appears to be intact, so it is unclear why it has been offline since shortly after 3:17pm on November 20 -- this 20-day outage is the longest since the camera was installed in May.
The NWAC instrument tower and webcam at Camp Muir, with the Goat Rocks and Mount Adams in the background.
Skied down just before 3pm, finding the ski conditions to still be quite poor above 9500 ft, still very firm and chattery despite the slight softening. Below 9500 ft, followed fingers of windpacked powder atop the crust as on previous days, all the way to the entrance of the Chute.
Large fingers of windpacked powder atop the icy crust, with Mounts Adams, Hood, and Saint Helens in the distance.
And there it finally was, on the open slope just above the entrance: real smooth CORN! This entire south-facing slope at 8500 ft had corned up, and that erased my doubts: the Chute just had to be good corn too.
Looking down from the rocky entrance to Nisqually Chute at 8400 ft, with the Nisqually Glacier and its moraine far below.
Traversed into the Chute carefully through the numerous exposed and partially-hidden rocks at the 8400 ft entrance, made a couple of test turns, and then knew for sure that it was golden: 3-4" of softened corn on a firmer base, actually softened way more than necessary, but well-bonded and not sluffing at all. An old avalanche crown about 1-2 ft high crossed most of the width of the Chute just below the entrance, but stability was not an issue now given the recent weather and very low avalanche hazard.
My ski tracks crossing the old avalanche crown just below the entrance to Nisqually Chute.
Looking down the clean smooth corn of the Chute from just below the avalanche crown, with a lobe of old avalanche debris visible far below deposited onto the Nisqually Glacier.
So it was time to let loose and ski the whole Chute in a single shot -- a minute later I was at 6800 ft where the chute becomes a half-pipe, and where the number of fallen rocks studding the snow increases to the point of annoyance, so I popped out onto the shoulder to skier's left. More nice corn turns down the sunny shoulder to where it flattens near 6400 ft, and the corn disappeared to be replaced by heavy windpacked powder, but luckily not crusty at all. I was totally stoked to have enjoyed an awesome run, in sweet May-like corn conditions but with the total solitude of December.
Looking back at my ski tracks in Nisqually Chute and the shoulder below it, a zoomed view from atop Nisqually Moraine.
A quick schuss down the trough beside the moraine brought me to the base of the 200 ft reascent back out to Glacier Vista. No need to rush this, as I wanted to watch the sunset from atop Glacier Vista. A leisurely skin back up, breaking trail up through a foot of heavy powder on this westerly aspect, then thinning to exposed icy crust for the last 50 ft at the top, which convinced me to put the ski crampons back on. Arrived atop the Vista at 4pm, and enjoyed watching the sunset for the next half-hour.
Then a twilight cruise down the crusty snow back to Paradise, enhanced by the full moon rising in the east as I neared the parking lot -- remarkably it was still 49 °F at Paradise a half-hour after sunset as 5pm neared. A perfect end to an exceptional day, with an unexpectedly great run down one of the best ski descent lines in the Paradise vicinity. I've skied Nisqually Chute numerous times before, but this late-afternoon December descent on untracked corn in total solitude has to be among the most memorable.
[hr][tt]MOUNT RAINIER RECREATIONAL FORECAST
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
421 AM PST FRI DEC 9 2011
SYNOPSIS...HIGH PRESSURE WILL GIVE WESTERN WASHINGTON COOL DRY WEATHER THROUGH SATURDAY MORNING. LOW CLOUDS AND FOG WILL PERSIST OVER PARTS OF THE INTERIOR LOWLANDS...WITH CLEAR SKIES IN THE MOUNTAINS. A WEATHER SYSTEM WILL BRING A CHANCE OF RAIN TO THE AREA THIS WEEKEND. HIGH PRESSURE WILL REBUILD MONDAY. A STRONGER WEATHER SYSTEM WILL LIKELY REACH THE AREA BY THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK.
FRIDAY...SUNNY. FREEZING LEVEL 9500 FEET.
FRIDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLEAR. FREEZING LEVEL 9000 FEET.
SATURDAY...PARTLY SUNNY. FREEZING LEVEL 6000 FEET.
SATURDAY NIGHT...CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF SNOW AND RAIN. SNOW LEVEL 3000 FEET.
SUNDAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY. A CHANCE OF SNOW AND RAIN IN THE MORNING...THEN A CHANCE OF SHOWERS IN THE AFTERNOON. SNOW LEVEL 2500 FEET.
SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY. FREEZING LEVEL 3500 FEET.
MONDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY. FREEZING LEVEL 5000 FEET.
TUESDAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF SNOW AND RAIN. SNOW LEVEL 4500 FEET.
TUESDAY NIGHT...SNOW AND RAIN LIKELY. SNOW LEVEL 3000 FEET.
WEDNESDAY...CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF SNOW AND RAIN. SNOW LEVEL 2500 FEET.
WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF SNOW AND RAIN. SNOW LEVEL 3000 FEET.
TEMPERATURE AND WIND FORECASTS FOR SELECTED LOCATIONS.
FRI FRI SAT SAT SUN
NIGHT NIGHT
SUMMIT (14411 FT) 12 10 6 -2 -6
W 9 SW 31 W 38 SW 19 SE 4
CAMP MUIR(10188 FT) 32 28 20 12 10
SW 8 SW 22 W 26 W 10 E 6
PARADISE (5420 FT) 35 29 29 17 28
NE 6 W 5 SW 9 SW 5 S 1
LONGMIRE (2700 FT) 40 29 33 25 33
CALM CALM CALM CALM CALM
[/tt]
(click for double-size version)
Two-shot panorama from beside Nisqually Moraine, with Nisqually Chute at right center and a single set of ski tracks.
Links to my other recent TRs, including three trips to Muir in the last two weeks:
Sunset view of Rainier from Crystal on Thursday, Dec 8.
And then the thought hit me: Nisqually Chute! It was so obvious: a nice 40° steep S and SW facing chute that would catch the maximum possible insolation from the low December sun, and was almost certain to be corned up. I couldn't believe that I hadn't thought of it yet, nor that I hadn't actually gone and skied it already this week, like on Tuesday when I'd been to Muir and skied frozen icy crust for much of the run -- I should have dropped down the Chute that day! I looked through my photos from Tuesday, and the few that viewed the Chute showed adequate snow coverage, a bit thin and rocky at the entrance, but totally skiable and looking quite good down the main part of the run.
View of Nisqually Chute from 7200 ft on Tuesday, Dec 6.
So that would be the plan by default for Friday: head to Paradise at a leisurely hour, and take a look at Nisqually Chute in the afternoon. The UW model predicted a period of near-calm (5-10 knots or less) winds at 10000 ft from Friday morning through late-afternoon, as the dome of high-pressure shifted east from the Pacific and directly over Oregon, along with freezing levels over 10000 ft. So that would be the window to try for corn.
An 8:30am departure from Seattle had me skinning up from Paradise just after 11am, with temps already a toasty 48 °F in the parking lot. The late start was perfect for skinning on properly softened snow instead of frozen crust. To avoid the problems of skinning up the still-firm Pan Face, I put in a skin track up the SW Ridge of Panorama Point, and found ideal skinning conditions with 3-4" of ski penetration on this south-facing slope, allowing me to set a solid track up the steep ridge with no risk of sluffing or sliding.
A nice sun-warmed skin track up the SW ridge of Panorama Point.
On the rolls above Pan Point and above Pebble Creek, portions of my skin track from Tuesday were still easily recognizable (wherever the snow had been soft enough to actually leave a track!) -- clearly not much skier traffic up here this week. There was an occasional easterly breeze at Paradise and as high as Pan Point (due to easterly pass flow), but above Pebble Creek the air became very still and quiet with only the lightest wisp of wind every so often. The lack of wind, strong sunshine, and warm temps were finally allowing much of the Muir Snowfield to soften slightly. It wasn't corn, but the icy crust was semi-softened and skinnable, as were the large areas of windpack -- all noticeably softer than the solidly frozen state on Tuesday, despite Tuesday's higher 11000 ft freezing level.
