TR Replies
Boy Amar, taking it to the next level! Sleeping on the top (or as Mike Rolf's would say the tippy tippy top) of the mountain on the 4th, what a coup. You must have had dozens of fireworks displays to take in. I'm truly green with envy, and of course a spectacular report thanks.
That was a legit TR. Nice work, great pics.
Nice report and great attitude!
Epic trip report, Amar!!
A near-perfect forecast for camping in the crater and watching fireworks:
MOUNT RAINIER RECREATIONAL FORECAST
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
408 AM PDT FRI JUL 3 2015
SYNOPSIS...HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT WILL REMAIN OVER THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST INTO AT LEAST EARLY NEXT WEEK FOR CONTINUED SUNNY AND UNSEASONABLY WARM WEATHER.
FRIDAY...SUNNY. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 16000 FEET.
FRIDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLEAR. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 16000 FEET.
INDEPENDENC...
MOUNT RAINIER RECREATIONAL FORECAST
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
408 AM PDT FRI JUL 3 2015
SYNOPSIS...HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT WILL REMAIN OVER THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST INTO AT LEAST EARLY NEXT WEEK FOR CONTINUED SUNNY AND UNSEASONABLY WARM WEATHER.
FRIDAY...SUNNY. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 16000 FEET.
FRIDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLEAR. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 16000 FEET.
INDEPENDENC...
July 5th: Having missed the sunrise by hours the day before, I was considering waking up early enough to catch the dawn this day. But given the lack of sleep overnight, that was simply not possible, and I slept in until after 7am once again. I eventually realized that I needed to get up and over to the summit, or I would miss seeing the other friends that I knew were coming up the Emmons. I also had found out while registering on Friday that the park superintendent Randy King would be mak...
Continued from previous post . . .
Most people who reach the summit of Rainier are just too exhausted to explore anything up there, and their priority is descending as soon as possible to get out of there. But it is an amazing and absolutely beautiful place to take a day hike from one's camp and just enjoy the sights. Soon I was ambling on northward to reach Columbia Crest once again. Two summits in a single day! (not really) The standard view from Columbia Crest a few min...
Most people who reach the summit of Rainier are just too exhausted to explore anything up there, and their priority is descending as soon as possible to get out of there. But it is an amazing and absolutely beautiful place to take a day hike from one's camp and just enjoy the sights. Soon I was ambling on northward to reach Columbia Crest once again. Two summits in a single day! (not really) The standard view from Columbia Crest a few min...
Continued from previous post . . .
And then the real crux: the rising leftward climb to reach the edge of Nisqually Glacier above Camp Comfort near 12800 ft, including the ladder at 12700 ft which had been the only ladder on the route 4 weeks earlier, and which I had been able to barely ski down past with a quick sketchy turn across a snow bridge just below it. The real hazard here is not even the crevasse or the ladder, but the towering seracs looming above the leftward traver...
And then the real crux: the rising leftward climb to reach the edge of Nisqually Glacier above Camp Comfort near 12800 ft, including the ladder at 12700 ft which had been the only ladder on the route 4 weeks earlier, and which I had been able to barely ski down past with a quick sketchy turn across a snow bridge just below it. The real hazard here is not even the crevasse or the ladder, but the towering seracs looming above the leftward traver...
author=mikerolfs link=topic=34369.msg141867#msg141867 date=1434869828]
Welcome to TAY, Kyle. Thanks for the report. I love skiing in the enchantments. I heard it was pretty crowded up there this weekend. Sounds like you were the only skiers though. I hope I bump into you in the mountains some time.
Hey Mike! Good to see your on TAY as well. We will have to get out on a trip sometime!
Gilding the Lilly to be sure, but had a few shots to add to the collection, it was a great, all be it long and hot trip, but sure glad we got it in, thanks Mike!
Fantastic camp site.
Fantastic camp site.
Well played! Nice job snagging those summit turns before the heat wave.
Really enjoyed the photo-essay. It think it was so comprehensive that I didn't read a word, oh except for the comment about Tjacks ski transport, and those few words were a rocking-good read! Ha, carry on!
that second photo is a gem. I think we saw the ghost of your tracks 5 days later. Nice work!
Some photos from the area today giving a sense of what the Flett looks like, sun cups on the way to the Russell Glacier and the poor shape of the upper Russell Glacier.
Earliest I've ever skied the Russell Glacier and that yielded way less snow in Spray Park than on any of the prior trips and far more suncups than on any prior trip. A great day for wildflowers, however!
Earliest I've ever skied the Russell Glacier and that yielded way less snow in Spray Park than on any of the prior trips and far more suncups than on any prior trip. A great day for wildflowers, however!
Andy, we basically did what these guys did (East face):
http://skisickness.com/2004/06/15/
http://www.cascadecrusades.org/SkiMountaineering/baker/boulderpark/boulderpark2005/boulderpark2005.htm
http://skisickness.com/post/vt478-a-walk-in-the-park (last...
http://skisickness.com/2004/06/15/
http://www.cascadecrusades.org/SkiMountaineering/baker/boulderpark/boulderpark2005/boulderpark2005.htm
http://skisickness.com/post/vt478-a-walk-in-the-park (last...
Nice, way to get after it in the epic summer weather. So many distractions when the weather is this nice.
This line eludes me. Have you skied the North Face of Baker?
