Mt. Adams - Lunch Counter to Upper Mazama Traverse

[ashish]

I will be attempting Mt. Adams mid-october from south route. I was looking at the aerial photos and it seems that the upper Mazama Glacier is generally Crevasse free from above lunch counter to almost near Piker's Peak. It appears to have some crevasses at Piker's Peak. I was thinking of traversing to upper Mazama from lunch counter and traversing back to south route before Piker's. The reason is to get some more snow climbing and adventure. I will be hiking alone and I do not have Glacier travel skills. Let me know if I am being silly. Thanks!

[sobo]

You're not being silly, but why would you want to do that? IIRC, you had several other objectives for your trip.

You were lining up Adams, Hood, MSH, and Rainier (to Muir). Just go and get on one of those.

[ashish]

Alright Sobo... I guess I was getting too greedy. I will stick to the standard route. I plan to do Adams on Oct 15, and if I have any strength left, attempt St. Helens on the 16th. This should keep me sane in Houston for a few months...

[billcoe]

I don't think Crevasses are an issue. Any and all will be very visible and avoidable this time of year. Rockfall, on the other hand, might be bad in places, and it can be sudden and easily fatal. Rocks can fly surprisingly fast and further than expected when they hit the consolidated snow this time of year. It shouldn't be a big shock to any climbers if they are heads up. There will be evidence of this occurring from marks in the snow and even visible rocks and boulders sitting there sinking slowly into the snow -keep your eyes open and when you see the evidence, even if you don't see a flying rock at that time, remember that is how they got there. Just move to any rib or buttress nearby where the evidence of this is not readily visible: where ever you happen to be on any mountain, and hopefully avoid the next ones.

 

I was close to the other side of Adams Saturday, beautiful up there with the vine maples starting to turn, I was thinking of this very thing. It looked like there was little snow left higher up, but lots of rock:-) Wear a helmet. A good one.

 

And have fun, nothing like a solo adventure to spice up the year.