Category: Washington

After much anticipation associated with securing a spot in the early lottery process and then scoring a reservation for the group shelter at Summerland on the Wonderland Trail, our group of Brian, Dan, Joe, John, Mark and I headed out in anticipation of three fun days of skiing and riding in the Fryingpan Glacier area of Mt Rainier. Brian and I got picked up at the Harrisburg exit early in the am by Mark, Dan & John, and we made the trek up to Albany where Dan hopped into Joe’s truck and we caravanned the rest of the way to the park. After a brief stop at the exit on highway 12 for some coffee and supplies, and another in Packwood, we made our way into the park to pick up our permit at the White River Ranger station around 10:45 am. A few minutes later, we found ourselves with the last two parking spots at the Fryingpan Creek trailhead, and set about getting our packs and gear ready for the hike into Summerland.  

The weather was overcast and cool, which was actually quite welcome from the heat we’d been having during the past week, and made for a pretty leisurely and non-sweaty approach as we hiked up the trail. The first miles passed quickly, and soon we found ourselves at the bridge crossing, which ironically was washed out again just as it was 2-years ago during our last visit. As we started to don packs and get ready to cross, I caught some movement out of the corner of my eye and noticed a big black bear with two cubs rambling down the trail across the creek. Definitely not wanting to get into the middle of that, we retreated from the creek a bit and yelled towards the bears to let them know we were there. The bears definitely wanted to cross, but finally decided to head down the creek and gave us passage to cross without incident.  

After crossing, we followed the trail for a half mile or so and then began the switchbacks up the steep canyon wall towards Summerland. On the hike up the trail, I looked back across the canyon and we spotted another black bear, this one a big male, feeding in a meadow. Seems like the bears were definitely out and about with the cool weather. A bit later, we were able to don skins and get the skis and boots off our backs, and soon we arrived in Summerland, happy to have the shelter as a place to stay for the next two nights.

After getting the packs off our backs, we began to get our camp in order in anticipation of heading out to make some afternoon turns. The bear pole was up (thanks to the rangers for getting that installed a few days earlier), and after hanging our food out of the reach of any hungry bears, we donned skins and headed out towards Goat Cirque. The fog and clouds were still holding on and didn’t show any signs of loosening their grasp at our elevation, but it was still great to get out on the skins to make some turns.

As we worked our way up the snowfields of the Goat Cirque, we didn’t see any goats, but did see quite a few tracks in the snow. Visibility was anywhere from 100 feet to 100 yards, so I’m not sure if we would have seen them even if they were right on top of us. Regardless, we continued up and followed some smooth looking snow up to climber’s right of the bowl.

We worked our way up to where the slope steepened and the visibility worsened and decided that was high enough for our first lap. A few of the skiers headed down, and after I pulled my skins, I dropped in and snapped a few shots of Dan coming down. 

The snow was a bit on the sticky side which was surprising given it’s smooth and firm consistency, but we figured it had to do with all the moisture in the air from the fog. Nevertheless, it wasn’t enough to keep us from heading up for another lap, although this time we elected to climb a slightly steeper pitch a littler lower down the bowl that was closer to our exit to camp.

Dan grabbed the camera through the steep rollover and shot a few pictures of me, and then I took it back and returned the favor as he  headed down. The snow here was quite a bit better than on our first lap, and gave us good hope for conditions the following day up high. After exiting the bowl, we traversed back towards camp, making some fun turns along the way before arriving back at Summerland a few feet from our camp site.

Back at camp, it was time to cook up some dinner and enjoy some leisure time hanging out. It stayed a bit on the cold side, so everyone had their winter coats on, but the relaxation was taken to the next level when Brian pulled out his cot that also doubled as a bench for sitting! 

A bit later, I cooked up what was quite possibly one of the worst freeze dried meals I’ve ever had (never again will I buy the Green Curry from Backpacker’s Pantry haha. It literally tasted like vomit but I had to eat it since I didn’t have a surplus of meals on hand having packed in a full 6-pack for the crew plus an extra beer for me. Even Fischer tasted my food and said it was really, really bad, which if you know John is really saying something! I managed to stomach the food eventually and then washed it down with a backcountry margarita made from an airplane shot of tequila, some crystal light lemonade and some corn snow. That took the bile/vomit taste out of my mouth and put me in a better mood for the rest of the evening, which was capped off by taking a few more photos around the shelter before we all hit the sack in anticipation of the following day. 

After a cool, foggy (and even misty at times) night, we woke to cloudy skies that we could tell were going to succumb to the sun. I’d been telling Brian for the past 24 hours about the glorious views of Mt Rainier from Summerland, but we had yet to see the mountain. Finally, after breakfast, we were ready to head out around 8:00 am when the sun finally beat the clouds down enough for the mountain to pop out just as we donned skins and left camp.

As we started skinning higher and made our way towards Goat Cirque, the views improved and what a contrast it was to the previous day. I followed Mark who was out in front, and eventually we all grouped up in the cirque to continue our ascent.

Partway up the bowl, Mark and I donned ski crampons while the rest of the crew donned regular crampons. A bit later we all arrived at the top of the ridge, and the views to the south and west opened up nicely with Mt Adams looming large. Looking back towards the southeast, it always feels like I’m looking at something out of a Lord of the Rings movie – the scenery from this side of the mountain is just superb.

We enjoyed a quick break at the ridge, and then continued our approach up to a high point before having to drop down before more climbing. I took several shots as we headed out, including the ones below of Brian and Joe.

As we climbed, the snow was quite smooth and it looked like we were going to get not only a long ride on the way out, but a good ride on our way back down. A few more minutes of climbing and a few more pictures brought us to a point where it was time for a brief descent…

After putting the board halves together and removing skins, I motioned for Mark and Dan to drop in while I shot a few photos. The turns looked great the corn was ripe, and the two shots below show their signatures on the snow.

