Van Trump Park is a great alternative to the Paradise are with massive open slopes and barely any people. Knowing the area had some great potential for ski touring Joe and I decided to see something different than the Muir Snowfield. Being the base of numerous summit climbs we were going to head out there to go find some great spring snow.
Castle Peak is one of the more popular mountains in the Tatoosh Range. With its easy access from Narada falls it is possibly the most skied peak in Mount Rainier National Park. Within 30 minutes of being at the Narada Falls Parking Lot you can be skinning up the north side. Being north facing the … Read more
October turns on the Flett Glacier is a tradition for the Turns All Year people in the Pacific Northwest. With the glacier being the closest permanent snowpack to Seattle it’s the perfect place to keep the streak going. While it is raining in the lowlands usually that means snow in the high country. With just a few inches of powder the Glacier is smoothed out and the perfect place to get the first turns of the season. With a storm arriving in the PNW my friend Scott and I made plans to go get our first turns of the season.
Ohanapecosh Glacier is one of those areas in Mount Rainier National Park that seldomly has people ski touring out to. Being off the backside of Fryingpan Gap it is a relatively far distance for a day tour. I had always looked at topograpical maps and wondered what was out there. On a trip out to the Cowlitz Chimneys I finally had a good view and knew that one day I wanted to head out to the Ohanapecosh Glacier.
The Fuhrer Thumb is possible one of the best lines in all of Mount Rainier National Park. Being steep and aesthetic with perfect fall line for a potential 11,000 feet it’s almost as if it is built for skiing. Being located on the south side of the peak there is a good chance the Couloir and it’s twin the Fuhrer Finger have caught you attention while touring around Paradise. This was the case with Amar, Ben and I as we wanted to take advantage of a perfect day in late Mid May. We would do an overnight push up the Ingraham Direct Route and ride down the Fuhrer Thumb.
Linking both the Cowlitz Glacier and the Nisqualy Chute is possible to descend in a single run. With the Glacier being just east of Camp Muir and the Nisqually chute southwest it would give is completely different aspects and snow conditions. This really wasn’t the plan as we were interested in a full descent of the Cowlitz Glacier but with the crux being littered in Crevasses we decided to go with plan B. It would be a unique run in Mount Rainier National Park linking two great ski lines.
The Gib Chute is one of those lines you look at while skinning up the Muir Snowfield. It is a steep line that just next to the Muir Shelter that runs almost 3000 feet at a steep and sustained pitch. It is actually the most direct route up the mountain but we were there to ski. Being the first weather window for the summit of Mount Rainier in April we decided to see how the skiing was.
Made a early start up to Camp Muir to take advantage of the sunrise over the Tatoosh range. Only to find it was pouring rain down at Paradise around 6:30A.M. Being optimistic Chris and I decided to head out towards Camp Muir in the rain. By the time we had made it to pebble creek we were soaked and it had finally started transitioning to rain/snow.
Emmons Glacier had always caught my eyes from Crystal Mountain ski resort. It just seemed like an endless descend being over 8,000 feet down to Glacier Basin after a hike over to the Interglacier. For many years I felt I didn’t have the skills for the semi technical line but over time I worked up on my skills. During the 2007 season I had a goal to ride all 5 Washington Volcanoes and this would be the home mountain.