ScaredSilly

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/19723464.html

Nice report ... the few, the proud, the ones who go in from Carbon River.

This guy used a couple of his lives. At the top of the fixed lines at 16K to 17K is the best part of the WB. It is a walk on top of a ridgeline. To the south is the 14K basin of the West Buttress, to the north is the Peters Glacier. In some places it a casual stroll in others there are steepish steps where one miss step results in this type of accident. Some places have short rappels or fixed lines. For the most part one is on the Peters Galcier side of the ridge. Denali Pass is the head of the Peters Glacier, and the 17.2k camp is on the Peters Glacier as well. As mentioned, 1998 two unroped climbers fell down to the Peters Glacier, one died. A good friend who was on a NPS patrol went down to aid and sadly fell as well. A few days latter a guided group was descending near Washburn's when a client fell - he was roped in but could not right himself. A guide unclipped from the rope to help and fell. The bodies of the guide and the other climber were recovered a few days later. My friend rests in Peter Glacier. As for Alex, another friend, it was at 19k that he carried a guy across the football field to a waiting Lama helicopter.

I would also check out American Alpine Institute http://www.aai.cc Several friend have worked for them. American Alpine Institute should not be confused with Alpine Ascents which also run trips. My observations of Alpine Ascents operation is rather industrial.

Above 17.5k to 19.5k is damned if you do unrope and damn if you don't unrope terrain with moderately steep terrain where placing gear is a PITA. We unroped. If their tracks were found up this high and they were roped together there is a good chance that a fall would have taken them down the hill. Damn sad after it sounds like they completed the lower Kahiltna Peak traverse which is damn proud.

Washburn's map of Denali is your best bet.

Direct from the park: http://www.nps.gov/dena/parknews/search-underway.htm Given the comments in the release about the weather, probably an accident (i.e a fall).

For the most part you will find very few American/Brits living in Cham/Zematt environs. Even while I was living in France and climbing there I think the only one was Twight. Many Brits do come over for the summer climbing season. So there is not really much of an ex-pat scene except part of the year. That said the larger community of english speaking ex pats are in deed down south along the Cote d'Azur which is where I lived. I had few a Brits that I skied with in the Maritime Alps mostly around the Parc National de Mercanteur. Most of climbing friends were French.

If you are willing to walk 5-6 miles I would just go in from Carbon River. We hiked in that way the previous time the road was closed, winter of 2005. It added 2.5 hours of easy road walking. One can make it to Echo Rock in a day from the Carbon River ranger station which is a great place to bivy. From there it is a nice stroll up to the bivy below the ridge. When you come out drop down to Shurman and then continue down the Winthrop to where the Liberty Ridge cattle track comes across. Follow it for a bit then start contouring down so that you will eventually hit the trail from Mystic Lake. It is a bit long on the way out but it saves from having to do a car shuttle.

I live in SLC and travel Rt6 frequently. Rt6 is one of the most dangerous roads in the US with 1-2 deaths per month. Weekends are worse with the traffic to Mob and Reservoir Fowl. If working in Huntington I would live south as the commute would be a bit safer as you do not need to drive Spanish Fork Canyon, Soldier Summit, and Price Canyon. But traveling through Wellington is speed trap. Personally, I would just find a cheap place near by and ride a bike to work if possible and then escape on the weekends.

I worked at the ODP in the early-mid 80s and have one of the last original club patches. Used to have it on a hat for a long time. While cleaning up the ODP we came across several scrap books with articles and pictures of past activities. Mostly stuff from the 50s and 60s. It was a hoot to look at.

Not to sounds snotty but if you are reading a forecast such as this and are not sure what to make of it, it is probably best to stay home. As Ivan said "results can vary violently"

Nice write up with some introspective thoughts. Glad that you made it out okay and on your own. More than a few climbers have spent the night down in a hot pocket. As a good friend said to me. We all do dumb things once in a while and fortunately most of the time we get away with it. Sounds as though you will be adding a few things to your pack and keeping your partner close by.

I have a set of straight shaft BD carbon fiber Black Prophets as well as a set of the old style Cobras. I have used both sets for WI5 ice and gnarly alpine climbs ranging from the Cassin to Willis Wall. The steeper and rockier the climb the more I tend to use the Cobras. As for straight shafts - not needed as long as the shaft can be plunged down into the snow easily is what is important with one caveat - curve shaft tools when plunged should be used as anchors very thoughtfully as is not set right can come out much easier than a straight shaft tool.

Just stop by REI along the way. There is one that is 10 minutes from Sea-Tac. We usually buy a gallon of white gas though. We fill our bottles and dump the rest inthe rental car. White gas burns nice.

Naw, Liberty was quiet and all of my other bivies we have been the only people. It was below Wilson in the rocks as to head up the Finger. It would not have been so bad but we were doing a late alpine start. Which means 4:30am.

For some reason I recall reading or hearing that the minimum was around 400 feet for a good deployment. But I know nothing about jumping off of a perfectly good piece of rock.

My story did not happen on on either route, so see Rule 100 - You are not the only person on the hill.

http://www.nps.gov/mora/planyourvisit/road-status.htm Road is open to hikers and bicyclists only. CLOSED to motor vehicle traffic due to flood damage. Pets are not allowed beyond the parking area. Road may close to all use at any time due to flooding or other adverse weather. Call the park at (360) 829-9639 for current road status. Road is subject to washouts.

This year though there is more than just RMI guiding on the Muir side. Got three choices. Using one of the three is probably your best bet.

Vickster, your story reminds of the guy who started yelling "Hot Water" at 3am thus waking me from my sleep and planned late alpine start. After about 10 minutes of this I stuck my head out of my bivy sac and said that if he did not STFU that I was coming down, taking his hot water and giving him an enema with it. All was quiet after that.

Std answer ... 20s-60s, party sunny between scattered snow showers, chance of horizontal sleet with low lying clouds. Winds 0-60 mph with reverse gusts up to 100 mph on the summit. Freezing levels from 6000k - 12000k rain showers possible at lower elevations along with white out conditions.

So you took a dump last night. Glad it was excellent. Thanks for sharing.

1) If your pack weighs more than 60 lbs you have too much crap in it. 2) If you can not use a compass, learn before coming up to Muir. 3) Do not rely on others to help haul you out of crevasse. (Your carcass yes) 4) If climbing from Muir consider taking three days and camping at Ingarham Flats, making the summit day a bit shorter. and finally ... you are not there to have fun, you are there to climb the mountain

A bit knotty for me as well. Rarely do I clip all three piece together. I would equalize two anchors and clip my daisy chain to it. The third anchor I would clip the rope into. When the second comes they can do the same. By not having everything tied together this allows the second the the ability to start dismantling the anchors once the leader has the next set of anchors built. Depending on the belay I might undo the two piece anchor or the single before I am on belay. This reduction in clutter can help speed up the climbing.