Nasty weather abounds in the mountain ranges of Alaska. Specifically, raging winds and disorienting white-outs. So with our first major spring storm rolling in over the Pacific Ocean, we decided to test our skills with an effort to climb and ski from the summit rim of Mt. Rainier.Map checking was not needed on Saturday as visibility was good in spite of the growing winds. At midnight, we awoke from our half-sleep and checked the weather. Winds were ridiculous at 10K which meant they would be insane at 14K and with zero visibility in the darkness and clouds, we exercised good mountain judgement by crawling back into our cozy down bags.
A few hours later as flat light filtered in, sure enough, we were at the onset of heavy snowfall in 40+mph winds! Would not have been a good time to still be going up...
After stuffing all the miniature comforts of home and glacier gear into our packs, the first items on any trip checklist, topo map and compass, stayed out. Plotting our first bearing downward, we witnessed firsthand the intense magnetic power an active volcano like Rainier attracts as our compass needle wavered slowly back and forth.
Fun little stories like, "I came to a stop on my skis but thought I was still moving, lost my balance and fell over", flourish under these circumstances. Another like "I fell down and suddenly thought I was riding on top of a small slab avalanche" are no fun so this drove us carefully onward.
So much fun and oh how perfect the snow was, if it had only been a sunny day it would have been the best day of the season! But we were there because it won't always be sunny in Alaska.
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