Thadsboner Posted May 11, 2007 Posted May 11, 2007 Trip: Rainer - Liberty Ridge Triathalon Date: 5/5/2007 Trip Report: "Your idea is WAYYYYYY more stupid than ours!" the guys in the parkinglot said to us as we mentioned our plans. What, whats wrong with lib ridge right now, as we were standing in the parkinglot at the north east side gate, 12 miles from the usual start. So we were off, myself, Lewis Rogers, and Emily Chang, biking the long up hill to Rainer. A couple hours later we were at the whiteriver campground where we had a cinco de mayo party or chips, salsa, and margarita shot blocks. After camping there we hit the trail up to glacier basin where everybody said "the trail is a mess." It is not that bad, not even close to really bad. You cant get lost, you have a creek on one side and a big hill on the other, just go in between them. We had snowshoes on and they turned out to be the one esential gear on the trip. With out them we would have never been able to make it. The snow up there was DEEP slush,even with snowshoes it was hard. After making it up to glacier basin emily wasent feeling up to par with climbing the route so we traded gear around and myself and Lewis headed up to Elmo pass where we stayed the night because the glacier was a complete whiteout. The upper mountain was totally covered in clouds and when we did ge a peek it was raging with winds, not a good sign. We woke to calm blue skies the next morning and headed across the glaciers to the Carbon where we realized we traversed way high and had to loose some elevation to get to the steep chute down to the Carbon. The rest of the way to the thumb was pretty uneventfull, just hard slush postholing. We woke early to get some cold temps but they just werent there, just a thin layer of crust but soon found some good boilerplate that let us make some good elevation. Then the snow hit, really deep powder, then the clouds came. The last 1000 feet were some of the most tiring climbing I have ever done. At the top where you go through the seracks, it was waist deep powder, and bieng the first ones up there this year, we were the ones breaking trail. It would take us 5 minutes to do 10 steps, not exactly the fastes conditions. On top of that we couldnt see a thing becasuse of the whiteout and none of up had even been up Rainer before. After hours of sloging we made it past the final ice band and knew if we went up till we find a ridge then take that ridge till a summit we would be on the lib crest. well we could barly see the other person on the rope, only 80 feet out, and we hit some crevases so we dicided to take a break and see if the weather clears. We took a quick nap then about 30 minutes later we got a quick break in the clouds, and what do you know, we were sitting about 10 feet from the lib cap summit, too funny. The weather cleared a little bit and we beat it to the Emmons where we started the long walk home with 50mph winds hammering us all the way across the top. Pics coming when I find a computer that takes a memory stick Approach Notes: bike............use them snowshoes.......very important trail...........not bad Climbing........nice bootpack Quote
Couloir Posted May 11, 2007 Posted May 11, 2007 Niiiice! So, what happened to Emily? Did she stay put and wait for you guys, or did she hump it out? Quote
Alpinfox Posted May 11, 2007 Posted May 11, 2007 Wow! Lots of extra effort required for LR this year. Nice work! Quote
ivan Posted May 11, 2007 Posted May 11, 2007 sounds worth it for the payoff of being the only folks on that side of the mountain Quote
sirwoofalot Posted May 11, 2007 Posted May 11, 2007 Wow, that rocks. did I say wow? Wow! I am speachless. 12 miles out.... first time up Rain-dogger, 30 min rest 10 feet from the cap, wow. Quote
pope Posted May 12, 2007 Posted May 12, 2007 Awesome! Way to own that bitch kitty of a hill. This photo is an instant classic: Quote
Couloir Posted May 13, 2007 Posted May 13, 2007 That gets my vote for best use of duct tape ever. Quote
EV Posted May 13, 2007 Posted May 13, 2007 Very nice work. Probably the effort of the year! Congratulations. Quote
layton Posted May 13, 2007 Posted May 13, 2007 Thad! WTF man? What happened to you? Gimme a holler dude. And way to fucking go! All this coming from a "man" who's plates read RU18yet Quote
dbconlin Posted May 13, 2007 Posted May 13, 2007 sounds like quite a physical effort! congrats on perservering and getting to the top. next time i crave chips and salsa on an outing, I will remember the duct tape method. sweet. Quote
Bill_Simpkins Posted May 14, 2007 Posted May 14, 2007 Thad! WTF man? What happened to you? Gimme a holler dude. And way to fucking go! All this coming from a "man" who's plates read RU18yet I thought it read "SpoonMe" Quote
i_like_sun Posted May 16, 2007 Posted May 16, 2007 You guys are my freaking HEROS! Nice Tostidos styles! Quote
ClimbingPanther Posted May 16, 2007 Posted May 16, 2007 The duct tape tostitos picture was truly mind-blowing. Looks like we have an "11th essential!" Quote
i_like_sun Posted May 16, 2007 Posted May 16, 2007 I actually know a guy who WILL NOT CLIMB without his bag of Goldfish...... Perhaps junk food should be an essential! Quote
Thadsboner Posted May 17, 2007 Author Posted May 17, 2007 Thad! WTF man? What happened to you? Gimme a holler dude. And way to fucking go! All this coming from a "man" who's plates read RU18yet I thought it read "SpoonMe" Actually it reads "RU18QT" I have been around, just flying under the radar, training for some super secret things. Quote
matopis Posted May 21, 2007 Posted May 21, 2007 Thanks for breaking trail guys! Also, that approach on a bike is no small feat! Quote
Layback Posted May 21, 2007 Posted May 21, 2007 That picture belongs on the last page of Rock & Ice or something. Love the duct tape! Quote
chris Posted May 24, 2007 Posted May 24, 2007 I just saw two climbers with overnight packs bicycling up Icicle Creek Canyon this afternoon - another adventure in the making? Quote
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