Feb 1, 2014, Mt Rainier, Muir, POWDER Sun and Storm
2/1/14
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
9715
5
February 1, 2014, Mount Rainier, Muir Snowfield + Cowlitz Glacier, POWDER Sun & Storm
The original plan was to ski powder laps below treeline in the Tatoosh -- but a sucker hole and glimpses of the summit through the clouds on the drive up convinced us to go big instead! We ended up with an unexpected, amazing, magical day high on the Mountain: over 5000 vertical ft of all-powder conditions, from 10500 ft on Cowlitz Cleaver above Camp Muir, all the way down to the parking lot at Paradise, not wind-affected or sun-crusted at all. We basked in warm sunshine and calm winds up high above the sea of clouds, T-shirt weather for some of us despite free-air temperatures of only 12 °F at 10000 ft, then even got a full-on snowstorm later in the day as we dropped back down into the cloud deck during our ski descent.
Just exceptionally rare to get high-quality powder over such a huge range of elevations, including most of it far above treeline. Perhaps even more exceptionally rare is that all 4 of us had brought ski crampons on a day we planned to ski powder laps, which ended up coming in very handy at a few spots near Panorama Point and on the upper Cowlitz Glacier, after plans changed and we went high. I love it when my ski partners bring proper equipment along in case of such eventualities!
Three-shot panorama / multiple exposure of Alisa, Jeremy, and Alisa (!) skiing untracked powder down the Muir Snowfield. (click for double-size version)
It's shocking to think that less than a week earlier, we'd been skiing the same slopes in summerlike corn conditions (see 7 combined trip reports in
Webcam view earlier that morning from Paradise, showing glimpses of the upper mountain similar to what we saw on the drive up.
The forecast for February 1 looked marginal for going high, partly sunny and a chance of snow showers with free-air temps of 12 °F and winds W 15 mph at 10000 ft. But the thought of skiing Muir and Nisqually Chute in powder conditions was on our minds during the drive from Seattle, if the weather would allow it, especially given that telemetry showed that the last portion of the new snowfall had fallen with very light winds. The Mountain was visible at times along the drive, fueling the idea. We passed through the Longmire gate just after it opened at 9am, and caught a few glimpses of the summit and upper slopes through breaks in the clouds, which convinced us to drop the Tatoosh plan and aim high.
Skinned up from the middle of the Paradise parking lot (about 1" of compact snow left atop the pavement from the plowing operations) just after 10am, under mostly cloudy skies with just an occasional brief glimpse of sunlit slopes far above.
We negotiated a cluster of skiers and snowshoers and others at Panorama Point, strangely enough all were initially following (and some mangling) a skin track that other skiers had put in up the preferred south side of the SW ridge of Pan Point (perhaps the previous day?), while Pan Face still remained completely untracked this morning at 11am. After an unpleasant interaction and some unfortunate words with a particularly worrisome-looking snowshoer and his skier partner, I decided to avoid the conflict and put in my own fresh track up Pan Face instead and rejoin the SW ridge higher up. Would spend the next hour or so breaking a separate skin track as far away from them as possible on the route to avoid any further user-group conflict.
A couple of firm sections on the rolls near 7000 ft made ski crampons very helpful, but not quite essential. By 7500 ft, we were almost above the cloud deck, but it was slowly rising throughout the morning and so any hesitation on our part seemed to allow the clouds to gain on us. The snow along the winter route at these elevations had a topping of a few millimeters of rimed snow, and the ongoing rime was frosting our hats and hair as we skinned.
Finally busted out above the clouds into the warm sunshine at noon, just over 7500 ft, to be greeted by the completely untracked expanse of the Muir Snowfield, gleaming white with fresh smooth powder.
Two-shot panorama of the completely untracked Muir Snowfield just after we broke out above the cloud deck.
The clouds threatened to catch up to us a couple more times, but soon we were well in the clear. I broke trail along the more direct route (with less sidehill and less steep and less travelled) a bit west of the standard handrail-route along the rocks at the east side of the Muir Snowfield. We would be all alone on this side of the Snowfield for the next 2 hours until approaching Camp Muir.
The trailbreaking was fun and fairly easy in the 8-16" of right-side-up powder (ski penetration mostly 4-6"), and I was enjoying being out in front. But by around 8500 ft, I was clearly tiring, and it was time to unleash my main man Marshawn McCarthy to take over trail breaking and go Beast Mode up the Mountain.
Two-shot panorama of Marshawn in Beast Mode, breaking trail up the completely untracked Muir Snowfield. (click for double-size version)
Just glorious sunny warm weather above the sea of clouds, almost calm with only a hint of occasional breeze. Much nicer than expected from the forecast.
Mount Adams rising above the cloud deck from the Muir Snowfield.
Our pace quickened behind Marshawn's relentless rushing attack, and soon the goal line drew near.
Two-shot panorama of Marshawn pushing the pace up the completely untracked Muir Snowfield.
He ... could ... go ... all ... the ... way!
Three-shot panorama of Marshawn headed for the endzone atop the completely untracked Muir Snowfield. (click for double-size version)
Touchdown!
After a brief standing discussion at Camp Muir, we decided to go for the two-point conversion and head up a bit higher via the edge of Cowlitz Glacier (minimal crevasse hazard at this time), to the nice flat spot at 10500 ft on Cowlitz Cleaver above Camp Muir. This provides the option of skiing either the sunny south-facing AAA Gully down onto the Muir Snowfield or the protected east-facing slopes of the edge of Cowlitz Glacier, which this day held 4-6" of truly light, dry powder atop a firm base.
Three-shot panorama as we skinned above Camp Muir onto the Cowlitz Glacier. (click for double-size version)
In a few spots on the Cowlitz the base was firmer and the powder atop it thinner, making skinning somewhat slick on the 30-degree sidehill, and ski crampons were once again very helpful but not essential. As soon as we passed into the shade, the reality of the 12 °F free-air temperatures hit us and it was quite chilly until we broke out into the sun again a bit higher up.
Topped out at 10500 ft around 2:45pm, and enjoyed a nice sunny break and snack and changeover in totally calm conditions.
Four-shot vertical panorama looking down AAA Gully onto the Muir Snowfield from 10500 ft on Cowlitz Cleaver. (click for double-size version)
Then it was time to ski at 3:15pm, Mike opting for the sunny slopes of AAA Gully and the rest of us choosing the powder-on-crust of the upper Cowlitz. I've skied AAA Gully several times before, so I decided to go for the guaranteed blower pow which we had just skinned up, rather than the uncertain snow of the gully. Sweet turns on the Cowlitz back to Camp Muir, although the snow was too light to keep us fully above the crust.
Three-shot panorama / multiple exposure of Alisa skiing powder down the Cowlitz Glacier into Camp Muir. (click for double-size version)
The powder was still great on the lower-angle, south-facing slopes below Camp Muir, the winter sun being too low and weak to affect it at these elevations even after 3 straight days of sun up here. AAA Gully was more variable as expected, having gotten a bit more wind, and much more sun due to its steeper slope angle, but still had good snow.
