The mountain theme last weekend was snow... and lots of it. Here is an image of Little Tahoma taken by Joe Puryear on Saturday at Camp Muir when the weather cleared. The photo below, however, better represents the weather conditions.A few teams took a stab at the Disappointment Cleaver, but all turned back over avalanche concerns. The lower portion of the cleaver has a history avalanche, and there were plenty of unique layers in the snowpack to draw some concern from both guides and climbing rangers. Over the past few weeks, the mountain has received at least a two feet of new snow. In many places, there is more due to wind transport. Joe will post some route images and conditions tomorrow.
One quick tip: the Muir Snowfield is in EXCELLENT shape for skiing/boarding, especially now that the wet weather has backed off for a few days.PARADISE CONSTRUCTION
This weekend, some climbers experienced a few issues regarding construction at Paradise. Most of the upper parking lot is fenced off, which greatly limits the number of parking spaces. On Saturday and Sunday, the parking lots filled REALLY early. We strongly suggest that you arrive early if you want to find parking close the Jackson Visitor Center.
When the Paradise Picnic area melts out, all people planning to park overnight will need to park there. We'll provide more information on the Paradise situation when we have some maps and more to share. Stay tuned...