My skin track from 3 days earlier on one of the rolls above Pebble Creek, no one else had skinned up here since then.
I skinned up along the west edge of the Snowfield, to stay on areas with the most southwesterly exposure and thus maximum afternoon sun. These aspects had actually softened somewhat all the way up to 10000 ft this day, right to Camp Muir. However, there were still many icy patches with clear water ice, and I put the ski crampons on above 8700 ft for greater efficiency, but someone with mad skinning skills could have have probably made it without them.
I never intended to go all the way to Muir today, because of the icy crust I had encountered on Tuesday above 8500 ft. But as I passed the elevation of the entrance to Nisqually Chute at 8400 ft, I realized that I had to keep going up. It was only 1:15pm, and the weather was just too nice to not continue on to Muir, even if the skiing above was poor. I figured I'd be back to the Chute by around 3pm, which would be the ideal time to get the maximum softening of the snow. Saw 4 other skiers descending the Snowfield (including one carrying their skis down) as I continued skinning up, but no one was heading for the Chute.
Shadow self-portrait at Camp Muir, with Cathedral Gap and Little Tahoma in the distance, both looking very bare.
Reached Muir at 2:30pm, all other skiers and hikers and last night's summit attempters (who turned around near 12000 ft on DC/ID) were long gone, leaving behind only quiet and solitude. Since the winds were nearly calm, I made a quick check of the Muir webcam and NWAC instrument tower (it was too gusty to want to do so the previous 3 times I'd been to Muir in the last 11 days). As expected, the webcam and the instrument tower are entirely free of ice and rime. The webcam appears to be undamaged externally, and all cabling appears to be intact, so it is unclear why it has been offline since shortly after 3:17pm on November 20 -- this 20-day outage is the longest since the camera was installed in May.
The NWAC instrument tower and webcam at Camp Muir, with the Goat Rocks and Mount Adams in the background.
Skied down just before 3pm, finding the ski conditions to still be quite poor above 9500 ft, still very firm and chattery despite the slight softening. Below 9500 ft, followed fingers of windpacked powder atop the crust as on previous days, all the way to the entrance of the Chute.
Large fingers of windpacked powder atop the icy crust, with Mounts Adams, Hood, and Saint Helens in the distance.
And there it finally was, on the open slope just above the entrance: real smooth CORN! This entire south-facing slope at 8500 ft had corned up, and that erased my doubts: the Chute just had to be good corn too.
Looking down from the rocky entrance to Nisqually Chute at 8400 ft, with the Nisqually Glacier and its moraine far below.
Traversed into the Chute carefully through the numerous exposed and partially-hidden rocks at the 8400 ft entrance, made a couple of test turns, and then knew for sure that it was golden: 3-4" of softened corn on a firmer base, actually softened way more than necessary, but well-bonded and not sluffing at all. An old avalanche crown about 1-2 ft high crossed most of the width of the Chute just below the entrance, but stability was not an issue now given the recent weather and very low avalanche hazard.
My ski tracks crossing the old avalanche crown just below the entrance to Nisqually Chute.
Looking down the clean smooth corn of the Chute from just below the avalanche crown, with a lobe of old avalanche debris visible far below deposited onto the Nisqually Glacier.
So it was time to let loose and ski the whole Chute in a single shot -- a minute later I was at 6800 ft where the chute becomes a half-pipe, and where the number of fallen rocks studding the snow increases to the point of annoyance, so I popped out onto the shoulder to skier's left. More nice corn turns down the sunny shoulder to where it flattens near 6400 ft, and the corn disappeared to be replaced by heavy windpacked powder, but luckily not crusty at all. I was totally stoked to have enjoyed an awesome run, in sweet May-like corn conditions but with the total solitude of December.
