June 26, 2010, Muir snowfield and Nisqually Chute

6/26/10

WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)

2513

2

Posted by GregSimon on 6/26/10 1:00pm

The annual "as close as we can manage to Father's Day" Nisqually Chute trip with my son Zach and his friend Robbie. Muir snowfield conditions were spectacular - very smooth and fast. The chute was nice, but had to deal with lots of sloughing (so the surface there wasn't so smooth). I wished we'd skied the chute at 12 instead of 1, but it was still a very enjoyable outing.

A hasty pit at the top of the chute showed crusts 4 and 9 inches down. Compression test failed on 6th tap from the elbow, but "fracture" was very rough and hardly moved.

6/27/10 1:27am

dkoelle

Got up there early and took a run down the Paradise glacier margin about 10:45. It was fantastic, with slight verglas and totally untracked on some steep rolls below Anvil. I was solo and did not have the guts to drop onto the Paradise glacier proper. The crevasse systems to the L and R of what I think is the usual drop in point were impressively beautiful. I climbed back up to Muir and reclaimed by lunch (left sitting there). The snowfield was absolutely jammed with hiker and climbers, but few skier or boarders.

6/27/10 2:42am

lowell_skoog

I skied the Muir snowfield with my wife and son yesterday. We noticed a few recent wet slab releases over in the Wilson - Van Trump area. There were ski tracks over there in the afternoon. I wonder if anybody can report on the conditions.

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