Snow in the PNW

**fivefourtwo** · 07-02-2010, 01:41 AM

Originally Posted by skiingsamurai

nice 542, I was up ther Sat with a buddy (see prev page) and the snow was amazing. Im still peeling from my sunburn though.

I might head back that direction next week sometime if the weather holds

If you need anyone to ride with I am more than down for a few laps, I also got burnt pretty bad. forgot the sunscreen in the car ... at least the skiing was pretty good

**skiingsamurai** · 07-02-2010, 05:05 PM

^^cool, ill let you know, probably wont be for a couple weeks (drunk this weekend and driving to Yosemite next weekend)

SHIT: another dude missing on Ranier
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/42276...tml?source=rss

**samthaman** · 07-05-2010, 04:00 PM

just got back from baker. My friend and now roommate allen just arrived in WA. with "mostly sunny" in the forecast, i figured we should give baker a go. We got to 7200k feet before getting shutdown by whiteout and a snow storm. we tried to wait it out for an hour and a half, but it just got worse so we bailed. We were pretty psyched though, getting shutdown by a snowstorm on July 5 was a new problem for me.

**GeezerSteve** · 07-07-2010, 11:24 AM

My brief Goat Rocks TR on NWHikers, now with some pics by Andy. If any WA or OR tourists are looking for turns this weekend, it'll be great up there. Plan 3 moderate days or 2 strenuous days if you want to tag Old Snowy and Ives.

**jesski** · 07-07-2010, 09:49 PM

Skied adams on the third, standard route with standard SW chutes descent. Firm snow on uphill with perfect corn nearly the whole way down. Open Road to Cold Springs TH=about 1/4mile.

**skiingsamurai** · 07-08-2010, 10:30 AM

Im possibly hitting rainier Saturday with a buddy. Were thinking of skinning Paradise to Muir and back down. Neither of us are experienced in glacial travel enough to hit the finger, so the snowfields seem logical

are there more exciting routes down from Muir?

**Rip'nStick** · 07-08-2010, 10:53 AM

Originally Posted by jesski

Skied adams on the third, standard route with standard SW chutes descent. Firm snow on uphill with perfect corn nearly the whole way down. Open Road to Cold Springs TH=about 1/4mile.

Can you clarify a little bit? Does this mean that the road is open all the way but the last 1/4 mile to the trailhead past the campground?

**Scotsman50** · 07-08-2010, 12:26 PM

Originally Posted by skiingsamurai

Im possibly hitting rainier Saturday with a buddy. Were thinking of skinning Paradise to Muir and back down. Neither of us are experienced in glacial travel enough to hit the finger, so the snowfields seem logical

are there more exciting routes down from Muir?

See my previous post in this thread.
Nisqually chute. Ski from Muir to 8,300, keep skiers right on snowfield. Drop chute. Be there early to avoid slushalanche ! IMO
BEFORE 11.00 Am , better even at 10:00 am.
Paradise Glacier is a good run instead of Muir snowfield. Crevasse danger is minimal but if your first time I would follow others tracks. Will probably get skied that weekend.
Other than that, there not too many options from Muir that would be suitable.

Why not try Frying pan Glacier or Interglacier: Very easy glaciers and again crevasse danger is minimal . I usually do not carry crevasse gear on these routes or Paradise Glacier and I'm not saying you shouldn't either but that's kinda standard pratise on these routes for skiers.
Check TAY for recent TR's., There's lots of them .
Interglacier got skied a few days ago and there's a good report.
Have fun, be safe.

**GeezerSteve** · 07-08-2010, 01:46 PM

Originally Posted by Scotsman50

Why not try Frying pan Glacier. . . .

I second this recommendation.

**Velillen** · 07-08-2010, 06:56 PM

Sam ill be up at Paradise on Saturday. be at the parking lot at 7am (camping there tomorrow night). MIGHT have two other's coming but havent heard back. Right now plan is probably just the main Muir Snowfield but if i get others would be up for Nisqually Chute or something else.

Its all part of a Team Survivor Northwest training hike (they are climbing up to Muir and back) for their climbing Mt. Adam's the following weekend. So if you see groups of older women give em some encouragement!

**jesski** · 07-08-2010, 09:17 PM

Originally Posted by Rip'nStick

Can you clarify a little bit? Does this mean that the road is open all the way but the last 1/4 mile to the trailhead past the campground?

Yes. Errr....

The road is open except for the last 1/4 mile. As in, there is a 1/4 mile between open road and the cold springs campground/trailhead.

**BeardedClam** · 07-09-2010, 12:28 AM

Originally Posted by skiingsamurai

Im possibly hitting rainier Saturday with a buddy. Were thinking of skinning Paradise to Muir and back down. Neither of us are experienced in glacial travel enough to hit the finger, so the snowfields seem logical

are there more exciting routes down from Muir?

I'll be there with a buddy, though I think we're hiking up since he doesn't have at gear nor the stamina to do so. We're probably going to descend down the nisqually but it all will depend on how isothermal the snow is(very)

Originally Posted by Velillen

Sam ill be up at Paradise on Saturday. be at the parking lot at 7am (camping there tomorrow night). MIGHT have two other's coming but havent heard back. Right now plan is probably just the main Muir Snowfield but if i get others would be up for Nisqually Chute or something else.

Its all part of a Team Survivor Northwest training hike (they are climbing up to Muir and back) for their climbing Mt. Adam's the following weekend. So if you see groups of older women give em some encouragement!

