mthorman

Man it looks like you guys had an awesome trip! You climbed a bunch of really cool lines. Way to get after it!

I was a little surprised the lakes still were frozen over. But not having been up there in years past I didn't have anything to compare it to. Interesting to know there was more snow. I guess I didn't think we had a big snow year, although we did had a mild spring and cool start to the summer.

Wow great job! Looks like a really fun line in a less than popular location. Great scenery too!

Trip: Mount Triumph - NE Ridge Date: 7/8/2014 Trip Report: With a week off I was in search for partners for the North Cascades. Ryan contacted me about climbing Mount Triumph, and I was stoked. Monday I drove over from Spokane and we met up at the trailhead to sort gear. We really wanted to climb it car to car in one day but most guidebooks and TRs talked of 2 or even 3 days. In the end we decided to take a stove, supper, and down jacket so we could spend the night if we had to. We left the Thornton Lake trailhead at 4:50am just as it got light enough to move without a headlamp. The trail went by quickly and was snow free almost all the way up to the ridge top overlooking the lakes. Made the decent to the lake and found a way across the outlet. The cross country along the lake was easy on snow and we stopped for some water at the middle lake. The gully was also snow covered making for a quick and easy ascent compared to wet heather and scree. Reached the col about 9:30am and got our first good look at Mount Triumph and our route. Hiked across the bowl and scrambled up the rock to the notch. We racked up and decided to simul-climb as much as possible. I led out and we simuled all the way to the top of the 2nd step before the knife edge ridge in one block. By then I had run out of slings (we had 14) so I belayed Ryan up. The climbing was mostly 4th class with some low 5th class moves. The view of the Pickets was amazing, and the exposure was nice too. Ryan led out across the knife edge ridge and we simuled until the base of the crux offwidth. We switched again and I led out up the offwidth. It wasn’t too loose, took pro easily and was actually pretty enjoyable. Above it I put a tibloc on the rope to protect the 2nd and we simul-climbed all the way up to the summit. On the final class 4 heather slopes there was quite a bit of loose rock. Even with being very careful I somehow dislodged a big one that core shot our rope and Ryan took a small piece to the hip. Thankfully he was uninjured but it just reminded us to be extra careful. We made the summit just after 1pm in about 2 hours of climbing from the notch. We took a few minutes to take in the spectacular view and sign the summit registry. Then we started the descent. We only had 1 60m rope (now with a knot in it isolating the core shot) so we decided to do as few rappels as possible. We soloed all the way down to the rap anchor above the offwidth crux. From there we did 3 rappels and then Ryan led as we simul-climbed back across the knife edge section. We did 1 more rappel down the next step and then solo downclimbed for awhile. Finally near the notch we did 1 more rappel to bring us back to our packs. It took us 15 minutes longer to descend than to climb the route. We took a long break to rest, hydrate, and eat. There was still quite a bit of snow on the north side of the notch and I was able to refill my water bottle with snow melt. We left about 4:30pm and did another rappel to get to the top of a ramp. The ramp deposited us back on the snow slopes and then it was just a matter of reversing our tracks. The gully was just soft enough to get a good plunge step. Even the dreaded 500 foot uphill hike out of Thornton lakes went by quickly. Soon we were heading back down dry trail pounding out the steps back to the car. Just as the light was starting to fade we made it back at 8:50pm, 16 hours after we had left that morning. We found all the rap stations in good condition. According to the summit registry there aren’t very many people who climb Triumph. That is unfortunate because it is worth the effort. The climbing is technically easy but the exposure is good, and the views looking north into the Southern Pickets are outstanding. Looking down on Thornton Lakes with Mt. Triumph barely visible in the background. The route goes around the lake to the left and then up the obvious gully that is directly below Triumph. At the top of the gully with Triumph in the background. Excited about the short distance left before the climb. Ryan doing some scrambling on the way up to the notch in the NE Ridge. Looking up the NE Ridge of Triumph with Ryan on lead somewhere in the middle. A panorama of the North Cascades looking north from the summit of Triumph. Me at our first rap station with the southern Pickets in the background. The views were just incredible. Looking back across the basin below Triumph to the col at the top of the gully. Ryan starting to descend the gully on the way down to Thornton Lakes. Gear Notes: We took one 60m rope (8.4) and doubled it in half for simul-climbing. Took 14 slings, 1 set of nuts, and 7 cams (BD #.3 - #2 plus 1 smaller C3). Had to switch leads every time because we ran out of slings. Approach Notes: Snow on most of the approach after the trail which made for an easy walk. No bushwhacking right now. Nice to have crampons for the gully in the early morning.

