Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Skiing Silverton (Baptism by Fire) and the Ouray Ice Climbing Festival
Monday, January 23, 2012
DURANGO, SILVERTON, & THE OURAY ICE FEST!!
I had finally made it. As I exited the 747 and walked down the ramp, I couldn't believe it. I was finally in Colorado....and it was.....well....FLAT. Thankfully I turned to find the Rockies off in the distance, looking rocky, but still far away. After a short delay in the nicest airport I have ever been in, we walked onto the tarmac to board the RJ. Finally off to my final destination, Durango. The flight was scenic, but I wanted to be in the mountains climbing and skiing, not flying over them. Immediately noticeable was the fact that there was hardly any snow at the lower elevations, and as we flew over the San Juan's, the situation didn't improve much. After nervously waiting for my bags containing thousands of dollars of gear and ski's, I walked through the "airport" to find Jared, a friend from grade school I hadn't seen in over 9 years. I sat outside enjoying my first smoke in hours, as a salty pickup truck pulled up and out came a guy, with full dreadlocks. As the guy walked towards me, I couldn't believe it. It was Jared....and aside from the hair, he had not changed one bit. Colorado seemed to of preserved his youth. His composure, his upbeat tone, and his energy was all there, like we were still playing roller hockey on the local tennis courts back in NJ.
While driving into Durango, I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I expected forests of Aspens and Birch trees. Instead, I saw sand, dust, low scrubby vegetation, grazing Mule Deer, Ram crossing signs, and Prickly Pear Cactus! I was in the desert!! Durango sits close to the Southwest Border of Colorado and New Mexico, and the desert seems to creep its way up to where the mountains begin, where the ice,snow, and bitter cold dominate the landscape.
We spent the first evening catching up, talking about old friends, and what we had been doing since we last saw each other. I envied his stories, and was eager to live the life of a Coloradoan for the next 7 days. We put a new battery in his jeep so we could get around, and were in bed early, with plans to go climb the next morning. Little did I understand that we were not going to climb ice like I had assumed. Rather, Jared planned to introduce me to Colorado crack climbing at East Animas. I was in for a surprise. Both due to the fact that we were about to be sweating under the warm sun while climbing in t-shirts... in January, and also the fact that I thought crack climbing would be relatively easy compared to face climbing. I was wrong...I was VERY wrong. In the east, we do a lot of face, and any vertical cracks are just wide enough to get a #3 quad cam in, let alone a full hand. Most of our cracks are horizontal, providing bottomless jugs, to the smallest crimps. I was in for a real beating, I just didn't know it yet.
We began on a 80 foot top-rope, graded a 5.8. It was an awfully awkward mix of face and crack climbing, including a off width chimney to top out. The sandstone texture was much smoother then the Granite cliffs of New Hampshire, and I initially thought it would be a welcome change for my hands that have recently taken a beating between climbing and laying brick and travertine tile. Once again, I was wrong. After the 5.8 we hopped on a burly looking 5.11. Jared struggled and hollered through the moves, piecing them together after a battle and several falls. Next up, I started off the first couple of bouldery moves feeling great. I simplified the sequence and felt like I was floating. It felt natural, until I got about 15 feet off the deck. Then an awkward match provided a "rest" while I made a mess of the next couple of moves in my mind. I went out right to a vertical sloping pinch and stuck like glue. I was almost past the crux, the rest would be easy sailing...until I went up with my left to a tiny vertical crack that felt like I put my tips onto a serrated blade. I tried several different positions and holds before popping off like the rock like a felled tree. I was pumped as I gasped for O's. Living at 410 feet above sea level certainly has its disadvantages. We were at roughly 12,000 feet, and two short climbs in and I was spent. Ready for a nap, I took my sweet time and procrastinated before giving the route another go. Finally I got my breath back, got back on, and quickly popped back off. That was enough of the 5.11's for the day.
