Jump to content

Mount Rainier - Disappointment Cleaver 6/17/08


HansLund

Recommended Posts

Attempted DC route Tuesday morning, left Camp Muir 12:30am.

 

Route seemed in good condition and everything went smoothly until about 12500ft. Several parties came back with reports of getting to about 13500ft where strong winds turned them back. We made the same desision at about 13500ft. Tuff to do with a strong party and on a sunny day, zero clouds above the lower cloud cover (guessing around 8000ft or so).

 

Would be nice to hear fedback from other parties on that route Tueday morning, with their estimate of conditions, if they pushed successfully to the summit, did the winds die down later (we were considering waiting it out a little),etc.

 

Trying to learn as much as possible from a fantastic day on the mountain.

 

Lastly, is there information online on parties attempting on a given day etc. - any links appreciated.

 

Thanks!

 

Edited by HansLund
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 19
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Radon Dude, your memory sucks - a one day successful summit attempt in 1990, then I met you and it was all downhill from there - punt intended :o)

 

Bug, without a lot of experience, I found the route "easy" and the conditions great - other than the windy conditions up high. Only postholing was from the parking lot to Muir, I would recommend poles but snow shoes are not necesssary.

 

Cheers, Hans

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hans, we were the first party on the route that morning. We turned around at sunrise. It was bitterly cold and blowing hard at 13K. You made the right decision.

 

Bug - the boot track is well established. No problems whatsoever to our high point.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hans, I was in the group of two (one guy, one girl) in bright orange puffy jackets. I ran into two IMG parties and a handful of other climbers coming down. They all complained of high winds, but we decided to keep climbing until we got sketched out. Ended up standing on top. The wind wasn't that bad, but there were still gusts around 30 mph and a lot of spindrift. No real fear of getting blown off, just a lot of misery. The cramponing was perfect. The snow was in amazing condition going up and a big sloppy coming down, especially on the Cleaver proper. We were on top at 9:10 am and headed down quick like. Sorry to hear you didn't get up on top of there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hans, I thought you said the conditions were bad? You made it sound like you were going to get blown off the side of the Mt.; 30mph gusts? Weak...

Lets to it this summer. Willing to rope gun/short roep you to the summit if I have to. I added hard points to my Ti rods so you can quickly clip in when the wind picks up again :-) Being bolted to a lead weight like me should hold you down.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I summited the following morning around 8:30 with an AAI group, and the conditions were perfect. A litttle windy going up, but once we started our descent, it got calm and hot..... I was happy for the summit, as it was my second attempt.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

HansLund, I was leading a small group early that morning and turned around atop the DC (~ 12 500') at about 4:30 - 5:00 due to high winds and a rockfall (~ 12 000' from just above the boot trail) which cracked one of our team on the kneecap. There was a large cluster of folks huddled at around 13 500' or so apparently trying to figure out which way to go given the wind. We thought it was the right call for us to abort under the circumstances; particularly given the forecast at the time which suggested that the winds were part of the leading edge of a small front that was sweeping in. By the time we got back to Muir the winds had clearly abated, but we had no regrets - the mountain isn't going anywhere and we had a great time.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.




×
×
  • Create New...