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8/14/15 5:07am
gregL
August 3, 2015, Paradise
author=silaswild link=topic=34447.msg142106#msg142106 date=1438663285]215 Greg?


I waited until Saturday and found some semi-smooth patches just above and just below the Nisqually Chutes for about 900 total vertical.
8/14/15 4:06am
rlsg
August 2, 2015, Mt Baker, Squak Glacier Still Fine
Thanks for the excellent TR.  Glad to see there is still good skiing somewhere in the PNW.
8/14/15 1:49am
Gary Vogt
Jul 31, Aug 1, Muir - Paradise Two-Fer
author=r1de link=topic=34446.msg142124#msg142124 date=1438922966]
That would definitely be worth a click.  Please share!  :D


Sorry, I spent a fair amount of time searching online, but came up empty.  Decades ago, one could just pop into the park library and spend a rainy day perusing the fascinating historic photo albums, but I suspect that's no longer the case:

"The Mount Rainier archives consist of offici...
8/13/15 8:32am
r1de
Jul 31, Aug 1, Muir - Paradise Two-Fer
author=vogtski link=topic=34446.msg142098#msg142098 date=1438628507]
I couldn't find anything online, but the park photo archives have great shots of spike-shod mule trains carrying firewood up to this lookout, including one of a mule in a crevasse!


That would definitely be worth a click.  Please share!  :D
8/13/15 7:43am
r1de
Jul 31, Aug 1, Muir - Paradise Two-Fer
What a great report!  I couldn't tell from your FB pics that you had the skis with, but stoked now to learn that you did.

Here's a couple pics of you and crevasse situation Aug 31 '13:
8/13/15 6:58am
Jeff Huber
August 3, 2015, Paradise
author=silaswild link=topic=34447.msg142106#msg142106 date=1438663285]
The stash is no longer worth skiing this summer for us.

Wait. Now this doesn't mean your streak is over right?
8/12/15 4:23am
mikerolfs
July 20, 2015, Mt Baker, Squak Glacier Summer Corn
Thanks for the report(s) Amar.  The skiing looks great.  The crevasse zigzag looks a bit spooky.
8/12/15 2:19am
mikerolfs
July 31-Aug1 Mt Daniel
author=telemack link=topic=34445.msg142094#msg142094 date=1438622070]
Did you wait 'til the end of the month to combine July and August turns?


I skied earlier in July in the Enchantments, but I did time this so I could wake up on August 1st at the snow.

author=telemack link=topic=34445.msg142094#msg142094 date=1438622070]
I hope your "quest for light" is an adaptation to the...
8/11/15 3:01pm
Amar Andalkar
July 20, 2015, Mt Baker, Squak Glacier Summer Corn
August 2, 2015, Update:

I may write a more complete trip report later this week with more photos, but here's a quick update in case anyone still wants to ski a long run in great conditions this summer!


August 2: Skiing smooth corn on the Squak Glacier!


Well, this turned into more than just a quick update as I was writing it and going throu...
8/11/15 1:50pm
telemack
Jul 31, Aug 1, Muir - Paradise Two-Fer
Yes!
Pretty straightforward and obvious to switchback to Muir?  Were some Paradise Glacier turns worth the trouble?
Maybe we should pick a Sept. date soon.
8/11/15 5:26am
Gary Vogt
Jul 31, Aug 1, Muir - Paradise Two-Fer
Thanks for the report!  I've always preferred mellow Anvil over madhouse Muir.

author=Rusty Knees link=topic=34446.msg142096#msg142096 date=1438626162]
...Anybody know the story of the rock and mortar wall and concrete pad up there?   


Anvil Rock was the site of a fire lookout from 1916-42:
http://www.willhiteweb.com/washington/fire_lookouts/anvil_rock_lookout/mount_rainier_245.htm

I couldn't f...
8/10/15 4:59am
Jonathan_S.
July 22 and 23, 2015, Hood, Palmer and above
author=john green link=topic=34437.msg142086#msg142086 date=1438372090]Timberline just announced that they're closing to the public after this Sunday (Aug 2).  There may in fact be additional ski camps going on the snowfield past that date.


