Mazama Ridge Snowshoe — Saturday, Mar. 1, 2025

Bottom Line:

Such an AMAZING day on the mountain with sublime weather and conditions. The word of the day is "runnel". Beautiful rain runnels adorned the slopes - it can be really interesting to visit after a rain event. They reminded me of the tracks left by bark beetles. The snow was firm in the morning with a couple-inch layer of corn by the afternoon (much better than the sink-to-the-armpit conditions at Hex a couple days ago). Mazama Ridge was exceptionally quiet, with few folks heading up after first attaining the ridge. Sublime views of Rainier of course - maybe the best out of Paradise - but also south to Mt Adams, Mt St Helens and the Tatoosh Range. Mazama is a route with relatively low avalanche risk.

Stats:

• Distance: ~5 miles
• Vertical: 1150 ft
• Duration: ~4 hours
• Road/Parking: Gate at Longmire opened promptly at 9am. The road was clear apart from a few ice patches - I did spin out briefly in my Outback with snow ties. National Park fee at gate with rangers checking that folks are carrying chains, even 4X4/AWD. Plenty of parking at Paradise but was spilling over to the overflow at ~10am. Visitor Center open with toilets and a water dispenser with ice-cold mountain water (tasted so good).
• Weather: Sunny with warm temperatures; light wind; 50Fs. Increasing cloud from the west in the late afternoon.
• Avalanche Forecast: "Moderate" as all elevations; plentiful cornice breaks, rollerballs, and slab avalanches on steep slopes (see pics)
• Trail: From Paradise, we took Paradise Valley Road East (unplowed in winter) and then used Fourth Crossing Trail to attain Mazama Ridge. The latter is steep in spots - stay within the scattered trees to lower avalanche exposure. Poles recommended for the descent - we hiked out-and-back. Once attaining the ridge, this seemed to be the high point for most hikers yesterday, but the best views are much higher (with a broken trail all the way up the ridge) - at least up until Mt Adams rises over the Tatoosh Range to the southeast. On a map, this becomes the Skyline and Paradise Glacier trails higher up the ridge. CAUTION: hazards included cornices, open creeks, snow bridges and some steep avalanche prone slopes. The alternate route from Paradise via Myrtle Falls and a steep-slope traverse on Skyline was not broken, with avalanche debris and open creeks.
• Takeaway: With this hike, one can ascend up Mazama Ridge a pretty long way. I really need to make it to the ridge overlooking Paradise glacier one of these times! With the Longmire Gate closing at 5pm (sharp), one has time the turnaround time to make it back to the car by about 4pm PST. My descent yesterday was faster than anticipated (as usual), and I could have ascended for another hour. Next time! As it was, there were very few tracks our turnaround point.

I will post a video later today which will feature these and more pics but without the heavy compression to post on WTA :)

More Information on this Trip Report

• https://www.instagram.com/wta_alpinewanderer/
• https://youtube.com/shorts/v1sVupbF2gI