TaylorCO Posted February 6 Posted February 6 Hi everyone! New to the forum, and I'm looking to come to Washington to ski Rainier (Fuhrer Finger) and Adams this season. I'll be coming from Colorado where I have a lot of backcountry skiing experience, but obviously nothing on big glaciers. I do have crevasse rescue training and my AIARE level 2 certfication. I have a few questions that I'm hoping to get some clarification on. What is the best month to ski these lines? In my research it seems like a lot of people ski the finger in May. Since I'm traveling in from out of state, my concern would be variable spring weather in May and not having a weather window; would June or early July still be a feasible time for these routes? I'm sure some of that is dependent upon the snowpack for the season. From what I can tell the PNW is around average right now; is that accurate? Is there a good route map that shows where most people camp on the Wilson Glacier? It seems like a lot of people ski down to the bridge and hitch a ride back up to Paradise. Is that correct? Lastly, I'm trying to get some partners together here in Colorado, but if anyone knows someone in the PNW who wants to ski these, I'd be open to new ski partners as well. Thanks, Taylor Quote
olyclimber Posted February 7 Posted February 7 I’m not the person to answer most of these questions, but it doesn’t matter what month for this: you won’t want to be up there if there is a lenticular hanging on the mountain. 1 Quote
bedellympian Posted February 7 Posted February 7 I've skied Fuhrer twice. Late June is too late, I've tried it and it was gross. July is a definitely out. Anything earlier is unpredictable as you said. You either need flexibility in your schedule or you need to be willing to book the trip multiple years in a row so that you will eventually hit it right. Sorry to be a downer. Totally possible it lines up perfectly first time, but just realize that the odds aren't great. Quote
JasonG Posted February 7 Posted February 7 Agreed with @bedellympian and @olyclimber....by the time we have stable weather each year it is time to ditch the skis. And trust me, don't climb up into a lenticular! Best to have some alternative descents planned out. The volcanoes stretch all the way down into CA and you can often find good conditions south, if Rainier and Adam are socked in. Some years, May is the ticket, other times it is April, but rarely is is mid June or later. Quote
JasonG Posted February 7 Posted February 7 From the Mountaineers (I haven't camped on the Wilson nor skied the Finger): Follow Wilson glacier along the left edge to about 9,000 ft, then cut across to the right towards the cleaver between Wilson and Nisqually glaciers. There is a good campsite at 9,500 ft. Some parties have made camp at 10,000 ft but had to dig platforms. And yes, snow depth in the south cascades is about average but we are in a dry spell so who knows by spring. Quote
AlpineK Posted February 7 Posted February 7 I"ve never skied the upper sections of the Fuhrer, but you can ski up to where the route gets narrower. It makes for a good day ski. Like others have said April and May might be good times. While I have had some fun ski trips in June, it falls into the late season and other activities might be better. A couple routes on the south side of Adams are fun ski trips either as a long day or an overnight Quote
TaylorCO Posted February 8 Author Posted February 8 Thanks for all of the thoughtful responses. Looks like I'll have to take my chances with late May! Quote
JasonG Posted February 9 Posted February 9 A good example of how each year is it's own animal @bigeo, thanks. June used to be the time for a lot of snow stuff in the Cascades but it tends to be earlier these days....unless it's not! Quote
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