December 25, 2007, Mt Rainier -- Mazama Ridge
12/25/07
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
2639
1
After two days of the gate at Longmire not opening or opening very late (2pm) we were stoked to get out and make some turns. We arrived at the leisurely hour of noon. We headed down the road to begin our climb up to Mazama Ridge.....It was windy and snowing....which was good (powder, yay!) and also a little bad as visibility was a little bit lacking. We saw a couple making laps on Bundy's and ran into a pair of nordic skiers on Mazama Ridge. But, other than that it seemed that the hordes were concentrated around the sledding area.
Being fully aware of the snowpack and avy ratings. We had decided to stick to the shallower slopes in the bowl. Before dropping in we dug a hasty pit and found 2 feet of fluffy powder on a 3" ice layer. The ice layer was sitting on a couple of feet of powder. A compression test yielded no movement in the snowpack. So, we were off.
We had creamy powdery floatey turns in the back bowl and on Mazama ridge. Visibility was spotty. But, the snow was excellent! We didn't notice any instability in the pack while skiing. All in all an excellent day to be out! It should continue to be pretty awesome turns up there.
Being fully aware of the snowpack and avy ratings. We had decided to stick to the shallower slopes in the bowl. Before dropping in we dug a hasty pit and found 2 feet of fluffy powder on a 3" ice layer. The ice layer was sitting on a couple of feet of powder. A compression test yielded no movement in the snowpack. So, we were off.
We had creamy powdery floatey turns in the back bowl and on Mazama ridge. Visibility was spotty. But, the snow was excellent! We didn't notice any instability in the pack while skiing. All in all an excellent day to be out! It should continue to be pretty awesome turns up there.