Looking back at my ski tracks in Nisqually Chute and the shoulder below it, a zoomed view from atop Nisqually Moraine.
A quick schuss down the trough beside the moraine brought me to the base of the 200 ft reascent back out to Glacier Vista. No need to rush this, as I wanted to watch the sunset from atop Glacier Vista. A leisurely skin back up, breaking trail up through a foot of heavy powder on this westerly aspect, then thinning to exposed icy crust for the last 50 ft at the top, which convinced me to put the ski crampons back on. Arrived atop the Vista at 4pm, and enjoyed watching the sunset for the next half-hour.
Then a twilight cruise down the crusty snow back to Paradise, enhanced by the full moon rising in the east as I neared the parking lot -- remarkably it was still 49 °F at Paradise a half-hour after sunset as 5pm neared. A perfect end to an exceptional day, with an unexpectedly great run down one of the best ski descent lines in the Paradise vicinity. I've skied Nisqually Chute numerous times before, but this late-afternoon December descent on untracked corn in total solitude has to be among the most memorable.
[hr][tt]MOUNT RAINIER RECREATIONAL FORECAST
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
421 AM PST FRI DEC 9 2011
SYNOPSIS...HIGH PRESSURE WILL GIVE WESTERN WASHINGTON COOL DRY WEATHER THROUGH SATURDAY MORNING. LOW CLOUDS AND FOG WILL PERSIST OVER PARTS OF THE INTERIOR LOWLANDS...WITH CLEAR SKIES IN THE MOUNTAINS. A WEATHER SYSTEM WILL BRING A CHANCE OF RAIN TO THE AREA THIS WEEKEND. HIGH PRESSURE WILL REBUILD MONDAY. A STRONGER WEATHER SYSTEM WILL LIKELY REACH THE AREA BY THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK.
FRIDAY...SUNNY. FREEZING LEVEL 9500 FEET.
FRIDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLEAR. FREEZING LEVEL 9000 FEET.
SATURDAY...PARTLY SUNNY. FREEZING LEVEL 6000 FEET.
SATURDAY NIGHT...CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF SNOW AND RAIN. SNOW LEVEL 3000 FEET.
SUNDAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY. A CHANCE OF SNOW AND RAIN IN THE MORNING...THEN A CHANCE OF SHOWERS IN THE AFTERNOON. SNOW LEVEL 2500 FEET.
SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY. FREEZING LEVEL 3500 FEET.
MONDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY. FREEZING LEVEL 5000 FEET.
TUESDAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF SNOW AND RAIN. SNOW LEVEL 4500 FEET.
TUESDAY NIGHT...SNOW AND RAIN LIKELY. SNOW LEVEL 3000 FEET.
WEDNESDAY...CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF SNOW AND RAIN. SNOW LEVEL 2500 FEET.
WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF SNOW AND RAIN. SNOW LEVEL 3000 FEET.
TEMPERATURE AND WIND FORECASTS FOR SELECTED LOCATIONS.
FRI FRI SAT SAT SUN
NIGHT NIGHT
SUMMIT (14411 FT) 12 10 6 -2 -6
W 9 SW 31 W 38 SW 19 SE 4
CAMP MUIR(10188 FT) 32 28 20 12 10
SW 8 SW 22 W 26 W 10 E 6
PARADISE (5420 FT) 35 29 29 17 28
NE 6 W 5 SW 9 SW 5 S 1
LONGMIRE (2700 FT) 40 29 33 25 33
CALM CALM CALM CALM CALM
[/tt]
Postscript: Looking at the telemetry from Paradise and Muir pasted below, it is clear that the window for skiing nice corn was very short this time. Increasing SW winds hit Muir by 4pm Friday, becoming strong in the evening and overnight, and temperatures fell by several degrees. If these strong winds and falling temps had arrived 4-6 hours earlier, Nisqually Chute might have stayed frozen and crusty all day.
