January 17, 2003, Camp Muir

Here's some quick info in case someone can use it for tomorrow. I met Allen, Julie, and Pat at Camp Muir under very spring-like conditions. There was a little overnight surface crust below Pan Pt., but it and the 8-10" of newer snow underneath were softening rapidly in the warm, sunny conditions. Good boot track to about McClure Rock, then easy skinning for the rest of the way. The sun softened just the surface of the snow up to about Moon Rocks, then the snow was cold but somewhat wind-packed with small sastrugi. Very warm and little wind at Camp Muir. Skiing down, the first 1000' were nice, with lanes of smooth snow, and the sastrugi was not a problem. From there to close to Pebble Creek was great spring corn, just the surface softened on a nice base. From there to below Pan Pt. the sun had loosened the snow much more deeply and the skiing was OK to poor (especially Pan face - big snowballs and some surface slides.). The last 500' was reasonable because there wasn't so much newer snow on top of the crust. Tomorrow ought to be similar, but beware when everything freezes in the coming days. Allen, add to this if you want.

There are photos from this trip here.