Climzalot

For technical routes on the mountain where you are trying to pare down weight and move quickly, this style of tent would be the way to go if you plan to camp on the route. For the Buttress or Muldrow etc, a bigger and more durable tent would offer a higher safety margin and be a lot more comfortable. In 2006 we recorded winds of over 100mph at 14k. A tent like the first light would have probably evaporated in those conditions. I saw several Trango's and North Face tents get shredded, albeit they were not properly protected and anchored. Good luck.

The 30m rando type ropes are super useful for their intended purpose. I use these quite a bit on glaciers where there is a possibility of a crevasse fall, but a low likelihood of that. For ski mountaineering on glaciers, I often have one in my pack, but not necessarily rigged for glacier travel. As wfinley said, having dynamic properties increases the ropes usefulness in being able to belay technical bits. Although a static would be better for one application (hauling), a dynamic rope is more versatile and gives you more options in certain situations.

On a long, multi-day traverse, I would be much more inclined to cut weight and simplify gear+systems, as long as I could still safely and efficiently accomplish my climbing goals. With regard to the safety issues, to me it comes down to one question, can I quickly and safely carry out a crevasse rescue with one rope. In my mind, the answer is yes, and so in most cases, another rope is not needed, nor an advantage. It depends! How big are the slots, how numerous are the slots, at what angle will you be engaging them, do you know how to manage a crevasse rescue with little or no rescue rope left over, how long is your rope, etc. Knowing when, why, and how to do these things is key, and I don't think there is one right answer that can apply to every situation. On most of the volcano routes, about 40 to 50 feet seems about right to me. Rarely less than 30, never less than 20. You might as well be piggy-backing your partner with 10. I have used nearly the whole rope on a few occasions in Alaska. Both of us not going to the bottom was a lot more important than having a convenient rescue scenario. Most of your discussion of systems mentions dropping a loop/2:1. Unless the hauler is super strong, and the fallen climber is super light, a 2:1 is going to be a lot of work, in many cases impossible. The good old C to Z (3:1/5:1) seems to be the standard for two person rescues. It never hurts to remember that the first job of the rope and of course the climbers using it, is to stay out of the hole. In ten years of traveling on glaciers, here and abroad, I haven't seen a climber on my rope go in more than waist deep. Now that I have said that, I am probably in for a deep, dark ride in the near future. Great. Cheers and good luck.

The Twin Sister's Range near Bellingham offers fairly easy access (with some approach beta) to the alpine environment. The west ridges of the North and South Twin's are both great 4th class scrambles with some exposure to make you feel like you are climbing. Probably still a good bit of snow on parts of each as well.

In climbing, the safest option is not always the best. The "safest" thing would be to not leave the house, ever. After that, we all play a balancing act between efficiency, practicality, and safety. Standards for, and definitions of these things will vary from person to person based on personal biases, preferences, etc. In your scenario I am not sure what you mean by "double" ropes. If you mean using two half or twin ropes, hauling and prusking on these ropes is a nuisance at best. Personally I can't see how the advantages, if there are any, in having two ropes would outweigh the cost of carrying and having to deal with another rope. Kiwi coiling is usually reserved for times when you intend to lengthen and shorten the rope often. Otherwise, the mountaineers coil is much easier to carry, access, and employ in a crevasse rescue scenario. Obviously there are thousands scenarios and methods in climbing and mountaineering. Depending on your objective and aforementioned personal factors, the "best" strategy will probably change from outing to outing. Personally, for two person teams on moderate glacier routes I prefer to use a single rope in the 9.0-9.2 range, or a half rope in the 8.5-8.8 range. For alpine ice and rock routes, I prefer using two half ropes. When approaching a multi-pitch rock or ice climb via a glacier route, I will use one of the half ropes for glacier travel. Have fun and good luck.

Bela's company is Alpine Skills International. http://www.alpineskills.com/ Good luck!

Careful on this one Blake. If you don't have a long enough draw on the piece that is attached to the rope and your gear loop (assuming that is where you clip it), you can blow up your gear loop in a fall and lose the stuff you may need to finish the climb safely. Also, a longer draw in this situation often gets hung up on things, and it is easy to screw up and clip above the biner on your rope in a desperate moment. More of a "goal" than a tip or trick, when rappelling multi-pitch ice routes using v-threads, the first person to rap should get to the next rappel point, set the anchor including a screw to back up the v-thread, and have the rap anchor ready to go with rope threaded by the time the second gets there. No one likes hanging belays on ice, and hustling (not hurrying!) can really help minimize time there. Also, practice v-threads often so you don't miss. I nailed 16 in a row and 15 in a row coming off two separate peaks in Alaska, and that saved soooo much time. Time that is much better spent drinking and eating back in camp, not strapped to the ice. Have a look here for other tips, tricks, and advice from some good climbers: http://aai.cc/expert_tips.asp Coley

Scottgg. Nice work on the climb and thanks for the trip report. How was the last pitch of climbing on the face before you got into the 3rd couloir? A friend and I climbed it in lean conditions a number of years ago. The face seemed to funnel up into a narrow gully which eventually turned into pure rock. At the time I remembered thinking that this last pitch just before the 2nd Couloir was one of the spicier pitches I had lead in the mountains. One good stopper right off the belay, and then 40+ meters of slabby, unprotectable, crackless granite and silver-dollar size pieces of frozen turf to a snow seat belay. Did you find anything like that, or was this section fairly snowed/iced up? Again well done!

