Backcountry Ski/Snowboard - Camp Muir & Anvil Rock

Great trip up the Muir Snowfield with a terrific group of Mountaineers backcountry skiers.

Our group of six set off just before 10:00 in gorgeous sunny weather and made good time skinning up Panorama Face to meet up on the flat by the seasonal bathrooms before gaining the two steep snowy steps to Panorama Pt.  Half of the group elected to use ski crampons and half didn't.  Definitely not the only ones climbing Pan Face in the beautiful temps this weekend!

 In communication via radios, the group split up a bit and reunited just below Camp Muir where we rested, refueled, and transitioned for the ski the down.

The ski down to Anvil Rock was the expected wind hammered but smooth areas through the sastrugi were available.

At Anvil Rock we dropped southeast onto the Paradise and enjoyed great skiing conditions and very few visible crevasses.  The team wore harnesses and we carried two lightweight ropes as a precaution.

Once down to approx 6400' we began the long descending traverse back to Skyline Ridge, gave that a ski, and then continued to traverse back to the Paradise parking lot.  Looking back on the terrain we skied and Little T (zoom in for our figure 8s).

The most heart pounding part of the day was passing below a large cornice feature which was calving due to the warm temps.    We gave it a wide berth, took it one at a time, and moved quickly to minimize exposure.  The risk was also mitigated by the "hot pow", the couple feet of recent snow that was by this time of the day pretty warm and preventing rollerballs, cornice debris, and us from moving too far through the mush!

All-in-all a fun day, good workout, and a great group!