Ever seen what 19 feet of snow on the ground looks like?

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I took these pictures at Paradise Ranger Station (5300 ft – 1,600 m) on the south side of Mt. Rainier (14,400 ft – 4,400 m). It was amazing to see it in person. I was with my father (we drove out from Seattle yesterday)

Note that there are no “hills” under the snow banks on the sides of the parking lot and in front of the lodge. Those are literally 30 ft tall banks of solid snow.

We hiked a little on a snowshoe path but we didn’t have snowshoes. You could walk on top of the snow for the most part but every once in a while I fell through up to my thighs. The top 4 feet or so was quite fresh and un-compacted.

Last edited by marshall on 13 Apr 2008, 8:53 pm, edited 2 times in total.

I have seen enough snow for the year, I was stuck in the Fraser canyon up in BC back in that december blizzard, spent the night sleeping in my truck, because I couldn't see the road, wasn't nearly that amount of snow in those pictures. I really have to make a trip up that way, looks incredible

You have to go in April when the snow is at its deepest and freshest. I went up in late June last year and there was still a ton of snow but it had the old crusty look rather than the bright fresh look as seen in the pictures above. The best time to see the snow is April.

I would like to climb to the top some day but I don’t think I’m physically fit enough to climb it as fast as the guided climbs do it. A couple years ago I hiked up to about 9,000 ft and I was already feeling really tired and sick from the altitude.

Wow, That must've been amazing...

Cool. The most snow I've ever seen in my area, has been almost 3 feet.

Gotta laugh at the sign in the last pic.

"2 miles an hour?!"

Stop.... making.... me.... jealous!


HanWags perform well in snow .

WOW!! ! That is awesome!

Not sure I'd want to be around if they were hit by a sudden warm spell though.

O_o;;;

^ That's my response XD

We get these conditions every winter... I am sooooo tired of it.

I'd love to take a trip there, in the winter. I wouldn't want to live there, though.

Can't help but wonder if it's okay to park near those banks. Wouldn't there be a chance the banks could collapse onto the cars?

Holy wow.

That's awesome! I love snow.

Ive never been in snow.

n_n awesome!
._. I wouldn't like to be in one of the cars in the first pic...

u_u
same here

Great pics

We don't get snow in London, or if we do it hardly ever settles. Last year we got one day of snow that settled and I was straight into the park to get pics. It was only a few inches but its so rare as to be really special.