Liberty Ridge Question

[thoth]

I'm headed out to Seattle for a few days in mid June. My partner and I are going to pick our climb based on current conditions and weather. One thing I was wondering - assuming perfect weather, avy conditions, etc. how long would it take to do Liberty Ridge. Assume two very strong climbers. Not Ironmen type but certainly competitive adventure race level fitness.

 

Edit - We're from Colorado, acclimatized to 14k, and used to long trips with packs for technical peaks.

Edited May 24, 2009 by thoth

[Bug]

I would give it three days unless you ar travelling very light.

Day 1, leave trailhead at White River (if the road is even open). Hike up to east side of Carbon Glacier. Camp1.

Day 2, Get up to thumb rock and assess conditions. The Black Pyramid at the top of the chute can be very active (raining rocks) if it is warm. If it is raining rocks, camp at Thumb rock. If it is not, continue up. Keep to the left side of the chute to stay out of the bowling alley regardless. There are not a lot of options for bivies until the top. But you could dig in at a few spots if you needed to.

FYI, The arbon glacier was the most technical part when I did it. Big gapers with scary bridges. Hit it early.

Day 3, up to summit and down Emmons route.

Thumb rock can get hit by rocks too. Don't let your guard down.

[thoth]

Thanks, hopefully the weather plays out. We'd been planning on Olympus but underestimated the driving time from Seattle.

[Bronco]

I agree with Bug's schedule. I am a climber that typically compressed two or three day climbs into one long day and decided to take it somewhat "easy" on Liberty Ridge over a three day climb in mid June 2003. Day one included an early morning drive from the Seattle area and found us camped near the Carbon by late afternoon. This put us in a position to cross the Carbon in the early morning and be at Thumb rock well before the biggest avalanche I ever hope to see scoured the gully to the west of Lib Ridge and ran well out onto the Carbon from a serac that calved off of the top of the route in the warm afternoon. We had a long afternoon roasting in the sun at Thumb Rock hydrating and resting for a 2 am start on the summit day. Summit day was long with the hike out and drive home. It is still probably my most satisfying climb and I'd do it the same way.

 

You could do it in two days (push to Thumb Rock on day one) but it wouldn't be as fun or safe in my opinion.

[Alpinfox]

 

We're from Colorado, acclimatized to 14k, and used to long trips with packs for technical peaks.

 

I seriously doubt you are "acclimatized to 14k", but it sounds like you are in good aerobic shape.

 

Be aware that traveling from far away and trying to squeeze a big climbing trip into a narrow time window might make you more prone to ignore avy conditions/weather/etc and say "aw fuckit, let's go for it" when the prudent climber would probably bail. It's a potentially dangerous situation and has lead to some deaths in the cascades in recent years.

 

 

[DPS]

FWIW, I did it in 30 hours car to car, acclimatized to sea level. Since you are from Colorado figure three days.

[dbconlin]

30 hours C2C here, too, from White River. As long as the weather is good...

[ScaredSilly]

Anymore my typical schedule is to plan for 4 days including flying in on the first morning and flying out on the afternoon on the last day. Done that for something like 5 of my last trips up the hill.

 

I would agree three days is reasonable for most parties on many routes. For Liberty many will spend a 3rd night at Shurman and then head down. By mid June the White River road will be open and there will be a congo line trail beat up to Thumb Rock. TR can get crowded now a days so I would plan to hit it mid week if possible.

 

[thoth]

 

We're from Colorado, acclimatized to 14k, and used to long trips with packs for technical peaks.

 

I seriously doubt you are "acclimatized to 14k", but it sounds like you are in good aerobic shape.

 

Be aware that traveling from far away and trying to squeeze a big climbing trip into a narrow time window might make you more prone to ignore avy conditions/weather/etc and say "aw fuckit, let's go for it" when the prudent climber would probably bail. It's a potentially dangerous situation and has lead to some deaths in the cascades in recent years.

 

 

I've only been caught in avalanches, crevasse falls, and collapsing seracs on two of my last 5 out of state trips. 60% safety, better than 50%, not bad. Shoot, I've only ever lost a couple partners and never good ones.

 

Thanks for the replies, we'll leave 3 days but are watching the weather, our route/peak may well change depending on what conditions we come across.

Edited May 29, 2009 by thoth