Trip Date: February 18, 2007

Mazama Ridge Ski Tour

Sluiskin Falls
Mazama Ridge 

Trip Report Summary

Region: Southern Washington Cascades

Sub-Region: Mt. Rainier Massif

Area: Mt. Rainer National Park

Starting & Ending Point: Paradise parking lot at end of Nisqually Road (Elev. 5400 feet)

Way Points: Paradise Valley Road & Sluiskin Falls & Mazama Ridge Saddle (ski tour)

Approximate Stats: 3 miles traveled; 1000 feet gained & lost; 4.5 hours elapsed.

Full Trip Report

On a snowy Sunday, I joined Jorie, Karen T, Stewart, and Tracy for a special escorted ski trip around Paradise in Mt. Rainier National Park. Although the road from Longmire to Paradise was officially closed for repairs at the time, it was actually quite serviceable. Our escort was John Piastuck, a veteran MRNP Ranger. There was no repair work happening on Sunday, so we had the whole place to ourselves. That felt both odd and nice. Unfortunately, the weather was too foul to allow a long tour; we settled for skiing several different slopes and aspects on Mazama Ridge.

Because we started the day with 6 inches of fresh snow over crust, and more accumulating by the hour, John had us all perform a rutschblock avalanche test before venturing out.

The results indicated “moderate” stability (don’t they always?!), so we confined our skiing to more-sheltered slopes. There were depositional zones with 4 to 15 inches of heavy powder, interspersed with zones of wind-scoured crust that measured about 56 on the Rockwell scale. We could count on skittering across an icy patch after every half-dozen or so turns. Nonetheless, the good areas were sufficiently good to make for a fun day.

On the drive out, we stopped to check out a spot where the river cut into the roadway and caused a landslide. They are building a massive rock buttress there to restore the roadway. John’s estimate for Paradise opening up to the public: middle of May.

Photo Gallery

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