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Liberty Ridge Early September?


Fuggedaboudit

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Made an earlier attempt this year the week before Memorial Day. Three straight days of rain/sleet, low visibility and wind, barometer kept on dropping. Didn't even get up on the ridge to force the issue, and flew back to NYC just as the weather improved. cry.gif

 

Want to give it a go again this year. Will be party of two and looking at a block of four days around Labor Day weekend. While I know the route was first climbed in late September, and have read the story in Dee Molenar's book is there anyone who has done it or attempted the route in late summer early winter conditions? confused.gif I would expect there to be greater objective (rockfall) danger, and so would plan on getting to the Curtis Ridge camp on day one, setting up camp and then scouting the Carbon (which I expect would be pretty fractured) for a route onto the ridge. Day two would be a alpine start and push up to thumb rock. Then spend the day at thumb, sleep early and break camp about 1AM to be above black pyramid before dawn.

 

This sounds like a great plan from my livingroom. But so did leaving Gore Tex shell behind on the last trip to "travel light and fast" pitty.gif.

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just my two cents... seems like climbing something like lib. ridge in the fall would only be feasible under very specific (and rare) conditions that occationally occur when the mountain gets plastered with new snow from an early winter storm and then the weather warms up then turns very cold producing a nice layer of firm snow/ice over most of the rotten rock.

The odds of getting that kind of weather is tough enough, and although I've been snowed on over labor day weekend before on Rainier, I would think if you're looking for early winter conditions, sometime in October might be better....even then you could still get your head knocked off by rockfall.

 

why not just be patient and take another crack at it next summer?

or if you really want to get out here this fall, why not head into the north cascades or the coast range and find something steep and icey that won't be a rockfall deathtrap, like the northeast face of Fury or the north face of Redoubt or the Entiat Icefall on Maude?

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Judging from conditions this May I'd say your "safest" bet in September might be to start from the upper Carbon and do the whole ridge in one push at night. You'd almost certainly have to start from the Liberty Wall side.... I wouldn't stop at Thumb or anywhere else until I was on top.........

 

Then again, I'd climb something else myself....

 

Bring a couple of those Lexan riot shields.... grin.gif

 

-Fear

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just my two cents... seems like climbing something like lib. ridge in the fall would only be feasible under very specific (and rare) conditions that occationally occur when the mountain gets plastered with new snow from an early winter storm and then the weather warms up then turns very cold producing a nice layer of firm snow/ice over most of the rotten rock.

The odds of getting that kind of weather is tough enough, and although I've been snowed on over labor day weekend before on Rainier, I would think if you're looking for early winter conditions, sometime in October might be better....even then you could still get your head knocked off by rockfall.

 

why not just be patient and take another crack at it next summer?

or if you really want to get out here this fall, why not head into the north cascades or the coast range and find something steep and icey that won't be a rockfall deathtrap, like the northeast face of Fury or the north face of Redoubt or the Entiat Icefall on Maude?

 

i know quite a few strong climbers who have failed to make it through the broken up bottom glacier and onto the n face of redoubt in september. once the snow is gone the lower ice can be a real mess.

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Just did Liberty ridge couple days ago after four unsuccesful attmepts. Conditions were near-perfect for climbing, so I was surprised at how much actual rockfall there was even with sufficiently cold temps to keep things relatively stable. One of my previous attempts a few years ago was on Labor Day weekend, despite warnings from the climbing rangers, approached from White River but was stumped after spending most of the day on the Winthrop Glacier without ever finding a route onto Curtis Ridge. You could avoid this via Ipsut Creek approach directly to Curtis Ridge, but then you would have to deal with the Carbon glacier, which is usually more busted up than the Winthrop. I can only imagine that an attempt in such late season would have a high likelihood of rockfall incidence. I would expect to get hit by something. There would likely be more mixed climbing and climbing on that beautiful volcanic rock, while the ice sections would be relatively bullet-proof.

The only way I would try it that late would be in a style like that mentioned by "Fear", do the whole ridge on a cold night without stopping at thumb rock, or climb something else.

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Thanks guys, especially fear, pete a and brukb. The way might very well be an overnight push up the ridge, getting near bergshrund by early morning.

 

Hey- on the plus side there wont be postholing or avalances! And no crowds at thumb rock!

 

Hell, even if we can't get up on the ridge due to glacier conditions at all, its still such a beautiful mountain that I'll be coming out there. After not even seeing it for three days (weather) on my first attempt I'd take just seeing it up close as a step forward. I know it will still be there in May. Problem is its there in September too. I probably will just have to learn my lesson like "brukb" did, and by the way- congratulations on your fifth! Post some pictures and a trip report. Its always cool to read about someone's success, but its much cooler to read about someones perserverance.

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  • 1 month later...

Actually ... on second thought ... a friend who is a VERY experienced climber was at the base of the ridge and said the rocks were comming down like rain. He was going to be my partner ona September attempt. If HE thinks its too much objective hazzard then thats it, 2005 it is. Heading up to Athabasca instead. Thanks guys for bringing me back to reality. The riot shield image helped alot.

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