[TR] Chair Peak - North Face...avalanche on descent 1/4/2014

[ptownclimber]

Trip: Chair Peak - North Face...avalanche on descent

 

Date: 1/4/2014

 

Trip Report:

This climb began like many others – ‘what do you want to do this weekend?’ Smith looked too cold. Hood looked too dry. Chair peak jumped to the top of the list owing to a recent trip report and circumstances. The really low snowpack hasn’t left much in great shape to climb or ski. Chair is not too far to drive. A one day climb is so much easier to pull off. We felt comfortable enough with the approach from past trips to the area in summer months. Late Thursday and Friday the plan coalesced with few impediments. “I was ready to vote for Chair Peak until I read the approach notes which state ‘... prone to avalanche. If snow conditions are poor, abandon climb and go someplace else.’ Hmm.... I guess I need to go look at avy forecast and telemetry data to decide if it is worth the drive.”

 

We checked the NWAC forecast, which improved between Thursday and Friday’s forecast – low below tree line and moderate above. The area of concern being wind slab on N-NE aspect slopes. We decided the avalanche forecast was not a deal-breaker. All of the other logistics began to come together. “Do you have any pitons? The book says to bring pitons.” “No…can’t think of anyone that does. Is the mountain shop open this late? I think they’re only open ‘till 8 in the summer.” We agreed on time of departure, where to meet and who would bring what gear. A final follow-up text: bring beacons and stuff.

 

Driving in, we were surprised by the lack of snow – even less than expected. We left the snowshoes in the car. We talked about leaving the beacons. “That would be really stupid.” The fatigue of the early morning hours gave way to excitement and anticipation. We were walking through a winter wonderland. Sunrise hit the tops of the peaks. A couple of inches of fresh, soft, loose powder covered a thin crust of snowpack. It would make for good skiing if there were more of it. A threesome of skiers passed us, carrying their skis to some deeper stash. There was a lot of exposed rock. As the sun hit the snow it sparkled off of the thick crystals on top. “I’m glad the sun is out melting this. It can be dangerous if it gets buried…‘a persistent weak layer’. We made good time on the flat trail. As we gained a view of the final, steeper part of the approach, we saw the boot pack and a party of five on it. Our pace quickened.

 

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The soft snow made travel up the steeper slopes more difficult as our feet started to give way. The wind picked up as we approached the base of the mountain. We caught up to the party in front of us as they stopped to put on harnesses and crampons. We were not inclined to stop. It turns out the party of five was one party of two and one of three. On this last stretch of the approach the snow changed. The powder had been thickening. Here it changed gradually to packed powder, with sections of shiny crust. We glanced at the bowl to our left, the slope angle, the aspect, the snow conditions. The snow was just firm enough to reach the ridge top without crampons. We threw on some layers and the rest of our gear. The party of two headed up the northeast buttress. We followed the party of three around to the north face. The soft snow made the traverse a little unsettling.

 

The climb was fantastic – bright sun, no wind, good ice and firm snow. We hadn’t located any pitons, and didn’t place any of our rock gear until regaining the sunshine on the summit. There we met the party of three – they’d taken a different line, a bit of a hybrid between the northeast buttress and the north face. We learned from them that there had been an avalanche on the approach. We saw the helicopter circling, hovering and dropping rescuers with a litter. The elation of the climb gave way to a sense of dread. “How could we have done this?”

 

After the last rappel we encountered a lot of deep snow. We saw a small crown wall – maybe two feet at the thickest point and 20-30 feet across. We could see the debris field below and more than half a dozen rescuers, a couple of rescue dogs. The first rescuer we encountered relayed the story – a single person had triggered the slide, which had released left (NW) across to the slope we had climbed to reach the ridge at the base of the northeast buttress. The debris field covered the trail down in the flats. Eyewitnesses had called 911. The guy who triggered the slide had been caught in it but unhurt. He retrieved his stuff and walked out. Evidently this happened around 11am. It was now about 3.

 

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We felt, at the same time, really lucky and really stupid. We’d had this great, invigorating experience in the mountains. And yet, we could have triggered that same slide. The slope could have released when we were walking below or across it. Why hadn’t we given it more thought on the way in? Why hadn’t we dug a pit or re-assessed conditions? Had we crossed that line between adventurous and reckless?

 

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Sharing this invites a lot of second guessing and criticism – not all of it well intentioned or constructive. Criticism is warranted. Maybe critical thinking or evaluation would be a better way to put it. Maybe better thinking and decision making is the best way to put it – the desired outcome. We fell victim to some of the same decision making and group think that leads to tragedies like Tunnel Creek. Thankfully this was just a really sobering close call. We somehow walked through the lion’s cage without waking the beast. I never want to find out what that’s like.

 

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[dave schultz]

A nice big fat slice of humble pie. After this you will be much more aware; we are all always learning more. Very nice write up.

[JasonG]

I wouldn't beat yourself up over it, or over analyze things. It was a small slide (in line with the forecast), nobody got hurt, and it sounds like eyewitnesses overreacted. Perhaps I'm being too flippant, but those types of small slides are not that unusual in the winter around here when you are ski cutting slopes.

 

And, the conditions this past weekend were nowhere near those at the time of the Tunnel Creek avalanche. I was out that fateful day and was certainly worried about things. So much so that we stayed buried in the thick old growth around Stevens. Conditions were High/Considerable then (with large slides possible/predicted/realized), as opposed to Moderate this past weekend (with small slides possible/predicted/realized).

Edited January 7, 2014 by JasonG

[Kyle_Flick]

We were the party of 3 that you mentioned that climbed the NF/NE Buttress variation. I agree with Jason's assessment that conditions were as forecasted with pockets of instability--but not necessarily a deterrent for a good climbing day. One party backed off the climb after the slide. Luckily, the slide was small enough to stop short of covering our stored thermos of coffee. Just a note that the King County Search and Rescue did a great job getting their personnel up there and searching before day's end.

[Brad P.]

Thanks for sharing, PC.

[chris]

Sorry for the late post, but was doing a quick search for Chair peak climbs when I saw this. Avalanche hazards on the exit need to be taken seriously - Chair basin cross loads when windy, and last year a team tripped a D1 in the same location as this incident that carried one climber into the debris field, where multiple collisions with ice blocks left him with a broken arm, broken leg, and internal bruising. It could have been much worse had he impacted with another part of his body.

Edited April 20, 2014 by chris