I called just now out of curiosity:  nope, no more race camps either, so no more Palmer lift operations for anyone ... and more importantly no more grooming either.
8/7/15 4:54am
telemack
July 31-Aug1 Mt Daniel
Thanks for the TR, Mike.  Did you wait 'til the end of the month to combine July and August turns? That's what Rusty Knees and Co. did at Paradise/Muir this weekend.
I hope your "quest for light" is an adaptation to the hot climate and long walks, not a permanent shift away from freeheeelin'.  :)
8/7/15 12:37am
Gary_H
June 13, 2015, Tatoosh Range
author=telemack link=topic=34367.msg141866#msg141866 date=1434818738]
YES   :(


Fix your heal, fix the problem!  ::)
8/6/15 1:49pm
Floater
July 28, 2015, Mt. Hood, Palmer Glacier
Absolutely scary how little snow is on Hood for this time of year.  The era of Peter Ward is coming sooner than we think. Whoa.
8/6/15 1:47pm
telemack
July 28, 2015, Mt. Hood, Palmer Glacier
Thanks for the TR and also for leaving your "exposure" to our imagination  :)
This weekend is the last for Timberline lifts.  I hope there will be something left for pilgrims from WA.
8/4/15 3:33am
kamtron
July 22 and 23, 2015, Hood, Palmer and above
There's always the Southern hemisphere
8/3/15 9:45am
john green
July 22 and 23, 2015, Hood, Palmer and above
Timberline just announced that they're closing to the public after this Sunday (Aug 2).  There may in fact be additional ski camps going on the snowfield past that date.

Looking at the webcam, it looks like red route has been used to farm snow and has become a narrow and well-worn cat track, while green route really does look disconnected now.

In a different thread pics were posted of Aug 28, 2005, which looked oppressively bleak.  But on that year Timberline...
8/3/15 9:38am
James Wells
July 18, 2015, Ptarmigan Ridge
I did a bunch of trips with Bob to places like Ptarmigan Ridge, Sholes Glacier, and Heliotrope. Always fun, always lots of conversation and great days out.

Hard to believe it's been 5 years.
8/3/15 8:18am
Atraslin
July 18, 2015, Ptarmigan Ridge
Ya man, Telemon. Skied with him once on the Ptarmigan ridge area.Stoked on his passion for skiing. Good to see you guys get out there and make some turns in his honour. From Chilliwack?
8/3/15 5:06am
Jonathan_S.
July 22 and 23, 2015, Hood, Palmer and above
The green route actually was solidly connected the entire way.
(Even though in the picture it does indeed look briefly discontinuous.)

I took the red route though because it connected with the groomer ~100' vertical higher up.
(I suppose for variety's sake I should have tried it both ways, but the red route was continuously improved by following my prior tracks.)
8/3/15 4:01am
john green
July 22 and 23, 2015, Hood, Palmer and above
That's one heck of a Beta!  Thanks!

And why didn't you just ski green route all the way down?  The short hop?
8/3/15 2:53am
Jonathan_S.
July 20, 2015, Mt Baker, Squak Glacier Summer Corn
^ Hmm, interesting.

So for the sake of narrowing the discussion (sorry for the thread drift Amar!), let's say the *only* concern is a roped partner falling into a crevasse on the ascent.

In favor of the more-skilled partner in the lead:

1. Potentially can set a better route avoiding a weak snow bridge.

2. Potentially better able to arrest a fall of the following partner.  (Whereas if the leader falls into a crevasse, with the cantilever effec...
8/3/15 2:14am
markharf
July 20, 2015, Mt Baker, Squak Glacier Summer Corn
author=Jonathan_S. link=topic=34438.msg142062#msg142062 date=1437942593]
"Jill took the lead, since I had by far the most crevasse rescue experience, it was best that I trail in case of a punch-through or snow bridge collapse."
... I can't resist joking that claiming superior rescue abilities is always a great excuse to convince your partner to take the more dangerous lead!


