November 6, 2005, Paradise
11/6/05
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
3438
4
Doug, Roy, Eric, Stephanie, and I all rode together from Seattle up to Paradise.
The gate didn't open until about 10:45, so we had some time to kill with a nice heavy breakfast at Longmire. On the drive up, the coverage looked great. What an awesome start to the year!
It was great to see Ron, Jeanette, and Jerry in the parking lot. Always makes me feel like I picked the right destination to see the experts.
Our group headed down the trail across to the Edith Basin. We cut a steep track up into the notch in the east wall of the basin and headed up Mazama ridge. The east wall(west facing) was broken up like there had been some slides that were quickly buried, or it had been farmed and buried on Saturday. It looked great to ski, but the snow was wind affected with a kind of heavy thick crust about 4 inches down.
We headed up the ridge into some very cold wind for a while and then just toured around down towards the east bowl. Had some great openings in the clouds where the sun came out and the light was amazing. Got a couple of glimpses of Muir and parts of the upper mountain. It looked really windy up there.
The ski out through the wooded areas down to the road from the ridge was well covered, but heavy skiing where balance is easily lost.
Not a huge powder day, but a great day to get out and be on skis. Didn't hit any rocks, although they are still showing pretty well up around Pan Point from what we can see.
The gate didn't open until about 10:45, so we had some time to kill with a nice heavy breakfast at Longmire. On the drive up, the coverage looked great. What an awesome start to the year!
It was great to see Ron, Jeanette, and Jerry in the parking lot. Always makes me feel like I picked the right destination to see the experts.
Our group headed down the trail across to the Edith Basin. We cut a steep track up into the notch in the east wall of the basin and headed up Mazama ridge. The east wall(west facing) was broken up like there had been some slides that were quickly buried, or it had been farmed and buried on Saturday. It looked great to ski, but the snow was wind affected with a kind of heavy thick crust about 4 inches down.
We headed up the ridge into some very cold wind for a while and then just toured around down towards the east bowl. Had some great openings in the clouds where the sun came out and the light was amazing. Got a couple of glimpses of Muir and parts of the upper mountain. It looked really windy up there.
The ski out through the wooded areas down to the road from the ridge was well covered, but heavy skiing where balance is easily lost.
Not a huge powder day, but a great day to get out and be on skis. Didn't hit any rocks, although they are still showing pretty well up around Pan Point from what we can see.
I was nice to see Gusk and company at Paradise, we exchanged a few ideas on our intended destinations. Winter has certainly arrived in the PNW with Paradise getting a coating of snow that just about tops what was there last season. Last Sunday there was 5 inches on the ground, this Sunday 57 inches! With the Longmire gate opening at 10:45 we took advantage of the wait and did some beacon search practice to fill the time.
Ron, Jerry, Darryl, and I decided to spend a little time evaluating the snow pack to see what might be happening. We climbed to the middle of Alta Vista and dug to the ground. The penetration was knee to thigh deep, with the snow temp consistant from top to bottom. The upper pit section was fist hard, with the lower section (3 to 4 inches above ground) pencil hard. Our snow evaluation site was at 5800' w/sw facing, approx 32 degress ambient temp, on a 35 degree slope with 130cm to the ground. The 3 to 4 ft snowpack is generally quite soft with the upper 4 to 8 inches wind packed. Most of the wind load appears to be on the north to east aspects. We found the west facing slope in Edit Basin the best, supporting most all of us. Even though the traveling was tough in the deep untracked, and new season snow challenging in some areas, we had a fantastic day and are looking forward to more winter fun. Photos ;D.
Ron, Jerry, Darryl, and I decided to spend a little time evaluating the snow pack to see what might be happening. We climbed to the middle of Alta Vista and dug to the ground. The penetration was knee to thigh deep, with the snow temp consistant from top to bottom. The upper pit section was fist hard, with the lower section (3 to 4 inches above ground) pencil hard. Our snow evaluation site was at 5800' w/sw facing, approx 32 degress ambient temp, on a 35 degree slope with 130cm to the ground. The 3 to 4 ft snowpack is generally quite soft with the upper 4 to 8 inches wind packed. Most of the wind load appears to be on the north to east aspects. We found the west facing slope in Edit Basin the best, supporting most all of us. Even though the traveling was tough in the deep untracked, and new season snow challenging in some areas, we had a fantastic day and are looking forward to more winter fun. Photos ;D.
Thanks for the snow report Mad Dog. It's just great to have so much snow to evaluate. ;D
I was grounded by my wife on Sunday or else I'd have been there. As I was dragged around the stores I kept telling her that Ron, Jerry and Jeanette will be up there!
She told me to save my energy for clearing dog poop of the lawn when I got back from holding her handbag. ;D
Next time! 8)
I was grounded by my wife on Sunday or else I'd have been there. As I was dragged around the stores I kept telling her that Ron, Jerry and Jeanette will be up there!
She told me to save my energy for clearing dog poop of the lawn when I got back from holding her handbag. ;D
Next time! 8)
Scotty, you seem to be a never-ending source of humorous posts. Keep it up -- good grins :)
Posted a couple more pics here just to show conditions.
Here's another that JW took he calls "Silver Lining":
Keep praying for snow ;)
Posted a couple more pics here just to show conditions.
Here's another that JW took he calls "Silver Lining":
Keep praying for snow ;)
Actually Ron,
The silver lining part of the message I sent you guys refered to the fact that I crashed so much that day that I seem to have repaired my sore knees 8) (although the photo is a little silver) Anyway fun day, good to see you Gus and co. Sorry you were trapped holding the bag there Scotty ;).....Jerry
The silver lining part of the message I sent you guys refered to the fact that I crashed so much that day that I seem to have repaired my sore knees 8) (although the photo is a little silver) Anyway fun day, good to see you Gus and co. Sorry you were trapped holding the bag there Scotty ;).....Jerry
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