Nice job guys and an impressive time. Did it 2 days after you guys with great weather and conditions as well. The snow bridge across the upper Bergshrund probably won't be around much longer. Did you guys use it (the one way out left) or did you find a different way?

Partner found.

I will be climbing in the North Cascades area for the next week. I have partners and routes lined up all week except for Tuesday and Wednesday. If anybody wants to get out and climb something let me know. I would be up for pretty much anything from the North Face of Shuksan, or the Torment-Forbidden Traverse to doing a few routes up on WA Pass. Happy to lead up to 5.9 alpine or follow a rope gun on something harder. Marlin

I am looking for a partner for Sunday (7/6) to Friday (7/11). Any chance you could shift your dates? If not are you interested in something for Sun/Mon/Tues? I would really like to get on the North Ridge of Baker and the North Face of Shuksan but could be up for other options as well.

Hmm...well I am seeing freezing levels in the 11,000 and 12,000 foot range. That is way too high in my opinion. From what I understand the problem with warmer weather in later season is the rockfall. The route becomes a shooting gallery. We saw a lot of rocks on the snowfields some as big as small boulders. Also the "rock climbing" sections are on mostly frozen together rock, so if the temps are warm it could be loose and dangerous. The only reason we attempted it was because the 2 days of our approach was supposed to be very cold with freezing levels around 6,000 or 7,000 feet. On our summit day it never got anywhere close to above freezing. Two weeks earlier when I was on Liberty Ridge there were a lot of rocks we saw falling down the the Ridge due to the warmer conditions. I think as far as snow conditions go you could probably climb it for a couple weeks, just know that you will probably deal with more ice or at least hard snow and probably a lot more unfrozen rock.

Yea I agree with you. We were confused at first because we thought we were above the 1st cliff band when we weren't. That said we did look long and hard at the "pink" line in my photo overlay. However it looked to be multiple feet of 5th class moves on rotten rock and we thought the rock band was supposed to be 3rd/4th class rock. After we back tracked and found the ledge that ended in 15 feet of easy class 3 we knew exactly where we were. Oh well that is all part of climbing a route! I am sure with more years of experience, route finding will become easier as well.

Here is one more photo overlay for anyone planning on climbing the route in the future. It shows our route, plus the different variations. This view is seen from lower Curtis Ridge on the way to climb Liberty Ridge.

