danhelmstadter

Trip: failure on the cd - Date: 10/6/2009 Trip Report: This is not really tr worthy, but I took some pictures, wrote a poem, made a video, so what the hell. BLUEBIRD TEASER... The forecast for October 6th called for mostly sunny to partly sunny skys - which it was before ~ 1230 when a thick dark deck of clouds trucked in from the west... Helio ridge is looking like ski area -- there were a bunch of happy skiiers ripping up the variable. I wanted to summit, so after hiking "the football feild" I traveresed east to gain the Coleman. There was a recent bootpath from two climber -- and what looked like 2 snowboard tracks that I could see on the lower Coleman... I skinned on -- and was just about through the first major crevasse section when whiteness enveloped everything, nothing was visible except for crevasses in very close proximity. I pushed upward for 20 minutes or so, but soon came to the conclusion to make the good decision of turning around, as I couldn't really see where I was going, and there was no track to follow... I made a little video includeing some words and a little skiing. [video:youtube] I saw this gray pond on my way back to the trail, and It spoke to me. I just read some Saul Williams recently, and am totally inspired -- although saddly I think my poetry is only for my enjoyment...

I will answer one of my own questions to think "out loud". I don't pretend to know it all, and I'd definitely appreciate your input on this question as well as the others I've posted. What do you feel are a few dangerous avalanche scenarios that are specific to glacial slopes? 1) The terrain trap of a crevasse bershrund at the bottom of the slope. A minor or small slab that would otherwise entrain you through a gentle runout on a non-glaciated slope will kill your ass on a glacial slope, and definitely minimize if not completely eliminate the possibility of rescue -- if you are buried deeply in the crevasse. 2) The threat of full-depth-snow release on a lubricated or smooth glacial slope. 3) The glacial slope with an open bergshrund or crevasse at the bottom creates an unsupported hanging slope --- no compressive strength quality --- much more likely to slide with failure... 4) Only applicable to some mountains --- but glaciers tend to be more prevelant on north and east aspects, which tend to be problem aspects in our northern hemisphere. East = wind-loaded, North = no sun to help stabilize. It seems like a north facing glacial slope as my friend had mentioned might be less likely to form depth hoar - because the temperature gradient would be less severe than if the snow fell on relatively warm rocks/earth -- so that would actually help to reduce the hazard of deep slab depth hoar related avalanche... 5) (Factor that might contribute to instability under certain conditions) The snowpack has no anchors on a glacial slope -- many non glacial slopes are anchored to boulders, rocks, small trees etc... This would probably increase the rate of creep, and make a full depth release with the aid of lubrication or early season weaknesses more likely than on anchored slopes. 6) Slight glacial movement could perhaps stress snowpack structure, and initiate tensile failure???

I forwarded this post to a friend down in C-lo, he sent me some very insightful comments. Pertaining to the Athabasca incident -- and I don't think he'd mind me quoting him on this - "Rough textured ice with warm snow shouldn't be the failure surface, more likely to be above there in a colder faceted layer (nighttime snow) that was part of the storm but maybe not the beginning? And was there already a snow cover on the ice?" He also mentioned that he had asked several avi-pros in the past about basal facet developing on glacier ice, and they had said that basal facets need a relatively warm ground for formation, and the ice is far from warm. To quote him again "I’ve seen some surface facets growing around big crevasses where there is water running under the glacier and the moisture evaporates and then grows crystals on the surface but that is on very limited surface areas that could only cause tiny slab failures around those cracks." * Small slabs around big cracks = trouble for non roped travelers eg - skiiers thanks man ! ******************************************************************* I'm sure the line is not fine between smooth and rough glacial ice, but I wonder what the point of roughness is - that coupled with a warm start to the storm -- would form a fairly strong bond? What would you classify rough ice as? or to rephrase that -- what is the minimal degree of roughness that you would speculate would create a strong bond? (assuming you speculate ;-) A slightly different angle to the matter of ice/snow interface stability - what is the tendency of the nature of water percolation from above snowpack onto buried glacier ice? does the water tend to coat the surface of the ice sheet and run down broadly - or does it find channels and holes? This is a pretty general question -- obviously subject to many variables -- but It can be answered generally too. What do you feel are a few dangerous avalanche scenarios that are specific to glacier slopes?

i lived with this couple in colorado for a couple months, they were bouldering freaks! the guy would monkey around in a tree all day with a chainsaw, then come home and do sets of 10-15 wieghted pull ups, one armers - with ciggy breaks in-between. mofo could send v-12,13 easily.

