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Mt. Rainier Liberty Ridge


neoday2

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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!

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LOL. Yeah, that did not go through... I guess we will be hiking in.

 

but you gave me an idea...

 

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! grin.gif

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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.

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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 smile.gif Thanks!

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What, no video wink.gif 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)

 

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)

 

Thanks again!

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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.

 

Monstrosity.jpg

 

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.

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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? smile.gif

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.

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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.

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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.

 

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. grin.gif

 

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! bigdrink.gif

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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.

 

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. bigdrink.gif

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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 smile.gif 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.

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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.

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