[TR] Mt Rainier - Tahoma Glacier 7/6/2007

[scottk]

Trip: Mt Rainier - Tahoma Glacier

 

Date: 7/6/2007

 

Trip Report:

Tom, Tony and I climbed up the Tahoma Glacier route and down the DC route on July 5-7. Based on a 10-day old trip report from some skiers posed on Mike Gauthier's blog (Tahoma Glacier TR) and previous trip reports we expected a straight-forward glacier climb with crevasse navigation challenges and moderate slopes (no more than 45 degrees). Let’s just say we got more than we expected.

 

On Thursday morning Tony dropped Tom and I at the Tahoma Creek trailhead, drove back to park the van at Longmire, and then rode his road bike back to the trailhead. For some reason we expected the West Side Road to be paved and we didn’t really think about the 800 ft of vertical up the West Side Road. This made Tony’s pre-climb workout a bit more strenuous than expected. We hit the trail around 11:00, just in time for the heat of the day. Here's a photo of a washed away section of trail:

 

I had decided to climb with light weight hiking boots, which worked to my advantage up the trail to Emerald Ridge. Tom and Tony thought it was the hottest hiking they had ever experienced and were wimpering slightly on the way up. We stopped to check out the dramatic suspension bridge just east of the intersection with the Wonderland trail.

 

Where the trail intersected the top of Emerald Ridge at 5,600 ft we decided to continue up the ridge over some easy rock scrambling rather than drop down on the glacier. Here's a picture of me on the ridge with the route in the background:

 

This worked out pretty well since it saved us from losing elevation and was a pretty good transition onto the glacier. We followed the obvious ramps on the climber’s right side of the glacier to our camp at about 8,300 ft.

 

Around 8:30 we were surprised by a team of 5 climbers. Turns out they had left their tents at about 9,500 ft and climbed the route several days earlier, expected to down-climb back to camp. The climb ended up being much more difficult than anticipated and they decided to come down to Muir rather than down-climb the Tahoma Glacier. They were climbing back up to their camp to retrieve all their gear. Talk about a major bummer! When I asked them about the route they told us of challenging crevasse navigation, a 50 ft repel to get around a big crevasse, and a section of 60 degree ice. Hmmm… that didn’t sound right. We thought, “Maybe they just messed up and got off route. Maybe they’re just not very experienced.” Let’s just say that our respect for their abilities would grow over the next 24 hours.

 

We also discovered that it’s very important to shelter your stove well from the wind if you want to melt snow in an expedient fashion. It took us three hours to melt six liters using a gas stove that has always worked well in the past. At this rate we would not have enough fuel to complete the route. After considering our options we decided we would offer to take any extra fuel that the other team didn’t want to carry out and if that was successful we would continue the climb.

 

The next morning we slept in to 4:30 before breaking camp. Given the navigation challenges that we expected, our plan was to navigate in the daylight. Last year we wasting several hours in the dark trying to find the repel point on the Kautz route and we didn’t want to have that experience again. Also, we didn’t want to wake up the other team too early since they would be sleeping in.

 

We arrived at the other team’s camp around 6:00 and woke them up to beg for fuel. They were very forgiving of the early morning wake up and graciously gave us half a bottle. All I can say to these helpful climbers is thank you very much. May good karma follow you on all your future climbing adventures. In addition to the fuel re-supply, their description of the route allowed us to avoid the repel.

 

We climbed onto a ridge that headed up the glacier (this ridge is apparent on the topo map). The previous climbers had continued up the ridge because it appeared to offer a crevasse-free route compared to the center of the glacier below. Somewhere above 10,000 ft however, their further progress was blocked by a huge crevasse that cut across the ridge. This was the point where they had to repel to continue. Based on their info, we found a place around 9,600 ft to navigate off the ridge down to the center of the glacier. It was a bit tricky given the big crevasse that bordered the west side of the ridge, but doable.

 

We continued up the center part of the glacier around many crevasses and over many snow bridges. The snow ranged from hard to slightly soft and provided excellent cramponing. We stopped at 11,000 feet to make more water. This time the stove worked like a charm and we had another 6 liters in about an hour. We decided that the poor stove performance the previous evening was due to inadequate protection from the wind.

