Excellent Winter volcano routes?

[iain]

avi's not so bad you just have to stay on TOP

[Greg_W]

quote:

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Originally posted by COL. Von Spanker:

He is referring to avy danger. If by suffer tolerance you mean suffocating to death under a few tons of snow then never mind.

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I got that much Spanker. But part of the suffering is packing all your crap, doing the approach and then turning around when the conditions suck.

[COL._Von_Spanker]

quote:

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Originally posted by Greg W:

quote:

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Originally posted by COL. Von Spanker:

He is referring to avy danger. If by suffer tolerance you mean suffocating to death under a few tons of snow then never mind.

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I got that much Spanker. But part of the suffering is packing all your crap, doing the approach and then turning around when the conditions suck.

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That sounds like a pretty good time if ya ask me. It's funny how once one starts alpine climbing a beautiful day hike or overnight backpacking trip turns into a measly approach. I know I have become guilty of this at times.

 

On Topic: The Mt Baker backcountry has some good sufferfest potential. It can be dangerous at times but you can drive to the ski area and park then head off toward table mt and surrounding areas. Bring a beacon and a partner though. When I was a kid we would go there in winter and slog around in knee deep pow and camp in snow caves, fun stuff.

[iain]

one fun winter activity is experimenting with how quickly and efficiently you can bivy w/o getting cold and snow-coated in a blizzard AND getting a good night's sleep. a good place for this is above Timberline Lodge. Just dig in (no snow cave) and practice getting into bivy sack etc w/o getting too much snow in and getting a good night's sleep in howling wind/snow etc. If problems arise bail into Timberline Lodge's living room by fireplace!

[j_b]

I was trying to say that the fun factor is an essential part of going out. Being successful and reasonnably safe is also an integral part of fun. If you repeatedly do horrendous approaches without the reward of climbing (not necessarily getting to the top), I think one gets tired of it pretty quickly and probably loses perpective on why he/she is going out in the first place. You can get the training by doing fun stuff (with plenty of suffering to boot), so why add pointless suffering?

[Greg_W]

quote:

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Originally posted by j_b:

pointless suffering?

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To take the Buddhist view, is any suffering pointless? All suffering in this life will lead to rewards in the next...Watch Brad Pitt in Seven Years in Tibet, it's all clearly explained.

 

[ 11-14-2002, 01:44 PM: Message edited by: Greg W ]

[COL._Von_Spanker]

quote:

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so why add pointless suffering?[/QB]

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Ask Bob Flanagan

 

[texplorer]

Ryland,

You might also think about Adams. It has a great ski off (if your into that). You might have to take one day to approach but you can ski all the way from the summit all the way out on the forrest roads.

[sketchfest]

That's a great way to test out new techniques or gear. I spent a several wicked storms on Hood this last winter and spring, one using minimal gear and one to try out a new bag. It was comforting to know that I could push things to the very limit and know that I was only a quick run to beers and warmth. Although I did manage to have one of the most nerve racking descents from 9,500 down to the lodge in just under 4 hours with high winds and 0 vis. Never saw a lift tower or Silcox (sure glad I took a bearing before I went to bed)

[Cletus]

Did Hood and South Sister in March last season, Adams twice in June and July as well. Must echo above...Adams is frikkin fantastic.

 

Baker/Shuksan is supposed to have some great tours/climbs, but watch out for avi conditions.

 

South to Shasta is also a good option if you want to make a roadie of it.

 

Lemme know if you guys come down this way...I might be around...

 

c

[Winter]

Re Adams in the Winter, a two-day ascent of the South Side would be brutal. Its about a 10-mile approach to the trail head from where they stop plowing the road, and most people do it in two days from there. Plan on 3, but a quick overnight may fit the bill for the pure suffer factor. After 20+ miles of skinning and skiiing in two days, my feet were toast.

[russki82]

hmmmm...

 

Gib. ledges in winter...interesting idea. Looks like they could actually be considerably safer without all that horrendous loose rock that they feature in the summer.

 

Has anyone here actually done it? If so, how did it go? How cold does it actually get (i've seen the thermometer drop to about 15 below in early September while camping on the summit...no wind though)? What month is generally a better bet in terms of weather and how is the overall avalanche danger?

[mattp]

Gib ledges is the "standard" winter route. Run a search and you'll find lots of discussion, beta, a trip report or two, etc.

[Alex]

Gib Ledges has to be one of the most commonly climbed routes on Rainier in winter. I kinda dislike Rainier as it really is pretty much a 2 day outing, instead of Mt Hood which is 1 day...

 

Not a volcano, but someone mentioned baker, so I thought I would add that NF Shuksan in winter is commonly climbed, very easy access on skis in mid-later season, lots of ground

 

Mt Baker, dunno, I think that access road to Coleman side gets snowed in, and thats a fairly long road.

 

More non-volcanoes, but Stuart Range is very accessible in winter and many routes up there are commonly climbed (attempted anyway) throughout a normal year; weather tends to be on the good side and it tends to be colder there. Suffer fest is only related to how far into the range you go: light suffer == Colchuck Lake/Colchuck Peak (still great conditioning!), medium suffer == Stuart Lake/N Side of Stuart, and so on. Little Anapurna and backside of DTail for non-technical routes.

 

Adams on skis is not bad, its not like the approach is 10 miles of uphill really, its just 10 miles. You even get to camp in the trees ifnyawanna.

 

I still think Hood is it as far as winter wonderland access goes, just cant beat driving up to TLine and getting instantly blasted as you step out of your car!

 

[ 11-18-2002, 06:49 PM: Message edited by: Alex ]

[fleblebleb]

Cool thread! Holler if looking for a partner for some of this stuff, cheers - Stefan

[mattp]

A couple of stray thoughts, provoked by the above posts:

 

Don't give up hope on Mt. Baker. In some winters, you can drive pretty far up that Glacier Creek road toward the west side, so here's hoping we have the el nino winter. The road to the south side (snowmobile access point) is plowed every year if you don't mind sharing your climb with those guys.

 

Two years ago the Cascade River road was plowed to Eldorado Creek in February, and if we have the predicted el nino year, there may be lots of trailheads that remain open throughout the season or at least later than normal.

 

If not, Alex is right about the N. Face of Shuksan and, if you play your cards right, you needn't worry about having to do the approach on skis. This is because you really want to do the climb after it has rained up to the summit or nearly so, and then gotten cold without any new snowfall. Under these conditions, you can make the approach without skis. If you do go in there on skis, the White Salmon is a pretty good ski route both up and down.

 

Ditto on Whitehorse. It can be one of the best "moderate" day trips from Seattle.

[mattp]

And in the volcano vein, take a look at Broken Top and the South Sister, both easily approached from Gaper Timmy's office for a pleasant weekend outing.

[iain]

Even if you don't climb any of the routes (11'o'clock C. is excellent) Broken Top's crater bowl is an outrageous ski. There are plenty of slope angles for all abilities on the perimeter of the crater as well. What a blast. Get some sled hauling practice in on the approach too, means you can haul in all the booze to make a good winter ski trip complete. I'll be back for more this winter. If the approach didn't require some nav. skill and commitment it would be mobbed.