Winter Rec
We finally completed the Everest ridge this weekend. Originally I wasn’t going to go due to the iffy weather, but I changed my mind at the last minute and hit the trail at 8 Friday night and camped at the saddle (Dry Creek Canyon is better than Battle Creek Canyon for the approach hands down). It was the coldest night of my life (my water bottle spilled in my sleeping bag in the middle of the night, so that probably had something to do with it). At around 6:30 Brenton met me at the saddle (he hiked in that morning) and we started out on the route.
The weather quickly turned from fair to not so fair and by the end of the route we were in a white out. It was my first time experiencing icicles growing on my eyelashes and nose. The Serac Club was also doing the route, so it worked out nicely since a lot of the trail breaking had already been done. It took us around 4 hours from the saddle to reach the top of the ridge and from there it’s about a 45 minute sketchy traverse to the true summit.
The descent has some nice glissade potential, but be wary of the avalanche conditions.
Note: Anybody attempting this route make sure they know how to use and ice ax and know how to use it well. There are several sections where the route gets relatively steep and has somewhat airy exposure(put it this way-if you slipped and fell from the upper route and couldn’t arrest your fall you’d be in for the ride of your life)
March 12th, 2006
On Saturday I went ice climbing with Brenton and Dr. Graham and Brenton and I came to the conclusion that we need to get out and climb a lot more. So, I’m helping Brenton start an email list for anybody interested in getting out. I know it can be frustrating for somebody that wants to do something and can’t find anybody else to do it with.
To quote Brenton:
“This is an email group that I am starting to try to find more and new partners for alpine climbs and some backcountry snowboarding/splitboarding/skiing during the next year. I get out twice a week on average and most of my friends aren’t interested in going that often. I will most likely send an email out weekly. So if you are interested in getting out for a variety of things, sign up under what you are interested in below (that way I don’t spam you with emails about ice climbing trips when all you want to do is ski in the BC). Just put your email down and your name if you want. I can’t attend the OAC meetings regularly because I work nights, so my intent is to just find other ways to find people who want to climb. If you want to organize trips and you can’t do it through OAC for some reason, you can contact me and I’ll send out a notice to the group as well.
-Brenton Peterson
Backcountry Skiing (splitboard, AT/tele skis or snowshoes required-avalanche gear preferred but not essential for all trips)
Ice Climbing and Rock Climbing (tools, crampons, harness required for ice, harness and shoes required for rock—all group gear provided)
Easier Alpine Climbs (Cascade Peak, Provo Peak, non-technical climbs—variety of gear required, but suitable for absolute beginners to mountaineering. Will take place in spring and summer, essentially partially guided climbs I have done before)
Moderate and Harder Alpine Climbs (technical rock, easy-moderate ice, steep snow climbs—N Ridge Pfeifferhorn, etc. Harness, axe, crampons, all gear required. Rope/pro/group gear provided)”
Anybody interested can sign up by emailing Brenton at fowweezer@yahoo.com or myself at osgumero@yahoo.com
March 7th, 2006
A good place to snowshoe is also up Provo Canyon at the Big Spring Hallow. Go to the Vivian park turn off, cross the train tracks and then follow the road that curves to the left. This is the South Fork Road. About 3-4 miles up the road, after passing one park on the right, there will be a sign (also on the right) titled Big Spring Hallow. It is a National Forest access road. This road ends after a few hundred yards at a big parking lot. This is the trail head for the Big Spring Hallow hike. It’s about 3.5 miles round trip. It is a well used trail and usually so packed that you don’t need snowshoes. That was disappointing for me but you can always go off trail.
Once you reach Big Spring Hallow is where the fun begins. This is where people usually turn around so after this is all pretty virgin snow. When my wife and I did this hike we got to this point and then started hiking around anywhere we wanted to. This is where we had the most fun.
After messing around at the Big Spring Hallow for a while we turned back. There is, however, a trial that keeps going and eventually leads all the way around to Rock Canyon. I think this trail is 14 miles. I also heard that you can get some good snowshoeing in if you stop at the park on the way up to Big Springs.
March 3rd, 2006
I think you should go snowshoeing past Sundance near the Timp trail head (as long as avalanche conditions are not to high, check here for avalanche conditions). You may also consider Lake Blanche (park 4.25 miles up Big Cottonwood Canyon from the neon sign) or some other trial in Big Cottonwood canyon in SLC valley.
March 2nd, 2006
Our expedition to cross the Juneau Icefield began after 4 days of intensive training and preparation in Juneau, Alaska. From Juneau we spent an entire day making our way through temperate rainforest, alpine and subalpine vegitation, though the tree line, tundra, and finally onto the icefield (a large interconnected series of glaciers). The trail rugged and beautiful, the cool mist from the sea passed through the dense and dark green pine forest. Ferns covered the ground and signs of animal life were everywhere. There were bald eagles, bear, and we even saw a wolverine. Once we climbed above the tree line and onto the snowfields and ice we stapped on our crampons and placed our iceaxes firm in hands, carfully manuvering around the crevasses. We arrived at our first camp the evening of the day after having crossed the first glacier. Our first camp (and subsequent six camps) were located on a rocky ridge between glaciers called a nunatak an island in the sea of ice. We spent the next six weeks traversing the Juneau Icefield, tavelling from camp to camp. In all, we travelled by foot and ski over 175 miles, ending up in Canada! We crossed several glaciers, climbed over ridges and skiied snow covered slopes. We even rappelled into crevasses and camped atop icy peaks. Overall, it was an incredible experience, and by far “My Favorite Trip Ever.”
Click here for more awesome Photos For the Juneau Ice Field Story.
March 1st, 2006
Over the weekend we tried to climb the Everest Ridge (emphasis on tried). In the end it turned out to be a poor imitation of a snowshoe trip (without snowshoes) with some mountaineering skills practice sessions in between. We turned around about at the saddle because of the terrible snow conditions. The snow was either thigh deep powder or it was a semi-hard breakable crust that went to somewhere between mid-shin to knee deep (it was rather obnoxious because sometimes it could support your weight, but most of the time it couldn’t).It was rather exhausting–a good analogy is trying to run with a large tire dragging behind you or trying to run through water. I heard that there was a boot pack so travel would be easy and snowshoes not needed, but it was just the opposite. It took us 7 hours to go from Battle Creek Trailhead to near the saddle (about 3 miles and 2500 feet of elevation gain), which shows how little progress was being made. Anybody considering doing it would be advised to start from Dry creek where there would more likely be a boot pack and bring snowshoes or wait a few more weeks until the snow becomes more firm around the end of March or even into April.
February 26th, 2006
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