November 4, 2001, Paradise - Mt. Rainier NP

A massive lenticular capping the summit greeted us on our arrival at Paradise - that and Brent Hostetler with his partner Eric. Plumes of snow boiled off Gibraltar and Anvil. Skies were generally clear with afternoon forecast for deteriorating weather. We opted to skip the trek up the Muir Snowfield due to the anticipated high winds up there, and seek some lower wind-loaded slopes in the meager snow pack. The existing base was bomber solid, almost (but not quite) favoring boot crampons up Pan face. We found an east facing aspect that had about an inch of sun softened corn on a solid base and yoyo'd it into mid afternoon. It may have been the best skiing we've had this year; silky smooth. We'll need more snow up there soon to get much more good skiing in.

ron jarvis