The king line on the king of the Cascades, Mount Rainier's(Tahoma) Success Couloir is a trophy line by any and all standards. It's a true ski mountaineering line, complete with glacier travel, rappels, steep skiing over exposure, and a 5000' sustained fall line. During a tough winter for the Cascades due to high freezing levels driven by El Nino, we found that Tahoma did just fine, and I actually found the best coverage on the mountain above 6000' in the past 4 years that I've visited Tahoma.
The X factor on Saturday, 5/11 was the heat, and we definitely saw the mountain come unglued. We saw the biggest avalanches I've ever seen that day, and I would not ski a line like Success Couloir on a day that hot again. Luck definitely played in our favor that day, and I would recommend people wait for a better refreeze to ski terrain like this.
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