As for Thursday Dec 8, the temps were about 3-5 degrees cooler at Muir and 6-8 degrees cooler at Paradise than on Friday, with winds at Muir during the critical 10am-3pm period being slightly stronger too. Not certain if the Chute would have softened under those conditions, but based on how soft it was at 3pm Friday, I think it would have been nicely skiable on Thursday too.
Northwest Weather and Avalanche Center Northwest Weather and Avalanche Center
Paradise, Mt Rainier National Park, Washington Camp Muir, Mt Rainier National Park, Washington
Wind gages unheated and may rime
MM/DD Hour Temp RH Wind Wind Wind Hour Total 24 Hr Total Solar MM/DD Hour Temp RH Wind Wind Wind Wind Solar
PST F % Avg Max Dir Prec. Prec. Snow Snow W/m2 PST F % Min Avg Max Dir W/m2
5400' 5400' 5380' 5380' 5380' 5400' 5400' 5400' 5400' 5400' 10110' 10110' 10110' 10110' 10110' 10110' 10110'
------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------------------------------------------
12 8 500 34 21 0 0 29 0 0 -0 51 0 12 8 500 29 20 3 8 15 314 0
12 8 600 34 18 0 0 27 0 0 -0 51 0 12 8 600 29 24 3 9 15 333 0
12 8 700 36 17 0 0 22 0 0 -0 51 0 12 8 700 31 21 4 10 19 324 0
12 8 800 36 17 0 0 20 0 0 1 51 8 12 8 800 31 22 2 7 13 343 12
12 8 900 40 14 0 0 346 0 0 1 51 106 12 8 900 28 24 2 6 15 254 112
12 8 1000 41 15 0 0 279 0 0 -0 51 239 12 8 1000 29 24 3 9 14 263 243
12 8 1100 44 16 2 6 112 0 0 -0 51 339 12 8 1100 31 25 0 8 15 260 344
12 8 1200 43 16 1 5 199 0 0 -0 51 370 12 8 1200 34 31 1 6 18 242 376
12 8 1300 46 16 0 3 237 0 0 -0 51 371 12 8 1300 34 31 3 10 19 283 361
12 8 1400 50 18 0 3 246 0 0 -1 50 334 12 8 1400 33 30 4 10 18 353 334
12 8 1500 52 15 0 0 157 0 0 -1 50 228 12 8 1500 34 26 7 12 18 305 226
12 8 1600 43 22 0 0 272 0 0 -0 51 99 12 8 1600 32 26 3 11 25 304 98
12 8 1700 40 23 0 0 38 0 0 -0 51 6 12 8 1700 29 35 2 5 11 28 7
12 8 1800 42 20 0 0 31 0 0 -1 51 0 12 8 1800 30 41 0 6 15 246 0
12 8 1900 42 23 0 0 17 0 0 -0 51 0 12 8 1900 30 46 3 12 26 212 0
12 8 2000 43 24 0 0 39 0 0 -1 51 0 12 8 2000 29 46 4 10 22 242 0
12 8 2100 44 22 0 2 38 0 0 -0 51 0 12 8 2100 30 38 5 10 19 263 0
12 8 2200 45 24 0 3 39 0 0 -1 51 0 12 8 2200 31 27 5 9 15 350 0
12 8 2300 45 25 0 1 18 0 0 -0 51 0 12 8 2300 31 28 4 7 13 281 0
12 9 0 46 25 0 0 9 0 0 -0 51 0 12 9 0 31 21 3 7 12 291 0
12 9 100 45 26 0 0 352 0 0 -0 51 0 12 9 100 30 29 2 4 7 271 0
12 9 200 45 24 0 0 351 0 0 1 51 0 12 9 200 31 25 2 6 10 255 0
12 9 300 44 27 0 0 11 0 0 1 51 0 12 9 300 31 15 0 4 9 261 0
12 9 400 44 29 0 3 33 0 0 -0 51 0 12 9 400 34 12 2 7 16 31 0
