danhelmstadter Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 (edited) Trip: Mt. Rainier - Gib Chute Date: 4/21/2009 Trip Report: I like it when a plan comes together, and that is exactly what happend on monday afternoon when I was rushing and struggeling through madenning traffic on 1-5 to get to Paradise before they locked the gait. I hit all the green lights, took the right turns, got in the right line at the grocery store. I left around 230am and skinned easy snow up past Muir which is a considerably easier way to get up the mountain rather than the more Southerly routes like the Kautz where you have to loose elevation to get up to the Turtle. I negotiated some crevasses and gained the base of the chute as it was getting light. Stopping for a break, I realized I had left all my food back in my truck. It would have been pretty weak sauce to turn around then cause of that. Someone had skiied the chute the day before, nice tracks! Rock and ice fall were minimal as I climbed. Above the chute I found some very nasty hidden crevasses, but I safely negotiated them with a little prodding. The wind picked up considerably and I had to sport mittens/goggles/baclava. The way was really straightforward, but those rollers/false summits sure teased me a couple times. It was a relief to get a break from the wind as I got inside the protection of the crater and made my way to Columbia Crest. The skiing up high was not great, but not all that bad, variable sustrugi and hardpack. I was careful to avoid the hidden crevasses just above Gib rock. The snow softended considerably as I entered the chute, but still icy in spots, and with a few chunks of debris here and there, also the previous skiier had sidesliped the narrow upper chute, leaving a challenging variable ice crust track which made the turns a little interesting. The meat of the chute was ripper, and put me in awe of the bueatiful theater encloseing it. Variable protocorn and mash potatoes down through Muir, gotta git some spring wax. Tacos and beer at the Highlander and a fire at hoarse camp made for a great end to a great day. Edited April 23, 2009 by danhelmstadter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortstow Posted April 24, 2009 Share Posted April 24, 2009 well let me be the first to give you congrats Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sisu Posted April 24, 2009 Share Posted April 24, 2009 what a great trip! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivan Posted April 24, 2009 Share Posted April 24, 2009 soloing rainier in a day sans food = fairly 'core! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowball Posted May 30, 2009 Share Posted May 30, 2009 Sweet. Congrats. The chute is on my list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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.