Awesome report Jay. Thanks for sharing! Coley

Definitely horizontal. Climbing anywhere in the Ruth area requires a lot of glacier travel, and even the so called "ice" routes usually have long sections of snow climbing and/or junky ice where surface area up front is your friend. The Black Diamond Sabretooth crampons are still my favorite for all around climbing from snow slogs to water ice. A headlamp is very useful until mid-May. Good luck.

Wow. That is by far the most ice I have seen on those routes. Hard to believe that Shreddie and Closet Secrets are anemic given the amount of ice close by. Thanks for the photos.

Hey Gene. Andy is headed off towards other opportunities after a long run and many contributions. I am still alive and kicking withing the AAI hierarchy. If anyone would like an insider's perspective into the job or the company, feel free to shoot me a PM, call AAI, or send me an email at cgentzel @ aai.cc. Happy climbing folks. Coley Gentzel

Here is a link to an article that seems to deal with a pretty similar subject matter and approach to the ones you describe. AAI - Physical Conditioning for Alpine Climbing For the working class professional, getting exercise is all about evenings and weekends eh. I get bored to death on the stair master and avoid it whenever possible, but it suits a purpose when outside time is limited. The climbing gym does the trick for staying in shape for the rock. Finding a spot where you can get some cardio and weights in along with a session on the rock wall seems like an ideal combo. Succeeding on long routes and expeditions is often about having the mental strength and fortitude to go along with the needed base of physical conditioning. The only way to train for that aspect of climbing, besides spraying on the internet, is to put yourself into a series of progressively more involved or intense situations, bearing in mind personal safety and appropriate limits of course. Good luck and have fun!

Here is a photo of a Pavehawk just after it touched down on the summit of Mount Hunter. From time to time the military holds "trainings" in the Alaska Range where helo pilots practice their high altitude landing skills. Strange site and experience after a few days of solitude on a peak like Hunter.

The NPS restriction on landing zones isn't based on altitude, but rather the National Park boundary. The landing zone on the SE Fork of the Kahiltna (Denali Base Camp) is just outside of the Park. Once you turn the corner at the bottom of Heartbreak Hill and starting heading up the main fork of the Kahiltna you are in the Park and planes can't legally land there unless asked to do for official business. The NPS Llama has largely negated the need for any fixed wing landings in the Park for rescue purposes. The only thing that shuts down the landing sites is snow/glacier conditions. Cracks start opening up at BC even in May some years. The landing site often slides up the glacier a bit even as the typical season progresses. On the first ascent of the W. Buttress, Washburn and the crew were dropped off at the base of Ski Hill (7800'), well within the Park and near where most people make camp 1 these days. I know there have been a few landings at 14K as well, but I couldn't tell you when and by who. Impressive.

Hi Bigtree. The climbing season on Denali is dictated by a number of factors, weather and glacier conditions being the two most relevant. Prior to early May, most of the mountain is still very much in "winter" condition and the summit is often poking into the jetstream, making high camp and the summit very uncomfortable, if not deadly places to be. In general, the weather tends to be a little better at lower elevations in May than in June, but the winds on average are higher. Wind is a huge factor, perhaps the biggest, in one's ability to summit on any high and cold peak. In June, the temps warm up a bit, but precipitation/visibility are larger issues. I think the ideal time to plan an expedition to Denali is shooting for a departure in late may or early June. According to the Park service stats, June is the busiest month on Denali and June 15th is day on which the most people reach the summit. A summit day of 6/15 means that those folks would have started around the last week in May. The first teams to hit Denali usually start showing up in mid-April. The Park service base camp usually goes in towards the end of April (29th last year). The downside of going when weather and conditions are forecasted to be at their best, is that the mountain will be at it's busiest. Denali is a busy place. Knowing that ahead of time and setting expectations accordingly seems to diffuse the disappointment of most hoping for solitude. I think it is a super fun place to be and enjoy seeing lots of teams in action, making decisions, sharing food and stories along the way. Having good company and some international flavor adds a lot to the experience. Dealing with trashed campsites and bad attitude's certainly doesn't. Later into the season, glacier conditions, particularly on the lower Kahiltna, start to become much more problematic. The big factor here isn't necessarily climber's ability to negotiate and deal with such things, but more that the pilots become less able and willing to land at base camp and pick you up. Not too many folks are super keen on the 50+ mile walk down the glacier and back to the road! So, effectively, the climbing season is from May through the second week in July. Hope this helps a bit. I sent you a PM regarding the Alpine Institute's Denali program. Coley A rough day to be on the summit.