Trip: Mount Rainier - Curtis Ridge Date: 6/14/2014 Trip Report: Warning, this write up is a bit long. If all you are looking for are pictures then just scroll down to the bottom of my post. So I was driving home from back to back summits of Rainier by Liberty Ridge and the DC. While on the way back to Spokane, I called my climbing partner Joe to tell him about the trip (he had school and couldn’t make it). While in conversation he suggested doing a climb the following week since he was just finishing up school. After a little bit more discussion it was decided to go back to Rainier and climb Curtis Ridge. Due to my work schedule we only had a 3 day window. The weather looked bad for Thursday and Friday, but they were calling for a clear day on Saturday (our planned summit day). So with high hopes and decided to at least give it a try. Thursday I drove over to Joe’s as soon as I got off work at 8am. By 2pm we had registered for our climb and set off from the White River Campground. The weather was actually pretty decent, and we even got a glimpse of the mountain on the drive over Chinook Pass. After a leisurely hike up to St. Elmo’s camp we set up camp. No sooner did we have the tent set up than the clouds, wind, and sleet came. It was a windy hour melting water and doing dinner. The weather report was predicting snow for the night, and the next morning we weren’t disappointed. There was about an inch of white soggy stuff over everything. We rose at 7am and were hiking by 8:30am. The route over the Winthrop was still pretty straight forward with little crevasse issues. Once we reached the lower Curtis we turned off the old boot pack and headed up. By this time the weather was pretty bad. Visibility was anywhere from decent to whiteout, and winds gusts occasionally reached 45mph. The going slowed as the snow turned deeper and wetter. We switched off breaking trail several times especially above 9000 ft where the post holing was knee deep. The normal high camp for Curtis Ridge is near the Gendarme. With horrible weather and only hope that it would improve tomorrow, we didn’t want to do the rappel and commit ourselves to the route. After we reached the rappel spot we started back tracking, looking for a spot to pitch the tent. After a short search we found one of the best spots I have ever seen. It was a good sized snow ledge tucked down in a snow/rock cave. We had to dig the floor down a little so it was tall enough for the tent, but once we finished we were completely out of the elements. Quite satisfied with our site we set to melting snow and wishing the weather would clear. After melting several liters of water Joe noticed that there were multiple things in his water that were moving on there own! After a quick check we realized all the water had living organisms in it. Since we needed water and didn’t want to waste any fuel we opted to just boil everything we had already melted in order to kill whatever it was. This process added more time to an already long cold process. We were happy to crawl into our cozy sleeping bags with a warm dinner. Somehow I had enough service on my Iphone to check the weather forecast. It was still calling for a clear day in the morning and we settled down in hopes it would be right. Alarms went off at 2am and we crawled out of the tent to check the weather. All I remember was Joe saying that he could see the moon and several stars. That was enough for me and we quickly went about breaking camp and forcing down food. We left camp just after 3am and followed our footsteps back to the rappel point. We had brought a 30m rope to save weight so we also had along a 100 feet of static 5mm cord. We rigged our rappel and headed down in the darkness. Unfortunately we had a small issue with pulling the line and I had to ascend about 15 feet to get things unstuck. From there on it was game time, and we were excited to actually be on the route under clear skies and cold temperatures. We stuck to the ridge crest then traversed under some cliffs on the Winthrop side. Then back across the ridge and along the Carbon side of the ridge. Just before we reached the Gendarme we passed a nice flat spot tucked up next to the rock on the Winthrop side where high camp usually is. We passed the Gendarme just as the soon rose. With the rising sun we could see the could level down around 9000 ft but clear skies everywhere above. Passed the Gendarme we stuck to the ridge crest and ended up doing 1 more short 30 ft rappel to get off one of the rock fins. On breaks we would search the upper face trying to see where the route would go. It was like trying to memorize a maze from above before you walk through it....which snowfield connect by which rock bands. We reached the base of the 1st cliff band and looked up at what we thought was the route. It didn’t look like a class 3/4 scramble so we continued traversing for another couple hundred feet. We found an easy snow slope turn up around the end of the cliff band. Then we traversed back the other direction. We found a small rock scramble of 3/4 class and gained another snowfield. At this point we assumed we were above the 1st cliff band and started traversing the snow slope. Things didn’t seem to fit and we couldn’t make what we saw mesh with our metal image from the Gendarme or the picture topos we brought. We continued on this snow slope traversing right until it ran