JasonG

Not bad at all. Mostly cramponing with some infrequent mid shin post-holing. We could have avoided the bit of windslab we encountered, we mainly turned around when we realized our chances of seeing the summit were slim considering the wind/temp combo.

Climb: Mt. Rainier-Gib Ledges Attempt Date of Climb: 2/9/2004 Trip Report: To make a short story shorter, we failed. High winds and some windslab on the Cowlitz meant we only got to around 11,500. It was mainly the wind, however. 40+ mph gusts and ground blizzard conditions don't make it too fun when it is only 10 degrees out. As a side note, most S, SE facing slopes were getting a pretty healthy dose of windloading over the past few days. We saw Gib chute avalanche Sunday evening, and were more than a little worried on Monday considering the wind. We never made it far enough to judge how unstable it really was on Monday. . . . For any interested, there is an RMI group of about 15 spending the week at Muir right now. They plan on trying for the Ingrahm either tomorrow or Thursday I think. Now's your chance to follow the cattle track and avoid the trail breaking sufferfest!!!

My partner and I are heading up Sun/Mon and wouldn't mind another rope team along to help with step-kicking . . . Wtih the forecast, we're probably not the only ones thinking of it . . .

I've heard Lowell refer to it as the Isolation traverse. I think the inspriration traverse is from Eldo out to Primus and Thunder Creek. PM Lowell and he'd probably have any info you'd want . ..

My wife and I climbed both Cook (via Zurbriggen's, descended the Linda) and Aspiring (SW ridge) last year on our honeymoon (late December 2002) and had a great time. We climbed Aspiring as a warm-up and I think It is a good mountain to head to to get a feel for New Zealand climbing. Even that early, the SW ridge was starting to get spicy near the top with a little bit of mixed rock and ice to ~60 degrees. We descended the NW ridge and that seemed to be pretty much a scramble except for some steep snow descending the "ramp". We round tripped it from the French Ridge hut which made for a long day, but oh so beautiful! Mount Cook lived up to it's reputation and scared us a bit. We witnessed a ice chunk the size of a house rip down the Gunbarrels and proceed to plow its way down most of the Linda Glacier. We moved quickly after that! That said, the area is probably one of the more spectacular I've visited and it is worth heading to, even if you only climb Mt. Dixon and/or walk around the Plateau hut. We flew in and didn't regret it (a heli can haul a lot of tasty food!), mainly after hiking out and realizing what slog it would be going UP! The hike out is not for the faint of heart, though. We came very close to getting shoved over a cliff by an avalanche (we left early, but the snow didn't freeze overnight), and large rocks were falling out of the moraine wall and bowling down the exit gully. Needless to say, we realized why most fly in AND out. Still I though it was cool, mainly to get an idea of how huge a mountain Cook really is. I would also reccomend Castle Hill (amazing bouldering/surreal wandering), and second Dru's reccomendation for Mt. Owen. An amazing karst landscape complete with a cool six bunk hut. The east ridge of Taranaki was a fun scramble, as was the MacPherson-Talbot traverse in the Darrans. Pretty much I could spend every winter in New Zealand (This topic took me back mentally). . . but I'd better get back to work!

TimL- Descended it a couple of weeks ago, and it isn't too bad. Mainly scrambling with some steep snow. There will be a couple of tricky crevasse sections, but other than that it'll probably go just fine.

Just got back today from the Pride Gl. route. It goes fine with only one crevasse blocking the entire route, we climbed into it and out via a short 70 degree pitch (most of the glacier is pretty easily navigated). The descent down the NE ridge has a couple of minor problems, but none too bad. I'll leave the rest for you to discover . . . It is a fun route that has the complete Cascades alpine package. Thanks to its omission in Beckey, I doubt you'll see a soul- we didn't. Have fun!

Just wondering if it makes things much harder traversing the opposite direction from the norm. . . . Thanks for any info!

I climbed it this past week and had no problem getting to the ridge. We crossed slabs below the glacier and scrambled up to the notch. The col bivy sites are spacious so I think a megamid would be fine (the spots to pitch it might be a bit bumpy, but PLENTY of room). There is a snow patch at the col that gives a small melt stream on warm afternoons . . . and dries up overnight. Have fun!

Not sure about the SE ridge, but if it is anything like the E ridge the rock might be on the scary loose side. The E ridge was pretty bad (as in rock quality), even by alpine standards . .. .

Thanks Dru! My honda will appreciate a 2WD road. So . . . in your opinion descending the south gullies is better than reversing the route (what the guide reccomends) ??

Just curious if there are decent campsites at the small lake on the way to that ridge route described in Alpine Select (in the Ault creek valley?). We don't have a high clearance vehicle and with the long drive from the states, road walk, etc. are looking to bivy somewhere before the route. Thanks for any info . . .