Two-shot panorama of simultaneous untracked powder turns in both AAA Gully (left) and the upper Muir Snowfield. (click for double-size version)
We discussed whether we should try to ski Nisqually Chute, either all the way down to the bridge like we were considering on the drive up (which would risk unknown difficulty in hitching a ride), or just the Chute and then skin back out to Glacier Vista. But given the whiteout conditions we were certain to encounter back down in the clouds, we all agreed that it was best not to try that this day.
Then it was down into the cloud deck below 8500 ft, a disorienting whiteout at times, made easier because a few skiers had beat us to the descent and made first tracks down here, providing welcome contrast and definition to the snow. Snow quality remained excellent. A bit of rime ice from the fog crusted our goggles, but not too badly to see.
Below 7700 ft the wind increased from calm to W 15-20 mph, bringing with it wind-driven snow, quite hard at times -- pretty much a full-blown snowstorm. Negotiating the more featureless aspects along the traverse from 7500-7000 ft was the toughest skiing of the day, the snow still powder, but hiding the numerous rocks, and the wind-driven snowfall stinging our faces. Things got better again along Pan Point and the slopes below, less wind and still good powder, especially skiing just off to the side of the stampede path.
And more powder all the way back to the typical winter-carnival scene at the Paradise parking lot, just after 4pm. What an outstanding day with exceptional snow conditions, great partners, and mostly fine weather, 5100 vert of truly memorable powder turns in a single glorious run.
[tt]
MOUNT RAINIER RECREATIONAL FORECAST
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
400 AM PST SAT FEB 1 2014
SYNOPSIS...NORTHWESTERLY FLOW ALOFT OVER WESTERN WASHINGTON THROUGH SUNDAY. AN UPPER TROUGH WILL MOVE THROUGH THE AREA SUNDAY NIGHT INTO MONDAY. THIS SYSTEM WILL BRING A CHANCE OF SNOW SHOWERS TO THE PARK. COLDER TEMPERATURES AND MOSTLY DRY WEATHER WILL PREVAIL TUESDAY THROUGH THE END OF THE WEEK.
SATURDAY...PARTLY SUNNY. A CHANCE OF SNOW SHOWERS IN THE MORNING. NO SNOW ACCUMULATION. SNOW LEVEL AT THE SURFACE.
SATURDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 2500 FEET.
SUNDAY...PARTLY SUNNY. A CHANCE OF SNOW SHOWERS IN THE AFTERNOON. SNOW LEVEL AT THE SURFACE.
SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF SNOW SHOWERS. SNOW LEVEL AT THE SURFACE.
TEMPERATURE AND WIND FORECASTS FOR SELECTED LOCATIONS.
SAT SAT SUN SUN MON
NIGHT NIGHT
SUMMIT (14411 FT) 1 0 -3 -11 -12
NW 15 W 15 W 40 NW 30 N 35
CAMP MUIR(10188 FT) 12 12 8 2 1
W 15 W 10 W 15 NW 5 NW 10
PARADISE (5420 FT) 28 21 29 19 24
SW 5 CALM SW 5 NW 5 NW 5
LONGMIRE (2700 FT) 33 23 35 23 31
CALM CALM CALM CALM CALM
++ TEMPERATURES AND WIND FOR THE SUMMIT AND CAMP MUIR ARE AVERAGE
CONDITIONS EXPECTED IN THE FREE AIR AT THOSE ELEVATIONS.
++ TEMPERATURES FOR PARADISE AND LONGMIRE ARE THE EXPECTED HIGHS AND
LOWS. WIND IS THE AVERAGE WIND EXPECTED DURING THAT PERIOD.
EXTENDED FORECAST...
MONDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF SNOW SHOWERS. SNOW LEVEL AT THE SURFACE.
TUESDAY...PARTLY SUNNY. FREEZING LEVEL AT THE SURFACE.
TUESDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY. FREEZING LEVEL AT THE SURFACE.
WEDNESDAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY. FREEZING LEVEL AT THE SURFACE.
WEDNESDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY. FREEZING LEVEL AT THE SURFACE.
THURSDAY...BREEZY. PARTLY SUNNY. FREEZING LEVEL AT THE SURFACE.
THURSDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY. FREEZING LEVEL AT THE SURFACE.
FRIDAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY. FREEZING LEVEL AT THE SURFACE.
[/tt]
So how do you get top-to-bottom powder conditions over a huge range of over 5000 vertical ft from Paradise to above Camp Muir (and probably well over 7000 ft, from below Nisqually Bridge at 3900 ft up to over 11000 ft at the top of Cowlitz Glacier)? The answers are in the telemetry data below.
The 2 weeks of sunny high pressure and almost no precip ended early on January 28, with light precip at first with a snow level above 7000 ft. Much heavier precip arrived that evening, at similar high snow levels, and then snow levels plummeted after a cold front passed through on the morning of January 29, initially to 5000 ft and eventually below 2000 ft overnight, producing 10" new snow at Paradise by the morning of January 30. This first batch of snow had about 10% or higher density, and fell with moderate-to-strong winds aloft (winds at Paradise unknown due to long-term wind speed outage).
But then the magic occurred: heavy post-frontal showers in strong W-NW flow dumped another 13" new at Paradise by Friday morning, January 31, at similar low snow levels and with winds aloft decreasing sharply throughout the snowfall, producing a snow density of only 5-6% (0.72" precip / 13" snow from noon Jan 30 to 9am Jan 31) -- pretty close to blower pow by Northwest standards. Solar data shows that Camp Muir was mostly above the clouds from Jan 30 onward, as the strong post-frontal flow was largely confined to lower elevations (as is typical), thus elevations above about 9500 ft ended up with only 4-6" of very light powder atop the windpack formed earlier in the warmer and windier periods of the storm. New powder depths on most of the Muir Snowfield from 7500-9500 ft were generally about 8-16".
Data from February 1 shows Paradise still stuck in the clouds with additional light snowfall, with Muir still in the sunshine above. But the morning of February 2 dawned completely clear at all elevations:
The clouds took over again at Paradise by late-morning for the rest of Superbowl Sunday, while Muir once again basked in the sunshine above the clouds all day.
The original plan was to ski powder laps below treeline in the Tatoosh -- but a sucker hole and glimpses of the summit through the clouds on the drive up convinced us to go big instead! We ended up with an unexpected, amazing, magical day high on the Mountain: over 5000 vertical ft of all-powder conditions, from 10500 ft on Cowlitz Cleaver above Camp Muir, all the way down to the parking lot at Paradise, not wind-affected or sun-crusted at all. We basked in warm sunshine and calm winds up high above the sea of clouds, T-shirt weather for some of us despite free-air temperatures of only 12 °F at 10000 ft, then even got a full-on snowstorm later in the day as we dropped back down into the cloud deck during our ski descent.
