Kautz-DC traverse in July

[kheegan]

Hi, my partner and I are thinking about doing the Kautz in July, in some form of alpine-style, either car-to-car or carry-over to DC.

 

If car-to-car, we'll probably have to do a lot of climbing in the dark before sunrise. Is feasible to navigate through the Kautz in the dark for someone who is unfamiliar with the route?

[keenwesh]

I think most parties do that section of the route in the dark...

you'll probably have no trouble if you scout it out beforehand.

[Stime]

It's no problem, especially if you get a full moon and/or clear night.

Edited February 2, 2010 by Stime

[ScaredSilly]

I would carry over to the DC. Once you summit you can follow the cow path down the hill. The Kautz will have cracks and cups which will make for a slow descent. It also avoids the ice fall which does have a habit of calving. This route we took for mid July and it worked out great though we took a very leisurely pace and camped along the way.

[Jarek]

I have done Kautz two ways, first with a retreat via Kautz and second carry over via DC. I liked carry over to DC much better, we even spent a night at the crater. It was very fun. The backpack is heavier, but in comparison rappelling ice pitches at Kautz takes time despite light backpacks(we did it summer time, so there was ice on the two steps of the Kautz glacier)... If conditions are different I heard that you may simply walk down... For us the DC option was better. Also we met the guys who were going Car-To-Car, and they were going down via DC as well, to avoid rappelling down (seems like faster option)

 

We had a GPS with some key points marked, but we only used it once in between a rap station and the first ice pitch due to pitch dark conditions. I think I should still have the GPS coordinates of our ascent, shoot me IM if you want it...