------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------------------------------------------
12 9 500 43 30 1 3 37 0 0 -0 51 0 12 9 500 33 14 4 11 22 53 0
12 9 600 43 31 1 2 44 0 0 -0 51 0 12 9 600 33 11 8 15 21 37 0
12 9 700 44 34 2 9 47 0 0 -0 51 0 12 9 700 32 17 6 13 21 32 0
12 9 800 43 35 2 6 48 0 0 -0 51 8 12 9 800 32 17 7 11 14 41 14
12 9 900 46 31 3 11 49 0 0 -0 51 105 12 9 900 33 19 5 10 14 17 113
12 9 1000 49 29 4 14 75 0 0 -1 51 235 12 9 1000 35 15 2 6 12 17 243
12 9 1100 50 29 7 16 94 0 0 -1 51 348 12 9 1100 37 10 0 3 6 9 342
12 9 1200 50 28 6 13 101 0 0 -0 50 402 12 9 1200 40 12 0 1 6 352 414
12 9 1300 53 22 2 9 94 0 0 -0 50 394 12 9 1300 39 18 0 3 7 332 391
12 9 1400 55 20 2 10 97 0 0 -1 50 338 12 9 1400 38 15 0 3 10 265 341
12 9 1500 60 17 1 6 136 0 0 -1 49 235 12 9 1500 35 16 1 7 14 260 234
12 9 1600 49 24 0 3 112 0 0 -1 50 106 12 9 1600 32 24 4 13 21 257 105
12 9 1700 49 23 2 8 22 0 0 -1 51 8 12 9 1700 29 25 15 21 26 260 10
12 9 1800 46 25 1 6 352 0 0 -1 50 0 12 9 1800 29 27 20 30 37 252 0
12 9 1900 45 28 1 9 348 0 0 -1 50 0 12 9 1900 29 28 21 31 39 255 0
12 9 2000 44 24 3 13 157 0 0 -1 51 0 12 9 2000 28 33 30 36 47 248 0
12 9 2100 43 26 1 4 335 0 0 -1 51 0 12 9 2100 27 38 32 42 49 252 0
12 9 2200 42 26 0 2 319 0 0 -0 51 0 12 9 2200 27 38 32 39 47 243 0
12 9 2300 42 24 0 1 309 0 0 -0 51 0 12 9 2300 28 33 21 37 45 255 0
12 10 0 45 25 2 6 315 0 0 -0 51 0 12 10 0 26 43 35 42 48 249 0
12 10 100 43 28 6 13 273 0 0 -0 51 0 12 10 100 26 35 38 46 54 251 0
12 10 200 43 31 10 15 283 0 0 -0 51 0 12 10 200 25 30 23 44 57 251 0
12 10 300 42 31 10 16 279 0 0 -0 50 0 12 10 300 24 19 36 45 51 252 0
12 10 400 39 33 8 15 273 0 0 -1 50 0 12 10 400 25 15 35 43 51 250 0
------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------------------------------------------
12 10 500 40 38 12 18 278 0 0 -0 51 0 12 10 500 26 9 29 48 60 249 0
12 10 600 36 45 11 19 274 0 0 -1 50 0 12 10 600 26 10 32 49 62 251 0
12 10 700 36 50 14 22 277 0 0 -1 50 0 12 10 700 26 8 34 48 58 255 0
12 10 800 35 59 16 23 273 0 0 -0 50 7 12 10 800 27 9 25 40 55 249 12
12 10 900 35 58 15 22 277 0 0 0 50 100 12 10 900 26 19 15 36 57 252 110
12 10 1000 36 57 15 22 274 0 0 -1 50 231 12 10 1000 26 15 25 40 56 244 240
[/tt][/size]
As for Thursday Dec 8, the temps were about 3-5 degrees cooler at Muir and 6-8 degrees cooler at Paradise than on Friday, with winds at Muir during the critical 10am-3pm period being slightly stronger too. Not certain if the Chute would have softened under those conditions, but based on how soft it was at 3pm Friday, I think it would have been nicely skiable on Thursday too.