RobertM- just curious how you would grade the route you guys ended up doing. Recommended??

I usually lose the feeling in my big toes for most of the climbing season. It'll start to come back in the winter, slowly . . . Nothing to worry about.

We came out on 7/19 and had a great time. No problems to report, everything is pretty straightforward. We ended up climbing Formidable, LeConte, Sentinel, Spire Point, and Dome. All had great views, but some were a bit on the loose side (we went up the standard routes on all). Watch out for the marmots at White Rock Lakes, they're fiesty!! We took 7 days total, which was very nice and leisurely. We had enough time for a full day of R&R at WRL and another full day to climb Dome (we spent 4 hours on the summit, lounging in the sun and admiring the view). It was a bit crowded for us (~18 people on the trip between 4 parties), but still lived up to its reputation. Have fun!!

"Ice Cliff Glacier in good shape" - Could you see if the shrund was open leading to the upper couloir?? Thanks

So . . . how long was it taking folks to reach the lake with the boot back in and the road in good walking shape? Not that I'm planning on going or anything . . . Sounds like it is in real bad shape right now

Hargrove1- check your PM's

We wanted to take advantage of the great forecast and get out for a late season trip up the big R. Rumors were that Gib Ledges might be snow covered and in fine shape, so we headed up to Muir on Sat. under clear skies and warm temps. No new snow in a while made for great walking and we arrived at Muir with the afternoon masses. We slept in a bit and got going about 3:30 after a night of relative quiet in the shelter (there were only two others spending the night). Conditions were great for cramponing with firm icy snow the whole way up to Gib Rock. The low snow cover made the going a little trickier than it probably would be in the winter (had to detour around rock bands and cracks), but it still wasn't too bad. We started across the Ledges after a couple of hours and then ran out of snow at the point where you drop down a bit before continuing over to the chute. So lacking the desire to traverse steep choss, we turned around and found a good spot to watch the sunrise. It was so calm that you could have lit a candle up at 12,000'!! So even though we turned around quite a bit short we had a great time and had the mountain to ourselves. That's right NO other people were climbing from the Muir area this weekend-I was amazed. The route would go if you were made of tougher stuff than us, things looked fine once you got to the saddle next to Gib rock. I'd be curious if anyone else climbs the whole route in the next week or so what the conditions were like.

Thanks for the report Mike! If you wouldn't mind posting another conditions update a little closer to the weekend I know more than a few would be appreciative. Like Rodeo, I was thinking of trying to give it a go over this long weekend coming up. And whomever may have climbed it recently your input would be cool too. Thanks much!

I was also there in 97-98 and it did rain A LOT. It sounds like the El Nino this year is supposed to be a lot weaker than 97-but who knows. I agree on Zurbriggen-I think that is our plan instead of the Linda. I was also thinking of heading out via the Boys Gl, but I think I might try to fly out after learning that stat. Yikes!!!

I guess I should be a little more specific. I have the climbing guidebooks, have traveled down there before and realize that the Southern Alps are WAY more burly than the Cascades. That being said, I still think my wife and I could climb some of the big peaks down there and have a fun time doing it. I guess I'm mainly interested in how people thought some of the popular routes down there measure up to some of our Cascade Classics. For example, I think my wife and I would probably have fun on NZ climbs equivalent to local routes like Liberty Ridge, Frostbite Ridge, North Ridge of Forbidden, etc. etc. Although I realize like matt said, that the weather SUCKS! I think I've read that the best thing to have for NZ climbing is patience. We're bring lots of good books to the huts and I think we're going to cheat and fly in with a ton of food to wait out storms. Thanks again for any info, I appreciate it.

I already PM'd Dru about his trip but I though I would ask the whole group on their reccommendations/experiences climbing down in the Southern Alps. My wife and I are headed down from Dec. 15th-Feb 15th with the intent of climbing as much as possible and are mainly interested in alpine stuff like Aspiring, Cook, Tasman, and Tutuko. We aren't crazy hard or even very talented, so please don't tell us to climb NZ grade 5 stuff (this is supposed to be a fun honeymoon not a sufferfest). We are interested in what people thought was fun and worthwhile (for your average Cascade type of climber- i.e. moderate snow/ice/rock). Thanks for any info! Feel free to either post here(for the benefit of others who might be planning a trip) or PM me. Cheers

Hey JoshK- Is a TR forthcoming on the Price??? Sounded spicy with a lost crampon . . .

Just to bring things back on track-there is indeed a sign for "Longs Pass" at the junction with the ingalls creek trail. Not sure how new it is, but it's interesting that the FS signs a trail that isn't on a map and isn't maintained. Maybe I should buy a Trail Park Pass now . . .