Pickins aren't quite as slim here as they are at Tucks, but close...

http://www.uvm.edu/skivt-l/?Page=image_upload/Vermont/a_little_thin.JPG

It was rough, but I made do.
First few runs were car-served off this switchback:
http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?z=10&n=5191665&e=611492

Short, but reasonably schweet as long as I stuck to previously skied stuff
in the trees. There's a nasty layer of detritus on much of the snowpack
below treeline. Hitchable traffic was seeming to become more sparse by the
time I finished my second run so I decided to stick to hard earned skiing,
and hit this little dittie next:

http://www.uvm.edu/skivt-l/image_upload/World/rainy_face.JPG

I named it rainy face simply because I was spat upon for a few minutes on
the ascent. Boot up to the ridge was quick, it's a short run, so I got all
adventurous trying to reach the top of that righthand chute via some
scrambling. When the ridge went from reasonably easy 2nd class hiking to
rightly exposed 4th class climbing on wet rock in tele boots and skis on
shoulder, I backed off and went around. The run down was over way to
quick, which is always the case. 6" of tasty carvable corn.

Then the sun came out, and pointed to the next objective...

http://www.uvm.edu/skivt-l/image_upload/World/Naches_Bowl.JPG

Getting off the road here proved to be an interesting challenge in itself.
Basically had to kick steps into the vertical wall and grope with my poles
as picks.  From there it was a leisurely skin up around the southwest
ridge of Naches Peak.

http://www.uvm.edu/skivt-l/?Page=image_upload/World/ridge.jpg

I somehow avoided the temptation of skiing the 2k of vert down to highway
123 ... which is good because as it turned out I would have been
bushwhacking down a sizable chunk of a bare south facing slope. A little
earlier in the season it's probably a great run, and if you know where
you're going (which I didn't) it's probably still doable this late.

Instead I opted for this cute little chute:
http://www.uvm.edu/skivt-l/image_upload/World/Naches_chute_closeup.JPG

First try I totally missed it, getting caught in a deadend sucker chute
too far skiers left. Some ginger sidestepping and I gave it another go,
this time correctly. It started out in some trees, and I quickly came to a
horizon line. I approached cautiously since I really had no idea if this
thing was actually skiable.. from below it just looks like a thin diagonal
line (see the Naches bowl pic). As it turned out the chute was loaded up
with a long whaleback of snow right down the middle. That upped the pitch
a bit depending on which side I skied and also provided for an easier way
to manage to sizeable wet sloughs peeling away with each turn. I stopped
about halfway through and watched all the debris pound its way through the
throat and on down the slope below. Avalanches suck, but man are they cool
to watch.

So that was pretty much it. Skied out to the car, hopped around retrieving
my chilled beer from the top of 8 feet of snow, then headed back. I did
take the long way just to see what kind of shape the Tatoosh Range and
Paradise are in. As it turned out, not as good, snow on the roadside has
gone from 8-12 feet to almost nothing in a month and a half, dunno if this
is normal. Got one decent shot in before the sun went down, enjoy.

http://www.uvm.edu/skivt-l/image_upload/World/Rainier_sepia.jpg

Jerm

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