Northwest Weather and Avalanche Center Northwest Weather and Avalanche Center
Paradise, Mt Rainier National Park, Washington Camp Muir, Mt Rainier National Park, Washington
Wind gages unheated and may rime
MM/DD Hour Temp RH Wind Wind Wind Hour Total 24 Hr Total Solar MM/DD Hour Temp RH Wind Wind Wind Wind Solar
PST F % Avg Max Dir Prec. Prec. Snow Snow W/m2 PST F % Min Avg Max Dir W/m2
5400' 5400' 5380' 5380' 5380' 5400' 5400' 5400' 5400' 5400' 10110' 10110' 10110' 10110' 10110' 10110' 10110'
------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------------------------------------------
12 8 500 34 21 0 0 29 0 0 -0 51 0 12 8 500 29 20 3 8 15 314 0
12 8 600 34 18 0 0 27 0 0 -0 51 0 12 8 600 29 24 3 9 15 333 0
12 8 700 36 17 0 0 22 0 0 -0 51 0 12 8 700 31 21 4 10 19 324 0
12 8 800 36 17 0 0 20 0 0 1 51 8 12 8 800 31 22 2 7 13 343 12
12 8 900 40 14 0 0 346 0 0 1 51 106 12 8 900 28 24 2 6 15 254 112
12 8 1000 41 15 0 0 279 0 0 -0 51 239 12 8 1000 29 24 3 9 14 263 243
12 8 1100 44 16 2 6 112 0 0 -0 51 339 12 8 1100 31 25 0 8 15 260 344
12 8 1200 43 16 1 5 199 0 0 -0 51 370 12 8 1200 34 31 1 6 18 242 376
12 8 1300 46 16 0 3 237 0 0 -0 51 371 12 8 1300 34 31 3 10 19 283 361
12 8 1400 50 18 0 3 246 0 0 -1 50 334 12 8 1400 33 30 4 10 18 353 334
12 8 1500 52 15 0 0 157 0 0 -1 50 228 12 8 1500 34 26 7 12 18 305 226
12 8 1600 43 22 0 0 272 0 0 -0 51 99 12 8 1600 32 26 3 11 25 304 98
12 8 1700 40 23 0 0 38 0 0 -0 51 6 12 8 1700 29 35 2 5 11 28 7
12 8 1800 42 20 0 0 31 0 0 -1 51 0 12 8 1800 30 41 0 6 15 246 0
12 8 1900 42 23 0 0 17 0 0 -0 51 0 12 8 1900 30 46 3 12 26 212 0
12 8 2000 43 24 0 0 39 0 0 -1 51 0 12 8 2000 29 46 4 10 22 242 0
12 8 2100 44 22 0 2 38 0 0 -0 51 0 12 8 2100 30 38 5 10 19 263 0
12 8 2200 45 24 0 3 39 0 0 -1 51 0 12 8 2200 31 27 5 9 15 350 0
12 8 2300 45 25 0 1 18 0 0 -0 51 0 12 8 2300 31 28 4 7 13 281 0
12 9 0 46 25 0 0 9 0 0 -0 51 0 12 9 0 31 21 3 7 12 291 0
12 9 100 45 26 0 0 352 0 0 -0 51 0 12 9 100 30 29 2 4 7 271 0
12 9 200 45 24 0 0 351 0 0 1 51 0 12 9 200 31 25 2 6 10 255 0
12 9 300 44 27 0 0 11 0 0 1 51 0 12 9 300 31 15 0 4 9 261 0
12 9 400 44 29 0 3 33 0 0 -0 51 0 12 9 400 34 12 2 7 16 31 0
------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------------------------------------------
12 9 500 43 30 1 3 37 0 0 -0 51 0 12 9 500 33 14 4 11 22 53 0
12 9 600 43 31 1 2 44 0 0 -0 51 0 12 9 600 33 11 8 15 21 37 0
12 9 700 44 34 2 9 47 0 0 -0 51 0 12 9 700 32 17 6 13 21 32 0
12 9 800 43 35 2 6 48 0 0 -0 51 8 12 9 800 32 17 7 11 14 41 14
12 9 900 46 31 3 11 49 0 0 -0 51 105 12 9 900 33 19 5 10 14 17 113