We sat around snacking, hydrating, and talking about our next move. "Texas sucks", Jared states, and starts pulling rope. Huh? "Texas sucks". Ok, why does Texas suck?? "No!" Jared states and laughs. "It's a 5.9+ route down to the left". With slight hesitation after looking at the route. I agreed. It was a single vertical hand crack up to an overhanging seam where the roof jutted up and over your head and the face narrowed down to nothing. At this point I was told you have to traverse right 15 feet around the corner, where the exposure reveals itself, and then downclimb slightly to the anchors. Alright, but this is your lead I told him. As I belayed and watched Jared jam his way up, the sun began to take a dive towards the horizon. By the time he reached the anchors and was out of sight, the sun was all but gone.
I tied in and called climbing, wedged my hands into the crack, trusting that I could jam them well enough to pull off of, and started up. As I gained elevation my technique began to improve, but the climbing became harder and harder every move. By the time I reached the traverse, I was fully pumped. My forearms were solid as the rock. Somehow, I was able to stem and get my body into a position that allowed a no hands rest. Balanced 90 feet off the deck on just my feet, I realized how bad I hate traverses as a second. As soon as I removed the cam, I was eligible to take on hell of a whipper before the rope caught me. In this position, stemming and stuck into the crease on the side of the cliff, I was alone for a moment. I couldn't see Jared, or Rose (Jared's Dog) who I left chewing apart a stump at the base. All I could see was a gorgeous sunset with Durango in the foreground. I quickly gained my composure and unplugged the cam which was above my head. I couldn't see around the corner to see exactly where I would stop if I fell at this point. I jammed my left hand into the seam as securely as I could, chalked up my right, and blindly reached around the corner out onto the exposed face. Finding a little crimp, I moved my feet onto tiny dimples in the face, and poked my head around the corner only to find that Jared was around 15 feet below me on a ledge. I timidly worked my body over the outside corner and onto the face. I tried to quickly take in the situation. Jared had plugged in two cams up high and right, but after I unclipped them, I would either fall into the open air below the roof, or deck onto the small ledge he was belaying from. I carefully completed the traverse, unclipped the cams, and slowly down climbed down to the ledge. I was absolutely exhausted, cotton mouthed, and my lungs burned. But successfully completed my first Colorado crack climb. It was way more strenuous then I had imagined. It requires totally different techniques and while they are not difficult, they are at most times awkward. At times it seems like you may not get your fist out of the crack if you put too much weight on it. There seems to be a fine line between a solid jam, and a solid predicament. I have seen video of climbers getting various body parts stuck in cracks and having to be rescued. Be it shoulders, arms, knees, hands, or feet. I thoroughly appreciate all of my limbs and I'm glad they were all still with me. I cant imagine climbing 5.13 crack, it must be like repeatedly smashing your limbs in a door and hoping you will be able to remove them. As we rappelled down in the dark, I was super stoked to of been given the gift of that successful climb. We finished off our day with a beer at the base and hiked back to the jeep to go enjoy dinner and some rest back at Jared's apartment.
Day 3 to be continued....
Monday, June 7, 2010
A sobering reminder...
Obviously, along with the sobering news of the recent death comes the fact that conditions have took a turn for the worst. The Pacific Northwest has had an unusually high wet spring. The upper mountain has received foot upon foot of snowfall creating a very unstable snowpack.
Given the recent reports, we have decided at this time to change our plans to climb the Fuhrer Finger. The coulior has a tendency to collect massive amounts of windblown snow, creating extremely unstable slabs and pockets. Unless conditions change drastically, we will most likely be attempting one of the easier routes up the mountain, Such as the Disappointment Cleaver or the Ingraham Direct route which is the site of the recent accident. Obviously we will not be making a summit push if conditions do not improve.
We will also be making one or two smaller, yet more technically difficult climbs within Rainier National Park. Updates will continue as we get more information.
Cnn Link - http://edition.cnn.com/2010/US/06/06/mount.rainier.avalanche/
Thursday, May 20, 2010
The Fuhrer Finger it is.....
This year, conditions seem to be shaping up nicely. We will have the SPOT tracking device with us so you will be able to follow our every move from the comfort of your warm home... More details to come.
And also, Sad news from the Pyrenees. Two Climbers fell into a crevasse at around the 10,000 foot level and perished. A third climber who went for help has survived. RIP
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Its Spring again...