After shooting a few pictures, I dropped in next and harvested the perfectly ripe corn. At the bottom, it was time to don the skins again for my favorite part of the climb up to the Fryingpan and on to Whitman Crest. A couple of shots below include John threading the needle between a couple of patches of snow in the bowl and then a couple of the skiers looking pretty small below on the climb up to the Fryingpan proper.

Mark and I headed out ahead of the rest of the group and set the skin track up towards the Fryingpan, and partway up the snow was looking really good. With a few of the others still well below us, Mark couldn’t take it and decided he needed to get a few more turns in, so he pulled skins quickly and enjoyed some quality corn while I shot a few pictures. It was really tempting to pull skins and follow him, but I decided to to continue on up.

I headed up the slope and eventually worked my way out onto the Fryingpan, which was looking really nice, and found a good spot to take a break and refuel. A bit later the rest of the crew came up, and soon everyone was enjoying a break with a view.

Our break wasn’t too long — just enough to lower the heart rate, rehydrate and enjoy a snack — and then it was time for the push to the Whitman Crest. The views from this high on the Fryingpan are quite incredible, and looking across the glacier to Mt Rainier proper gives a commanding view of the Emmons Glacier.

We worked our way up the slope and were able to skin the entire way to the high point on the crest. My first order of business was to put my beer on ice, which I did. A few minutes later it was cold and ready to drink, and I’m not sure I’ve ever had a better beer than the cold Alpenhaze Hazy IPA from Icicle Brewing Company. Life doesn’t get much better than enjoying a cold beverage high on a volcano in the pacific northwest in late June with several of your best ski buds!

As usual, the views from the crest didn’t disappoint. Looking off into the Whitman Glacier to the west and up to the Little Tahoma, I didn’t even feel the urge to head off in that direction. It was just great to enjoy the view and get ready to harvest some of the best corn around. 

While we enjoyed the views and our beverages, Brian and I hiked the ridge to the high point to get a commanding view of the mountain and the Fryingpan. Standing on the rocks high on the ridge and looking down at the valley carved by massive glaciers is a sight that I will never tire of.

A few minutes later we scrambled back down to the rest of the crew, and after getting the obligatory “sponsor shot,” it was time to step into the bindings and get ready to shred. As usual, Fischer took off first, and was so fast I couldn’t even get my camera out quick enough to snap pictures of him — all I got was his tracks heading way the eff down skier’s right of the Fryingpan with him as a small dot in the picture. Typical Fish!

Joe launched next, and I followed after he headed down. Brian elected to stay up at the crest (we’d all agreed to come back up for a second lap), and I stopped briefly to shoot a shot looking back up the crest before heading down toward John.  

Partway down my run, I pulled over at a suitable spot for shooting some action shots, and waited until Dan and Mark came down from the crest. A few moments later, they dropped in and skied by me while I fired off several pictures of them enjoying a quality corn harvest.

The corn on the Fryingpan was definitely some of the best corn of the year, if not the season. I headed all the way down to John (as did Mark), and everyone was stoked on the snow quality. The climb back up to the Crest wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be with a slight breeze that kept us cool, and before long we were teamed back up with Brian and ready to drop in again for a second lap.

Mark, Brian and I watched as Dan, Joe and John dropped in and made nice turns down the creamy corn of the upper Fryingpan, and then clicked into our bindings to follow. I dropped in next and enjoyed the perfect corn before setting up to snap a few shots of Brian enjoying his first lap on the glacier as well as Mark’s second. Brian caught a little air right off the top and then ripped the snow down towards the rest of our crew.

The scenery for shooting photos was about as good as it gets, and I caught some shots of the guys cruising with Mt Adams in the background..

We rode down to Dan, Joe and John, and regrouped as we worked our way down the glacier. The shot below of John skiing on the upper Fryingpan with Whitman Crest in the background provides some visual evidence that we really enjoyed the upper reaches of the Fryingpan — lots of tracks were laid down!

We enjoyed turns on down the glacier before stopping to regroup at the headwall of the steep bowl on skier’s right of the lower Fryingpan. We wanted to head back down along our climbing route, and talked over what migh be the best way down.

After assessing it, Joe, Mark and John headed skier’s left while Dan, Brian and I went skier’s right. I did a ski cut across the slope and got a good release of some wet, newer snow that was clinging to the steep headwall, and after it slid safely down to the bottom we dropped in one by one. Brian dropped in first and made a few nice turns in front of the Goat Rocks, and then charged to the bottom.

Dan dropped next and I followed after him. I snapped a few pictures before putting my camera away and heading down, including the two below. I really like the second shot, where Dan is dropping over the steep headwall — it looks like he’s ready to drop off the face of the earth! 

At the bottom, we regrouped with Mark, Joe and John, and linked turns down to where we’d stopped earlier in the day. At this point, the skins went back on our skis and a short climb was required to get back to the Goat Cirque bowl. Brian and I did our best to look for an entrance into the Goat Cirque on a line that a few of us have skied over the years, but the entrance wasn’t obvious and it was definitely a safer choice to ski out our climbing route.

After the short climb out of the bowl, we ran the ridge down for a quarter mile or so and dropped into the Goat Cirque. This time, Brian offered to shoot a few shots of me, so he grabbed the camera and setup below. The turns in the cirque were smooth and nice, and definitely worth the effort.

The ski out of the lower cirque was pleasant, and then it was the long traverse back to Summerland. My calves were burning by the time we finally stepped out of the board near camp.