out on a ice/rock nose. Joe led around this nose and up onto the snow above. After he belayed me up we stopped to try and figure things out. After much discussion we figured we were way too far right and officially off route. We searched for a way up but with no luck. We looked at going right and trying to run around the end of a cliff, but that just led to the Willis Wall. It was 9am by this time and we decided that if we hadn’t figured things out in an hour we needed to bail. At this point we turned around and headed back the way we had come. From this high point we could see a snow ledge that we had missed that went off towards the climber’s left and stopped at the cliff band. Hoping this was the “hidden passage” we needed, I led the reverse pitch around the nose and back to the snowfield. After a traverse of the snow ledge it ended at the rock band with what looked like an easy 15 feet of exposed climbing to a snowfield above. Sweet! Finally on route and going somewhere! It was about this time that I started to believe we really were going to climb this big route. This snowfield was more like a wide gully and Joe took the lead kicking steps. Near the top at a constriction we switched, and I finished breaking trail up to the 2nd cliff band. From here it was a simple traverse to the right a couple hundred feet to a steep snow slope that turned to a rock scramble. We broke the rope out of the pack again and set a belay. I led up to the end of the rope, then we simul-climbed through the rocks to the upper snow field. It was Joe’s turn to break trail, and he made quick work of this upper snowfield. We traversed left scrambled over some rocks and took a quick break right on the ridge crest looking down to the Winthrop. From here I broke trail as we headed up a snow gully. We made a short exposed rock scramble left to another snow slope and up again. At the base of a 15 foot snow covered ice step we stopped to get the rope out and belay up. Joe took the lead and got in a good piton. Just as we was about to pull over the lip something slipped and he took a 20 foot fall down to the soft snow below. Unhurt he quickly dusted himself off and sent the short step with ease. This step led us into a right trending snow gully. I took over the step kicking and continued up to where the angle increased to 60+. A fall here would land somebody all the way down in the gaping crevasses of the Winthrop. So after a short simul-climb we were above this and finally home free. It felt so good to be above the last of the steep snow/rock. At 12,500 ft and finally above the maze we took a break before starting the plod to the summit. After a 30 minute stop to melt a couple liters of water we topped out at 5pm in clear but windy skies. We traversed across the upper slopes of the Emmons/Winthrop looking for the decent trail. Unfortunately with all the recent snow and no wands it was useless exercise. So down we went making our own path. We ended up going way to the east to avoid a couple of large crevasses. Then traversing back west about 12,500 ft we found the boot pack. From that point on the mental strain started to wain as we followed this down to Camp Schurman. The upper slopes were quite icy and 16+ hour day was taking its toll. Down on the Inner Glacier we entered the clouds and drizzle. We took a quick stop near Glacier Basin to drink our beverages we had hidden on the way up. Then it was headlamp time and pounding out the miles to the car. We finally reached the trailhead at 10:30pm making for a 18.5 hour summit day. Our camp on St. Elmo's Pass on Thursday afternoon in the clouds. Friday morning with fresh snow coating everything. In the background Curtis Ridge played hide and seek with us in the clouds. Joe ascending the lower slopes of Curtis Ridge with clouds hanging low in the background. Joe melting water at our awesome bivy site. It was a nice snow platform in a snow/rock cave a few hundred feet before the rappel point on Curtis Ridge. Early morning sunrise splashing colors down on the Winthrop Glacier with camp Schurman in the center at the point of Steamboat Prow. Joe passing the Gendarme on the Winthrop side. The sea of clouds covers everything down low making islands in out of the mountain tops. Joe climbing Curtis Ridge shortly after sunrise. The prominent rock feature just behind him is the Gendarme. Joe ascending snow slopes as we start the maze of snow slopes and rock bands. Curtis Ridge is in the background with the Gendarme and various other fins of rock. Joe traversing across the hidden snow ramp/ledge that we missed. We first went around the nose of rock/ice that is to the right of Joe and 150 yards behind him. Ascending the upper snowfield towards the exit gully. The upper cliff bands of Curtis Ridge towering overhead. Joe climbing the steep snow gully that leads to the top of the technical section of Curtis Ridge. Joe giving the thumbs up after climbing Curtis Ridge and descending the Emmons Glacier. A photo of the upper section of Curtis Ridge. The thin blue line is the route we took (minus the detour). The red line shows where we got a little turned around and went off route. Gear Notes: 2 pickets, 2 ice screws, 4 nuts, 4 cams, 4 pins, 2 tri-cams. Used an assortment of everything except for the ice screws and tri-cams. Cams, pins, and nuts seemed to be fine for rock pro and there wasn't enough ice for any screws.

