[TR] Mt. Rainier- Gib Ledges 4/2/2004

[Dulton]

Climb: Mt. Rainier-Gib Ledges

 

Date of Climb: 4/2/2004

 

Trip Report:

Me, my roommate, and Nick (Skyclimb) met at the Summit Haus parking lot in Ashford at 3:45 pm. We said a brief hello and threw all of Nick’s gear in the back of my Jeep and he piled in and we were off. We left the car at 5:00 pm from Paradise under bluebird skies and a clear summit above us. There was a strong Chinook wind blowing from the east when we got onto the snowfield. It was slow going on the snowfield as we slogged under an almost full moon and brilliant stars, we arrived at Muir at 10:45 pm to find Girlclimber already in the hut nice and warm in her sleeping bag (next to her freaky little snowman). Girlcilmber’s team of three left before us and we followed at 4:30am trudging up the long Cowlitz cleaver. As the sun rose we saw the weather moving in from the South and a large lenticular cloud building on the summit, so logically we continued. We unroped and entered the first part of the ledges. We found the ledges to be a spicy mix of rock and snow and a ton of fun exposure. No rockfall to speak of while we were on the ledges, but we heard a huge icefall break loose from the Nisqually Icefall and tumble down the valley. The exit chute was fairly soft snow, and didn't need to be protected, with pre-kicked steps up the 50-degree slope (thanks Hannah). We arrived at the top of Gib Rock only to find we couldn’t see six feet in front of us and the wind began to pick up. Thinking we really didn’t want to descend the ledges and knowing the team in front of us planned to descend Ingraham Direct we followed their pon-tracks squinting in the white-out and spindrift. We finally punctured through the bottom of the clouds to see the Ingraham Glacier flowing down below us. Descending the ID was pretty straight forward and without hazard. We did see a large Serac cut loose next to the cleaver and scream down the mountain submarining in the snow and blasting back out until it came to a halt at the base of Disappointment Cleaver. Came down Cadaver gap (won’t be in shape for much longer) and jumped the shrund at the bottom. Descent back to Muir was uneventful and the descent back to the car was painstakingly slow. We ate at Scale Burger in Elbe (mmmm, gut bombs). All in all it was a great climb on a great route. We were all stoked to have completed the route (we have all been to the summit and weren’t too upset about turning around). One of my favorite routes on Rainier for sure. Pictures to come...

 

Gear Notes:

Small half-rope

Crampons

Pickets (didn't use)

Screws (didn't bring, didn't need, would if it's icy)

 

Approach Notes:

Snow was soft on the snowfield, would have been nice to have skis.

[girlclimber]

Wanna give it another go next weekend? I'm down with four attempts on that route in four weeks!

 

That chute was the funnest bit of climbing I've done this year!

[ivan]

i don't know...2 tr's for the same climb? if they cost a few grand each, i'd think this was gov. work...

[Dulton]

Four atempts in four weeks?!? Dang, you must be pretty acclimated to 10k, you'd prolly leave us in the dust. I wish I could try for that route again next week, but I work at my church, and Easter weekend is pretty important. That was one of my favorite routes this season, especially the exit chute.

[MtnHigh]

I'm going to write a TR after getting pics from girlclimber.

Edited April 6, 2004 by MtnHigh