I pulled out my camera and threw the wide angle lens on to grab a couple of sunburst shots of Brian and Dan (below), but forgot to take the filter off so the photos ended up with quite a few hexagon prisms. Nevertheless, they still looked decent…

That evening at camp everyone kicked back and relaxed after a long, fun day. I had another freeze dried dinner, this time it was much better (a Pad Thai meal from Backpacker’s Pantry) and it hit the spot, along with another corn snow margarita. The rest of the crew also cooked up some food, and we enjoyed the evening.

Brian and I spent some time talking about cameras, lenses and photography, since he had just pulled the trigger on a new Olympus camera a month earlier. We started talking about intentional movement and blur when taking photos, so I did a couple of quick experiments with a little longer shutter speed and rotated the camera 180 degrees (or as best I could) over about a half second. The resulting images are below…. 

It wasn’t too much longer before the evening wore on, the sun set behind Rainer and the light started to fade. Eventually, everyone crawled into sleeping bags and day number two was in the books.

The next morning dawned clear and sunny, and we enjoyed a leisurely freeze dried breakfast and some good coffee before heading out for some turns outside of camp. The goal for the morning was to ski the lower slopes below Meany Crest and the Fryingpan glacier, and then to get back to camp at a reasonable hour to pack up and hit the trail. We headed out somewhere around 8:00am or so, and after a short carry right outside of camp were able to skin the rest of the way. On our approach out to the slopes below Meany Crest, we ran into several Hoary marmots.

The sun was shining brightly, and our fears that the snow might not soften in time to corn for us before we had to leave were relieved pretty quickly after we set out. Mark set a nice skin track for us to follow, and soon we started gaining elevation and the views opened up nicely.

We worked our way up to our high point for the day, and as usual the views were excellent. The view of the Emmons glacier and Mt Rainier proper from this side of Meany Crest are incredible. The Emmons is quite a bit smaller than when I first laid eyes on it 15 years ago, but still the biggest glacier in the lower 48 and super impressive.

A few minutes later, after enjoying the views and a snack, Dan arrived (he’d left camp after us and skied a short line before catching up with us). I snapped a picture of him as he arrived, as well as a picture of Fischer before he stepped into his skis and headed down.

After watching Mark, Joe and John drop in and harvest some pretty tasty looking corn, Dan, Brian and I readied to enjoy some turns. We had a question as to whether or not our line went all the way to the bottom, but not seeing the others skinning back up was a pretty tell-tale sign that it went, so we dropped in.

We enjoyed good snow right from the top, and then worked our way down the wide open snowfields. There were a couple of spots that necked down and made for some spicy turns, but it was mostly just plain good skiing. I shot several shots of Brian and Dan as we descended.

We worked on down and made turns for quite a long ways. It felt like we were going to ski clear to Fryingpan creek before we finally rounded the corner and started traversing back towards Summerland. A few more photos from the action are below.

On the skin back to camp, we looked up and noticed that Joe and Mark were headed back up for another partial lap, and that Fischer was climbing a wild looking snow patch above us.

Although the snow that John was climbing up looked pretty hairy and not that good, none of us were surprised to see him booting up the couloir. A few minutes later after we had made the transition to skins, he clicked into his skis and began descending. The snow looked terrible, and for a minute we thought he might fall to his death, but he managed to ski down. When he got to us, we all laughed when asked him how the snow was. His reply: “not very good.”

A 20 minute skin and boot later, we were back at camp and it was time to get ready to break camp and hike out. I was looking forward to drinking my other beer that I’d packed in, a Tropic Haze IPA from Silver City Brewery. I’d strategically left it in a snow patch just behind the shelter, along with one for Dan and John as well, and the beers were ice cold when I pulled them out. They definitely hit the spot after a fun morning of turns.

After enjoying our beverages, it didn’t take long to break camp, load our packs and head out. The goal was to see if we could ski down a ways from Summerland, with the goal of descending as far as possible before having to put the sticks on our backs. None of us knew how far we’d be able to descend, but we headed out with hopes of reaching the creek.

To my amazement, we found a great line that went all the way to Fryingpan creek. The final stretch to the creek was in a small draw with shade that kept the snow protected and it worked out perfect. I caught a few pictures of Joe coming down with a loaded pack enjoying the final turns of the trip.

Once down to the creek, Fischer, Dan and Mark kept going, but it was kind of a skis on, skis off kind of thing, along with a bit of uphill shuffling. Joe, Brian and I elected to put the skis on the packs and walk the quarter mile or so down to the crossing, where we all met up, this time with no bears in sight. This time we were able to cross the creek without removing shoes, so it was a bit faster than when we came in a few days earlier.

After crossing the Fryingpan, the rest of the hike out went smoothly, and a few miles later we were back at the trailhead enjoying a cold drink and changing out of trail clothes and into flip flops and shorts. A few minutes later, everyone strolled in (Dan was last to the truck in typical Dan fashion because he had to stop and enjoy a beer on the way out — definitely didn’t want to pack that out), and we were all in the mood to grill up some brats.

The brats cooked up nicely on the grill, but our bread options were limited due to a mouse getting into the loaf of bread we had in the back of the truck, so in a pinch we used tortillas, which actually worked out quite nicely. I pulled out my tripod and got a shot of our whole group enjoying the grub after an epic trip, and that capped off a great three days on Mt Rainier.

A bit later, with the food gone, we loaded the trucks and made the long drive back down I-5 to the valley, fully satisfied with another good trip to the Fryingpan. I don’t know how soon it will happen, but I know it won’t be too long and I’ll be ready to head back for another trip to such a special place!

A short weather window appeared to be shaping up for the possibility of scoring some corn turns in the mountains, but it wasn’t certain since it had just snowed a foot or so a few days earlier. The promise of corn however was enough to lure John, Dan and I to head north and give Mt St Helens a try. We left from my house on Sunday afternoon, and after a somewhat slow drive up I-5 due to Portland traffic, we pulled into the Marble Mountain snowpark and settled in for the night.