Oh, and I just missed you guys - I was out of town when you were here - or I would have given you the nickle tour. Offer is open, I'll be there this weekend no doubts.
author=kamtron link=topic=34352.msg141912#msg141912 date=1435207798]
Were you the guys looking at the route from the bridge with me? Yeah we saw you two descending the Van Trump and Turtle as we packed up camp and wondered where you'd come from. Nice work on the cleaver
No, we didn't meet at the bridge. Thanks, the cleaver was sweet. Sustained pitch for ages. Shame it was so cupped out as it would be a great ski.
author=kamtron link=topic=34397.msg141913#msg141913 date=1435207990]
Man the same thing happened to me: hip check in the funky snow. My whippet went in instantly and I was right back on my feet, but it caught me by surprise. I think I would have still recovered without the whippet anyway but still funky.
Yeah, strange eh? I hyper extended my arm a bit and tweaked my peck a little in the process. not badly, but initially i though i did...
Wow, Zap, I'm sorry you had such a bad experience with the RMNP folks. When the road opens around Memerial Day weekend, the skiing car ratio is 20%+ for cars on the top. It's great to see Americans enjoying exercise instead of watching television. And all pay for RMNP season passes. But perhaps that didn't come up in your conversation with the Ranger.
Lava rocks area is very dangerous and should be closed at all times, but the rest of the park is open for business. ...
Lava rocks area is very dangerous and should be closed at all times, but the rest of the park is open for business. ...
Man the same thing happened to me: hip check in the funky snow. My whippet went in instantly and I was right back on my feet, but it caught me by surprise. I think I would have still recovered without the whippet anyway but still funky.
Were you the guys looking at the route from the bridge with me? Yeah we saw you two descending the Van Trump and Turtle as we packed up camp and wondered where you'd come from. Nice work on the cleaver
ahh, you guys are who we were looking over at from the Kautz cleaver route. We were wondering why we didn't see you as we ended up skiing the standard Kautz route from the summit. looks like you started skiing …
We were only 15 minutes behind you.
We were only 15 minutes behind you.
Yeah Nick! What a rad flight. And thanks for the beta! Been thinking of you guys over there this spring!
-john
-john
Thanks for the great pictures, I had a great solstice camp, but sadly just enough snow to cool a beer.
author=Jake the Brit link=topic=34396.msg141900#msg141900 date=1435127729]
Top dollar, the snow in that last photo looks really good!
Yeah it was quite nice at 2 pm! A very thin crust on top of corn-like snow. It was kind of like firnspiegel.
It's funny, 2 years ago when I skied it we encountered similar conditions with a thin crust over softer snow. I wonder if that's a morning sun crust that develops on the east-f...
Nice work! Glad you guys had better ski conditions than we had on Adams up high. Though... I guess at ~ 10k it was good on Adams too..
What are snow conditions like just above the treeline? I'll be camping at lake Takhlakh next weekend with the family and hope for some easy low angle yo-yoing on snow fields above the treeline while family picnics out of the heat.
Thanks!
Chris
Thanks!
Chris
Top dollar, the snow in that last photo looks really good!
^ Glad to hear you got a good ski in on Snowdome, and also glad to hear we weren't the only ones who were sketched out. (And seemed like a period of rapid transition, given our views of relatively recent tracks that were skiing over impassable terrain by then.)
And despite our limited skiing, here's a fun Doarama from last Thursday, mainly for all the stops: transition to skinning; transition to roped travel; hmm, nope, that route doesn't work; hmm, that other rou...
And despite our limited skiing, here's a fun Doarama from last Thursday, mainly for all the stops: transition to skinning; transition to roped travel; hmm, nope, that route doesn't work; hmm, that other rou...
author=kamtron link=topic=34396.msg141893#msg141893 date=1435097334]With this in the bag, I can hang up my skis for the season.
::)
Nice, Norseman! I'd have joined you all, but was finally able to rally someone to join me for a successful trip to the Boulder-Park.
Happy summer!
Happy summer!
Looks awesome. Thanks for the photos, especially of the Edmunds headwall. I had discounted it this year but may re-think. You guys didn't get any views of the lower west face, did you? Anybody interested in a trip...?
Fabulous photos.
On another note; I had a really fast trip up there once by just hiking the climbers trail almost all the way with boards-on-back. Since the split can be suspect on hard up-tracks I stayed on foot a long way. Sacrilege I know, but highly effective. Ptarmigan Ridge is looking good!
On another note; I had a really fast trip up there once by just hiking the climbers trail almost all the way with boards-on-back. Since the split can be suspect on hard up-tracks I stayed on foot a long way. Sacrilege I know, but highly effective. Ptarmigan Ridge is looking good!
According to a party member that left on Saturday afternoon, one could travel mostly on snow to near the Spray Park trail by keeping just east of the climber's trail.
Looking down into Spray Park as the sun sets.
Yes, you'll need to walk all the way to the base of the Flett @6.5-6.7K to take the skis off the pack.
Yes, you'll need to walk all the way to the base of the Flett @6.5-6.7K to take the skis off the pack.
great pics!
how close to Spray Park/Wonderland Trail could you ski? Curious if one has to carry gear nearly to the Flett lobe between Echo & Observation Rocks before skis hit snow.
thanks.
how close to Spray Park/Wonderland Trail could you ski? Curious if one has to carry gear nearly to the Flett lobe between Echo & Observation Rocks before skis hit snow.
thanks.