Just exceptionally rare to get high-quality powder over such a huge range of elevations, including most of it far above treeline. Perhaps even more exceptionally rare is that all 4 of us had brought ski crampons on a day we planned to ski powder laps, which ended up coming in very handy at a few spots near Panorama Point and on the upper Cowlitz Glacier, after plans changed and we went high. I love it when my ski partners bring proper equipment along in case of such eventualities!
Three-shot panorama / multiple exposure of Alisa, Jeremy, and Alisa (!) skiing untracked powder down the Muir Snowfield. (click for double-size version)
It's shocking to think that less than a week earlier, we'd been skiing the same slopes in summerlike corn conditions (see 7 combined trip reports in
Webcam view earlier that morning from Paradise, showing glimpses of the upper mountain similar to what we saw on the drive up.
The forecast for February 1 looked marginal for going high, partly sunny and a chance of snow showers with free-air temps of 12 °F and winds W 15 mph at 10000 ft. But the thought of skiing Muir and Nisqually Chute in powder conditions was on our minds during the drive from Seattle, if the weather would allow it, especially given that telemetry showed that the last portion of the new snowfall had fallen with very light winds. The Mountain was visible at times along the drive, fueling the idea. We passed through the Longmire gate just after it opened at 9am, and caught a few glimpses of the summit and upper slopes through breaks in the clouds, which convinced us to drop the Tatoosh plan and aim high.
Skinned up from the middle of the Paradise parking lot (about 1" of compact snow left atop the pavement from the plowing operations) just after 10am, under mostly cloudy skies with just an occasional brief glimpse of sunlit slopes far above.
We negotiated a cluster of skiers and snowshoers and others at Panorama Point, strangely enough all were initially following (and some mangling) a skin track that other skiers had put in up the preferred south side of the SW ridge of Pan Point (perhaps the previous day?), while Pan Face still remained completely untracked this morning at 11am. After an unpleasant interaction and some unfortunate words with a particularly worrisome-looking snowshoer and his skier partner, I decided to avoid the conflict and put in my own fresh track up Pan Face instead and rejoin the SW ridge higher up. Would spend the next hour or so breaking a separate skin track as far away from them as possible on the route to avoid any further user-group conflict.
A couple of firm sections on the rolls near 7000 ft made ski crampons very helpful, but not quite essential. By 7500 ft, we were almost above the cloud deck, but it was slowly rising throughout the morning and so any hesitation on our part seemed to allow the clouds to gain on us. The snow along the winter route at these elevations had a topping of a few millimeters of rimed snow, and the ongoing rime was frosting our hats and hair as we skinned.
Finally busted out above the clouds into the warm sunshine at noon, just over 7500 ft, to be greeted by the completely untracked expanse of the Muir Snowfield, gleaming white with fresh smooth powder.
Two-shot panorama of the completely untracked Muir Snowfield just after we broke out above the cloud deck.
The clouds threatened to catch up to us a couple more times, but soon we were well in the clear. I broke trail along the more direct route (with less sidehill and less steep and less travelled) a bit west of the standard handrail-route along the rocks at the east side of the Muir Snowfield. We would be all alone on this side of the Snowfield for the next 2 hours until approaching Camp Muir.
The trailbreaking was fun and fairly easy in the 8-16" of right-side-up powder (ski penetration mostly 4-6"), and I was enjoying being out in front. But by around 8500 ft, I was clearly tiring, and it was time to unleash my main man Marshawn McCarthy to take over trail breaking and go Beast Mode up the Mountain.
Two-shot panorama of Marshawn in Beast Mode, breaking trail up the completely untracked Muir Snowfield. (click for double-size version)
Just glorious sunny warm weather above the sea of clouds, almost calm with only a hint of occasional breeze. Much nicer than expected from the forecast.
Mount Adams rising above the cloud deck from the Muir Snowfield.
Our pace quickened behind Marshawn's relentless rushing attack, and soon the goal line drew near.
Two-shot panorama of Marshawn pushing the pace up the completely untracked Muir Snowfield.
He ... could ... go ... all ... the ... way!
Three-shot panorama of Marshawn headed for the endzone atop the completely untracked Muir Snowfield. (click for double-size version)
Touchdown!
After a brief standing discussion at Camp Muir, we decided to go for the two-point conversion and head up a bit higher via the edge of Cowlitz Glacier (minimal crevasse hazard at this time), to the nice flat spot at 10500 ft on Cowlitz Cleaver above Camp Muir. This provides the option of skiing either the sunny south-facing AAA Gully down onto the Muir Snowfield or the protected east-facing slopes of the edge of Cowlitz Glacier, which this day held 4-6" of truly light, dry powder atop a firm base.
Three-shot panorama as we skinned above Camp Muir onto the Cowlitz Glacier. (click for double-size version)
In a few spots on the Cowlitz the base was firmer and the powder atop it thinner, making skinning somewhat slick on the 30-degree sidehill, and ski crampons were once again very helpful but not essential. As soon as we passed into the shade, the reality of the 12 °F free-air temperatures hit us and it was quite chilly until we broke out into the sun again a bit higher up.
Topped out at 10500 ft around 2:45pm, and enjoyed a nice sunny break and snack and changeover in totally calm conditions.
Four-shot vertical panorama looking down AAA Gully onto the Muir Snowfield from 10500 ft on Cowlitz Cleaver. (click for double-size version)
Then it was time to ski at 3:15pm, Mike opting for the sunny slopes of AAA Gully and the rest of us choosing the powder-on-crust of the upper Cowlitz. I've skied AAA Gully several times before, so I decided to go for the guaranteed blower pow which we had just skinned up, rather than the uncertain snow of the gully. Sweet turns on the Cowlitz back to Camp Muir, although the snow was too light to keep us fully above the crust.
Three-shot panorama / multiple exposure of Alisa skiing powder down the Cowlitz Glacier into Camp Muir. (click for double-size version)
The powder was still great on the lower-angle, south-facing slopes below Camp Muir, the winter sun being too low and weak to affect it at these elevations even after 3 straight days of sun up here. AAA Gully was more variable as expected, having gotten a bit more wind, and much more sun due to its steeper slope angle, but still had good snow.
Two-shot panorama of simultaneous untracked powder turns in both AAA Gully (left) and the upper Muir Snowfield. (click for double-size version)
We discussed whether we should try to ski Nisqually Chute, either all the way down to the bridge like we were considering on the drive up (which would risk unknown difficulty in hitching a ride), or just the Chute and then skin back out to Glacier Vista. But given the whiteout conditions we were certain to encounter back down in the clouds, we all agreed that it was best not to try that this day.
Then it was down into the cloud deck below 8500 ft, a disorienting whiteout at times, made easier because a few skiers had beat us to the descent and made first tracks down here, providing welcome contrast and definition to the snow. Snow quality remained excellent. A bit of rime ice from the fog crusted our goggles, but not too badly to see.
Below 7700 ft the wind increased from calm to W 15-20 mph, bringing with it wind-driven snow, quite hard at times -- pretty much a full-blown snowstorm. Negotiating the more featureless aspects along the traverse from 7500-7000 ft was the toughest skiing of the day, the snow still powder, but hiding the numerous rocks, and the wind-driven snowfall stinging our faces. Things got better again along Pan Point and the slopes below, less wind and still good powder, especially skiing just off to the side of the stampede path.