After talking with a few climbers and skiers who were up during the day, it sounded like it was a bit on the soft side but it we got an early start we’d probably find some corn. We settled in for the night, with Fischer sleeping on the ground and Dan and I in the back of my pickup, and woke up around 4am for an early start. Dan elected to stay at the truck for the day, having forgot his knee braces at home and he was pretty bummed, but concerned about sloppy snow causing an injury. Fischer and I headed out around 5am by headlamp, and made good time up through the forest under the firm snow.

We worked our way up to treeline and continued on up, and soon the sun was rising up over the ridge to the east. It was quite beautiful, and reminded me that I need to get out for more alpine starts. The track we were following from the day before looked like a herd of elephants had climbed the mountain, and was about 75 feet wide with boot steps everywhere.

As we worked our way up, Mt Hood was looking nice to the south and Mt Adams was looming large to the east. As the slope steepened, we donned ski crampons and continued climbing. Eventually, we found a nice spot about 1500 feet below the summit rim and enjoyed a nice break to refuel and take in the views. After our quick pit stop, we continued skinning and found a nice path right to the rim.

As we approached the rim, we took care to stay well back from the edge of the cornice, but as usual were awestruck by the awesomeness of the crater and northside of St Helens. There’s nothing quite like skinning up the mundane southside of the mountain and then topping out to see such a raw display of what nature is capable of.

After snapping a few pictures, my next order of business was to get my beer on ice. I’d been waiting for quite awhile for the appropriate time and location to drink the beer I’d been packing along, and sitting on the summit rim was the perfect place to enjoy my Truman’s Goddamn Ale from Loowit Brewing.

Sitting up top, enjoying the excellent views and perfect weather with absolutely nobody around felt almost surreal. We hung out at the rim for nearly an hour, enjoying our beers, enjoying the views and enjoying the solitude on one of the northwest’s most defining landmarks.

Looking off to the north, Spirit Lake was looking quite blue and Mt Rainier was looming large to the north. I could see Little Tahoma clearly, and was reminded of trips there in years past and it rekindled my stoke to return there later this year.

Eventually, we decided it was time to put the skis and board on and make some turns. I snapped one final shot of John standing on the summit rim before we stepped into our bindings.

Given the amount of ski tracks directly below us on our ascent route, we elected to traverse to the east across the rim and check out the conditions in the far bowl. As it turns out, it was a good decision and we found some perfect, untouched corn.

After our traverse and a quick climb back up to near the summit rim, John dropped in first and I shot some photos of him as he headed down. He made dozens of turns and I could tell the snow was perfect! Once he stopped, I rode down to him and he grabbed the camera, headed down the slope another several hundred feet, and then shot a few shots of me while I came down, harvesting the perfect corn.

The wide open bowl provided the perfect canvas for us to leave our mark on, and we continued on down, making countless turns in the smooth corn. John isn’t one for waiting, so I was usually playing catch-up with him, and shooting photos of him from behind as he was heading down.

When I finally caught up to John at the bottom of the first main pitch, we turned to look back up at the bowl and had to admire our work…

After admiring our turns looking perfect in the sun, we worked our way down the rest of the mountain, enjoying the soft, but not as perfect, snow on the descent. Eventually, we worked our way back over to our ascent route, and skied down to treeline. The sliding down in the trees was pretty fast, even though the temperature was quite warm, and we made great time sliding back down the trail. Several minutes later, we popped out at the parking lot, super stoked on our ski.

We quickly found Dan at the truck, and gave him the report of the great skiing conditions. The next order of business was to get out of ski boots and into flip flops and shorts, and then get the meat on the grill. A bit later we were enjoying some tasty brats, complete with all the fixings, as well as some cold beer that John had stashed away. As usual, I took the apres-ski shot with the tripod, and also as usual, it showed us with all of our stuff splayed out across the parking lot :).

Eventually, with our bellies full and spirits high after a great day of skiing, it was time to head out and make the trek back down south to the southern Willamette Valley. We loaded gear into my truck and headed out, stopping a few miles down the road to take a couple shots of the mountain on our way home.

The drive home was filled with the usual traffic in Portland, but outside of that was uneventful, and soon we were back at my house, approximately 30 hours or so after we’d left the day before. All it all, it was a great trip to St Helens, and I’m already plotting another visit back up that way as soon as I can get up there.

After watching the forecast closely for a few days, it looked like a weather window for Adams was approaching. I called up Joe, and he was thinking the same thing, so we decided to head north for a mid-week shot, with the hope of riding the Avalanche Glacier Headwall. It had been awhile since I’d been on the line, and I was pretty stoked when I left work around 4pm and headed up the freeway to meet Joe at the cop shop. We carpooled the rest of the way up, and made it to White Salmon in good time, where we stopped to get a bite to eat from the local grocery store. A few minutes later, we hit the road and got our first good look at the hill from Trout Lake, and it was looking good.

From Trout Lake, we rolled up the road and soon worked our way up the gravel roads towards Cold Springs. About a mile and a half from the trailhead, we were stopped by a large snow drift blocking access to the campground. A couple of folks were working on digging out a track, so Joe and I decided to park and give them a hand. It took a couple of hours of digging, but we were able to get it in shape for a dude with a large Dodge with chains to bust through. Once he made it through, the rest of us were good to go and it was pretty nice to be able to drive all the way to the trailhead, both from the standpoint that we would be able to have a level place to sleep and since we’d be that much closer for the climb in the morning.