with soft new snow to cushion/absorb rockfall on baker(assumeing there is new soft snow) that hazard will be reduced -- but new wind drifted snow will likely hide a few deep crevasses, no big deal if you are roped and practiced at that kind of thing. if you go up the roman wall -- watch out for a big nasty moat at the top (could possibly be egshell covered after this new snow) that's likely going to be a dangerous situation this fall untill we get a few good storms. there're probably some touchy slabs up there now too, which might turn to wet slabs with the forecasted sun ++ fr levels next week...

that n side picture is awseome, i esp like the one with the long-neck bird -- what is that thing anyway - a grouse?

Bstach -- Thanks, you are right -- I drink pbr and live in my truck, I am cheap, and I am American. If I frequented Canada more - I would definetly pay the membership fee - as it is, I am still saving money for the passport fees... I try to give back to avalanche organazations by submitting my detailed snowpack observations...

good point, i try to be big on respect, i will edit it in. i need to pay more attention the rules and regulations of posting others pictures, in this case i put it in a webshots folder of mine labeled NOT MY PICTURE, but giving credit to the photographer under the posted picture is definitely called for. thanks Fas ******************************************************************* edit note: I remember seeing a crown from a distance above the large crevasse maybe halfway up the Coleman Headwall last week during my hike up Baker last week, this being an example of an N-WS-R3-D2-I -- (((N (natural trigger), WS (Wet-slab), R3 (medium relative to path), D2 (Could bury, injure, or kill a person.), I (The avalanche released at the new snow/old snow interface.))) It was a sobering reminder to keep my head up and snow sense on this time of year when Avalanches are not fresh on the mind. The release of the CHW avalanche noted was almost certainly due to the very warm temperatures experienced after the recent Labor Day snow storm, perhaps the trigger was aided by rock/ice-fall. The CHW avalanche is easy to figure out, evaluation and answers will no doubt get trickier as fall progresses.... The codes I used to classify the CHW avalanche - can be accessed here -- as well as a wealth of other very useful - AIARE standard material. The American Avalanche Association's website is a great resource.

I plan to study several Mountaineering related accidents so I can learn from them, posting this here seems like a good idea so that we can share and learn from our combined knowledge. Photo and graphics by Fred Spicker - photo taken from Summitpost.org 8/29/08, Mt. Athabasca, standard North Glacier route. Sometime roughly between 9am-4pm - two German climbers: Ulrich Bohne and Josef Rademacher got caught in 80 cm slab avalanche on a ~33dg north facing slope, and ended up dead and buried two meters deep in a crevasse. Conditions were new snow over old frozen snow/ice. Unfortunately the CSAC does not share incident information without 35$ membership... I was unable to find much useful data about the incident, a Summitpost forums discussion, a local news article, and a Summitpost route description. Without more specific details such as temperature, type of snow(slab), exact time of avalanche, and time of sun exposure (if there was sun at all that day), time and weather since storm; it is hard to really analyze this accident, although certain facts of the incident are clear, and I feel these facts pertain to summer or early season situations in our local mountains. In the Colorado Rockies - such early season scenarios as new snow over glacial ice/smooth firn exist, but the development of depth hoar and faceted layers is much more of a concern for them. For us -- we have plenty of glaciers and firn, plenty of potential for such an accident as the one in examination to occur... I feel I have become a little complacent in my ambitious planning and I want to check myself... The Park Headwall for instance while being of a steeper nature -- is a perfect example of a slope which is now ice/firn, but after a few storms -- it could potentially be an excellent ski descent, and it has yielded excellent powder skiing for others in Octobers past, yet the potential for a new snow --- old snow avalanche definitely is there. Of course applying knowledge (such as snowpack evaluation) to specific situations is the key, but the particular scenario of early season lanches because of new snow / old snow interface is a topic which I feel deserves closer scrutiny. It sounds like the German climbers perhaps should have waited a day or two longer -- for the recent snow to settle and form a stronger bond with the underlying surface. Also the Germans should have perhaps done their climbing a little earlier in the day, because considerable new snow on a 30+dg slope in AUGUST SUN is a bad recipe, however while the warm days and sun make the short term daylight time much much more dangerous than say a winter storm event -- the August warmth and sun definitely stabilize the snow a lot more quickly given a few days - the early morn should be money... Also summer snow storms tend to come in warm -- meaning the very first flakes bond better to the old surface than if the storm were to come in cold. I wonder if the Germans knew the basic warning signs of the avalanche; they could have been doing things by the book -- and just got unlucky... What is a good way to go about assessing early season conditions like this --- new snow over the ice/firn ?? I would say do the usual pits, watch for signs, pay attention to the facts of the situation (how much new snow etc...) make a ski cut, but what else??? What would you have told the Germans had you been a ranger encountering them as the left the trailhead? What would you say would be an acceptable enough clue of new snow / glacial ice bond to give you the green light? I would appreciate any input you may have. Thanks, My respect goes out to the fallen, and my condolences to their families.