Awesome photos! Looks like you guys had a stellar weekend with great weather and fun climbing!

Just climbed it this week. If you send me a email to westbnsf@gmail.com I will send you back my track log from the trip. It is a super straight forward route with a very solid boot pack right now.

Trip: Mount Rainier - Liberty Ridge Date: 6/1/2014 Trip Report: With the recent disaster that occurred on Liberty Ridge I was reluctant to post this Trip report. However with no recent TR’s and plenty of people asking me about route conditions and beta here it is. As I think back on the trip it was a good trip yet a sad trip. A trip I will never forgot as we watched the aftermath search of the horrible incident that took the lives 6 other climbers. Several months ago my friend Brett and I conjured up a plan to climb Mount Rainier’s classic line, Liberty Ridge. We convinced Kirt to come with us which wasn’t hard and decided to just go when the route and weather were good. With high winds and possibility of snow over Memorial weekend we anxiously waited for things to improve. The forecast looked good for the next weekend so we finalized the trip and started packing. The road into White River campground was supposed to open mid-week but when we arrived on Thursday afternoon it was still closed. We were told it would open at 8am in the morning, but we wanted to get an early start to avoid the heat and post holing in the soft snow. So we opted to ride our bikes the 5 miles from the ranger station to the campground. Friday we were hiking but a little after 6am. The trail was great and free of snow up to about the 4,800 foot line. However there was a good boot pack on the snow and it was crunchy at that time in the morning. We made the long plod up to St. Elmo’s pass were we stopped to rope up for the glacier crossing. After dropping down onto the Winthrop Glacier we took a direct line more or less across the glacier staying with the contour. It was pretty well filled in and navigation wasn’t an issue. After crossing the lower Curtis Ridge we made camp at 7,400 ft overlooking the Carbon glacier and the entire north face of Rainier. Spent the afternoon drying gear, napping or just hanging out in the tent to avoid the sun. Saturday was going to be a short day, just moving camp to Thumb rock. However we again left early in order to avoid the heat and soft snow. As we were crossing the Carbon in the early morning we could see a team of 2 and a team of 3 leaving Thumb rock camp just after 6am heading up the ridge. The Carbon Glacier had a well established boot track and the going was easy. We opted to cross the bergshrund early and ascend up the right side of the toe to reach the lower ridge. We thought about taking the Carbon Glacier all the way up to the natural fall line from Thumb rock and then taking that up, but we were unsure if the bergshrund could be crossed. As it turned out several other teams later in the day took that route and said it was pretty good. Once on the lower ridge we unroped and headed up. The lower ridge up to thumb rock was in good shape and the route switched between the right and left sides of the ridge a couple times. We only had 1 steep rock section that was about a 8 foot vertical step. We arrived at Thumb rock around 9am to find a couple of nice tent spots. Spent some time improving one of them and setting up camp. About this time a helicopter flew in and started searching the upper Carbon Glacier where it meets the Willis Wall. Unfortunately as it turned out the 2nd worst disaster on Rainier was in the process of unfolding. There are still many unknowns in the entire incident and unfortunately they will probably be that way. Everyone wants to know what went wrong, what happened, but sometimes stuff just happens. It was a sobering afternoon as we watched both the small park helicopter and the large Chinook helicopter search the Willis Wall, and debris field at the base. We could see man made objects such as tents, sleeping bags or such being blown around in the rotor wash of the helicopter down on the Carbon. My sincere condolences go out to the families of the six who were lost as well as the AAI guiding community as a whole. Accidents happen, but they are never easy to understand or recover from. We rose at midnight from the tent and begin the cold tasks of breaking camp and packing. The weather was clear and the lights from Seattle twinkled way down in the valley. We began our ascent unroped about 1:15am. The trail was well broken in and the steps were large and frozen solid making travel very easy and fast. The route made an immediate left out of thumb rock then climbed back to the right to gain the ridge above. From there it mostly stayed on the ridge crest or to the right. Just below the Black Pyramid it veered left and then up a short vertical step of rock before again gaining the ridge crest. At the Black Pyramid we were forced out left onto the face. The route usually stays fairly close to the edge of the pyramid, however we found solid alpine ice. There was a very faint track that traversed way out left and well on the upper face of the Willis wall. The conditions here were 2-6 inches of snow over hard alpine ice. Sometimes the snow was soft and powdery and other times it was hard and windblown. The consequences of a fall here are huge and so we decided to rope up and put in some protections. I led out and we simul-climbed the next 500 feet or so. I put in an ice screw every 100ish feet. The climbing itself wasn’t hard, but it was engaging and just steep enough to keep you on your toes. The higher we went to the more snow we found over ice. The last screw I put in, I had to dig down about 16 inches through snow to find the ice. As the angle eased up and the snow became more solid we arrived shortly to the more level terrain of the Liberty Camp Glacier. The sun peaked over the horizon and enveloped the us with its warm rays. After a short break we continued on towards the upper bergshrund and the last obstacle which usually includes a short section of ice climbing. The route however took a right turn and headed up a short snow gully that was about 45 degrees for 1 rope length. It was easy going and it deposited us above the bergshrund and on the upper glacier. I was a little disappointed about not having any ice section to climb but I guess that changes as the season changes. After a short snow slog we were standing on Liberty Cap by 6:45am. With plenty of time left and a beautiful windless day we opted to traverse over and climb up the Columbia Crest. After a few summit photos we headed down the Emmons/Winthrop Glacier towards camp Schurman. We passed Schurman about noon and quickly continued down towards Glacier Basin. It was hot out on the snow and without the slightest breeze to cool us down, all we could think about was descending to the shade. Reaching the trail we pounded out the 3 miles back to the campground in a quick hour. After retrieving our bikes we had stashed we enjoyed the breeze of the 5 mile downhill ride back to the White River Ranger station and our car. We arrived back at the car at 2:45pm making for a 13 1/2 hour day from camp. I bade farewell to Kirt and Brett as they headed back to Spokane. I drove around the mountain to Paradise to meet up with my uncle and father-in-law for a trip of the Disappointment Cleaver. We had a fairly relaxed itinerary with day 1 to Muir, day 2 to Ingraham Flats, day 3 summit, and day 4 descent. But with a long summit day of Liberty Ridge on Sunday the slog up to Muir on Monday was a long one. We had a great trip and I enjoyed the summit of Rainier for the 2nd time in 3 days making for a fun week on the mountain. Riding our bikes on the White River Road from the White River Ranger station to the trailhead. Crossing the Winthrop Glacier with Curtis Ridge in the background. A close up of the upper section of Liberty Ridge showing the current conditions. Note the several large sections of shiny ice. The snow all around that is just a few inches of snow on the same hard ice. Crossing the Carbon Glacier near the toe of Liberty Ridge. Note the well broken in boot path on the right side of the photo. Ascending the lower slopes of Liberty Ridge in route to Thumb Rock. The Chinook helicopter over Willis Wall searching for the missing climbers. Sunrise high on Liberty ridge. The only downside to leaving Thumb Rock at 1:15am is that all the fun engaging climbing is over before sunrise. Note to self, leave later next time! Brett excited about the warmth of sunrise and the awesome climbing of Liberty Ridge. Me on the summit of Rainier (Columbia Crest) with Mt. Adams in the background, after climbing Liberty Ridge. Gear Notes: Normal glacier gear 30m rope 6 screws (used them all for simul-climbing the ice near the Black Pyramid. Approach Notes: Good boot pack to follow. Go early to avoid the heat and soft snow of the afternoon.

