If you're a regular reader you might recall that I made a promise to post everyday. Well, that was short-lived and now I'm a little behind on posts. Want to hear my excuses? Well, here you go: We went to Randy's sister's for Thanksgiving then sort of didn't look back from there.
We had a very nice dinner with the family then dessert with a lot of neighbors. Friday morning was fairly liesurely because we thought we knew where we were going when we told our friend we would meet him at 12:30 at a park n ride in Bellevue to ride down to Mt. Rainier together and spend the weekend skiing. I'm pleased to report that eventually we figured it out, got Mark and his stuff loaded into the Suburu and off we went. That story in a minute but first I have to finish my list of excuses. Since we came back there were our regular jobs to attend to, unpack and sort through gear, which somehow always takes longer than the actual trip, holiday shopping then another promising ski weekend so we skied inbounds at Mt. Baker the following Saturday (last weekend) then I had to work on Sunday and go on a hike with a couple of my bestest girlfriends and then back to work for another full week. I feel as though I've been on a treadmill. However, as I've said more than once before, I'm grateful that I have a job about which to complain.
Okay on with the story: the three of us shared a room at the National Park Inn in Longmire. Rooms in the shoulder season are pretty reasonable and easy to get even at the last minute. Randy and I got the double bed and Mark a single. Mark provides earplugs for everyone since he is a notorious snorer. A hot breakfast off the restaurant's regular menu was included in the price. Not bad at all. A few years ago over New Years weekend Randy and I had a room with a bathroom down the hall, which actually worked out very well.
Skiing on that side of Mt. Rainier can be tricky because the good skiing is up at Paradise and there is no lodging up there in the winter, which starts in October. And the gate to Paradise is closed until the snow plows finish clearing the road and the parking lot. Sometimes the gate doesn't open until 1:00 p.m. or not at all. That's what happened to us over New Year's that one year. However, that year there was plenty of touring to do from Longmire. Since it was early in the season this time, we didn't have that option so we waited. And waited. The gate opened at 11:00 and we zipped up to Paradise with a line of cars.
Mazama Ridge is a fairly nice option for skiing in the early season because the slopes aren't terrifically steep. They do avalanche now and then but not the weekend we were there. The whole week had fairly consistent temperatures and snow fall so we weren't very concerned about avalanches. Still, we were careful.
The snow was probably the driest powder I've skied in, especially for the Cascades, which is known for "Cascade Cement" or mashed potatoes. However, this was very skiable snow. So all my doubt and fear about beginning of the season uncertainty and feeling rusty were sorted out after the first wobbly run. I kept expecting to bury my skis in mashed potatoes. Instead I buried my skis in powder and discovered that wasn't necessary. The next many (5?) runs were great and we kept hitting fresh lines in spite of the several parties who were making laps like we were. Some parties clearly hadn't trained at all for traveling uphill in snow and quit early. I wasn't particularly well-trained but it went better than I expected.
One generous couple who set the skin track in the first place pointed out a line they had planned to do next and told us to go for it. We didn't turn them down and kept our lines side by side so that there would plenty for that couple when they returned up the hill. We even went back toward the beginning to ski another line and each found untracked lines between tracks. It was really really fun and one of my best ski days ever.
The next day started pretty much the same. We were the first in the dining room and anxious to hear what time the gate would open. I think the answer was 11:00 again. So we packed as best as possible, read, chitchatted, paced the floor, waited. Finally we got going. Instead of skiing Mazama again we decided to do a tour up toward Panorama Point. The visibility was poor, white-out in fact. So we got in the skin track with about a dozen other skiers and snowshoers and pointed ourselves generally north without being able to see where we were going. By the way, I don't recommend this particular travel technique. However, the three of us have good sense (usually) and have traveled together quite a bit.
At some point most of the crowd dissipated but there were a few intrepid skiers who wanted to get all the way to Panorama Point or possibly even Muir, although that didn't seem likely given that no one can get going until the gate opens and that only leaves a few hours for skiing. Mark was in the lead for a while then an impatient person opted for a steeper line, followed by someone who kept falling in the skin track. That really slowed the forward progression down. I had the opportunity to show a young man how to make a kick turn since he had not used skins prior to that day. I'm pleased to report that my student seemed to take to it easily enough to get by.
Once we got up to a point in the white-out that suggested we go to our right for the Skyline tour we opted to turn around because at that elevation the terrain was so windswept that many rocks were poking through the snow. Plus we had to find our way back. So we skied down a nice line that was near our skin track. The snow was still very skiable. Usually I start whining in white-out conditions because it's hard enough to ski without vertigo. This time the snow was so fine and easy that vertigo really didn't hamper me much (until later).
We re-found our skin track and skied along side it. Then we got to a junction where there were several skin tracks. Which one to follow? We may have made a big circle or maybe just a slight detour but eventually we found ourselves again and the right skin track. The part that was making me nervous was finding the skin track that followed a narrow ridge. We really didn't want to end up on either side of that ridge because that would mean either a steep climb back out or possibly a terrain trap, neither of which was good. We did find the right one then decided to ski a nice line down to the Paradise Valley Road, which is the road we skied to Mazama Ridge the day before. I was all for it but this is where the vertigo got me.
Randy went first, then Mark, which is often the order we go in. Or sometimes Mark goes first. The point is, I rarely go first because out of Randy and Mark's choices I want to see which line looks best for me and often I can ski Mark's lines a little more easily. Randy usually opts for obstacles (trees) and steeps. Anyway, Randy was off to my right, and Mark slightly to my right so I thought I'd parallel Mark's line. Well, that was fine and dandy until I went over a hump I didn't see and ended up flat on my face in the fluff. Luckily the snow was deep enough that I didn't hit any obstacles. In any event I'm afraid that might've altered my mood.
Our next challenge was to get through fairly tight trees and over the road cut down to the road. The trees were fine because the snow was very skiable. The road cut I wasn't so sure about. Mark was down already and I had somehow got on Randy's line, which was apparently closer to me. His line was akin to a cliff huck. I might be exaggerating a little but I was fairly certain that I wouldn't make it without doing some damage to my person.
I took off my skis to walk down. Remember that we are skiing in some of the finest powder I've skied. I immediately sunk to my hips then floundered the short distance to the road cut and somehow managed to get down without turning myself upside down although honestly I wanted to bellyflop onto the road. I finally made it but by then I was completely frustrated and feeling ruffled and huffy. That little part was the most exhausting part of the whole weekend.
It didn't take long for me to get my good humor back because it had been a fabulous weekend of skiing. We got back to the car then decided to tour the grand (and I mean grand!) visitors center. There's even a cafeteria in there! It was quite nice but of course we complained that instead of such an architectural feat as this visitors center the park should spend its money on getting the roads plowed earlier so we can get up and ski earlier.
Curiosity about the visitors center satisfied we headed down the road to a nearby favorite cafe: Copper Creek Inn. They have really really good burgers, especially after skiing all day. A couple of the skiers we had seen on the track up toward Panorama were also there dining.
It was a really fun trip, Mark's snoring wasn't that bad, and we got him back to Bellevue by about 7:30 and ourselves home by 8:30. Just in time to unload haphazardly, zip through the shower and go to bed to get up to go to work the next day. Here are the pictures from Mazama Ridge. The white-out on Sunday wasn't worth digging out the camera.