June 9-10, 2011, - Mt Rainier NP easy pickins'
6/9/11
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
1415
0
A recent in-between job change and a great weather opportunity gave me reason to treat myself to a sampling of MRNP's finest introductory offerings in a primo year for spring skiing. Castle/Pinnacle bowls on June 9 and the Muir Snowfield on June 10.
A cheap Packwood hotel room gave me good access to the Pinnacle trailhead at Reflection Lakes at which I found walls of snow up to 20 feet high on both sides of the road. A 9am start got my old bones to the top of the snow on the Castle by 11am just for the view. I found firm soon-to-be corn everywhere except for the directly east facing slopes. Most of that area is north facing which can extend the day until the warm air turns everything to mush.
I planned to do laps for as long as the snow held up. A lap was a mere 500 vertical feet but I had the place mostly to myself. I got three runs from the Castle saddle and then one more from the Pinnacle saddle. My last run caused a slow motion wet snow slide that took about a minute to run about 50 feet. Castle/Pinnacle was a good warm-up for the long climb to Camp Muir the next day.
I started my Muir climb at 6am with cloudless skies and rock hard snow. The surface started to get grippy for my skins at 8am when I finally arrived at the huge Muir Snowfield. I started down from Muir at noon impressed by the massive breadth of the snowfield. I chose skiers right where I found few ski tracks. I connected back to the climbing route at the bottom of the snowfield right at the spot where the grabby snow started. It was a lot of pushing through the mush to get back to the bottom from there.
Its a bonanza year for summer skiing; the best I can remember. There should be easy access snow at Rainier for a long time. Lets hope global warming doesnt take it back too soon.
A cheap Packwood hotel room gave me good access to the Pinnacle trailhead at Reflection Lakes at which I found walls of snow up to 20 feet high on both sides of the road. A 9am start got my old bones to the top of the snow on the Castle by 11am just for the view. I found firm soon-to-be corn everywhere except for the directly east facing slopes. Most of that area is north facing which can extend the day until the warm air turns everything to mush.
I planned to do laps for as long as the snow held up. A lap was a mere 500 vertical feet but I had the place mostly to myself. I got three runs from the Castle saddle and then one more from the Pinnacle saddle. My last run caused a slow motion wet snow slide that took about a minute to run about 50 feet. Castle/Pinnacle was a good warm-up for the long climb to Camp Muir the next day.
I started my Muir climb at 6am with cloudless skies and rock hard snow. The surface started to get grippy for my skins at 8am when I finally arrived at the huge Muir Snowfield. I started down from Muir at noon impressed by the massive breadth of the snowfield. I chose skiers right where I found few ski tracks. I connected back to the climbing route at the bottom of the snowfield right at the spot where the grabby snow started. It was a lot of pushing through the mush to get back to the bottom from there.
Its a bonanza year for summer skiing; the best I can remember. There should be easy access snow at Rainier for a long time. Lets hope global warming doesnt take it back too soon.
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