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The PNW has been off the hook for the past month with day after day of relentless storms becoming the snowiest March in 15 years. Conditions have been epic with constant accumulations in the double digits making backcountry days few and far between. Mid March we got a clearing between storms so I ran up to the famous slot Colouir with an Alpy local.
Looking back towards Alpental and Rainier

Hiking on the Summit of Mt Snoqualmie getting ready to ski the slot.

The entrance

The conditions were good


Now fast forward a few weeks and there was another break in the Weather.
Amar Andalkar (http://www.skimountaineer.com/) and I went to Rainier to tackle the Ingraham direct route.
Skinning up the Muir snowfield with the Tatoosh in the background

We stayed at the Muir Shelter and rested the next day preparing for our summit attempt. After a slow start we were skinning around 8:00
Sunrise over the Cowlitz glacier

Sunrise alpenglow over the Tatoosh range and Mt Adams

Mt Tahoma from Cathedral Gap at 10700 ft

Amar skinning up the Ingraham direct route

Skinning up Ingraham glacier (photo by Amar)

At around 12’600 feet we switched over to crampons (photo by Amar)

Skinning up to summit proper from the Crater (photo by Amar)
Amar standing on the Summit

Looking East towards Crystal Mountain

We decided to descend the Gib Chute a more direct line back to the Muir Shelter.
Snowboarding in the Summit Crater (photo by Amar)

Snowboarding next to a Serac on the Nisqually Glacier (photo by Amar)

Amar skiing with Tahoma in the Background

Amar skiing over the rollover into the Gib Chute

Looking down the Gib Chute (photo by Amar)


The conditions in the Gib Chute was solid Ice with no room for Error so it was survival skiing until it softened up at the Apron

Amar Skiing the chute

Snowboarding in the Gib Chute (photo by Amar)

Looking back up the Gib chute (photo by Amar)

Heading back to the Muir shelter with the Sun setting in the Background

We rested until the early afternoon the next day to let the snow soften to Corn
Riding down the Muir Snowfield with the Gib Chute in the Background

Looking back at the route on a Predawn tour the next day on the left side of Rainier

For a MUCH better write up check Amar’s Trip Report
http://www.turns-all-year.com/skiing_snowboarding/trip_reports/index.php?topic=12992.0

Thanks Amar I had a great time and I look forward to the spring touring Season

Wow! Those are some amazing photos! The one of Alpy is incredible. Thanks for sharing.

good stuff.

Nice work Kyle. Looked good.

Looks like a really sweet trip!

Nice work...march sure was something else

Wow!

If you want an intense description of the chute, check out Amar's report - made me swear to myself never to go down that:

http://www.turns-all-year.com/skiing_snowboarding/trip_reports/index.php?topic=12992.0

Did you sideslip a lot of the chute? Sounds like turning much was out of the question.

It was sketchy to say the least. If you slipped you were going to ragg doll down the whole thing.
I side slipped with Ice Axe in hand until the Apron lowered in Angle.
There was NO room for mistakes
Thanks for all the kind comments they are greatly appreciated

Sweet - way to get after it! Nice photos and trip report! Nothing like fearing for your life on icy gnar and pulling it off! And the added bonus is that with all the snow here in the PNW,there should be some good late Spring tours

Respect.

That's some serious shit. Way to bridge the gap with the ski mountaineering crowd.

Nice work.

Thanks for sharing.

I think there should be some kind of smiley with its eyes bugging out for shots like this:


Wow! I liked the sunrise shots too.

B.A. BARACUS!