 

The slopes in the 9,000-12,000 range were variable in steepness and seemed to max out in the 40-45 degree range. Here's a photo of Scott and Tom around 11,500:

 

At 12,000 feet the slope steepened. We could see old faded steps from the previous party that went straight up the slope. Warm temps over the previous days had actually lowered the snow around the footprints so the footprints stood out in relief. Using two pickets for a running belay we did an upward traverse across an approximate 50 degree slope to a possible crevasse crossing. We encountered a short section of “white ice” on this slope before reaching a flat spot. (“White ice” meaning refrozen snow that you could penetrate about 1-2 inches with your ice axe and crampons.) We then debated whether to continue to our right across a rather shaky looking snow bridge and more 50 degree slopes with a huge gaper below or head left up a short section of 55-60 degree slope and no gaper below. We could see what appeared to be faded ski tracks on the slope to the right, suggesting the snow bridge was possibly more passable when it was skied 10 days previous. We decided to head left. Tony led and placed the two pickets for a running belay. The steep section was probably about one hundred feet of elevation that ranged from soft and stable snow to white ice. Tony wished for a second tool on the ice. With my lightweight hiking boots and aluminum crampons, now it was my turn to wimper. I comforted myself with the hope that the pickets would hold if things went bad. Things went good and I reached the top of the crux with no issues except tired calves. At that point, it was clear that the good samaritan climbers had provided us with accurate route information.

 

Here's a photo of Tony and Tom on the steep section:

 

We continued up a continued steep (40-45 degrees) slope with crevasses on both sides that appeared to join above. Based on the previous trip report, we figured we needed to be further right and eventually found a snow bridge that crossed the crevasse to the right. Here's Tony leading across the snow bridge:

 

This worked out well and we continued up the 40-45 degree slope. The crevasse navigation continued to be interesting, particularly given the warm afternoon temperatures and soft snow. Although the soft snow provided secure footing, we did have to post-hole in places and some of the snow bridges were fragile. We often employed boot-axe belays across the bridges for security. This turned out to be a wise practice.

 

Somewhere around 13,000 ft, Tom set up a boot-axe belay so I could test a thin snow bridge. Keeping the rope tight and holding it with my right hand, I planted my right foot on solid snow and reached over with my left foot to pound the snow bridge. It held. I moved my right foot onto the snow bridge and reached over with my left foot to pound again. Suddenly the bridge gave way beneath me and I was swinging in the air. My right hand was still holding the rope and my head was above the level of the crevasse. By digging my crampons in the icy sidewall of the crevasse and a helping hand from Tom, I was able to swing my leg up and over the edge of the crevasse. As we stood there panting, Tom reassuringly pointed out that, “Hey, those boot-axe belays really work.” It was the surprise in his voice that bothered me a bit.

 

The slope eased off around 13,400 and we headed for the top. Although there are a few small crevasses in this area of the mountain, we figured the snow bridges were bombproof and just motored along towards the top. Somewhere around 14,200 we passed about 100 feet west of an open crevasse. In the back, I was head down slogging along. I heard Tom yell out and raised my head to see him sunk in the snow up to his pack. He had broken through into a crevasse and all he felt was air below his feet. Leaning forward and sinking in his ice axe he was able to extricate himself quickly. Tony had crossed this area with no problem (he’s about 30 pounds lighter) and there was no sagging or other indication that the snow bridge was weak. Just a good reminder for everyone.

 

We reached the summit at 7:30 pm, a very long day. I’ve heard you can barely stand up when the wind is about 80 miles per hour. It was close to that. We figured the crater would offer some protection from the wind for setting up camp. After exploring the west side of the crater and finding no sheltered area, we headed across the crater to a bivy site with snow walls. We spend some time enlarging the bivy to accommodate our two tents and discovered that shoveling at 14,400 ft is not like shoveling closer to sea level. Tom melted some snow while Tony and I crashed in our sleeping bags. We woke up to the first climbers entering the crater at 6:00 and headed down to Muir. Here's a picture of our own little crater in the crater:

 

All in all, an excellent climb with just the right amount of challenge for us. The lack of people (except friendly souls with extra fuel) and moderate challenge makes this route special. I think we took the best route but it’s not certain how much longer it will be feasible given the current warm spell. If you approach from the Puyallup Cleaver, follow the skier’s advice and cross onto the Tahoma at 8,000 ft. It doesn’t look real good at 9,800 ft with steep snow and gapers at the bottom.

 

 

Gear Notes:

Two pickets was good enough for us, although more might be helpful if you climb when the snow is hard. We brought screws but never used them. This may change if the ice becomes more extensive. A second tool would provide extra security for the leader but probably not warranted given the shortness of the +50 degree slopes. Again this may change if the ice becomes more extensive.

 

Approach Notes:

The Tahoma Creek trail was is better-than-expected condition with excellent flagging through the washed out areas and almost all the blow down cut away.

 

Edited July 9, 2007 by scottk

[pup_on_the_mountain]

Good job and nice TR! Looks like a fun climb indeed.

[tazz]

Good Trip report. Looking foreword to the images.

[i_like_sun]

Great pictures!

[TREETOAD]

Really nice pictures and good job.

[dkemp]

Nice TR.