And more powder all the way back to the typical winter-carnival scene at the Paradise parking lot, just after 4pm. What an outstanding day with exceptional snow conditions, great partners, and mostly fine weather, 5100 vert of truly memorable powder turns in a single glorious run.
[tt]
MOUNT RAINIER RECREATIONAL FORECAST
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
400 AM PST SAT FEB 1 2014
SYNOPSIS...NORTHWESTERLY FLOW ALOFT OVER WESTERN WASHINGTON THROUGH SUNDAY. AN UPPER TROUGH WILL MOVE THROUGH THE AREA SUNDAY NIGHT INTO MONDAY. THIS SYSTEM WILL BRING A CHANCE OF SNOW SHOWERS TO THE PARK. COLDER TEMPERATURES AND MOSTLY DRY WEATHER WILL PREVAIL TUESDAY THROUGH THE END OF THE WEEK.
SATURDAY...PARTLY SUNNY. A CHANCE OF SNOW SHOWERS IN THE MORNING. NO SNOW ACCUMULATION. SNOW LEVEL AT THE SURFACE.
SATURDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 2500 FEET.
SUNDAY...PARTLY SUNNY. A CHANCE OF SNOW SHOWERS IN THE AFTERNOON. SNOW LEVEL AT THE SURFACE.
SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF SNOW SHOWERS. SNOW LEVEL AT THE SURFACE.
TEMPERATURE AND WIND FORECASTS FOR SELECTED LOCATIONS.
SAT SAT SUN SUN MON
NIGHT NIGHT
SUMMIT (14411 FT) 1 0 -3 -11 -12
NW 15 W 15 W 40 NW 30 N 35
CAMP MUIR(10188 FT) 12 12 8 2 1
W 15 W 10 W 15 NW 5 NW 10
PARADISE (5420 FT) 28 21 29 19 24
SW 5 CALM SW 5 NW 5 NW 5
LONGMIRE (2700 FT) 33 23 35 23 31
CALM CALM CALM CALM CALM
++ TEMPERATURES AND WIND FOR THE SUMMIT AND CAMP MUIR ARE AVERAGE
CONDITIONS EXPECTED IN THE FREE AIR AT THOSE ELEVATIONS.
++ TEMPERATURES FOR PARADISE AND LONGMIRE ARE THE EXPECTED HIGHS AND
LOWS. WIND IS THE AVERAGE WIND EXPECTED DURING THAT PERIOD.
EXTENDED FORECAST...
MONDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF SNOW SHOWERS. SNOW LEVEL AT THE SURFACE.
TUESDAY...PARTLY SUNNY. FREEZING LEVEL AT THE SURFACE.
TUESDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY. FREEZING LEVEL AT THE SURFACE.
WEDNESDAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY. FREEZING LEVEL AT THE SURFACE.
WEDNESDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY. FREEZING LEVEL AT THE SURFACE.
THURSDAY...BREEZY. PARTLY SUNNY. FREEZING LEVEL AT THE SURFACE.
THURSDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY. FREEZING LEVEL AT THE SURFACE.
FRIDAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY. FREEZING LEVEL AT THE SURFACE.
[/tt]
So how do you get top-to-bottom powder conditions over a huge range of over 5000 vertical ft from Paradise to above Camp Muir (and probably well over 7000 ft, from below Nisqually Bridge at 3900 ft up to over 11000 ft at the top of Cowlitz Glacier)? The answers are in the telemetry data below.
The 2 weeks of sunny high pressure and almost no precip ended early on January 28, with light precip at first with a snow level above 7000 ft. Much heavier precip arrived that evening, at similar high snow levels, and then snow levels plummeted after a cold front passed through on the morning of January 29, initially to 5000 ft and eventually below 2000 ft overnight, producing 10" new snow at Paradise by the morning of January 30. This first batch of snow had about 10% or higher density, and fell with moderate-to-strong winds aloft (winds at Paradise unknown due to long-term wind speed outage).
But then the magic occurred: heavy post-frontal showers in strong W-NW flow dumped another 13" new at Paradise by Friday morning, January 31, at similar low snow levels and with winds aloft decreasing sharply throughout the snowfall, producing a snow density of only 5-6% (0.72" precip / 13" snow from noon Jan 30 to 9am Jan 31) -- pretty close to blower pow by Northwest standards. Solar data shows that Camp Muir was mostly above the clouds from Jan 30 onward, as the strong post-frontal flow was largely confined to lower elevations (as is typical), thus elevations above about 9500 ft ended up with only 4-6" of very light powder atop the windpack formed earlier in the warmer and windier periods of the storm. New powder depths on most of the Muir Snowfield from 7500-9500 ft were generally about 8-16".
Data from February 1 shows Paradise still stuck in the clouds with additional light snowfall, with Muir still in the sunshine above. But the morning of February 2 dawned completely clear at all elevations:
The clouds took over again at Paradise by late-morning for the rest of Superbowl Sunday, while Muir once again basked in the sunshine above the clouds all day.
