Muir Snowfield Ski Tour

Complete tour video available

Enter Mt. Rainier National Park at the Southwest entrance just a few miles east of Ashford. Follow the road up to Paradise and park at the lower lot west of the Visitor’s Center, as the upper lot is for non-skiers visiting the Visitors Center much of the season. From the lower lot, head north into the woods towards the summit which quickly thins out to an open meadow. On clear days, you will see the summit and the snowfield high above you making the route obvious.

Climb north-northeast to the base of Panorama Point. Climb the west face of Panorama Point to the viewpoint at 6800 feet. The main boot track is straight up the west aspect of face heading up to Pan Point. In the spring, it is often easier to boot up as opposed to skinning up the slope as you will want to do in the winter. Watch the slope to your left as it can sluff if the snow stability is poor.

Enjoy the view of the Goat Rock peaks, Mt. Adams, Mt. St Helens, and on very clear days, you can see Mt. Hood on the distant the southern horizon. Often the visibility is poor above the point on cloudy days so be sure you follow good landmarks if you proceed upwards in a whiteout.

Continue to climb if visibility permits along the east flank of the snowfield towards McClure Rock to 7400 ft. This marks the descent route for the McClure Rock route back to Paradise. From here you head straight up the flank of the snowfield along the climbers track toward Camp Muir.

Descent Route:
The McClure Rock descent starts at 7400 ft. as you ski down past the rock which is the first major prominence NE of Panorama Point. Swing to the west around the McClure Rock and you will see the steeper descent route on its south aspect. There are several steep pitches below the Rock so be sure to assess the snow stability before doing this route. The route is ideal in the spring and summer when fully consolidated. Descend this face which flattens out and continues directly south. On your right, you are approaching the ridge above Edith Creek Valley. There is a small slot entrance into the Valley called the Golden Gate. The landmark for this entry is that it is the first west facing run that is bordered by a line of trees to the south the march right up the slope to the Golden Gate. Ski down the face below the Gate and you have entered the easy slopes of Edith Creek. Continue southwest towards Paradise, staying on the west flank at the lower end of Edith Creek Valley to avoid the steep drop-offs that are above Paradise Valley.

This wedge-shaped prominence marks the last stretch of the climb to Camp Muir. If you drift to the skier's left on decent here, you can end up on the Paradise Glacier, which does contain crevasses. Stay to the right of the rocky ridge crest on descent.

This is the high point of the climb. From here, your descent begins down the snowfield.

Main Route
Ski the descent just adjacent to the uptrack for an intermediate run down the snowfield all of the way to Panorama Point. Be aware that the lower snowfield has several gullies the peel off to the west that can take you towards the Nisqually Glacier if you lose you landmarks in poor visibility so in those conditions, stay close to the ascent route on the skiers left of the snowfield. Once at Pan Point there are two decent routes. The first is just adjacent to the uptrack on Pan Face. The alternative is on more south facing slope that about 100m west of the uptrack down a steeper (but non-boot tracked) slot that is often pristine if you get up and down early enough. Be aware that small avalanches do occur on this more southerly aspect so weigh the stability of the snow for this decent route. Once below Pan Point, you can ski straight back along your uptrack towards Paradise or turn to the southeast and drop into Edith Creek Valley for some fresh tracks and approach Paradise from the northeast. If you choose to follow the main route back to Paradise, ski along the uptrack, enter the west gully just above the snow play area at Paradise and you’ll find yourself back above the parking lot at the lower lots of Paradise.

The Nisqually Chutes are ideal in last spring and early summer when the snow is very stable. The entry to the longest run down the Chutes is at 8500 ft. on the west edge of the Muir Snowfield. This is an expert only run that drops you down to the east flank of the Nisqually Glacier quickly. On warm days, snow sluffs are common on this run with its 35-40 degree pitches. Ski down the chute at 8500 ft or if the stability isn’t ideal, there are shorter entries to the same area are lower down on the snowfield around 7500 ft. Be cautious with these lower routes as some of them dead-end over cliff bands. Ski southward towards the Glacier Vista trail which parallels the uptrack to Pan Point. If you plan your descent right, you will not have to climb much at all to re-enter the ramp that heads back down to Paradise at the base of Panorama Point. Once at the Glacier Vista trail, ski south along the original uptrack back to the Paradise parking lot.

An alternate to returning back the standard route is to turn left into Edith Creek Valley after descending down from Panorama Point. There are a variety of mellow to steep runs that feed into this valley. The McClure Rock route drops into the valley at the Golden Gate.

See descent from McClure Rock. This entry to Edith Creek Valley can be missed if you are not familiar with the landmarks.