12 9 1000 49 29 4 14 75 0 0 -1 51 235 12 9 1000 35 15 2 6 12 17 243
12 9 1100 50 29 7 16 94 0 0 -1 51 348 12 9 1100 37 10 0 3 6 9 342
12 9 1200 50 28 6 13 101 0 0 -0 50 402 12 9 1200 40 12 0 1 6 352 414
12 9 1300 53 22 2 9 94 0 0 -0 50 394 12 9 1300 39 18 0 3 7 332 391
12 9 1400 55 20 2 10 97 0 0 -1 50 338 12 9 1400 38 15 0 3 10 265 341
12 9 1500 60 17 1 6 136 0 0 -1 49 235 12 9 1500 35 16 1 7 14 260 234
12 9 1600 49 24 0 3 112 0 0 -1 50 106 12 9 1600 32 24 4 13 21 257 105
12 9 1700 49 23 2 8 22 0 0 -1 51 8 12 9 1700 29 25 15 21 26 260 10
12 9 1800 46 25 1 6 352 0 0 -1 50 0 12 9 1800 29 27 20 30 37 252 0
12 9 1900 45 28 1 9 348 0 0 -1 50 0 12 9 1900 29 28 21 31 39 255 0
12 9 2000 44 24 3 13 157 0 0 -1 51 0 12 9 2000 28 33 30 36 47 248 0
12 9 2100 43 26 1 4 335 0 0 -1 51 0 12 9 2100 27 38 32 42 49 252 0
12 9 2200 42 26 0 2 319 0 0 -0 51 0 12 9 2200 27 38 32 39 47 243 0
12 9 2300 42 24 0 1 309 0 0 -0 51 0 12 9 2300 28 33 21 37 45 255 0
12 10 0 45 25 2 6 315 0 0 -0 51 0 12 10 0 26 43 35 42 48 249 0
12 10 100 43 28 6 13 273 0 0 -0 51 0 12 10 100 26 35 38 46 54 251 0
12 10 200 43 31 10 15 283 0 0 -0 51 0 12 10 200 25 30 23 44 57 251 0
12 10 300 42 31 10 16 279 0 0 -0 50 0 12 10 300 24 19 36 45 51 252 0
12 10 400 39 33 8 15 273 0 0 -1 50 0 12 10 400 25 15 35 43 51 250 0
------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------------------------------------------
12 10 500 40 38 12 18 278 0 0 -0 51 0 12 10 500 26 9 29 48 60 249 0
12 10 600 36 45 11 19 274 0 0 -1 50 0 12 10 600 26 10 32 49 62 251 0
12 10 700 36 50 14 22 277 0 0 -1 50 0 12 10 700 26 8 34 48 58 255 0
12 10 800 35 59 16 23 273 0 0 -0 50 7 12 10 800 27 9 25 40 55 249 12
12 10 900 35 58 15 22 277 0 0 0 50 100 12 10 900 26 19 15 36 57 252 110
12 10 1000 36 57 15 22 274 0 0 -1 50 231 12 10 1000 26 15 25 40 56 244 240
[/tt][/size]
Good info.
Thanks, Amar.
Thanks, Amar.
Fantastic report..way to dial it all in.
Great TR and route selection. ;)
Not sure how accurate this is, but sounds like the Muir cam is fogged internally?
"...don't expect anyone to go up and defog the camera lens until spring..."
http://rainiervolunteers.blogspot.com/2011/11/new-webcam-at-longmire.html
Thanks for the outstanding report, as usual, Amar!
"...don't expect anyone to go up and defog the camera lens until spring..."
http://rainiervolunteers.blogspot.com/2011/11/new-webcam-at-longmire.html
Thanks for the outstanding report, as usual, Amar!
Nice job Amar. Looks like a memorable ski!
Looks and sounds like an amazing day Amar. Thanks for sharing the report and photos!
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