Here are the 6 days of telemetry covering the entire period of this storm cycle and its immediate aftermath:
Northwest Avalanche Center Northwest Avalanche Center
Paradise, Mt Rainier National Park, Washington Camp Muir, Mt Rainier National Park, Washington
Wind speed not reliable and may record periodically 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'
----------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------------
2 2 1900 20 94 0 0 240 0 0 0 101 0 2 2 1900 1 90 0 1 5 195 0
2 2 1800 21 95 0 0 254 0 0 0 101 6 2 2 1800 3 91 0 2 8 53 3
2 2 1700 22 94 0 0 258 0 0 0 101 83 2 2 1700 2 91 0 4 10 48 64
2 2 1600 22 94 0 0 254 0 0 0 101 69 2 2 1600 4 91 2 9 16 223 180
2 2 1500 25 91 0 0 256 0 0 0 101 314 2 2 1500 7 93 2 10 15 272 340
2 2 1400 26 92 0 0 258 0 0 -0 101 293 2 2 1400 12 74 2 10 20 238 523
2 2 1300 27 91 0 0 259 0 0 -0 101 339 2 2 1300 10 84 2 9 20 259 568
2 2 1200 29 90 0 0 264 0 0 -0 101 419 2 2 1200 15 49 0 3 9 291 521
2 2 1100 26 89 0 0 268 0 0 0 101 457 2 2 1100 19 17 0 1 3 58 239
2 2 1000 29 95 0 0 314 0 0 -1 101 399 2 2 1000 16 12 0 2 5 40 186
2 2 900 27 87 0 0 342 0 0 -0 102 228 2 2 900 13 13 0 2 5 41 165
2 2 800 17 90 0 0 349 0 0 0 104 35 2 2 800 12 13 0 1 3 21 27
2 2 700 16 90 0 0 2 0 0 0 103 0 2 2 700 8 14 0 3 7 25 0
2 2 600 16 90 0 0 12 0 0 0 103 0 2 2 600 7 21 0 2 6 288 0
2 2 500 16 91 0 0 353 0 0 0 103 0 2 2 500 10 17 0 3 8 16 0
----------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------------
2 2 400 16 90 0 0 347 0 .04 0 103 0 2 2 400 11 12 0 1 5 9 0
2 2 300 16 90 0 0 348 0 .04 0 103 0 2 2 300 8 16 0 1 3 27 0
2 2 200 17 91 0 0 342 0 .04 0 103 0 2 2 200 9 21 0 2 7 292 0
2 2 100 17 90 0 0 344 0 .04 0 104 0 2 2 100 9 16 0 3 6 26 0
2 2 0 16 90 0 0 346 0 .04 0 103 0 2 2 0 11 18 0 3 7 15 0
2 1 2300 16 90 0 0 1 0 .04 0 104 0 2 1 2300 11 20 0 3 6 307 0
2 1 2200 16 90 0 0 4 0 .04 0 104 0 2 1 2200 10 26 0 1 5 289 0
2 1 2100 17 91 0 0 250 0 .04 0 104 0 2 1 2100 12 27 0 2 6 326 0
2 1 2000 18 92 0 0 234 0 .04 0 104 0 2 1 2000 12 24 0 1 5 10 0
2 1 1900 22 94 0 0 234 0 .04 0 104 0 2 1 1900 11 25 0 1 3 298 0
2 1 1800 23 95 0 0 243 .01 .04 0 104 2 2 1 1800 13 32 0 1 4 302 5
2 1 1700 25 95 0 0 229 .01 .03 0 103 50 2 1 1700 14 28 0 2 4 333 95
2 1 1600 25 93 0 0 249 0 .02 -0 103 154 2 1 1600 20 28 0 2 6 347 246
2 1 1500 31 87 0 0 255 0 .02 -1 102 351 2 1 1500 23 28 0 2 4 351 386
2 1 1400 28 93 0 0 265 0 .02 -0 102 340 2 1 1400 22 31 0 1 4 45 485
2 1 1300 26 88 0 0 261 0 .02 -0 102 296 2 1 1300 22 27 0 0 3 317 527
2 1 1200 25 92 0 0 254 0 .02 -0 103 233 2 1 1200 32 20 0 2 3 263 503
2 1 1100 24 94 0 0 266 0 .02 -0 103 155 2 1 1100 30 21 0 0 3 268 343
2 1 1000 24 94 0 0 254 0 .02 -0 103 147 2 1 1000 27 26 0 2 7 279 127
2 1 900 22 94 0 0 253 .01 .02 0 104 47 2 1 900 17 35 1 5 8 288 156
2 1 800 21 94 0 0 259 .01 .01 0 104 4 2 1 800 13 28 0 1 8 340 24
2 1 700 22 95 0 0 255 0 0 0 104 0 2 1 700 11 29 0 2 5 286 0
2 1 600 22 95 0 0 263 0 0 0 104 0 2 1 600 12 31 0 2 6 288 0
2 1 500 22 95 0 0 269 0 0 0 104 0 2 1 500 11 39 0 2 4 284 0
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2 1 400 22 96 0 0 265 0 .12 0 104 0 2 1 400 10 35 0 3 6 284 0
2 1 300 22 95 0 0 263 0 .12 0 104 0 2 1 300 12 34 0 1 5 321 0
2 1 200 22 95 0 0 258 0 .12 0 104 0 2 1 200 9 38 0 2 5 310 0
2 1 100 22 95 0 0 262 0 .12 0 105 0 2 1 100 10 41 0 1 5 317 0
2 1 0 23 95 0 0 257 0 .12 0 105 0 2 1 0 11 40 0 1 3 295 0
1 31 2300 23 96 0 0 256 0 .12 0 105 0 1 31 2300 11 37 0 2 7 286 0
1 31 2200 24 96 0 0 251 0 .12 0 105 0 1 31 2200 11 49 0 3 6 307 0
1 31 2100 24 96 0 0 255 0 .12 0 105 0 1 31 2100 8 54 0 3 6 312 0
1 31 2000 24 96 0 0 251 0 .12 0 104 0 1 31 2000 6 64 0 2 6 304 0
1 31 1900 24 97 0 0 252 0 .12 -0 105 0 1 31 1900 4 92 0 2 4 296 0
1 31 1800 24 96 0 0 254 0 .12 0 105 1 1 31 1800 5 83 0 1 4 43 3
1 31 1700 24 96 0 0 253 0 .12 -0 105 25 1 31 1700 9 69 0 1 5 318 127
1 31 1600 27 94 0 0 252 0 .12 -0 104 286 1 31 1600 10 84 0 3 9 216 208
1 31 1500 28 94 0 0 256 0 .12 -0 104 304 1 31 1500 17 71 4 9 16 209 391
1 31 1400 30 94 0 0 255 0 .12 -0 104 477 1 31 1400 15 73 0 0 4 266 435
1 31 1300 30 95 0 0 246 0 .12 -0 105 456 1 31 1300 24 51 0 2 9 294 569
1 31 1200 28 93 0 0 241 0 .12 12 106 316 1 31 1200 17 69 0 0 5 266 652
1 31 1100 28 93 0 0 238 0 .12 12 105 306 1 31 1100 11 84 0 0 0 268 336
1 31 1000 26 96 0 0 255 0 .12 12 104 112 1 31 1000 10 71 0 0 1 262 161
1 31 900 25 96 0 0 258 .02 .12 12 106 25 1 31 900 15 69 0 1 4 273 218
1 31 800 24 95 0 0 251 0 .1 13 106 2 1 31 800 5 88 0 1 4 273 28
1 31 700 24 96 0 0 249 .03 .1 13 106 0 1 31 700 4 91 0 0 2 273 0
1 31 600 24 96 0 0 258 .01 .07 12 107 0 1 31 600 4 87 0 1 5 273 0
1 31 500 24 96 0 0 260 .06 .06 12 105 0 1 31 500 3 87 0 2 6 273 0
----------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------------
