Little Tahoma via Paradise

May 13, 2023

Little Tahoma had been on my list for years but I had always prioritized other peaks and routes. With a heat wave this weekend and one day to get outside, getting high in MRNP seemed like a good plan. Colin and I decided to be responsible mountain citizens and secure a permit, which meant with work schedules that we had to wait until 7:30am when the ranger station was open. We left Seattle at 5am, secured our permit after waiting in line for a bit while all geared up at 8am, and left the Paradise parking lot just after 8am.

It was smooth sailing in the conga line up the Muir Snowfield until we curved climber’s right away from the beaten path around 8,500 feet. As we traversed onto the Cowlitz Glacier, we decided to deviate from the guidebook instructions and rise up to almost 9,000 feet to get around the crevasses and seracs. This involved a little extra effort, but was very smooth and straightforward. We then were able to slide our way down to 8,600 feet again to cross the rock rib with only a short stint on rock and dirt.

The Ingraham Glacier was even more straightforward. We did a descending traverse to 8,350 feet or so before rising back up to the Whitman Glacier access col. This face was pretty firm but we didn’t need crampons since there was an existing boot pack. We reached the col 3 hours and 15 minutes after starting our day—reasonably quick compared to the ski touring guidebook estimates, so it seemed our up and down approach across the Cowlitz and Ingraham Glaciers had paid off.

After a snack, we booted (with some terrible isothermal post holing) up the steep snow just below the rock cliffs and did a steep traverse on snow that was pretty warm and slushy but not showing signs of full-on wet slide. This brought us to the cirque below the Southeast Face of Little Tahoma at about 9,200 feet. We skinned for a ways before hooking into a nice boot pack which carried us up about 800 feet below the summit. Some trail breaking in snow from here (ski tracks must have filled in the boot pack) got us to 100 feet from the top where we scrambled up rock, across the ridge, and then down and back up to the summit.

The last 50 feet or so were heads-up in ski boots, but we never felt the need to get the rope out in either direction. We reached the summit 6 hours and 20 minutes from the car and soaked in our up-close-and-personal view of Rainier. The exposure on the Northwest Face of Little Tahoma is pretty breathtaking from the top.

Our descent from the summit to our skis was forgettable in deep isothermal slush but the ski from there made up for it, with heavy, buttered corn and a perfect slope angle to enjoy it. We retraced our steps back out and got to the car just over 9 hours after we’d started. This day ended up being a bit bigger and more effortful than expected with our extra elevation gain in both directions and the slushy snow, but was right within the time expectation we had. Great day!

Nisqually Chute on Mount Rainier

March 18, 2023

With warm temperatures and sun predicted for Saturday, Colin and I decided a trip up to Camp Muir was in order. We left Seattle around 7:45am and got increasingly excited as we drove through the park, culminating in playing the Top Gun Anthem as we geared up in the nearly full Paradise parking lot in sun hoodies. We started skinning at 10:20am behind quite the conga line of people—good to see so many out enjoying the park on a beautiful day.

Since the road had been gated all week, the whole area looked pristine, without s-turns and tracks everywhere. We pushed the pace a bit at the beginning, passing a lot of folks, and eventually settling into a nice rhythm above Panorama Point, slowly passing the rest before arriving at Camp Muir alone and with nearly first tracks about 2.5 hours after we’d started up—a pretty awesome experience. After a brief snack, we clicked into our skis and headed for the top of the chute. I’d skied it twice before in varying conditions and wasn’t sure what to expect. What we found was hero heavy corn. We whooped and exclaimed “I can’t believe it’s this good” a series of times as we stopped to let our legs recover.

It was lovely top to bottom but clear things were warming fast and wouldn’t last for more exploration, so we skinned up to Glacier Vista before skiing out. I was expecting the snow to be really heavy and difficult from that point to the car, but it ended up that we were able to glide on the top layer of heavy corn most of the way before just needing to sit in the back seat and take long, slow turns just above Paradise.

What a phenomenal day and what felt like a gateway to spring!

The Slot Couloir on Snoqualmie Mountain

February 12, 2023

Colin suggested we head up to Snoqualmie Pass on Sunday to ski The Slot couloir, hoping that the north-facing snow would be in better shape than most everything else we might find. He was right.

We left Seattle at 7am, which was a painful start for me being 7 weeks into new dad sleep deprivation. We met Mitch and Richard at the Alpental backcountry parking lot and began ascending firm snow with ski crampons shortly after 8am. Our ascent was pretty straightforward weaving our way up the ridge crest and became downright pleasant as we reached more open slopes up high when the sun unexpectedly came out in full force. We stripped down to our t-shirts and soaked in a rare dose Vitamin D.

We took a brief look at the couloir on our way up to the summit and it appeared to be reasonably intimidating, but difficult to judge from above. We continued our way to the top, arriving at about 10:45am, a little under 3 hours since we’d started. We ate lunch and took in the views for a bit before clicking into our skis and shimmying down to the top of the couloir.

Colin wasted no time contemplating and zipped past a large group that wasn’t yet ready to head in at the top. I went next and had a few moments of doubt as the terrain was pretty steep and the entry was only wide enough to side slip, but things quickly became much more manageable and we got to experience some exhilarating turns in the ambiance of Snoqualmie Mountain’s frosty, rocky, North Face. We whooped and hollered our way down and then dog-legged left to catch the skin track back up.

Not much to report from our descent other than the snow became quite heavy and unpleasant as we picked our way through the trees. We were back down at the car about 4 hours and 45 minutes after we’d started, ready for some burgers and beers to round out our Sunday Funday. Great day out!