JasonG Posted February 10, 2004 Posted February 10, 2004 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!!! Quote
catbirdseat Posted February 10, 2004 Posted February 10, 2004 How was the plodding on the Cowlitz? You know you can follow the rocks of the cleaver to avoid postholing and/or avy danger on the Cowlitz. It takes a bit longer, though. Quote
JasonG Posted February 10, 2004 Author Posted February 10, 2004 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. Quote
Alex_Mineev Posted February 10, 2004 Posted February 10, 2004 What time did you start? I guess you did not see closely but anyway: was the Cathedral Gap windslab loaded? Did you check what's underneath the crust? Experts, which route could probably be safer in these conditions (S, SE aspects windloaded): Gib Ledges or Ingraham direct? From what I know Ingraham has more options to choose from in terms of terrain but you longer remain on 30-35 degree lee slopes. Thoughts? Quote
Alex_Mineev Posted February 10, 2004 Posted February 10, 2004 Just to be accurate these slopes are the Ingraham and where the route tops just above the DC. I do not think that usually they are lee, but the last few days wind was N, NW making them exactly on the lee side... Quote
catbirdseat Posted February 11, 2004 Posted February 11, 2004 I would say Gib Ledges is safest provided you are careful on the Cowlitz. Stay left or even follow the cleaver. If you follow the cleaver there is one short rappel near the Beehive. Plan to enter the ledges at first light. It takes about 2 hours to get there depending on condition. It took us 2-1/2 in bad conditions. Move quickly on the ledges and wear your helmets. On our trip Tomcat got beaned on the helmet by a large pebble. Quote
mr.radon Posted February 11, 2004 Posted February 11, 2004 If you're on the Ledges and hear people climbing the Gib chute, try not to knock too much crap on them. It has enough objective hazards as is. Quote
JasonG Posted February 11, 2004 Author Posted February 11, 2004 We left about 4am. Cathedral Gap had almost no snow around it, must have been too windy this winter. Cadaver gap was looking pretty wind-loaded, although we weren't really close enough to tell for sure. We didn't hang around long enough to dig a pit, but in the loaded areas, the (relatively) soft layer was >2' deep (plunging my axe didn't hit anything hard). Wind was really the big factor though . . . Quote
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