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1 31 300 23 96 0 0 257 .04 .64 8 299 0 1 31 300 4 87 1 4 10 273 0
1 31 200 23 96 0 0 262 .02 .6 9 103 0 1 31 200 4 92 1 5 16 273 0
1 31 100 23 96 0 0 259 .03 .58 8 102 0 1 31 100 5 91 0 6 15 273 0
1 31 0 23 96 0 0 258 .03 .55 8 102 0 1 31 0 6 79 0 5 19 273 0
1 30 2300 23 96 0 0 254 .04 .52 8 101 0 1 30 2300 5 88 0 3 7 273 0
1 30 2200 23 96 0 0 256 .06 .48 7 300 0 1 30 2200 6 92 0 6 16 273 0
1 30 2100 23 96 0 0 258 .02 .42 6 300 0 1 30 2100 5 92 0 7 22 273 0
1 30 2000 23 96 0 0 257 .02 .4 6 98 0 1 30 2000 5 93 0 6 19 273 0
1 30 1900 23 96 0 0 261 .02 .38 6 101 0 1 30 1900 5 93 3 18 38 273 0
1 30 1800 24 96 0 0 256 .04 .36 6 101 0 1 30 1800 6 93 18 32 50 273 2
1 30 1700 24 97 0 0 255 .06 .32 5 99 10 1 30 1700 6 93 24 32 45 273 39
1 30 1600 24 97 0 0 256 .04 .26 4 99 36 1 30 1600 5 92 22 33 44 273 82
1 30 1500 24 97 0 0 259 .05 .22 1 97 51 1 30 1500 6 92 20 33 47 273 144
1 30 1400 25 96 0 0 255 .02 .17 1 96 90 1 30 1400 5 90 13 33 50 273 298
1 30 1300 24 96 0 0 254 .05 .15 1 95 133 1 30 1300 5 89 19 31 47 273 482
1 30 1200 25 96 0 0 256 .01 .1 -0 93 170 1 30 1200 6 90 8 23 49 273 547
1 30 1100 24 96 0 0 255 .01 .09 10 95 77 1 30 1100 8 63 6 17 38 273 454
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1 30 900 24 97 0 0 252 .02 .06 10 95 24 1 30 900 7 72 9 13 22 273 70
1 30 800 24 97 0 0 254 .01 .04 10 93 2 1 30 800 7 78 10 15 20 273 7
1 30 700 24 97 0 0 259 .01 .03 10 96 0 1 30 700 6 87 14 23 30 275 0
1 30 600 23 96 0 0 253 .01 .02 10 95 0 1 30 600 6 82 9 15 25 274 0
1 30 500 24 96 0 0 258 .01 .01 9 94 0 1 30 500 6 72 11 18 29 274 0
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1 30 300 25 97 0 0 261 .01 1.27 9 95 0 1 30 300 6 91 13 23 35 274 0
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1 30 100 27 98 0 0 261 .02 1.26 9 94 0 1 30 100 8 93 13 19 24 274 0
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1 29 2300 28 98 0 0 252 .03 1.22 9 94 0 1 29 2300 7 93 7 16 30 274 0
1 29 2200 28 98 0 0 251 .05 1.19 8 93 0 1 29 2200 9 94 2 9 23 274 0
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1 29 2000 28 98 0 0 258 .11 1.03 7 91 0 1 29 2000 14 96 1 9 19 274 0
1 29 1900 29 98 0 0 257 .08 .92 6 300 0 1 29 1900 14 96 3 8 18 274 0
1 29 1800 28 99 0 0 259 .09 .84 5 89 0 1 29 1800 14 96 4 9 21 274 1
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1 29 1300 31 99 0 0 266 .13 .35 1 85 43 1 29 1300 15 97 43 63 80 274 134
1 29 1200 32 99 0 0 272 .03 .22 0 82 87 1 29 1200 16 97 44 58 73 274 214
1 29 1100 32 99 0 0 265 .03 .19 -0 84 66 1 29 1100 15 97 39 54 66 274 224
1 29 1000 32 100 0 0 263 .02 .16 0 82 23 1 29 1000 15 97 37 49 60 274 65
1 29 900 32 100 0 0 266 .03 .14 0 300 9 1 29 900 15 97 30 45 59 274 32
1 29 800 32 100 0 0 264 .03 .11 -0 83 1 1 29 800 15 97 27 40 54 274 4
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1 29 300 35 100 0 0 259 .14 1.19 -0 84 0 1 29 300 22 99 23 37 49 274 0
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1 28 1900 38 98 0 0 295 .03 .22 -0 84 0 1 28 1900 22 99 12 17 26 275 0
1 28 1800 37 99 0 0 301 0 .19 0 85 0 1 28 1800 22 100 17 25 37 267 1
1 28 1700 38 99 0 0 277 .01 .19 0 84 10 1 28 1700 24 77 16 25 33 273 30
1 28 1600 38 97 0 0 262 0 .18 -0 85 48 1 28 1600 23 86 13 26 37 267 71
1 28 1500 37 98 0 0 254 .02 .18 -0 85 60 1 28 1500 25 74 9 27 45 273 157
1 28 1400 38 95 0 0 222 0 .16 -0 84 143 1 28 1400 29 47 20 37 52 269 315
1 28 1300 38 95 0 0 226 0 .16 -0 84 234 1 28 1300 28 58 13 29 46 267 330
1 28 1200 38 96 0 0 255 0 .16 -0 85 198 1 28 1200 28 63 10 24 40 282 261
1 28 1100 38 97 0 0 264 .04 .16 -0 85 97 1 28 1100 29 61 8 15 28 278 233
1 28 1000 36 99 0 0 258 .01 .12 -0 86 34 1 28 1000 26 76 7 19 32 265 104
1 28 900 35 99 0 0 272 .02 .11 -0 86 19 1 28 900 29 66 6 17 29 265 55
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[/size][/tt]
Northwest Avalanche Center Northwest Avalanche Center
Paradise, Mt Rainier National Park, Washington Camp Muir, Mt Rainier National Park, Washington
Wind speed not reliable and may record periodically 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'
----------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------------
2 2 1900 20 94 0 0 240 0 0 0 101 0 2 2 1900 1 90 0 1 5 195 0
2 2 1800 21 95 0 0 254 0 0 0 101 6 2 2 1800 3 91 0 2 8 53 3
2 2 1700 22 94 0 0 258 0 0 0 101 83 2 2 1700 2 91 0 4 10 48 64
2 2 1600 22 94 0 0 254 0 0 0 101 69 2 2 1600 4 91 2 9 16 223 180
2 2 1500 25 91 0 0 256 0 0 0 101 314 2 2 1500 7 93 2 10 15 272 340
2 2 1400 26 92 0 0 258 0 0 -0 101 293 2 2 1400 12 74 2 10 20 238 523
2 2 1300 27 91 0 0 259 0 0 -0 101 339 2 2 1300 10 84 2 9 20 259 568
2 2 1200 29 90 0 0 264 0 0 -0 101 419 2 2 1200 15 49 0 3 9 291 521