That's me and my friend, nick. Small world. check your email and send me your # if you haven't already. Sorry for the delay in responding but 14hr work days this past week have taken their toll

**Kyle Miller** · 07-09-2010, 06:09 PM

Just got done doing a 6 day traverse of the Alpine lakes wilderness and the snowpack is still fat around 5000 feet. Here are a few pics

**samthaman** · 07-09-2010, 06:34 PM

damn dude, you are an inspiration.

**Mofro261** · 07-09-2010, 06:43 PM

Originally Posted by Kyle Miller

Just got done doing a 6 day traverse of the Alpine lakes wilderness and the snowpack is still fat around 5000 feet. Here are a few pics

That's a pretty sweet trip from Fish Lake to I90. How much of it were you guys able to stay above snow line on?

And yeah, I won't go back to Gold Creek without a lot of snow.

**Kyle Miller** · 07-09-2010, 06:45 PM

Other then our enterance and exit we only had to hike on about 500 verticial feet of dirt. 98% of the time we were skinning.

**ikkin** · 07-11-2010, 12:02 PM

Stalked CascadeClimbers to find permits, and skied St. Helens yesterday morning via Monitor Ridge. It was a super fun day. Snow was great! Nice corn with minimal suncups. 4.5 hours up, 1.5 down. We started at 3am and were back at the cars at 9:00am. About a 40 minute hike to snowline, and then you can skin on continuous snow the rest of the way up. Great little half day ski. We didn't get many pictures, but here are a few...

Alpine Start:

Icecream enjoying his sunrise skin:

Sunrise does cool things to mountains:

Still climbing:

Dorking out at the Crater Rim:

The only picture we took of the ski down. Snow was great!

If you're headed up there in the next few days it is totally worth bringing your sticks. We had a super fun time.

**skiingsamurai** · 07-11-2010, 06:18 PM

Yesterday a buddy and I skinned from paradise to Muir. The weather was perfect, bluebird, occasional breeze, great temps. Both of us were hurting pretty badly by the time we hit Muir by 330, and 10k was hitting me pretty hard. I need to get back in shape.
We skied down the snowfield, parallel to the freight train of people hiking. The snow from 10k to 8500 was amazing corn/slush and not sticky. Below that the snow was super grabby from gettng so much sun and being over 65*, making for some interesting but fun turns.
All in all one hell of a solid day for July turns. Today theres minimal sunburn, and zero function in my hip flexors.

Vel:I think I saw some of your women, they were encouraging me, given how much I was hurting at 9k.

Off topic: I was planning on camping out at Muir in the next week or 2, but I was hurting pretty badly just sitting up there for 20 min after finishing my hike.
Does anyone know of a good place around 8-9k to camp and maybe ski?

**Platinum Pete** · 07-11-2010, 11:12 PM

Anybody climbing St Helens get their permits checked? How much are they enforcing this?
How is the Worm Flows route looking?

**ikkin** · 07-11-2010, 11:25 PM

Originally Posted by Platinum Pete

Anybody climbing St Helens get their permits checked? How much are they enforcing this?
How is the Worm Flows route looking?

Saw the rangers at the bottom of the trail on our way out (it was 9am, so their day was just starting) and they thanked us for having our permits on our packs. So I'd say they're definitely looking, and if we hadn't had our permits visible, they probably would have asked to see 'em. Can't comment on Worm Flows.

**Mofro261** · 07-11-2010, 11:59 PM

Russell and Flett on Saturday...

**Moship192** · 07-12-2010, 02:26 AM

Originally Posted by Mofro261

Russell and Flett on Saturday...

I wonder who slashed the right line...

**Velillen** · 07-12-2010, 07:32 AM

Originally Posted by skiingsamurai

Yesterday a buddy and I skinned from paradise to Muir. The weather was perfect, bluebird, occasional breeze, great temps. Both of us were hurting pretty badly by the time we hit Muir by 330, and 10k was hitting me pretty hard. I need to get back in shape.
We skied down the snowfield, parallel to the freight train of people hiking. The snow from 10k to 8500 was amazing corn/slush and not sticky. Below that the snow was super grabby from gettng so much sun and being over 65*, making for some interesting but fun turns.
All in all one hell of a solid day for July turns. Today theres minimal sunburn, and zero function in my hip flexors.

Vel:I think I saw some of your women, they were encouraging me, given how much I was hurting at 9k.

We had about the same. Started around 7:45 and got to Muir at around 12:15 or so. About a 4 and a half hour climb. Skied down at ~1pm We went from muir to the Nisqually chute, then climbed back up and skied down the on the normal trail for hiking up to Muir. Snow from Muir to the Chute was perfect. Probably 2-3" of penetration and nice corn! The Chute itself was nice and soft but was sluffing a bit. Each turn sent snow sliding all the way down the chute. Nothing major but had to keep that in mind. The runout towards the ridge to hike back up was a bit sticky. The snow on the main trail (we just skied down the main trail after hiking back up from the chute) was sticky and grabby but not to bad till maybe the last 1000 feet to the Paradise parking lot.

I definitely felt that last steep part before Muir too. That really kicked my butt. Even the "flatter" part after that last steep section seemed steep! Definitely out of shape as i was having trouble catching my breath.

**Ski to Be** · 07-12-2010, 10:37 AM

Did Adams on Saturday & did the SW Chutes. We got a late start and caused a wet slab avy. Attached is a video best viewed in 720hd. My buddy Adam & his dog Bear are in the video. Bear has 6 summits of Adams under his paws.

[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=if8NgW8JY1c&feature=channel"]YouTube- Mt Adams Ski tour[/nomedia]