As soon as we got to camp, I got the bivy setup and we hit the sack a few minutes later. I slept pretty well that evening, and the next morning we were up by 4:45 or so. After a quick breakfast, we shouldered our packs and headed up the trail. There was some snow right off the bat, but both of us were happy to be in approach shoes since we had a mile or so of walking before we were able to put on the skins…

Once we hit the snow, we donned skins and it felt nice to get the skis and boots off our backs. We worked our way up the trail and towards the ridge to the west of what’s labeled as the Crescent Glacier on the maps. There was a spicy traverse just before gaining the top of the ridge that required taking the skis off for a short section, but soon we hit the ridge and continued on up.

Soon we started gaining altitude quickly, and followed a bit more traditional path towards the bottom of Suksdorf Ridge rather than following the current climbers path that was quite a ways further east. As we headed up, a solo skier took off with a kite to do some kite skiing, so we had to stop to get a picture of that action…

After a short break, we continued skinning as high as we could, eventually finishing the last thousand feet to the top of Piker’s in crampons with the skis on our backs. As usual, the climb up to the top of Piker’s was a slog. The snow on the last five hundred feet to the top was in really poor shape, and both of us were happy that we wouldn’t be skiing that on our way down…

At the top of Pikers, we took another quick rest break, and enjoyed some food along with the views. Looking down into the SW Chutes, they looked to be in good shape, and we were optimistic about the conditions of the Avy Glacier headwall.

After catching our breath and enjoying the views, we agreed the snow on the summit slope looked worthy of our attention, so we set off on skins and worked our way to the base of the final slope to the true summit. The last few steps above 12,000 feet were a bit of work, but we topped out around 11:30 am or so if memory serves.

 As usual, the views off the top of Mt Adams didn’t disappoint, and it was great to see Mt Rainier’s southside staring us in the face. Looking off to the west, there were some spicy lines of the West Pinnacle, and I made mental notes to get back for something on the White Salmon in the next few years.

As we hung out on top, the weather was really nice. I grabbed my beer to take a picture, but given that I was feeling a bit tired, I elected to just take a picture of it and enjoy it later when we were down at a lower altitude. I do have to say, that Crescent Harbor Citra IPA from SeaQuake Brewing was one of the tastiest IPA’s I’d put on my taste buds in quite awhile!

Around noon or so, we readied to take off and head down to check out our line. As we were getting ready to leave, a single skier approached on skins, and as they got closer I could tell it was Amar. It was good to see Amar again, and we chatted for several minutes on the summit. Turns out his party was back at Piker’s waiting while he tagged the summit, and they were going to ski the headwall as well, so we agreed we’d all ski it together. After firming up that plan, we clicked into our bindings and headed down….

The turns off the summit were pretty nice, especially for the summit slope on Mt Adams. I headed down first, and then setup to shoot some shots of Joe and Amar as they came down. After we worked our way down a ways, Joe grabbed the camera from me and returned the favor…

After descending a ways, we regrouped and Amar headed down towards the entrance to the headwall to meet up with the rest of his crew. Partway down, we met up with David, who was also with Amar, and then we continued on down.

Above the headwall proper, we met up with the rest of Amar’s crew, which included Khanh who is a good friend of a friend of mine at work. The entrance to the headwall was looking quite a bit spicier than the last time I was up several years back, but nevertheless it still went, so one by one we dropped in. Once we got through the choke entrance, the steep long slope of the headwall was looking really inviting…

 The turns down the upper headwall are always quite exhilarating, and are made even better when the snow is smooth. The turns down on this trip didn’t disappoint, and we worked our way down, enjoying the smooth corn and steep slope angle.

I shot a bunch of photos of the skiers as we descended, and in between taking some shots of the action I enjoyed several big, sweeping turns down the steep pitch, with a few occasional jump turns mixed in. One of the things I love about this line on Adams is the views looking off to the north as well as looking down the line on the from above with the forest sprawling out below.

We continued working our way down the long, steep pitch, which seems to go on forever and is several thousand vertical feet in length. On a few occasions, we had to stop to rest tired legs before continuing on down…

Finally, we made our way to the bottom of the headwall and waited for the rest of the skiers to complete their descent. I snapped a few pictures showing the skiers near the bottom of the line which provides a good perspective for the scale of the lower half of the slope…

Once everyone regrouped at the bottom, we discussed exit options and decided to head further down the slope in hopes of making a lower traverse option work. This was a different exit than I was used to, but I deferred to Amar’s experience given he was fairly confident in being able to link turns on snow for most of the way out.

The turns down the lower portion of the runout were a bit bumpy but still fun, and we slowly worked our way back towards the south side of the mountain, working down as we skied. Eventually we ended up running out of snow, and needed to throw the skins on and work our way back up to the regular exit, which didn’t require that much climbing. From there, it was (what felt like) a long slog back to our uptrack on the south side route. It’s always longer on the way out when you’re tired after climbing over 6,700 feet!

A bit weary from all of the climbing and skiing, we finally linked back up with our uptrack, and after a quick break and putting the skis/boards back into ski mode, Joe and I bid the group farewell and headed down. We were able to link turns way back down towards the trailhead, which was quite a treat, and left us with just a short hike back to the pickup/

We made a quick change back into trail shoes, and a short time later were back at the car enjoying a cold beverage and changing into comfortable clothes. Both Joe and I were pretty stoked on the ski day, and definitely happy with our choice to head north from the valley to gamble on getting some corn on Mt Adams.

We wasted little time loading gear into the truck, and headed down the bumpy road back towards home. After a quick pit stop back in White Salmon to refuel, it was an easy drive back down I-84 and then I-5 home. All things considered, it was the perfect way to spend a couple of days in early June!