2 2 1100 26 89 0 0 268 0 0 0 101 457 2 2 1100 19 17 0 1 3 58 239
2 2 1000 29 95 0 0 314 0 0 -1 101 399 2 2 1000 16 12 0 2 5 40 186
2 2 900 27 87 0 0 342 0 0 -0 102 228 2 2 900 13 13 0 2 5 41 165
2 2 800 17 90 0 0 349 0 0 0 104 35 2 2 800 12 13 0 1 3 21 27
2 2 700 16 90 0 0 2 0 0 0 103 0 2 2 700 8 14 0 3 7 25 0
2 2 600 16 90 0 0 12 0 0 0 103 0 2 2 600 7 21 0 2 6 288 0
2 2 500 16 91 0 0 353 0 0 0 103 0 2 2 500 10 17 0 3 8 16 0
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2 2 400 16 90 0 0 347 0 .04 0 103 0 2 2 400 11 12 0 1 5 9 0
2 2 300 16 90 0 0 348 0 .04 0 103 0 2 2 300 8 16 0 1 3 27 0
2 2 200 17 91 0 0 342 0 .04 0 103 0 2 2 200 9 21 0 2 7 292 0
2 2 100 17 90 0 0 344 0 .04 0 104 0 2 2 100 9 16 0 3 6 26 0
2 2 0 16 90 0 0 346 0 .04 0 103 0 2 2 0 11 18 0 3 7 15 0
2 1 2300 16 90 0 0 1 0 .04 0 104 0 2 1 2300 11 20 0 3 6 307 0
2 1 2200 16 90 0 0 4 0 .04 0 104 0 2 1 2200 10 26 0 1 5 289 0
2 1 2100 17 91 0 0 250 0 .04 0 104 0 2 1 2100 12 27 0 2 6 326 0
2 1 2000 18 92 0 0 234 0 .04 0 104 0 2 1 2000 12 24 0 1 5 10 0
2 1 1900 22 94 0 0 234 0 .04 0 104 0 2 1 1900 11 25 0 1 3 298 0
2 1 1800 23 95 0 0 243 .01 .04 0 104 2 2 1 1800 13 32 0 1 4 302 5
2 1 1700 25 95 0 0 229 .01 .03 0 103 50 2 1 1700 14 28 0 2 4 333 95
2 1 1600 25 93 0 0 249 0 .02 -0 103 154 2 1 1600 20 28 0 2 6 347 246
2 1 1500 31 87 0 0 255 0 .02 -1 102 351 2 1 1500 23 28 0 2 4 351 386
2 1 1400 28 93 0 0 265 0 .02 -0 102 340 2 1 1400 22 31 0 1 4 45 485
2 1 1300 26 88 0 0 261 0 .02 -0 102 296 2 1 1300 22 27 0 0 3 317 527
2 1 1200 25 92 0 0 254 0 .02 -0 103 233 2 1 1200 32 20 0 2 3 263 503
2 1 1100 24 94 0 0 266 0 .02 -0 103 155 2 1 1100 30 21 0 0 3 268 343
2 1 1000 24 94 0 0 254 0 .02 -0 103 147 2 1 1000 27 26 0 2 7 279 127
2 1 900 22 94 0 0 253 .01 .02 0 104 47 2 1 900 17 35 1 5 8 288 156
2 1 800 21 94 0 0 259 .01 .01 0 104 4 2 1 800 13 28 0 1 8 340 24
2 1 700 22 95 0 0 255 0 0 0 104 0 2 1 700 11 29 0 2 5 286 0
2 1 600 22 95 0 0 263 0 0 0 104 0 2 1 600 12 31 0 2 6 288 0
2 1 500 22 95 0 0 269 0 0 0 104 0 2 1 500 11 39 0 2 4 284 0
----------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------------
2 1 400 22 96 0 0 265 0 .12 0 104 0 2 1 400 10 35 0 3 6 284 0
2 1 300 22 95 0 0 263 0 .12 0 104 0 2 1 300 12 34 0 1 5 321 0
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2 1 100 22 95 0 0 262 0 .12 0 105 0 2 1 100 10 41 0 1 5 317 0
2 1 0 23 95 0 0 257 0 .12 0 105 0 2 1 0 11 40 0 1 3 295 0
1 31 2300 23 96 0 0 256 0 .12 0 105 0 1 31 2300 11 37 0 2 7 286 0
1 31 2200 24 96 0 0 251 0 .12 0 105 0 1 31 2200 11 49 0 3 6 307 0
1 31 2100 24 96 0 0 255 0 .12 0 105 0 1 31 2100 8 54 0 3 6 312 0
1 31 2000 24 96 0 0 251 0 .12 0 104 0 1 31 2000 6 64 0 2 6 304 0
1 31 1900 24 97 0 0 252 0 .12 -0 105 0 1 31 1900 4 92 0 2 4 296 0
1 31 1800 24 96 0 0 254 0 .12 0 105 1 1 31 1800 5 83 0 1 4 43 3
1 31 1700 24 96 0 0 253 0 .12 -0 105 25 1 31 1700 9 69 0 1 5 318 127
1 31 1600 27 94 0 0 252 0 .12 -0 104 286 1 31 1600 10 84 0 3 9 216 208
1 31 1500 28 94 0 0 256 0 .12 -0 104 304 1 31 1500 17 71 4 9 16 209 391
1 31 1400 30 94 0 0 255 0 .12 -0 104 477 1 31 1400 15 73 0 0 4 266 435
1 31 1300 30 95 0 0 246 0 .12 -0 105 456 1 31 1300 24 51 0 2 9 294 569
1 31 1200 28 93 0 0 241 0 .12 12 106 316 1 31 1200 17 69 0 0 5 266 652
1 31 1100 28 93 0 0 238 0 .12 12 105 306 1 31 1100 11 84 0 0 0 268 336
1 31 1000 26 96 0 0 255 0 .12 12 104 112 1 31 1000 10 71 0 0 1 262 161
1 31 900 25 96 0 0 258 .02 .12 12 106 25 1 31 900 15 69 0 1 4 273 218
1 31 800 24 95 0 0 251 0 .1 13 106 2 1 31 800 5 88 0 1 4 273 28
1 31 700 24 96 0 0 249 .03 .1 13 106 0 1 31 700 4 91 0 0 2 273 0
1 31 600 24 96 0 0 258 .01 .07 12 107 0 1 31 600 4 87 0 1 5 273 0
1 31 500 24 96 0 0 260 .06 .06 12 105 0 1 31 500 3 87 0 2 6 273 0
----------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------------
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1 31 100 23 96 0 0 259 .03 .58 8 102 0 1 31 100 5 91 0 6 15 273 0
1 31 0 23 96 0 0 258 .03 .55 8 102 0 1 31 0 6 79 0 5 19 273 0
1 30 2300 23 96 0 0 254 .04 .52 8 101 0 1 30 2300 5 88 0 3 7 273 0
1 30 2200 23 96 0 0 256 .06 .48 7 300 0 1 30 2200 6 92 0 6 16 273 0
1 30 2100 23 96 0 0 258 .02 .42 6 300 0 1 30 2100 5 92 0 7 22 273 0
1 30 2000 23 96 0 0 257 .02 .4 6 98 0 1 30 2000 5 93 0 6 19 273 0
1 30 1900 23 96 0 0 261 .02 .38 6 101 0 1 30 1900 5 93 3 18 38 273 0
1 30 1800 24 96 0 0 256 .04 .36 6 101 0 1 30 1800 6 93 18 32 50 273 2
1 30 1700 24 97 0 0 255 .06 .32 5 99 10 1 30 1700 6 93 24 32 45 273 39
1 30 1600 24 97 0 0 256 .04 .26 4 99 36 1 30 1600 5 92 22 33 44 273 82
1 30 1500 24 97 0 0 259 .05 .22 1 97 51 1 30 1500 6 92 20 33 47 273 144
1 30 1400 25 96 0 0 255 .02 .17 1 96 90 1 30 1400 5 90 13 33 50 273 298
1 30 1300 24 96 0 0 254 .05 .15 1 95 133 1 30 1300 5 89 19 31 47 273 482