Always had the more-experienced climb...
8/2/15 11:33am
Jonathan_S.
July 20, 2015, Mt Baker, Squak Glacier Summer Corn
Glad to hear that the PNW still has sustained good skiing vertical somewhere other than Hood & Adams -- you got in ~950' more vertical than we did the following day in the SW Chutes (though skiing the Adams summit would have come close to making up the differential, yet we suspected that the snow conditions up there would be abysmally bad).

But although I know what you mean by the following:
"Jill took the lead, since I had by far the most crevasse rescue experience...
8/1/15 8:45am
Amar Andalkar
July 20, 2015, Mt Baker, Squak Glacier Summer Corn
Continued from previous post . . .

We could have easily switched back to skins at this point for the long traverse over to Grant Peak, but it was faster to just keep plodding along on foot and not take the extra time to change over, especially in the gusty wind at the top of the Wall. A fairly strong westerly breeze had been blowing in exposed areas since we got above 9000 ft, and on the summit dome it was quite strong, gusting over 30 mph.

8/1/15 2:23am
Jonathan_S.
July 22 and 23, 2015, Hood, Palmer and above
Annotated version should be attached now.
7/31/15 5:14am
Jonathan_S.
July 22 and 23, 2015, Hood, Palmer and above
author=rlsg link=topic=34437.msg142054#msg142054 date=1437865561]
Thanks for the informative report..btw how is the surface above Palmer snow field--sun cups, bumpy, smooth, nice..etc.?

Mix of Fair & Good -- although by my fifth lap on Thursday afternoon, it improved to Very Good by following my same smoothed-out route over and over again.
(So bring lots of friends and follow each other's tracks!)

7/31/15 4:48am
john green
July 22 and 23, 2015, Hood, Palmer and above
If I understand it, you're talking about the strip between the glacier and the hog back.  You're skiing to the west (looker's left) as close as you can get to the bare strip down the middle, and in most years is narrower and zig zaggy.  Do I have this right?

There's a heavily-used climbing camp to the west of that triangle--perhaps a bit lower--which is at roughly 9200 ft.  Last year, the descent from this area, letting the fall line take you slightl...
7/30/15 12:46pm
rlsg
July 22 and 23, 2015, Hood, Palmer and above
Thanks for the informative report..btw how is the surface above Palmer snow field--sun cups, bumpy, smooth, nice..etc.?
7/26/15 2:28pm
Jonathan_S.
July 22 and 23, 2015, Hood, Palmer and above
author=john green link=topic=34437.msg142052#msg142052 date=1437848639]While they were confident they could make it through this week (and they have), they warned that soon lift operations would be on a "day-by-day" basis.

Maintaining the connection from the bottom of the Upper Palmer race training lanes to the lift mid-station entails a very costly snowcat effort to scrape off large amounts of snow from the Upper Palmer and push it all...
7/26/15 11:58am
john green
July 22 and 23, 2015, Hood, Palmer and above
Couldn't get your FB link to work, but thanks for the detailed trip report!

I talked to the ski desk on Monday and they seemed rather depressed about the snowpack.  Apparently they had just lost 2 feet of base on Sunday.

While they were confident they could make it through this week (and they have), they warned that soon lift operations would be on a "day-by-day" basis. 

1000 feet of skiing above Palmer?  Where the heck are they hid...
7/26/15 11:46am
lrudholm
July 18, 2015, Ptarmigan Ridge
That turn he is rocking looks like the TAY logo.
7/26/15 8:41am
Nick-BC
July 18, 2015, Ptarmigan Ridge
You're right Rusty Knees.  Normally Gabe brings the lei's.  However, Bob's grandson was decked out in a full Hawaiian shirt/short combination so I guess that kept the theme alive  :)
7/26/15 8:23am
GregLange
July 18, 2015, Ptarmigan Ridge
Thanks for posting, Nick. I had the pleasure of meeting Telemon once, quite a few years back. He was a strong advocate of both tele AND the Baker regions. Glad you posted a July trip out that way. Was wondering if anyone had actually made the gentle but long approach to the skiable "postage stamp" snow fields. I made it out there today (7/22), but found a very small patch about a mile beyond the pass dividing Chain Lakes from Ptarmigan trails. Just as you get to the first divide, where...
7/26/15 5:29am
Charlie Hagedorn
July 18, 2015, Ptarmigan Ridge
Stoked to see the tradition continue :).

