[TR] Mount Adams - Adams Glacier 6/15/2015

bellows · June 17, 2015

Trip: Mount Adams - Adams Glacier

Date: 6/15/2015

Trip Report:

Yesterday was total Type 1 fun! Light & fast through an engaging crevassed glacier with steep enough terrain to keep us entertained but not steep enough to trip the anxiety meter.

Greg and I left the cars at 2AM Monday morning, reaching the snowfield just above the pea-soup lake in time for sunrise lighting up the big tahoma:

We roped up at flattish terrain by a rubble island ~8200’ and I headed out towards the far right side of the glacier:

Getting steeper at ~9000’:

We thought we’d tackle the icefall at ~10,000’ directly since it looked more interesting, however once we got in the middle of it there were too many crevasses and jumbled ice blocks to really make it work. Instead we rapped ~20’ into the belly of the beast and traversed out right across a snow bridge towards the NFNWR. Looking back as I escaped the icefall:

A few hundred feet up we traversed back onto the Adams Glacier proper and from there weaved in & around crevasses up to the top:

It was cool to have the top all to ourselves:

A tedious descent down the quickly melting out North Ridge put us back in the meadows mid afternoon. Parting shot at a good looking mountain:

On the way out we didn’t notice any bugs until I stopped at a creek to cool off my feet. Seconds later I looked down to DOZENS of mosquitos, everywhere! Milliseconds later we were hustling back down the trail.

Overall the route is in excellent shape for those with good crevasse navigation & rescue skills and comfort level on steep 45 degree snow. We didn’t see any critical bridges or areas that would be show stoppers if melted out and I’d guess the route could stay in climbable shape for several more weeks if not longer. Enjoy!

Gear Notes:

Pickets were bomber. Screws weren't necessary.

mountainsloth · June 17, 2015

What is the snow level round the south side? Wanting to know if it is worth a ski trip.

bellows · June 17, 2015

Sorry, can't help you on the south side, we came in from the north.

But here's a trip report from last saturday that might help you decide:

http://www.wta.org/go-hiking/trip-reports/trip_report.2015-06-14.6354050512

heinzsd · June 18, 2015

Thanks for posting, I was up there this past weekend and had the north side of the mountain all to myself. Was planning on posting a TR, but the return to work delayed me. Figured I would share some beta from my perspective as well. I was with 2 others and we we had the intent of skiing the NFNWR ridge so two of us climbed the glacier and the other the North ridge.

Adams Glacier: We left camp at 5:30 to try and get through the icefall before it warmed, but also time the ski. We reached the crevasse separating us from the icefall at around 10 or so and the icefall was already getting some sun and looked hungry for human flesh, so we also skirted out to the NFNWR and returned to the glacier. I actually felt like the crevasse crossings at the top were on the sketchier side. With more wandering you could probably find other passings that were more solid. Several were a few inches thick and starting to calve inward with cracks on both sides. It may have been a result of us doing it later in the day, but they didn't instill confidence. But nothing collapsed and it did generally go pretty easy.

The ski - we met up with our buddy and waited about 2 hours and started skiing down at 3. We headed down the first couple turns of the NFWNR as it steepens, but the snow wasn't as soft as we hoped so we kept heading left to find better snow and skied the NWR. I would say its similarly steep and exposed but not as committing. The steepest section was likely the bergschrund to get back to the adams glacier. Generally it skied great but did have some variability.