those hills look like they are thirsting for snow, i was looking at glacier pk. from maple pass yesterday - the north side of the mountain looked like it's a little more glaciated than the aspect in your pics... nice work and thanx for tha tr!

yo T -- not long enough ; hope'n for some good new snow with the wedder pattern change next week.

Trip: CD - from 10.3k Date: 9/22/2009 Trip Report: Planned for an earlier start -- but ended up leaving at 11:30 am again; and hoofed it up the trail. I met a cool, friendly Englishman just above treeline - he said he couldn't go any higher because he had vertigo issues, and choose stay there while his wife explored higher. I knew exactly where and how to traverse to "the football field" which had lost it's nice smooth snicey coat for a more dramatically icy and textured surface. The weather was warm and sunny. The route up looked like it had not seen crampon point in at least a day, and was a little difficult to follow, but the crevasses -- although numerous and intimidating at times -- were easily negotiated, with few sketchyish bridges -- all and all -- the CD is in better condition crevasse wise than the last 2 years I've been up there, unlike the Easton which is currently heinously crevassed. Snow has melted in the last 9 days since I've been up there, and consequently -- ski conditions have deteriorated somewhat, especially the Roman Wall, which is almost completely melted out to glacier ice -- dirty glacier ice at that. I tried to traverse South in hopes of finding a way to the top -- but I got stopped at ~10.3k by a large crevasse. That whole upper area above the cleaver is a shooting gallery -- at about 10k a milk-quart size rock was rolling towards me in high speed lobs, and exploded into fragments 10 feet away on exposed pebble ice, shrapnel whizzed past as I attempted to protect my face etc... I skied down from roughly 10.3k, mostly good quality snow, it got a little cupped lower down around 8 and 7 k, but all and all quality sept. turns. I traversed way over to the true Heliotrope ridge and enjoyed spraying turns on slightly cuppy snow down to the ice terminus at ~6k. I am fairly happy with the way this video turned out -- although the quality seems to be low at times of high vibration (suncups), my favorite parts are 5:45, 6;40, 7:18 and 818. [video:youtube] I suspect ski conditions will continue to rapidly deteriorate with the continued Indian Summer, hope you can get up there and sample it before they deteriorate beyond the point of being worth it. Cheers to freshiez for October!

looks like fun - nice work Easy, i hope your able to get in some more climbs before the snow starts flying.

i've been doing some pullups recently, i think the last time i did any on any routine was back when i was a punkass teenager, my pullup ability has definetly diminished... just wondering about how many the average core-climber can do.

