| Mt. Rainier, Chuting the Nisqually |
November 20, 2005 An annoying inversion had been sitting over us for a week. Cold air in the valleys made biking a joy, but 12,000 foot freezing levels boded ill for the snowpack. Hoping to find some corn, Dave, Amar, and I headed to -surprise!- Rainier. In the parking lot it was warm and sunny. It felt like July, only you could skin from the car. We left the cold weather clothing in the car and headed up. After 100 yards I stopped and took off my shirt. The hordes were incredible. Everything below Pan Point looked like a herd of elephants with vibram feet had passed through. Rampant frozen crusty ski tracks cut through the postholes. Dave and I removed the skis to pass the hordes booting up to Pan Point, including several snowboarders wearing down jackets, an alpine skier having trouble with slick plastic soles, and the usual horde of backcountry folk heading up to Muir. At Pebble Creek we stopped and waited for twenty minutes. Above Pebble Creek we stopped and waited for another twenty minutes for some sunbathing. We introduced ourselves to and chatted with a TAY regular. Amar showed up, followed closely by Hannah (going to Muir twice in one weekend seems to be her standard; anything less is a wasted weekend). I voiced a vehement opposition to going to Muir again. Amar and Hannah wanted no part in Chuting the Nisqually, so they continued up and Dave and I traversed over to the top of the Chutes. We lounged around in the sun some more before dropping in. The day before the snow had been bottomless mush, which had consolidated by now. The tracks from yesterday made aggressive turns mandatory. We traversed over to the untracked slopes, and found several inches of corn on top of a softening crust. Up high I stayed on top of the crust; down low I started breaking through. It was good skiing in a very nice location. Leaps and bounds better than the Muir Snowfield. At the bottom we lounged some more, and then hoofed it up the bootpack and skinned back to Pebble Creek. After waiting for a while, Amar showed up, followed by Hannah, and we headed down the elephant-stampeded snow to the car. The skiing was good as long as you didn't try to turn much. A good day.  The line  Gimme a HAWP TURN!  Dave heads into the land of untracked corn.  He gives Cool Guy a run for his money.  My turn. Photo by Dave Coleman.  Again.  More.  The crust was a bit icy, so sometimes you'd skid a ways. Made for interesting tracks, though.  Hannah. This photo is to illustrate the ferocity of the elephant stampede. Back to Climbing and Skiing
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