Mount Adams, South West Chute, June 2004

The southwest chutes of Mt. Adams. 3500 vft of pure fall line nirvana.

 

 

The south west chutes off the false summit of Mt. Adams hold an even 35-40 degrees for over 3500 ft. Coming from the Wasatch where there are only a handful of consistent runs over 2000, this felt like an eternity. From the top, the flats below looked gray and fuzzy, like some far off horizon.

It was risky, but I played "scissors" and won the game of rock-scissors-paper to be the first to ski. However, I didn't make it far past the first slight rollover. In my excited state of skiing nirvana I had completely lost my breath. Powder Princess held it together best on the massive line and gracefully carved the longest run in one shot, about 2500 vft. At the bottom she was bubbling over with self astonishment.We were all bubbling over with astonishment!

We camped two nights on the ridge next to Crescent glacier at about 7800 ft. This was an excellent spot to stage our climbs as well as to finish our days. There was a steep south facing bowl just to the west of our camp that made for convenient afternoon skiing, and a great way to end the day.

I can get into this volcano thing. Next year we all agreed to ski the volcanoes of the north west for at least a week. Unfortunately there's a whole season of powder skiing to get through first before we can head back to this gliss paradise.

Mount Adams seen from the south, not far from the swarming sail sporting masses of Hood River. We skied the tasty, long line angling to the left.

 

Stomping little sun cups on the way up. We climbed the large snowfield on the south of the peak.

 

Foothill, Powder Princess, and the Evil Dr. Fu Manchu up on top wondering if the corn is ever going to soften in the high winds. It did.

 

One of the many custom mountain fashions sported by locals on Adams. We saw garbage bags, modified sleeping pads, and even full body rubber suits being used to facilitate flying down the mountain sitting on your ass. It looked like so much fun that I questioned why I was carting around such heavy equipment when I could have just carried a plastic bag. There's always next year to take up butt glissading...

 

This is looking down the southwest chute from about a third of the way down. That's Powder Princess mid carve in the center. looking down the run from the top was probably the the most exciting thing I've ever seen.

 

"Well, I skied the longest line...."
"Yeah, But I skied the fastest..."
"Yeah, But I was having the most fun..."
"Yeah, But..."
Etc, etc, etc.