Spearhead Crevasse Fall

[G-spotter]

Happy ending to this one. Heads up everyone!

 

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080508.wcrevasse08/BNStory/National/home?cid=al_gam_mostview

[Hendershot]

"It's nice to do a good-ending story. It's prime time to go ski touring, but the people who are doing it need to know the basic rules. The basic mountaineering rule is that whenever you are on a glacier, you should be roped together."

[Hugh Conway]

"It's nice to do a good-ending story. It's prime time to go ski touring, but the people who are doing it need to know the basic rules. The basic mountaineering rule is that whenever you are on a glacier, you should be roped together."

 

roped on the Spearhead? umm, yeah

[counterfeitfake]

Who skis roped up on glaciers? On the way up, on the way down?

[blair]

My understanding from this article is that three parties in the area could not extricate this woman from her predictament and a successful rescue only came about because of a satellite phone and volunteers. When we step off the neve onto the glacier I think that it is fair to suggest that ski touring does become mountaineering and a higher standard of self-reliance is called for. There is also that troubling implication that the victim, in this case, may have been a bit cavalier about the whole episode...

[Hendershot]

"It's nice to do a good-ending story. It's prime time to go ski touring, but the people who are doing it need to know the basic rules. The basic mountaineering rule is that whenever you are on a glacier, you should be roped together."

 

roped on the Spearhead? umm, yeah

 

The quote was from the article, not me. I don't believe there are hard fast rules that say you should be roped up, just because you are on a glacier. Or that traveling roped up would hinder your movement so much that it is not essential.

[fern]

 

Deciding to ski roped on a glacier is (as with all things in the mountains) situation dependent with many variables. A dogmatic adherence to a single safety protocol means you might miss considering other hazards (eg. need for speedy travel past looming seracs might suggest unroping)

 

However I would hazard a guess that in this case, nobody except the SAR crew actually even HAD a rope to get her out. Carrying a reepschnur could be a good idea sometimes, and not as bulky as a full on rope.

[G-spotter]

If you are a real extreme skiier aren't you carrying a rope anyways, because your sick first decent is going to be 50% rappelling?

[counterfeitfake]

I think it makes sense for the official to give the boilerplate "you must rope up on a glacier" line. If you have the experience to go against this advice, you understand the tradeoffs you're making. Obviously, once you've fallen into a crevasse, it would have been nice to be roped up.

 

I meant the question genuinely- how do experienced ski mountaineers decide when to rope up? Skiing roped up is the best insurance against crevasse falls. But skiing down while roped up almost defeats the purpose of skiing. How much protection against punching through a snow bridge do skis provide? With the recent fall on Rainier, and the fact that I'm starting to think about skiing on glaciers, I'm interested in input about this.

[Hugh Conway]

How crevassed is the glacier?

 

There are ski areas on glaciers. Amazingly, people don't rope up to ski there.

[jordop]

I meant the question genuinely- how do experienced ski mountaineers decide when to rope up?

 

Certain situations are good indicators: early season when only a skiff of snow covers slots, or, in this case, in the first few days of spring thaw as the bridges sag. Also, firn lines, if you happen to be so silly as to ski past them on to bare ice, are dragon's dens.

 

How much protection against punching through a snow bridge do skis provide?

 

It depends, obviously, on a number of factors. Skiing with the grain of crevasses is always a stool loosener for me.

[AlpineK]

Skiing with the grain of crevasses is always a stool loosener for me.

 

That's an excellent visual indicator of possible problems.

 

I've had ropes with me while skiing things like the Spearhead, but I've only used a rope for rappelling.

[Hugh Conway]

NE Aspect of Ripsaw glacier, per the helpful Lee Lau

http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=122430

[korup]

Another thing to ponder is the extreme difficulty in arresting a falling climber/skier while on skis, with maybe only a Whippet. So, do you want one person in the crevasse, or the whole rope team?

[jordop]

Another thing to ponder is the extreme difficulty in arresting a falling climber/skier while on skis, with maybe only a Whippet. So, do you want one person in the crevasse, or the whole rope team?

 

On a two person rope team that is a valid thing to consider, but the more people on a team the harder it is for one person falling in a slot to pull the entire team in.

 

In one of the crevasse falls I have been company to, we were skiing UP the Athabasca Gl on a four person rope team. The first guy busted through a thin bridge and went into full-on free fall. Because there were three guys behind, and below, him, we didn't have too hard of a time holding him/transfering the load, etc.

 

Reverse that though, and take away two guys:

Two guys on a rope skiing downhill and the leader breaks on through to the other side . . . Different story, yes.

 

Never skied with a Whippet . . . the likelihood of impaling myself always seems to outweigh the possibilitiy of needing it to self arrest . . .