1 30 1200 25 96 0 0 256 .01 .1 -0 93 170 1 30 1200 6 90 8 23 49 273 547
1 30 1100 24 96 0 0 255 .01 .09 10 95 77 1 30 1100 8 63 6 17 38 273 454
1 30 1000 24 97 0 0 253 .02 .08 10 95 51 1 30 1000 7 66 7 16 31 273 202
1 30 900 24 97 0 0 252 .02 .06 10 95 24 1 30 900 7 72 9 13 22 273 70
1 30 800 24 97 0 0 254 .01 .04 10 93 2 1 30 800 7 78 10 15 20 273 7
1 30 700 24 97 0 0 259 .01 .03 10 96 0 1 30 700 6 87 14 23 30 275 0
1 30 600 23 96 0 0 253 .01 .02 10 95 0 1 30 600 6 82 9 15 25 274 0
1 30 500 24 96 0 0 258 .01 .01 9 94 0 1 30 500 6 72 11 18 29 274 0
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1 30 400 25 97 0 0 257 .02 1.29 9 95 0 1 30 400 6 84 15 23 33 274 0
1 30 300 25 97 0 0 261 .01 1.27 9 95 0 1 30 300 6 91 13 23 35 274 0
1 30 200 25 97 0 0 258 0 1.26 9 95 0 1 30 200 7 93 8 17 37 274 0
1 30 100 27 98 0 0 261 .02 1.26 9 94 0 1 30 100 8 93 13 19 24 274 0
1 30 0 28 98 0 0 257 .02 1.24 9 95 0 1 30 0 7 93 10 17 26 274 0
1 29 2300 28 98 0 0 252 .03 1.22 9 94 0 1 29 2300 7 93 7 16 30 274 0
1 29 2200 28 98 0 0 251 .05 1.19 8 93 0 1 29 2200 9 94 2 9 23 274 0
1 29 2100 28 98 0 0 256 .11 1.14 8 92 0 1 29 2100 13 96 1 8 20 274 0
1 29 2000 28 98 0 0 258 .11 1.03 7 91 0 1 29 2000 14 96 1 9 19 274 0
1 29 1900 29 98 0 0 257 .08 .92 6 300 0 1 29 1900 14 96 3 8 18 274 0
1 29 1800 28 99 0 0 259 .09 .84 5 89 0 1 29 1800 14 96 4 9 21 274 1
1 29 1700 29 99 0 0 264 .14 .75 4 89 5 1 29 1700 13 96 8 21 33 274 13
1 29 1600 29 99 0 0 265 .14 .61 3 87 17 1 29 1600 13 96 28 40 54 274 47
1 29 1500 31 99 0 0 262 .06 .47 3 87 29 1 29 1500 14 96 38 53 73 274 67
1 29 1400 31 99 0 0 265 .06 .41 2 85 49 1 29 1400 15 97 34 55 72 274 98
1 29 1300 31 99 0 0 266 .13 .35 1 85 43 1 29 1300 15 97 43 63 80 274 134
1 29 1200 32 99 0 0 272 .03 .22 0 82 87 1 29 1200 16 97 44 58 73 274 214
1 29 1100 32 99 0 0 265 .03 .19 -0 84 66 1 29 1100 15 97 39 54 66 274 224
1 29 1000 32 100 0 0 263 .02 .16 0 82 23 1 29 1000 15 97 37 49 60 274 65
1 29 900 32 100 0 0 266 .03 .14 0 300 9 1 29 900 15 97 30 45 59 274 32
1 29 800 32 100 0 0 264 .03 .11 -0 83 1 1 29 800 15 97 27 40 54 274 4
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1 29 500 34 99 0 0 268 .05 .05 -0 84 0 1 29 500 16 97 11 32 50 274 0
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1 28 1800 37 99 0 0 301 0 .19 0 85 0 1 28 1800 22 100 17 25 37 267 1
1 28 1700 38 99 0 0 277 .01 .19 0 84 10 1 28 1700 24 77 16 25 33 273 30
1 28 1600 38 97 0 0 262 0 .18 -0 85 48 1 28 1600 23 86 13 26 37 267 71
1 28 1500 37 98 0 0 254 .02 .18 -0 85 60 1 28 1500 25 74 9 27 45 273 157
1 28 1400 38 95 0 0 222 0 .16 -0 84 143 1 28 1400 29 47 20 37 52 269 315
1 28 1300 38 95 0 0 226 0 .16 -0 84 234 1 28 1300 28 58 13 29 46 267 330
1 28 1200 38 96 0 0 255 0 .16 -0 85 198 1 28 1200 28 63 10 24 40 282 261
1 28 1100 38 97 0 0 264 .04 .16 -0 85 97 1 28 1100 29 61 8 15 28 278 233
1 28 1000 36 99 0 0 258 .01 .12 -0 86 34 1 28 1000 26 76 7 19 32 265 104
1 28 900 35 99 0 0 272 .02 .11 -0 86 19 1 28 900 29 66 6 17 29 265 55
1 28 800 34 99 0 0 268 .02 .09 -0 85 1 1 28 800 28 44 8 17 33 265 6
1 28 700 35 99 0 0 269 .03 .07 -0 85 0 1 28 700 29 47 3 9 25 265 0
1 28 600 35 99 0 0 250 .02 .04 -0 84 0 1 28 600 29 56 6 10 18 265 0
1 28 500 35 98 0 0 180 .02 .02 -0 85 0 1 28 500 29 67 7 13 22 266 0
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1 28 400 36 96 0 0 151 .01 .01 -0 86 0 1 28 400 23 98 4 15 29 266 0
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1 28 200 36 61 0 0 138 0 0 -0 86 0 1 28 200 23 100 31 36 46 268 0
[/size][/tt]
Nice choice. The pow in the Tatoosh was deeper and fluffier on Saturday, but you still made a wonderful choice for a Sunday ski. You have to admit this is so much better than corn. The girls are not in halter tops and shorts, but I will take this anyday over even the best corn. We chose Rainier for the same reason we had this belief the rain would make stuff more stable and that was quite true. One person kicked off a slide on Foss Peak but if you stayed off the prominences where the wind blew there was decent stability for steeper lines on the more open slopes. I hope you did not miss any of the big game that was crazy. Hawks ruled. Keep cranking those turns!! :D
author=Floater link=topic=30617.msg128086#msg128086 date=1391437725]
Nice choice. The pow in the Tatoosh was deeper and fluffier on Saturday, but you still made a wonderful choice for a Sunday ski. ... I hope you did not miss any of the big game that was crazy. Hawks ruled. Keep cranking those turns!! :D
Um, this was on Saturday, February 1. Too tired to do a Sunday ski trip, so I did watch the entire game, one of the best Super Bowls I've ever seen despite the lack of last-second thrills.
Beautiful!
What a great looking day!
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