winter descent off jo'burg

[ivan]

so i got all these nice days off for xmas coming up and was thinking repeating the ne butt of j'berg in the soul-freezing suck of potentially deadly winter would be edifying - getting up is just half the fun, of course, and i was interested in how other folks might approach dismounting The Beast in potentially avi prone conditions. the cj coulior as always would seem fastest, but in scary conditions i'd like, want a hand grenade or something to blast it 'fore heading down. the uber-classic doug's direct would seem a very long trudge in snow, and also scary in bad avi conditions. isn't there another way off? i guess just rapping and downclimbing the butt itself might not be too bad, especially if using two ropes.

 

thoughts? spray somewhere else, if ye don't mind...

[Billygoat]

I always felt the C-J Couloir is the way to go....fast

[Chriznitch]

you should have a good view of santa's flight trajectory up there

[skykilo]

I have an answer for you, but it's top secret and shit.

[DPS]

I have descended both the C-J coulior in winter and the NE Buttress from the snow arete (our high point) in winter. Descending the Buttress was not bad, we did it with a single rope using bollards, v-threads, threaded icicles, and vegetation for anchors and down climbing.

 

 

Near the top of the CJ Couloir there is a bowl sort of thing that likes to collect spindrift from the flanks of Cascade and J'Berg. I have been there when the entire couloir is neve and ice but that bowl is waist deep snow. Scary.

 

When Colin climbed the NE Buttress in winter, he did it in really shitty conditions and descended by traversing West over multiple sub peaks until able to drop down to their car.

[ivan]

I have an answer for you, but it's top secret and shit.

let me guess, it involves having planks of death strapped to your feet!

[catbirdseat]

One wonders whether it might be possible to "condition" the descent route down CJ Couloir short of explosives. Perhaps one could send down a big snowball?

[iain]

I have an answer for you, but it's top secret and shit.

let me guess, it involves having planks of death strapped to your feet!

 

Skis rock. Everything else sucks. How you like them apples.

[ivan]

One wonders whether it might be possible to "condition" the descent route down CJ Couloir short of explosives. Perhaps one could send down a big snowball?

a couple of early springs ago, joshk and i were descending from dome peak in warm, scary conditions - just above cub lake we cut the slope using our snowshoes and set off the mother of all spring avalanches, then waltzed down the hill happy as clams - the site of the trees serving as huge breakwaters was amazing. a grenade would'a been cooler.

[DirtyHarry]

I hear Layton put up a first descent off J-Berg. Ask him.

[JoshK]

Ivan, i know if I was dumb as you (oh wait, you often talk me into being as dumb as you ) i would go with a tree descent. the doug's direct is going to cross a TON of avalanche terrain. That bowl above the middle fork is huge and of perfect pitch. The traverse below mix-up peak is also seriously scary with snow. I went down into Pelton basin and up some couliors to avoid that one spring since Mixup has huge snow deposits that can bomb you from above.

 

I think C-J is just plain stupid, but I'm a pussy.

 

I like DPS's idea of retracing the route down. It's steep but you don't generally see avalanches roar down vertical tree-covered ribs.

 

Other than that there isn't really a way that I think anybody would consider "safe" to get off the mountain in winter conditions other than wait for very settled conditions during a good weather window and following a very solid melt-freeze. And we all know how (not) easy it is to get one of those during a PNW winter.

[ivan]

DPS, how long did you descent of the NE butt take from the snow arete? seems like it'd take the better part of a day? but then you're spared the long traverse over to cj-col of course, and don't really have to worry about avi at all.

[DPS]

DPS, how long did you descent of the NE butt take from the snow arete? seems like it'd take the better part of a day? but then you're spared the long traverse over to cj-col of course, and don't really have to worry about avi at all.

 

It did not take all that long, certainly not more than half the day. Rappel anchors were easy to come by, either using vegetation or ice anchors. The ice was unually fat though, in less than ideal conditions it may be harder to find anchors.

[Marko]

I'd say descend the route. Traversing the summits westward was really cool terrain, but fucking long.

 

-M

[Dru]

Maybe a wingsuit?