After a five-year hiatus, it was past time to head back to Mt Rainier for a backcountry skiing visit to one of the northwest’s most iconic national parks. After some last minute shuffling, this year’s crew ended up consisting of Mark, Joe, Dan and myself. We left the valley early Sunday morning, and Mark was kind enough to chauffeur us and our gear up to the Park in his truck. We made it to ranger station a little after 10:00 am, with plenty of time to pick up our permit and get to camp.

After chatting with the rangers for a few minutes (and learning that the creek washed out a portion of the trail), we headed up to the trailhead, loaded our heavy packs laden with overnight gear, and headed out. The hike up Fryingpan Creek is always beautiful, and this time was no exception. After a few miles, we made it to the creek and it indeed had washed out part of the trail since our last visit. Crossing was pretty easy, but we had to get wet up to the knees. I went barefoot, and the water was cold, but refreshing. I snapped a few pics of the guys coming across…

After the creek crossing, we donned ski/snowboard boots and were able to start skinning on continuous snow. Mark led the way, and we worked our way up the drainage towards the spot where the trail diverges from the creek. The views of Big and Little Tahoma from this point on the trail are quite scenic.

The gully near the trail proved to be an easy, open slope to skin up, and it didn’t take long to reach Summerland, and it was nice to be back. It looked a little different than my past trips to the area (which occurred in mid-July) and was pretty much completely snow-covered.

With the amount of snow in the area limiting the thru-hikers on the round-the-mountain trail, we were told by one of the rangers that we’d be able to snag the group shelter for the night, and potentially the following night pending any reservations. All of us were pretty stoked to be able to stow our gear in the shelter, and after a half hour or so of organizing overnight gear, we headed out for some evening turns.

The goal for the evening was to find some smooth snow and also be able to ski right back to camp, so we headed towards the direction of Goat Cirque. Just before we got there, we found a pretty nice, steep slope that looked like it met our criteria, so we started up. As the slope steepened, we switched to booting, and before long we reached a high point with commanding views of the surrounding area.

We enjoyed the views and a quick break up top, and then it was time to do what we’d come for and harvest some corn. I dropped in and setup to snap a few pics of the skiers coming down. The snow was consistent, smooth and pretty much perfect corn. Below are a couple of shots of Joe enjoying the harvest…

We worked our way down the slope and to the rollover halfway down, and I paused to take some photos while the skiers continued down.

The steep slope provided great turns and we skied to the bottom and transitioned to head back up and do it all over again.

Being able to reuse the boot pack was pretty nice, and it didn’t take long to make it back up. After another transition, Dan grabbed the camera and snapped a few photos of me working turns on the ridge line…

Once at the bottom, we took a high traverse and worked our way back across the slopes above from camp, before eventually letting gravity take completely over and turning our way back down to camp.

The evening turns were really nice, and surpassed our expectations. It also felt pretty good to get back to camp, get out of ski boots, and settle in for the evening.

After getting our ski gear taken care of, it was time for a freeze dried dinner and a margarita. Dan fixed the margarita’s up nicely (and even had salt), and I enjoyed mine with a a shot and a half of tequila I’d packed in just for the occasion. Dinner definitely hit the spot, and after some good bs it was time to hit the sack in anticipation of a big day in the morning.

Having the shelter proved to be pretty awesome, and we got a pretty cozy night’s sleep. The next morning dawned early, and after a quick breakfast and coffee, we headed out, with the goal of making some turns on the snow fields around the Whitman Crest. Mark set a nice skin track out from camp, and found a good line up to the top of the ridge on Goat Cirque.

I arrived to the top of the Cirque shortly after Mark, and while waiting just a few minutes for Dan and Joe to arrive, I was able to take a few pics of the surrounding landscape, mostly looking off into the Ohanapecosh drainage.

The views from the top of the Cirque are quite scenic, and any way that you point the camera results in a pretty picture.

The top of the Cirque proved to be a good spot to take a break and enjoy a snack, and we enjoyed the views, which included Goat Rocks and Mt Adams to the south.

A bit later, we stepped back into the skis and started on up, skinning up the ridge for awhile before it was time to make a few turns down and across the snowfields below one of our favorite ski slopes. Mark led the way, followed by Joe, and Dan and I came down after.

We continued working our way up, and after another hour or so, found a spot with running water coming out of the rocks protruding from the snow, which proved to be a good spot to refill the water bottles and enjoy another break.

The view were really starting to open up; I especially like the views back to the east of the Fryingpan drainage and beyond. From this vantage point, we could also see our objective of Whitman Crest as well, still looming quite a ways above us.

The final skin to Whitman Crest from our break spot took another hour or so, but we didn’t mind as the views were excellent, and getting high on the mountain always provides a of stoke to keep going up. As usual, the views from the Crest were exceptional.

One of the first orders of business upon reaching the crest was getting my beer on ice. I’d packed a Terpilicious Hazy IPA from Worthy Brewing just for the occasion, and this spot was definitely worthy.

Little Tahoma was looming large directly across the Whitman Glacier, and I was really wishing we had secured a permit to climb it since the snowpack was looking fat— next time for sure! While we were looking at it, we noticed a couple of skiers working their way up. Eventually they descended, and although they got a wet slough to run, overall the turns looked pretty dang nice.

Mark was game to climb up to the high point on the crest, which required a bit of rock scrambling, but the views from up top were definitely worth it. The Emmons Glacier was looming large to the north, and Little Tahoma was also commanding our attention…

Eventually it was time to head back down to the skis and get ready to drop in. I finished my beer and as we were strapping in a skier (who we had seen lower down on the Fryingpan) worked her way up to the Crest. We chatted her up a bit, and then it was time to enjoy the turns.

The snow was perfectly smooth and although a bit on the soft side (due to a fresh snowfall a week or so earlier), it skied really nicely. I snapped a few pictures of the skiers as they descended the upper Fryingpan, then headed down to enjoy the turns myself.

