May 16, 2008; Camp Muir
5/15/08
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
3787
1
Not skiing with Ben Kaufman since the Randonee Rally @ Crystal, he decided Friday was open & his day "to think" in the mountains. Based on the fairly pessimistic avi forecast, we decided that we should get high, so we headed for Rainier. Left the car close to 10AM under a fairly consistent 20-30mph wind. Conditions were fairly firm, for which I think the winds assisted in that cause. As has been my experience several times before on Muir, the winds came to a hault by the time we were below Anvil Rock.
The upper snowfield stayed fairly firm, so we were stoked about potentially cruiser conditions on the descent. Hung out for about an hour at Muir as Ben dictated some work on his cell.
Descended the steeper upper portion of the snowfield (far skier's left) toward the Paradise Glacier. Below that the conditions became fairly grippy, making for an unappealing knee workout.
Surprisingly the lower 1,500 feet didn't show any signs of unconsolidated glop, for which the lower slopes may be saving those conditions for the hotter weather scheduled for this weekend.
As a sidenote, for such an epic snowpack year, although I've never skied it, it appears that the upper portion of the route up Fuhrer Finger (pic attached) is in worse shape than the last 2 years this time in May. Wonder if the winds were bad up high once again this winter?
The upper snowfield stayed fairly firm, so we were stoked about potentially cruiser conditions on the descent. Hung out for about an hour at Muir as Ben dictated some work on his cell.
Descended the steeper upper portion of the snowfield (far skier's left) toward the Paradise Glacier. Below that the conditions became fairly grippy, making for an unappealing knee workout.
Surprisingly the lower 1,500 feet didn't show any signs of unconsolidated glop, for which the lower slopes may be saving those conditions for the hotter weather scheduled for this weekend.
As a sidenote, for such an epic snowpack year, although I've never skied it, it appears that the upper portion of the route up Fuhrer Finger (pic attached) is in worse shape than the last 2 years this time in May. Wonder if the winds were bad up high once again this winter?