Telemon's knee-to-ski dialect of the tele-turn and internet friendliness were distinctive.



Git down, Brothers and Sisters of the Church of the Telemark..What do you mean it is a turn not a religion?
7/26/15 3:27am
Rusty Knees
July 18, 2015, Ptarmigan Ridge
Nice, Nick - Way to keep us connected to the Telemon spirit.  But...not a single Hawaiian shirt?
Good on you guys.  And the snowboarder rocking the sun cups - that looked gruesome.
Thanks!
Don
7/25/15 9:16am
Rusty Knees
July 6, 2015, Paradise
That was fun, great editing - you guys are getiing really GOOD at documenting your fun.  Unfortunately it doesn't scratch the itch, it makes the itch WORSE.  Thanks, though!!
7/25/15 9:03am
silaswild
July 6, 2015, Paradise
A short video to show how good it was!  Thanks Tim.  http://thesnowtroopers.com/2015/mt-rainier-wa-finding-paradise/
7/25/15 8:39am
danpeck
July 12, 2015, - enchanments
Nice!
7/25/15 8:06am
runningclouds
July 1, 2015, Dyer Peak CO
Admirable dedication. Rock on Tom!
7/25/15 3:47am
Chris Cosgriff
July 3-5, 2015, Rainier, Summit Crater Camp via DC
Fantastic report as always. Great job.
7/25/15 3:23am
Jason_H.
July 3-5, 2015, Rainier, Summit Crater Camp via DC
Nice work Amar. Reminds me of our summer climb a few years ago. I was shocked how fun it was, even without skis. Babying my knee for the past few months is driving me nuts...although it's nice to see others, like yourself, out there making the most of this incredible weather.
7/23/15 2:37pm
Jake the Brit
July 12, 2015, - enchanments
Dude, you rock!
7/23/15 10:59am
kylesw
July 11, 2015, Mt. Rainier, Russell and Flett
4) Dropping it at 9,000' on the Russell
5) Finding sweet clouds on the Flett
7/22/15 11:53am
Amar Andalkar
July 3-5, 2015, Rainier, Summit Crater Camp via DC
Thanks for the kind words, everyone. I'm still feeling some of the high from this trip now a week later.

Here is a great trip report on CascadeClimbers from the guys I met at the west crater rim who had come up Tahoma Glacier, they were climbing to raise money for brain cancer research:
Mt. Rainier - Tahoma Glacier - Sickle variation 7/4/2015

It includes this nice photo of me standing al...
7/22/15 3:12am
Darryl
July 3-5, 2015, Rainier, Summit Crater Camp via DC
Amar - great trip report.  It reads like poetry!  You should write a book!
7/22/15 1:39am
mikerolfs
July 1, 2015, Dyer Peak CO
I had to pull out my calculator to understand what 430 months means.  Tom's been skiing continuously since I was 10.  almost 36 years.  Since late 1979.  Several years longer than my ski partner, Ben, has been alive.

Go Tom!  Amazing.
7/18/15 2:55am
Binx
July 3-5, 2015, Rainier, Summit Crater Camp via DC
AWESOME trip report Amar!!!
Everyones envious of this trip, can't wait till the
snow flies at Crystal and ride a few chairs and chat about
this one.
Well Done!!
7/17/15 12:38pm
runcle
July 3-5, 2015, Rainier, Summit Crater Camp via DC
Wow!

Thanks for the very detailed and inspirational report.

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