Nice job Jeff, and great pictures. Looks like a fun route. One of those headlamps over on Liberty Ridge was me. We were at Liberty Cap by 6:45am though so never saw you guys. And agreed, the slog down below Schurman was really a pain in the butt! I can only imagine how bad it would have been a couple hours later!

Hey Dmitriy, welcome to this site! I think a lot of your questions would be answered by taking a basic mountaineering class. Check out this website, http://mazamas.org/ I have no personal experience with them, but I have a friend who took their BCEP class and said it was a good basic class. They run a good intro program for those getting started. Other than that start reading books and watching videos on basic topics. Good luck as you start your climbing career!

It was fun climbing with you Ron, and looking forward to Rainier! Here are a couple pictures from the trip showing the current conditions. It was nice to see a little sun even if it wasn't in the forecast! Looking down the "Old Chute" from just below the summit ridge. Looking up the "Hogsback". Notice the large open bergshrund already.

Wow, that is impressive! That is one awesome line. I would love to do it someday just not in the conditions you guys had! Sounds like it was one of those trips you are really glad when it is over and you are in one piece.

Yea I really like NOAA and all of the different features. The other two links I use quite a bit are the "Forecast Discussion" (found on the right side bar just below the map), and the "Hourly Weather Graph" (found near the Weather Table interface link). I like the forecast discussion because it is much more detailed information and talks about different prediction models for long range. And the hourly graph really helps to see more specifics for certain hours. Combine everything together and you can get a pretty good idea of what is going to happen. Although it is still the weather, and predictions are never certain

You will also be able to hold a fall a lot easier if the thumb of your brake hand is towards the belay device. Holding the rope with the thumb away from the belay device (as in the video) makes it really awkward to even put your hand in a brake position.

I will be in Portland area this next week for a few days. I have Tuesday, May 20th free and would love to get out and climb at Ozone, the Far Side or Broughton Bluff. Happy to lead or follow trad or sport up to 5.10ish. PM, text, or email me if you have the day off and want to get out climbing. Marlin Thorman westbnsf@gmail.com 509-710-3867

A friend of mine climbed TC on Dragontail this weekend. Sounds like they just walked in. Look in the approach notes at the bottom. http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/1123949/TR_Dragontail_Triple_Couloirs_#Post1123949

Not sure about police but firefighters in the state of WA are covered under $100,000 state life insurance if they die on the job. Severe accidents at work would be covered under L&I, so not really sure what all that would entail in benefits. Different fire departments also have a disability retirement, but again the exact benefits would vary by department.

Just my personal opinion. If you are going into the backcountry where you think you might need to navigate by GPS, then go out and buy a good GPS. Prices have come down quite a bit over recent years, and used models are good options as well. However if you do intend to use your phone's GPS for navigation out of cell service on a mountain. I would definitely recommend trying it out on a training hike or two that is outside of cell service, but where the consequences are much less severe.