We worked our way down the snowfields about halfway to our favorite slope, and shot multiple pictures along the way. A few pictures of me making turns through the virgin corn snow turned out well, including the two below…

Around the mid-point, where the slope angle lessened, we decided to stop and head back up to the Crest to do another lap on the higher elevation snow since it was skiing really nicely. I captured the below shots of Mark and Joe skiing above the Fryingpan drainage before we switched back over to skins and headed up…

The skin back up went quickly, and soon we were back at the Crest enjoying views out over the Whitman Glacier again. For our second run, we headed out further along the Crest to the south, where the slope was a bit steeper, and it did not disappoint.

We worked our way down, enjoying the perfectly smooth snow. Partway down, I handed the camera off to Dan and he took several shots of me shredding with Mt Adams making for a perfect backdrop…

This time we headed down as before, then worked our way through the mellower snow below and over to our break spot from earlier in the morning, before enjoying the snow on our favorite slope in the area.

The snow was really tasty, and we ripped it to near the bottom of our favorite slope before donning the skins and heading back up for another lap. It didn’t take too long to work our way back up, and though it was getting warm and we were getting tired, it was pretty nice to be able to refill water bottles at the drinking fountain atop our favorite slope at our break spot.

For our second run on our favorite slope, we worked further skier’s right where the slope steepened considerably. The turns were absolutely perfect, and the snow forgiving, and it was easily the best turns of the trip.

Back down at the bottom, we all agree that one more lap was in order. Even though we were tired, the snow was too perfect and the scenery too spectacular to leave just yet, so we threw the skins back on and headed up one last time.

On the third lap, we worked even further to skier’s right, and this time Dan grabbed the camera and took shots of me working the slope. The steep turns were so good, and I enjoyed the chance to be out from behind the camera and let ‘er rip…

I worked my way down, ripping big, fast turns while Dan fired away. As I figured might happen, I cut loose a really slow, wet slough that moved super slow, and was easily able to work down in front of it…

Dan came down after me with the camera, and even jumped on my slow moving slide for a few turns for some novelty skiing. We met up at the bottom, and both of us were stoked on how good the snow was. Mark and Joe came down shortly thereafter, and we regrouped again to continue on down.

After some more sliding and then a little skinning up a steep slope to regain the ridge above the Goat Cirque, we gained a good vantage point to look back at our work from the previous few hours. A little more sliding and then a really short carry brought us back to the top of Goat Cirque, where I found my hat that had fallen off my pack earlier in the day, and from there it was home free for turns back to camp.

We worked our way down the ridge atop Goat Cirque, looking for a suitable place to drop in, and ended up dropping pretty much along our skin track from earlier in the morning, which was the place that offered the best turns without cliffing out…

Back at camp after a long day, we were all pretty satisfied. Topping off our excellent day was the fact that we were able to score the shelter again for the night, since another party hadn’t reserved it. My freeze dried dinner really hit the spot after a long day on the skintrack, and we enjoyed another margarita as well. Before long, daylight turned to dusk and then to dark, and we hit the sack, capping off another memorable day on Mt Rainier.

Day three dawned early, and we woke to clear sunny skies. The plan for the day was to check out the slopes beneath the Fryingpan Glacier, further looker’s right than we had skied on the previous two days of our trip. After a quick breakfast, we headed out, and Mark led the way, setting a grueling sidehill skin track off towards our objective. An hour or so later, we reached our high point for the morning, and started the transition in between gusts of wind.

Looking off to the west of our position, both Little and Big Tahoma were looming large, with the Fryingpan and Emmons Glaciers stealing the show.

The snow here was a little less smooth than we’d found on the previous day, but it was still in pretty good shape, and we enjoyed the harvest. I dropped in first, and shot a few pictures of the skiers as they headed down…

Looking down into the Fryingpan from this vantage point, I felt like I was in the North Cascades or somewhere in Europe; it definitely had the feel of big mountain skiing as opposed to the typical volcano riding we’re used to in Oregon…

We skied down to our skin track below, and decided it was definitely worth one more run before heading back to break camp for the day.

The skin back up on the sidehill track Mark set was just as grueling on the second lap as it was on the first, but we eventually made it back to our high point and readied for another run.

Lap 2 was pretty sweet, and we worked a slightly different line down the ridge and bowl than on lap 1. The turns were damn fine, and we miked them back down to our skin track before traversing back to camp. Sitting there in Summerland, it was nice to look up and see our artwork on the canvas above camp.

A few minutes later while breaking camp, reality set in that our trip was ending, but what a trip it was — some of the best turns of the season in a great spot with a great crew. And, we still had more turns remaining below us! Soon, we had our packs stuffed to the brim with our overnight gear, and shoved off from Summerland, working our way back down to the creek below. Being able to ski to the creek was a definite treat!

We slid without issue back down to the creek crossing, and then it was another “boots off” crossing to get to the north side of the trail. I captured a few more photos to document the adventure…

We ended up being able to slide about a mile or so of the trail on the various patches, with several spots of walking in between, but eventually the snow gave way to dirt and we put the skis and boots back on our packs.

Another hour or so of hiking along the creek brought us back to the trailhead, and to the end of our trip. One more important part of the trip was still to be enjoyed however — brews and brats at the truck. I fired up the grill, and we got the brats going, and the beer on ice. My beer for the afternoon was a great tasting Perpetua Pale Ale from Yachats Brewing.

A few minutes later, the brats were done, and we enjoyed them with all the fixin’s. Sitting there, enjoying our beers and brats after 3 days of great turns, we all agreed it’s hard to beat summer turns on Mt Rainier!

