neoday2 Posted March 17, 2006 Posted March 17, 2006 Happy St. Patrick's Day! I have a special request for some special people on this board. I need a few photos of the LR- specifically Liberty Cap- to determine the conditions of the headwall/bergschrund. I will be out there in about 2 weeks and I have all the gear sorted except for the quantity of ice screws. I am trying to find out the conditions to see if I will be leading WI 4 or WI 2ish. If anyone is in the area and can shoot some high res pics, I would greatly appreciate it! You can email the photos to: aliveandliving at hotmail.com Thanks! Quote
catbirdseat Posted March 17, 2006 Posted March 17, 2006 Maybe we should charter a helicopter? We could get some really good pictures that way. Quote
neoday2 Posted March 17, 2006 Author Posted March 17, 2006 (edited) LOL. Yeah, that did not go through... I guess we will be hiking in. Â but you gave me an idea... Â Ok, so I called the helicopter operators and asked them that if they do any tours of Rainier to please email me some photos. At this point, they don't have any scheduled flights between now and when I leave. So, again, if you are in the vacinity, please take some photos and send them my way! Edited March 17, 2006 by neoday2 Quote
OlegV Posted March 18, 2006 Posted March 18, 2006 Neoday, I doubt, you'll encounter any ice on LR in 2 weeks. Your'll be postholing most of the ridge, most likely. That may make the progress slow and the exposure to the bad weather greater. Bring plenty of pickets and a shovel. The quazi-winter approach will be a bitch. Quote
layton Posted March 20, 2006 Posted March 20, 2006 it could be good in 2 weeks? who knows. probably not much ice though. I say go check it out and bring your belay card and rock shoes if it doesn't work out! post what conditions you find for others Quote
neoday2 Posted March 20, 2006 Author Posted March 20, 2006 Perfect! Us midwestern boys love to wallow in snow! The approach should be a ton of fun, but it is a necessary evil. I will post a lengthy TR when I return Quote
neoday2 Posted March 22, 2006 Author Posted March 22, 2006 So, no new pictures of the ridge? I've gotta believe that someone is going up there... Well, worst case, you guys will get some good photos from when we return! I've got just under two weeks, so if you are plannign on going up there, PLEASE shoot some pics of the ridge Thanks! Quote
John Frieh Posted March 22, 2006 Posted March 22, 2006 Ummm... what are you hoping to see? The thing is going to be white. It will look like it does this time of year in a normal snow year. Quote
John Frieh Posted March 22, 2006 Posted March 22, 2006 Pics from a normal snow year taken in late May. Link Quote
AllYouCanEat Posted March 22, 2006 Posted March 22, 2006 What John linked to is a pretty close representation of what's up there now, at least from what I saw. Quote
mattp Posted March 22, 2006 Posted March 22, 2006 Here's a shot from a month ago. It has probably snowed something at least half the days since then and I don't think the freezing level has been above 5,000 or 6,000. Â Quote
neoday2 Posted March 22, 2006 Author Posted March 22, 2006 What, no video just kidding. Thanks for the additional photos. That gives me a better idea. I am trying to figure out how much ice we will be traveling over, but it sound like it will be primarily snow (which is what we thought and were planning on, I just wanted to make sure) Â John, those photos are some of the best I have seen on the net. Thanks for showing me that post. I tried searching back through the years looking for April-ish climbs, but there have not been many (that I found) Â Thanks again! Quote
John Frieh Posted March 22, 2006 Posted March 22, 2006 Use the TR Index and search "Mt Rainier" Â Summitpost.org should have some good pics too. Quote
skykilo Posted March 23, 2006 Posted March 23, 2006 Here's a shot from a month ago. It has probably snowed something at least half the days since then and I don't think the freezing level has been above 5,000 or 6,000. Â Â There's a lot more snow than that now. The blue ice in the fall line below Thumb Rock is gone. Maybe I'll post a picture tomorrow. Quote
neoday2 Posted March 23, 2006 Author Posted March 23, 2006 Thanks, I searched the TR index and got some great information. Â Sky- could you email me the full resolution photo? aliveandlivng at hotmail.com Quote
faster_than_you Posted March 23, 2006 Posted March 23, 2006 Hey Neoday... You seem to be obsessing/stressing about a photo and the ice?? Are you sure you're ready for some moderately steep ice at altitude with a heavy pack? You should consider yourself fortunate if you make it up the bergschrund this time of year... Layton and OlegV are on the mark, just go find out. More than likely, it will be a lot of slogging. Quote
neoday2 Posted March 23, 2006 Author Posted March 23, 2006 Faster- thanks for your bit of confidence~ I would not say that it is obsessing more that it is carrying extra gear. I though this board existed for this purpose- finding out route info. Wouldn't you want a recent photo of a route if you could get one? If I heard that it looked really icy, I would go accordingly, but since it looks like a bunch of snow- we will go accordingly. Quote
faster_than_you Posted March 24, 2006 Posted March 24, 2006 Not knowing your skill, and assuming your proficient on 65 degree ice with a large pack at 13,500... Bring 4 screws and 4 pickets. More than likely, you wont need the screws (but if you do, you'll want them,) but the pickets could be useful for a variety of other reasons. Â Maybe what you're missing here is that very, very few people climb that route in April. You're a month and a 1/2 ahead of most. That's why there's a little poking going on. Â If you get pics, we'd all love to see them! And if you make it (or at least claim to have a good time,) we'll toast you too! Quote
Couloir Posted March 24, 2006 Posted March 24, 2006 Bring 4 screws and 4 pickets. Exactly. If you error on having too many ice screws or pickets...what's the big deal? A couple of pounds of gear?? For this route, at this time of year, unless you've been there before or are very comfortable with "65 degree ice and a large pack" you should carry those anyway and decide what the route requires once you're on it. That what it's all about. Â Close-up, high res pictures will only tell you so much. (Not to mention taking away from the real adventure and discovery that seems to be lost in climbing these days). If weight is the ultimate question here, leave behind the luxuries or loose a few pounds (from your body) and take what you'll only REALLY need up high. Good luck. Quote
neoday2 Posted March 24, 2006 Author Posted March 24, 2006 as always, weight is a concern. So far, I have lost 13lbs for this trip. I could probably loose about 3-5 more, but I figure it will be gone by the time I get back We are each taking one luxury item. Mine is a mini-DV camcorder... I know, I know, it is heavy, etc... but that is why you call it a luxury item. As far as other stuff goes, I think we have a successful balance of necessities and light weight. I'll let you know how the trip goes when I return! Thanks for all your input. Quote
skyhigh Posted March 24, 2006 Posted March 24, 2006 I took my video camera up Hood and did get some interesting narration. I really sounded stupid. More stupid than normal. And slow. I recorded some while climbing and let's just say it's not edge of the seat stuff. Having said that I still think it's a cool idea. I might try again some time. A helmet cam would also be cool. I'll see what I can do about some pics. Quote
skykilo Posted March 24, 2006 Posted March 24, 2006 Yeah Mike, now can you just evict the dragons for us?! I'm pretty sure they didn't get their permits... Quote
Mike_Gauthier Posted March 24, 2006 Posted March 24, 2006 Yeah Mike, now can you just evict the dragons for us?! I'm pretty sure they didn't get their permits... Â I thought they all went to Muir last Saturday... Quote
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