[TR] Mt. Adams - Adams Glacier 7/14/2009

[mkporwit]

Trip: Mt. Adams - Adams Glacier

 

Date: 7/14/2009

 

Trip Report:

My June plans to climb Adams Glacier had fallen through due to the access roads still being snowed in, so when the opportunity presented itself to try again I jumped at the chance. Four of us, shannonpahl, KaskadskyjKozak, Cary and I took advantage of the weather window and tagged this beautiful line.

 

We left Bellevue Monday morning with gray skies and rain. The weather was supposed to improve, but we had our doubts. Fortunately these were dispelled on the hike in. By the time we got to the high meadows Adams was out in her full glory.

The North Face of Adams above high alpine meadows

 

We set up camp at 7500' at a little lake near the base of the North Ridge. What a great campsite -- bivy spots with high rock walls abound, water is 10' away and the view of the route is incomparable.

The view from camp

 

The 3am alarm on Tuesday came way too soon. We were moving a little before 4am and reached the base of the climb at 5. Between the moonlight and the approaching dawn we didn't have to even turn on our headlamps.

Dawn on the lower Adams Glacier

 

We climbed as two teams of two, Shannon and I one one team, KK and Cary on the other. At 10000' we encountered the first technical obstacle, an ice bulge that Shannon dispatched quickly. Above that was hard, steep ice and we pitched out a couple of rope lengths. Beyond that we placed running belays where warranted.

Shannon about to start up the ice bulge

 

All of the crevasses still have solid bridges over them and they appear good for another week or two. Not much in the way of rock fall on the route. The ice on the steep sections was starting to become very brittle, requiring some cleaning and multiple whacks to get a stick. Took screws well.

Closeup of the route

Shannon following

 

We topped out on the summit plateau at 11am. Since I had never been to the summit of Adams before we trudged to the summit proper. We were amazed at the number of people that were coming up via the South Spur -- even on a weekday there were at least ten in the hour that we were up there. Then we packed up and headed for the North Ridge.

 

I have to ask -- who in their right mind climbs that POS route? The descent sucked about as badly as people generally tell you the North Ridge will suck. At about 10000' we did not find the tiny unmarked notch to drop back to the east side of the ridge and wasted an hour trying to look for another way. Finally found the right notch and we were back in camp in 4.5 hours.

High on the North Ridge, before it gets all loose and crappy

 

We packed up and headed back to the cars, really hurrying the last couple of miles as the mosquitoes were out in force. At the cars at 9, in Randle at 10. Unfortunately nothing was open in terms of food. Finally found the Elbe Bar and Grill, which at 11pm still had their kitchen open so we were able to satisfy our cravings for burgers and beer.

 

Gear Notes:

Second tool, pickets and ice screws.

 

Approach Notes:

Follow the obvious trail

Edited July 15, 2009 by mkporwit

[DPS]

Nice photos.

[t_rutl]

hellz yeah!

 

where did your approx line top out? did you guys continue right or swing left to crest onto the plateau? glad to hear that route will still go.

[KaskadskyjKozak]

hellz yeah!

 

where did your approx line top out? did you guys continue right or swing left to crest onto the plateau? glad to hear that route will still go.

 

The technical ice pitch was just over 60 m long. You can pick whatever line you want: Shannon went for something a little harder, Cary and I each led 30 m of an easier line (we had a 30 m rope and simulclimbed the 2nd short pitch). So, that would be 10000 feet to 102000. You can pick lots of other lines up the glacier, of course.

 

We swung left to crest onto the plateau. I found that part worse than the descent down the N. ridge.

 

[mkporwit]

If you look closely at the large pic of the route, you should be able to see ski tracks. We took more or less the same route, with some variations to get some climbing in at the 10000-10200 level.

[KaskadskyjKozak]

If you look closely at the large pic of the route, you should be able to see ski tracks. We took more or less the same route, with some variations to get some climbing in at the 10000-10200 level.

