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I’ll admit it: I’m getting a little tired of Turns All Year. It’s not TAY, it’s me. I feel like this ridiculous endeavor has introduced me to amazing people and jaw-dropping places, and if I can be self-indulgent, first-world-problems for a minute I’ll admit that I’m a tad on the unmotivated side because 1) I feel like my summer skiing playlist is on repeat, 2) my ski friends have turned into my real life friends and we get to spend time together all the time, and 3) I’m old now, and lazy.

In short, that means I skied one day in June and I don’t feel bad about it. I’ll probably only ski one day each in July, August, and September too. But that’s okay. A day of skiing is still better than just about anything else, even if I’m old and crotchety.

June 23 – Inter Glacier, Mt. Rainier
Theresa, Trisha, Nikki, Cory and I headed up to ski on the east side of Rainier, to one of our favorite places: Inter Glacier. This is where Theresa and I kicked off her June 50k in 2014 (dear lord we are getting old) and we like to go back to revisit the stomping grounds of our friendship. And Nikki and Cory were marking their 12th wedding anniversary, so lots of good stuff to celebrate!

We camped at White River on Friday night, skied Saturday, then the twins and I camped Saturday night too before heading back in the morning. It’s amazing how luxurious it can feel to stay on the mountain without having to race home after.


We left at the crack of 7:30am after a fun interaction with a local park ranger who is also on PNW Outdoor Women. We shouldered the pack, and began the slog up to snowline, which was just above Glacier Basin Camp.
On the way up, we opted to stay on the ridge, meaning we spent less time on snow and more time on steep dirt, but we managed to avoid the creek crossing. Fear not, we decided to go for it later with comedic effect. 

Once at snowline, we assumed “the position” (asses in the air, heads in the pack) to transition for the 4k+ vert of climbing ahead. Inter Glacier looks very steep from far away, but somehow doesn’t feel so bad once you’re on it.
Theresa, who just returned from a month climbing at elevation in Peru, was feeling strong and led the pack with Nikki. Cory caught up to them at the end, and T-rish and I gladly held up the rear. Views are better from the back anyway. 

At the top, we spent about an hour languishing in the sun and good views. Another fellow joined us for a short while and even captured a group shot of #TeamTutu. I think we can all agree the Cory wore it best!

Then it was time to ski down. The ski went by fast and was surprisingly good, given that we were expected thousands of feet of stucky grossness. If you stayed in someone else’s tracks, it was really really good!

At the bottom, we had a spicy time getting across the river. Nikki, Cory, and I hopped across some rocks, but it was rough so the twins ventured further down. Not seeing anything good, they found some logs and “built” a little bridge, but not before knocking each other once or twice on the heads with the tips of their skis. Hey! You try bending over with skis in a teepee on your back and see if you can remember to control those unwieldy things!
All in all, another great day in the never ending book of Turns All Year! Plus I stabbed myself in the leg with a whippet, so bonus points for being a very stable genius go to me!