[TR] Mt. Adams- Adams Glacier, North Ridge, Diamond Snowfield 6/27/2004

[scottk]

Climb: Mt. Adams-Adams Glacier, North Ridge, Diamond Snowfield

 

Date of Climb: 6/27/2004

 

Trip Report:

Nick, Tony and I hiked up to camp near the lake at 7,500 feet on Friday. The weather was beautiful. On Saturday, we had a leisurely morning with the general intention of hiking the North Ridge. Tony was set on skiing the diamond snowfield on the West side of the North Ridge and I was looking for a substantial but not exhausting ski that would leave me with enough energy to climb the Adam’s Glacier route the next day. JohnR and I had flown the north side of Adams taking pictures the week before and it looked like the traditional route into the diamond (i.e., the bowl above and south of the diamond) was in good shape. However, upon arrival it appeared that the bowl had lost a lot of snow and it didn’t appear to be in great shape anymore. I decided I would head up the North Ridge with Tony and Nick to look for some skiing.

 

The climb up the north ridge was tiring and by 10,600 I decided it was time to start heading down. We could now see that the entrance to the diamond from the bowl had melted considerably and would involve traversing about 300 feet of steep scree. However, Tony had spotted what looked to be a ledge that left the ridge about 10,500 and extended over to the top of the diamond so I decided to give it a shot. Tony and Nick continued up the ridge towards the summit and we communicated with hand held radios. The down climb from the ridge to the ledge was fine. However, the ledge ended with an overhanging cliff and a 15 foot drop into very steep snow at the top of the diamond. It was not a jump that suited me. At the time I noticed a gap behind the rock spire at the top of the diamond but didn’t think it was promising enough to take a look. I thought there might be another entrance down lower so I continued to climb down. The cliffs just seemed to get higher and higher with no way to reach the snowfield. I then thought I could enter the snowfield that is skier’s right of the diamond but was also not able to find a safe entrance. (A climbing group did manage to enter that snowfield from the ridge on Sunday.) Tragically, I ended up carrying my skies down to about 8,000 feet before finding some snow to ski.

 

Meanwhile, Tony and Nick were able to summit and start back down. Tony knew about my travails but he was determined to find a way onto the snowfield. His opinion of the overhanging cliff at the end of the ledge was similar to mine, so he decided to investigate the gap behind the rock spire at the top of the snowfield. Low and behold, he was able to down climb about 50 feet to a gully and pick his way along a patch of snow into the very top of the diamond. His description of the ski can be found at Turns-All-Year. Needless to say, it was very depressing to sit in camp and watch this tiny black speck carve out a long beautiful sting of turns down the diamond.

 

Tony returned camp about 5:00 and Nick finished the North Ridge down climb about 7:00. The ski had cut about 2 hours off the descent!

 

John and Steve arrived into camp about 6:00. By this time, the clouds on the mountain had begun to thicken and we were growing more concerned about weather for the next day’s climb.

 

John, Steve and I woke at 1:30 on Sunday morning to fog and no stars. We continued to prepare, hoping that we would break out of the clouds as we climbed. At 1:40, stars began to appear and by 2:00, the night was perfectly clear. Our excitement grew. We departed camp about 2:30 and headed for the base of Adam’s Glacier. Due to the darkness of the night, we ended up having to pick our way through some crevassed sections in the flats before starting up the steeper part of the glacier. There was one team way ahead of us and two other teams that passed us as we rested at the base of the steeps. A fourth team was below. It was a beautiful night with Styrofoam snow and a light wind.

 

We started out on about 40 degree slopes before reaching a large serac that we had determined from below could be passed to either the right or the left. The six-person Mountaineers team decided to go left so we went right. This part of the climb was closer to 50 degrees and we decided it would be nice to pull out the ice tools and protect with pickets. About 300-400 feet of protected climbing brought us to a flatter area that allowed for a rest, food, and water. The 6-person Mountaineers team was moving slowly up the other side while another 3-person Mountaineers team headed off to do the North Side of the Northwest Ridge. We continued up the 40-degree slope, now back to ice axes and no protection. About 500 feet up John had a poorly attached pole fall off his pack and roll down the hill. Fortunately, the pole rolled right to the leader of the Mountaineers team who grabbed it. She must have handed it off to another 2-person team that was moving faster because they were the ones that delivered it back to John about 1,000 feet higher.

 

We now reached a crevasse below the bergschrund that had looked impassable from the air but had not been visible from below. It was indeed impassable and we ended up heading way to the left, weaving between huge walls of ice and across interesting snow bridges before finding what appears to be the last remaining path of snow bridges across the bergschrund. Negotiating through this section was one of the highlights of the trip.

 

We reached the relatively flat section above all the crevasses and in front of the huge serac at the top with a massive ice cave at the bottom. This was a good spot for a rest, food, and water. We chatted a bit with a couple other teams, including a fifth team that had started much later than the rest of us and made great time without ropes or protection.

 

The rest of the climb was a cakewalk as we headed left around the large serac at the top and made the long trek across the summit cap to the top. It took us a total of 9 hours to reach the top, but it seemed much shorter. The variety and challenge on the Adams route helped to make the time fly. The combination of challenge, scenery, teamwork, weather, and snow conditions made for a truly memorable climb.

 

We headed down the North ridge at about noon. At 10,500 we left the ridge and traversed across the west side of the ridge towards the diamond snowfield. We found the gap that Tony had described from the day before and were able to find our way to the top of the diamond snowfield. I choose to glissade while John and Steve plunged stepped down the approximately 30 degree slope. It was a quick but careful glissade down the softened snow. It’s too steep to glissade except under soft snow conditions, requiring a carefully calibrated heel sink and a lot of weight on the ice axe to keep under control. Skis would have been perfect. Never the less, it was a great finish to a great climb.

 

We arrived back to our lake camp at about 3:30, packed up and left for the car at 4:45. I skied down to about 6,000 feet, with a few carries across snow free patches. We arrived back to the cars in about 2-2.5 hours.

 

All in all, an excellent weekend. It’s hard to tell how much longer the bridges across the Adam’s Glacier bergschrund will hold up, but surely not for more than a few weeks.

 

 

Gear Notes:

We used pickets for protection and ice tools. Given the excellant conditions, protection probably not critical, but I'd want the tools for sure.

[Pandora]

Scott- CascadeClimber and I were the bums unwinding at the trailhead. It was nice chatting while you waited for your friends to arrive . Awesome weekend for a climb!

[scottk]

Pandora,

Good to meet you and CascadeClimber. Thanks for leading the way on Sunday.