JoshK Posted February 13, 2004 Posted February 13, 2004 Climb: Mt. Rainer, Muir Snowfield-The Cattle Trail Date of Climb: 2/12/2004 Trip Report: You all know what the Muir snowfield is so I'll save any real TR. THe long and short of it was the snow softened up just enough to make for really fun skiing. I chilled out for probably an hour and a half at the camp and watched 15 or so climbers in an RMI group come back across the inghram glacier. Also, Alex_Mineev from this site and partner came down before this RMI group. Everybody summited. Nice work, dudes. I'll post some pics later, but from what I can tell, gib ledges and all the other routes in that area look absolutely perfect. Too bad that'll change tomorrow. Given the reports from all the summiters it seems the snow up high was just perfect for quick climbing. I hope my accurate gear list can let you turly what it would have been like on the legendary muir snowfield today. P.S. If anybody cares, the coverage is great to ski the nisqually all the way down to the bridge. Gear Notes: Skis Skins Poles Backpack Windshell Light down coat Light schoeller pants Ski Socks Powerdry Tshirt Long underwear top my trusty climbing hat, duck tape and all a bandana MP3 player with headphones Goretex shell pants Some GU Some powebars and such 2 cookies a bagle sandwhich 2 liters of water A camera another lens a compass sunscreen lip balm gloves Some bandaids and shit sunglasses a small knife some spare batteries headlamp some trash that I had left in my pants pocket that muir snowfield navigation map they give you at the entrance I should have brought another cookie. Those were good. Approach Notes: Well, you pretty much get out of the car and start going up. Quote
cracked Posted February 13, 2004 Posted February 13, 2004 You gotta get OUT of the car? WTF? Sounds like you had fun while some of us were looking at Rainier through a lecture hall window. Bastard! Quote
JoshK Posted February 13, 2004 Author Posted February 13, 2004 Yeah, I was sick of looking at it out of the window the last few days too The real kicker was when my teacher was showing pics of the local volcanoes while discussing volcanism and rock structures or some such. I figured I better go do some hands on learning. Quote
Rodchester Posted February 13, 2004 Posted February 13, 2004 JoshK: Did you ski all the way down to the bridge? Beta please.... Thanks... Quote
Fejas Posted February 13, 2004 Posted February 13, 2004 Yeah, I was sick of looking at it out of the window the last few days too The real kicker was when my teacher was showing pics of the local volcanoes while discussing volcanism and rock structures or some such. I figured I better go do some hands on learning. Sweet dood, my Geology profesor would give me lecture notes for the days I'd skip out to go up in the mountains as long as I brought back negitives of geological features for him. I missed a total of a whole terms worth of classes that year, and didn't get behind, it was awsome... Quote
JoshK Posted February 13, 2004 Author Posted February 13, 2004 JoshK: Did you ski all the way down to the bridge? Beta please.... Thanks... Nope, I wanted to but I didn't have a partner, and thus, a second car. The snow is continuous all the way down however. If I had to guess, it looks like about 3 or 4 deep feet at the elevation where the moraine crosses under the bridge. Unless we get any big melt soon, it should probably be good to go for a while. Quote
mtngrrrl Posted February 14, 2004 Posted February 14, 2004 I'll post some pics later ... C'mon! Quote
JoshK Posted February 14, 2004 Author Posted February 14, 2004 OK, here are some pics. The links to the full size ones are below each picture. Ski Tracks on the Muir Snowfield http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/plab/showphoto.php?photo=3523&size=big&password=&sort=1&cat=509 Adams, Hood and St Helens at Sunset http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/plab/showphoto.php?photo=3518&size=big&password=&sort=1&cat=509 The RMI Cattle Train Crossing Ingrahm Glacier http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/plab/showphoto.php?photo=3521&size=big&password=&sort=1&cat=509 Mt. Rainer in the Afternoon Sun http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/plab/showphoto.php?photo=3520&size=big&password=&sort=1&cat=509 Mount Adams and the Tatoosh http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/plab/showphoto.php?photo=3519&size=big&password=&sort=1&cat=509 Quote
Dulton Posted February 14, 2004 Posted February 14, 2004 Sweet pics dood, it was an awsome day no doubt, it was fun to see you up there Quote
Careless_Ev Posted February 14, 2004 Posted February 14, 2004 Rodchester, Going down to the bridge is in GREAT shape. There some chucky snow that has sluffed off the sides, once you get down a ways, but otherwise, it's sweet. If you're on Tele or Alpine gear, stay river, or skier's, right. There a few short sections that would require a boarder to dismount, otherwise, it rides to the bridge. If on a snowboard, stay left and hike out the boot track to the bridge. The route has been in for quite a while, and it will remain in for quite awhile. Nice post Josh Quote
Careless_Ev Posted February 14, 2004 Posted February 14, 2004 Forgot to mention the snow... It was soften by the sun, but otherwise a firm crust was starting to form. North facing slopes are still quite powdery and nice! We couldn't make anything slide, but did notice some activity across the Nisqually. Quote
Bronco Posted February 19, 2004 Posted February 19, 2004 Me and JayB headed up toward Muir on Tuesday. Ran into one team below Panorama point who camped there because of bad visability the day before. Another group was camped on top of Pan point. We made it to the toe of the snow field before turning around in high winds and low visability compounded by the freezing mist on our goggles and clothing. Heres a photo: Snow conditions were varried windslabs and scoured out stratagusi/ice. Good times! Quote
mr.radon Posted February 19, 2004 Posted February 19, 2004 We had the Trango Tent and AT skis. We spent Sunday night on Pan Point due to wind and snow. Three Russians camped next to us, said they were heading for the summit. Wonder if they made it. Sonw heading out was deep, we got a lot of snow that night. Plus the wind shifted 180 degrees on us so durring the night the wind came right at the vestibule. Wouldn't have been bad but my partner has to piss three times during the night and crap twice. I felt sorry for his frozen ass. Wished I coulda gotten to Muir while the weather was nice. Quote
Bronco Posted February 19, 2004 Posted February 19, 2004 The Ruskies were still there Tuesday afternoon talking about going for the summit. Hardcore! The wind also swung around on us when we turned around to make sure we had a headwind coming and going. Quote
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