 

The ski tracks looked relatively fresh. To whomever had the brass ones to ski that glacier in July - my hat's off to you!

 

 

[Le Piston]

Did you get to use the new tools...and how did they work out? Nice pictures and TR.

[KaskadskyjKozak]

 

More pics:

 

Alpenglow:

 

Shannon leading the crux. I led a pitch a few feet to the right (off screen):

 

Looking down the route (approx. midway):

 

Negotiating crevasses on the upper glacier:

 

Another view of the climbing route:

Edited July 15, 2009 by KaskadskyjKozak

[mkporwit]

Did you get to use the new tools...and how did they work out? Nice pictures and TR.

 

Hi Rick, yeah, I used the Grivel Air Tech tools I bought off you. They worked great except for the leash on the hammer -- too short, prevented me from getting a good swing as I had to choke up on the tool. My fault for not having looked at it earlier -- not a good thing to be discovering on 60 degree ice...

[OrygunJim]

Hey dudes,

We met in the parking lot before heading up on the 13th. I was the soloist going up the north ridge. For those going Down the NR route in the future there is a HUGE cairn (biggest on the whole route) at ca. 10500ft that marks a west descent you can take to get off the ridge early (highly recommended given the lack of quality lower on this route). It leads down to two moves of fourth class and a little bit of loose boulder hopping and puts you on a 45 degree snowfield that leads to the larger snowfield above Lake 7505. I suspect this would take a good hour off the scree hopping required by staying on the ridge proper. What I would really do in the future is set up a car shuttle on the south side and carry over if I did the glacier route. NR sucks all the way except the last 1500 ft.

 

Wish I had known you guys were ccers. I would have asked how the hell you pronounce KaskadskyjKozak, that's been driving me nuts since I started following this website. One more thing, now that you've done it, is the NR worse than the Cascadian?

[KaskadskyjKozak]

Hey dudes,

We met in the parking lot before heading up on the 13th. I was the soloist going up the north ridge. For those going Down the NR route in the future there is a HUGE cairn (biggest on the whole route) at ca. 10500ft that marks a west descent you can take to get off the ridge early (highly recommended given the lack of quality lower on this route). It leads down to two moves of fourth class and a little bit of loose boulder hopping and puts you on a 45 degree snowfield that leads to the larger snowfield above Lake 7505. I suspect this would take a good hour off the scree hopping required by staying on the ridge proper. What I would really do in the future is set up a car shuttle on the south side and carry over if I did the glacier route. NR sucks all the way except the last 1500 ft.

 

Wish I had known you guys were ccers. I would have asked how the hell you pronounce KaskadskyjKozak, that's been driving me nuts since I started following this website. One more thing, now that you've done it, is the NR worse than the Cascadian?

 

Hey, cool, man. Good to meet you! I have met a cc-er on about 2/3 of my climbs so this keeps the trend alive!

 

I was the guy that posed the question "which is worse". IMO, the Cascadian is worse. I didn't find the descent down the N ridge that bad. It wasn't exactly a pleasure, but it wasn't as horrible as that POS called the Cascadian. :-)

 

Pronunciation (approximately): kahs-KAHD-ski koh-ZAHK

[Fairweather]

You are hittin it this summer! That's a nice climb.

[Sanchez]

Nice work!

 

And seriously, what the F is up with the skeeters this year? I was hiking near goat rocks (not too far from the North side of Adams) yesterday and I was literally running to keep clouds of them off me. If you had to take a leak or tie your shoe, you were screwed. I look like I have chicken pox today. Ticks have been bad too- did we have too mild of a spring or something?

[Mr_D]

Good snowpack year = Mosquito Outbreak.

 

Just out from Adams Glacier...similar experience with the mosquitos. No time to unpack and take boots off at the trailhead on the way out, just get in the car and go.

[Alewarrior]

Nice photos, nice trip. I need to get up on that one.