Trip: Kulshan - Indian Summer Date: 9/11/2009 Trip Report: Indian Summers are always pleasant, but even more so when they set in after a spell of winter... I was hiking the other day in the hills outside Bellingham when the clouds broke and revealed a white Mount Baker, the temptation was too much - even though this summer I have been trying to stay away from the absurd end of summer skiing that I have dipped into in summers past. But if Baker is white, then it must be good right? I left around 10:30am and enjoyed the pleasant and uncrowded hike up. I love hiking the Railroad Grade, such a cool trail. Upon reaching the glacier, I found 1 to 2 feet of wetish consolidating new snow above 6.5k. There was a bootpack too, made by two or three climbers, I soon found their track to be a little spicy -- they apparently liked to leap crevasses, but I found it more appropriate than blazing my own. There is something more terrifying about a deep crevasse which depths is touched by the sun, than a crevasse which veils it's depths in darkness. The deep crevasse with a dark bottom is somehow mysterious -- maybe there is a soft bed of snow and maybe the walls gently taper so that they would break your fall.... but the deep crevasse which is illuminated hides nothing, jagged ice fragments clearly visible 90 feet down... I found one such crevasse on the way up, and the bridge was made from new snow, to top that - the bridge had a hole in it - reveling it's thin nature. I am a little dumb, but I'm no fool... The crevasse - despite it's deep nature, was not too wide, and I was pretty sure the other side was composed of solid mature snow, and it was.-(2:59) The climbers had doubled back a little above 8k, I could see why, the route ahead did not look promising -- very broken and crevasse riddled. I decided to throw on my skins and get as high as I could without any foolish solo glacier shenanigans. I was able to get to about 9k before running into a gigantic crevasse which connected with other crevasses successfully prohibiting my advance. The snow quality on the descent was a little grabby if I had to bitch about something, but really it was pretty good. I had recently rubbed on some fresh wax, and could tell this helped a lot in terms of ski performance, but I became slower and slower as the wax wore off with elevation loss. The texture of snow, the condition of my bases, and the nature of angle coupled together to set a definite speed limit for me. This video is kind of boring - being pretty much all low angle glacier, but I was still super stoked to ski such quality snow this time of year. There is some cool action around 2:20, 4:20, and 4:45, and the music is pretty cool. [video:youtube] Sunday the thirteenth I set out from the Heliotrope Ridge parking area around 1130am and got to 10.5k about 4 and a half hours later. The route is in excellent condition - except for a massive moat at the top of the Roman Wall. I lunched there - by the edge of the moat, and melted some delicious new wet snow; the combined sound of my jetboil's flame with the numerous cascades and trickles of water falling off the rockband deep into the moat in such a surreal windless setting was a pleasant and somewhat odd experience - especially when the noise was accented by deep booming sounds as the nearly constant rockfall (some of it basketball sized) rolled off the rockband/mudramp and crashed into the opposing glacier ice deep in the moat. The moat can currently easily be passed by an ice bridge, but the rotten, very wet, mud/choss anchored ice fragments on the other side of the moat, helped me to decide to ski down from there, besides - there was very little snow above the rock band. I could easily stick my pole into a couple feet of freshish slush, but it skied surprisingly well, and I got some really cool semi-exposed skiing in on the north side of the cleaver. Unfortunately, I neglected to replace my helmet-cam batteries since my last trip, and the camera died a few seconds after I put it on, a damn shame too, cause the footage of all the sluffs would have been cool, I did have some extra batteries and replaced them at the col. The rest of the route was really fun low angle cruising snow/terrain - except for the last bit of glacier which was soft snice - (and a little fun slush skiing at 5:53 into the video) [video:youtube]

fuckengruven

looks like a lot of fun

From - Entertainment News NW : "Alititude: Trish Harding oil paintings at Blue Horse Gallery - A landscape art show by Trish Harding is inspired by the life and eath of the artist's beloved son Ryan Triplett. Ryan was killed in a rock climbing accident at Goat Mountain on Sept. 7 2008. An artist's reception will be held on Fri., Sept. 4, 6-10pm, 301 W. HOLLY St., Bellingham. Trish's hope is to get the word out to the climbing community throughout the Northwest, not just as a tribute to Ryan, but to bring climbers together and continue the dialogue of "risk" that rock climbing is all about. Studies indicate that the inclination to take high risks may be hard-wired into the brain, intimatley linked to arousal and pleasure mechanisms, and may offer such a thrill that it functions like an addiction. Show runs through Sept. 25. Details about Ryan : Rock and Ice, Issue 179, July 2009 or www.supertopo.com. More info: www.studioufo.net or www.bluehorsegallery.com " The sample painting is really cool. edit: just noticed the AAI blog posted something about this too, includeing several cool paintings - http://alpineinstitute.blogspot.com/2009/08/altitude-tribute-to-ryan-triplett.html

sweet pictures

scarpa spirit 4s have a wider toe box than megarides and the zeros.

"if the melt increases, the cost of rebuilding the ramp will be very, very high," Mr Elmiger said." or they could ditch the ramp and make their bunny slope a blue square.

what are some classic long upper fourth class exposed scrambles in the NC's ? thanks

i'm stoked to check out the seracs once the road opens, i remmember seeing them a few times on my way up helio - cool seracs indeed. is it a norm for people to solo boulder style them? road status updated today: Until further notice: Glacier Creek Road, FS 39, off of Mt. Baker Highway is closed to all vehicular access. *Unauthorized Vehicles Beyond the Road Closure Will Be Towed. Washout at 3 miles. Road is snow free Foot traffic: use extreme CAUTION, unstable road at washout.

the seracs being those at the snout of the coleman? i will definetly get the guide, thanks.