After a great day of turns on patrol the day before, I woke early with my alarm at 2:30 am. Since all my gear was ready to go the night before, I dressed quickly and was able to hit the road by 2:45 am and head north. The drive up the freeway through the thick fog went smoothly, and I was stoked to be heading out to visit a volcano I hadn’t been to in 9 years (could it really have been that long?). I pulled into the snowpark a few minutes before 6:00 am, and found Joe’s truck in the lot. We got our gear organized, took care of filling out the required permits, and shouldered our packs a little before 7:00 am. Skinning right from the snowpark was definitely a plus, and we worked our way through the trees. After a hour or so we got our first views of the mountain.

Coverage on the upper mountain was looking pretty good, and we skinned on under the firm snow as the sun rose above the horizon and created an orange glow. Looking back at Joe as we worked our way up the low angle slopes, I was definitely pretty happy about our choice to come here on this day…

A bit later, we caught up with a couple of guys who were on foot ahead of us. After some small chit-chat, we headed on and the slope steepened.  We were able to skin for a ways, but a couple of steep pitches caused us to switch over to booting to keep away from an unwanted slide.

Soon, it was time to enjoy a deserved break, and we refueled with a bit of food and water. As we were sitting there enjoying our food and the views, a lone raven decided to pay us a visit to see if he could mooch any food off of us. I took the opportunity to snap a few photos of him, and then once he realized we didn’t have anything for him, he headed out.

With our break done, we headed on, and it proved to be easier to continue to boot for the time being. As we worked our way higher, the views became better and better, and I snapped a few pictures of Joe with Mt Hood in the background. A short time later, we were able to get back on the skins and get the skis off our backs…

As we continued skinning, the views continued to improve, and we started to get good views of Mt Adams to the east. We kept skinning for as long as we could until the snow conditions became icy, and then it was time to switch to crampons for the final thousand feet or so. A few solo skiers were ahead of us and kept their skins on, but it was quite a struggle, and we quickly passed one of them.

One of the things about climbing St Helens is that it always seems like the top is just within reach, but it’s kind of like a mirage on the horizon —- always just a bit out of reach and a bit further out there. Finally, after working our way through some wind blown sastrugi near the summit ridge, we made our way to the top and were greeted with one of my favorite views in the cascades. Looking down onto Spirit Lake with Mt Rainier in the background is always such a visual treat…

We made the top somewhere a bit before 12:30 pm, making for an overall approach time of just under 5 hours and 30 minutes. I pulled out the fisheye lens and snapped several photos, taking extra caution not to get too close to the edge of the cornices overhanging the caldera. In the below photo, Joe is visible hanging out at the rim on the far right…

After snapping several photos with the fisheye, it was time to get my beer out and put it on ice, and we sat around and enjoyed the views for a bit. Joe offered to snap a picture of me in my usual pose with my board, and I returned the favor by shooting a pic of him on the rim as well….

We hung out on top for about an hour, enjoying the views, waiting for the snow below to hopefully soften some and turn to creamy corn, and enjoying the beautiful weather. Eventually, we figured it was time to make turns, and it was also time to pull out our beers and enjoy them before our long run down. My beer of choice for the day was an excellent Overland Amber Ale from Yachats Brewing. It definitely hit the spot, and by the time I had downed it I was ready to shred.

Taking off the crampons and putting on the board and skis was the crux of the trip, and once we had our sliding gear on we felt quite a bit better. I shoved off from the crater rim first, and the turns were a bit spicy for the first 800 feet or so through the sastrugi wind polished ice/snow mix. I caught a few pics of Joe coming down, and we were able to work slope for some pretty decent turns.

Once we were through the marginal snow, conditions improved significantly, and we headed over to the line Joe, Ron and I skied several years ago. Our timing was perfect, and we were stoked to be in for a really nice corn harvest!

Continuing down, we worked the slope for hundreds of turns. Joe grabbed the camera and fired off a sequence of shots of me harvesting the corn, including the ones below….

The benefit of climbing over 5500 feet on the approach meant that it would be a big run on the down, and we were definitely in the middle of it and it wasn’t disappointing. Above the worm flows, we spotted some good snow on skiers left, and worked our way over to ride it. Joe kept the camera, and snapped some photos as I rode through the lunar landscape…

More turns followed, and eventually we had to stop to rest our legs from all the action. Needless to say, both Joe and I were pretty stoked to score such nice corn in January.

As we continued down, we started to run out of real estate and eventually had to drop into the canyon below. After scouting the ridge line, we found a spot that looked like it would go and it did…

The ski out of the canyon was fun, and the snow stayed nice. We worked the natural quarter pipe down to the flats below, and retraced our uptrack from the morning back towards the treeline.

Once at treeline, we were able to cruise out the trail on the mostly flat slope really easily. The gliding was fast, and we needed to stop a couple of times to rest tired legs. I was able to ride the whole trail with poles out, and it was a remarkably easy glide right back to the pavement’s edge, where the first order of business was to get out of the ski boots and get the brats on the grill. While waiting for the brats to cook, we enjoyed one of Joe’s Sierra Nevada IPA’s along with the exhilaration that comes with an awesome day in the mountains.

Within a few minutes, the brats were done, and as usual they hit the spot after a great day of turns. It didn’t take long to scarf them down, and they were gone in no time. We hung out for a bit discussing Joe’s plans for the next few days, and then it was time for me to head out for the long drive home. I bid Joe farewell and headed down the road, but had to stop after a couple of miles to shoot one more shot of the mountain bathing in the afternoon sunshine.

The drive home went super smoothly, and I made it through Portland without a hitch in rush hour traffic, which is unheard of. All in all, it was an excellent day of January corn, and completely worth the early morning start and long day. I’d do it again in a heartbeat, but really hope a return to winter comes soon. Winter corn great, but I’m definitely ready for some more pow turns! Until then, here’s a parting shot from the day…