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[TR] Mt. Rainier- Gib Ledges Attempt 2/9/2004


JasonG

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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!!!

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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?

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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.

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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 . . .

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