SHOOSKI Posted March 22, 2007 Posted March 22, 2007 We were on the mountain last Sat. and after seeing dozens of people climbing to the summit and enjoying the snow, we decided to try our luck climbing on Tuesday the 20th. The new snow that had fallen the night before was perfect and we made good time on our prototype skis in great weather until half way up the mountain the clouds blew in. We tried to avoid the wind by climbing up one of the lava flows, but it didn't help much. When we climbed out to the ridge the gusts were too strong to stand up in and visibility was down to 10 yards. We had to yell at each other to be heard. We quickly ripped off our skins and turned downhill. We should have left the skins on - the skis were too fast. So being the great skiers we are, we carefully choose our path and skillfully tumbled down to the base of the mountain. Now the wind was gone leaving only gently falling snow and we had an uninterrupted, fantastic glide of 2 1/2 miles all the way to the parking lot at Marble Mountain. We actually had to stop several times to catch our breath. What a hoot! We'll try again later this week. Hope we make it. Quote
Roy Posted March 23, 2007 Posted March 23, 2007 Try leaving from the end of the road and head to the climbers bivowac. When you make the right on the road to the bivowac headihg east. Pick a good spot and go through the trees .Mark the branches or just get a bearing,If need be. when you clear the trees you can go east to monitor ridge or straight up. You will find less people, better more interesting skiing, but a longer trip. And maybe a snowmobile or two will bother you for the trip up the road. My friends and I have done this many times and find it an all around better way to go than leaving from Marble Mt. snopark. Quote
knappster99 Posted March 23, 2007 Posted March 23, 2007 Hey Mark and Pat, Took a friend up there today with a not too good forecast but ended up with a little sunburn! Nice packed snow the whole way to Chocolate Falls before it softened up and the snowshoes went on. Only went a few hundred yards past that until a good cloud cap started to form at the rim so we turned around to make the drive back to Tacoma. Again, wish we had the skis! We saw no one until almost back to the empty-but-two-cars parking lot. Sure enough, it started raining when we hit I-5 again, good judgment on turning around! Sounds like you had a little adventure up there! Keep tweaking those skis guys and good luck next time... Jeff having a good time Adams gave us a peek... ...and Hood was in and out all day Time to turn around View on the way out Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.