Glacier Travel - Rope Spacing

[512dude]

What rope spacing do you use in the Casacdes on glaciers and why?

 

Recently I took a glacier travel refresher course since it was 10 years ago that I did my last one. I thought things might have improved and changed a bit on the way one rigs up and rescues etc.

 

We were told that 3 on a rope should space out at ~30 feet apart on Cascade routes. Apparently this is adequate for Cascade glaciers but not so in Alaska where the crevasses will typically be larger and more distance should be given between climbers. Our team consisted of 3 on a rope with a 60 foot coil carried by the lead and tail member.

 

Interested in hearing what you set up for your teams.

 

 

[Bug]

I take 5 or 10 meters of coil off each end for rope stretch/z set-up and then equalize lengths between climbers.

There was a post here a couple years ago about a giant bridge collapse on Rainier. Two people went in.

[ScaredSilly]

For two person teams I typically carry coils, but with three person teams we do not carry coils because if an end person goes in the middle person takes the load while the other person drops their end.

 

I have dropped into a crevasse at the same time as my partner. The only thing that "saved" us was 1) they were different crevasses 2) we both went into our armpits 3) they were small cracks.

[TMO]

For a two person team in the Cascades I use a 37 meter rope (120' +-), each person carries about 45' of coils with a 30' spacing between partners.

[t_rutl]

30ft is kosher for your cascade travels...maybe a shy longer for rainier with some of those gapers...i do prefer coils on the ends for a canadian drop loop should a rescue be called for