http://aai.cc/guideservices.asp Some info on factors to consider when choosing a guide service from the American Alpine Institutes's Denali page. The idea of an expedition training program in a low altitude environment, and in conditions that are likely to be very different than what you would encounter on the actual expedition is contrived to say the least. That having been said, such a program is a great way for guides and climbers to get to know each other, and spend some time learning about the strategic and technical differences between the expedition approach as it compares to the alpine style that most folks are familiar with. Since most guide services have their own unique strategies when it comes to expedition climbing, I think most of the benefits of the training would be lost if you train with one company/group and climb with another. It makes a lot of sense to keep it all within company and/or group of climbers.

Howdy folks. Here is the ad for AAI's annual used gear sale in Bellingham. Come check it out!

Howdy folks. Here is the ad for AAI's annual used gear sale in Bellingham.

Brilliant. Thanks a ton for the super useful beta. It almost feels like cheating...almost Was the snow pretty cruiser down to the toe of the ridge? It looked like you guys had tennies and strap on poons? Was planning a similar strategy. Thanks again.

Cool. Sounds good guys. Thanks for the help.

Sorry. Yes I was talking about rapping from the WR col down onto the north side. I read your comments about being at the end of your ropes going over the 'schrund, but you also mentioned finding a better spot for the other two to cross so I was hoping that the better way would go with 1 rope. The route over Sharkfin seems like a lot longer walk. Am I mistaken? Was the snow at the edge of the 'schrund decent for bollards? Thanks for the info. Coley

I have been considering this route for the coming weekend and just got turned onto your trip report. I am glad things turned out for you guys as well as they did and nice work on sorting it all out. I was wondering how you (or anyone who's been there) think the rap from the West Ridge Col to the glacier would go with one rope? Any way to piece it together, or are two ropes definitely required? Thanks for any insight you might be able to offer! Coley

I have used the DAS Parka for 4 trips to the Alaska Range, including Denali, and think that it is a great choice. I will be using one again this year as well. For a climb that would start in the first few weeks in May I would recommend layering another light insulating layer under the coat. The Patagonia Micro Puff pullover is perfect for this piece and a few other companies make similar products. Later in the season, your base layers, softshell, and wind layers under your parka would likely be adequate. I typically recommend more of modular system for insulation as opposed to one giant layer (parka, down suit) that would go over everything. The conditions and temperature on Denali, and on most large scale expedition peaks change from the base of the mountain to high camp. Having a few different combinations of warm layers leading up to a parka is much more practical for most folks on these trips and on future adventures elsewhere in the world. The disadvantage of having feet that are too hot is excessive perspiration right? The Intuition liners are not permeable and they act as a micro VBL in my experience with them. By this I mean that even though your feet are toasty, they don't tend to sweat any more, I think less, than in regular liners that tend to wick moister away from you foot allowing for continued perspiration. The Intuition liners are the best thing out there for cold and high mountaineering in plastic boots. The liners are warmer and lighter than all others including the high altitude model that Koflach puts out. The biggest down side, besides cost, is that they do pack out after time. You can reform them a time or two successfully, but their life is limited. For this reason I would recommend against them if you intend to spend a lot of time on multi-day trips in warmer locals, and can't/don't want to afford two sets of liners. Good luck!

This just came in from the National Park. Anyone have friends in the area? Coley _________ Date: April 24, 2007, 1:00 pm For Immediate Release Climbing Fatality in the Alaska Range A climber died after an approximately 1,000-foot fall on Mt. Wake in Denali National Park and Preserve on Monday, April 23. At 6:00 p.m. that evening, the first member of a two-person climbing team was rappelling down the Northeast Ridge of the 8,130-foot peak when the fall occurred. It is unknown what caused the rappelling accident. After realizing their partner had fallen, the second climber descended to the body and confirmed the fatality. Assistance was then sought from another climbing party in the vicinity. A satellite phone was used to inform an emergency contact about the accident, who notified Denali mountaineering staff shortly before 9:00 p.m. Later that evening, the group returned to the victim and brought the body back to their camp in the Ruth Gorge. At 8:00 a.m. Tuesday, April 24, Denali mountaineering ranger John Evans flew into the Ruth Gorge with Talkeetna Air Taxi pilot Paul Roderick. After confirming the identity of the climber, they recovered the body and flew back to Talkeetna. The name of the deceased climber is being withheld pending family notification. Mt. Wake is a highly technical mixed rock, snow, and ice peak located in the Great Gorge of the Ruth Glacier. At least five other parties were climbing in the vicinity of the Gorge during the timeframe of the accident. Of note, a similar fatal accident occurred on the Northeast Ridge of Mt. Wake on April 24, 1994, when two climbers died while rappelling the peak.