In June of 2008, 4 of us made an unsuccessful attempt at the Finger, Being turned around by a massive wet slab avalanche caused by skiers on the Wilson Glacier shortly after coming up off the Nisqually. The enormous slide stopped about 20 feet from us as we literally ran for our lives away from thousands of tons of snow accelerating towards us. After bandaging up a snowboarder who was caught in the avalanche and spending a night at the base of the slide, it was agreed that it was not safe to ascend any further. We hesitantly descended the next day to Paradise and spent the next night or two at the beautiful Cougar Rock Campground. We did a little sight seeing, had an awesome lunch on the banks of the Nisqually River, and enjoyed some local beer next to warmth of the campfire.
Brian, Rebecca, and I decided to take what days we had left in the Park and make an unplanned jolt up the Disappointment Cleaver towards the summit. Summiting this route in 2007 during extremely high winds gusting to 100 MPH, I was confident I could lead Rebecca and Brian to the summit with ease via the cleaver, as an added bonus the weather report looked fair. We made the 7 hour trek to Camp Muir and spent the night in the Shelter at 10,500 feet. The next morning we made our way across the Cowlitz Glacier with the unstable Cathedral cliffs looming above. Two years prior I was running across the Cowlitz as the cliffs rained down watermelon sized boulders at me. With that event plus the recent avalanche on the Wilson days prior, My nerves were on edge. This time we made the Ingraham Glacier uneventfully, Revealing Little Tahoma and its mesmerizing colors of orange, green, and red Volcanic stone. We geared up and left the Ingraham that night around midnight under crystal clear skies and a bright full moon. That morning I kicked the first steps up the exposed Disappointment Cleaver, an awesome feeling. After making short work of 1,500 feet we stopped for a break as the Sun that was already shining on our families back home began coloring the black sky a fiery red and diminishing the stars.
We began climbing the upper mountain above the cleaver when something to the South caught my eye. The moon which was still casting its erie light on the upper mountain suddenly disappeared. The Mountain which was sitting pretty underneath clear skies hours before, was now encased in a tornado like lenticular cloud which was just spinning around the summit. As we climbed, The ambient light began shining through the clouds, and we found ourselves in a whiteout by 13,000 feet. Moving upward came to a crawl, as it was awfully difficult to see 10 feet in front of you. It was near impossible to judge the degree of the slope or where the snow ended and the sky began, everything was a pale white. We were covered in rime ice from head to toe, and the windchill dropped to around -14 degrees. At 13,500 feet we decided to take a break on a little ledge, and were shortly thereafter joined by a group of RMI clients. At that point we were roughly 910 feet from our goal of the summit at 14,410 feet according to my altimeter.
Once again however, Rainier had a different plan for us. Brian understandably didn't feel 100%, and I know Rebecca was probably as cold as I was. We couldn't move at a fast enough pace safely due to the near zero visibility and we just weren't building up enough heat to keep our bodies warm. It was decided at 13,500 feet that we should descend while it was still an option and while we were all still standing up. Coaxing an ill climber down at 13K is difficult enough in clear weather. Short roping a climber down 2500 feet to our high camp would be nearly impossible without a major rescue effort due to the weather and steep and exposed terrain of the Cleaver. While we all knew just how close we were, we began the extremely slow descent. Each step had to be 100%. Secure, Solid, and confident.
We broke through the lenticular as we reached the top of the Disappointment Cleaver. We took a short break to hydrate and continued down. The sun was now shining over us and offered a welcomed warmth. Unfortunately, That warmth had already penetrated the snowpack and each step down the cleaver was like sliding into home plate. The soft snow balled up underneath our crampons every step. During the warmth of the day, Ice, Rock, And snow become extremely unstable. This melt causes avalanches, rock fall, and massive seracs to tumble. We gained the nose of the cleaver and took 2 minutes. Once crossing the nose back towards the Ingraham, its all gas and no brake. It is well known that you do not stop for anything in this area as it is a bowling alley of rock and ice fall, especially in the warmth of mid day. This area claimed 11 lives in 1981 when a massive ice fall began on the upper Ingraham, and buried their bodies under the ice, never to be found. We successfully made it across and back down the Glacier to our tent. We packed up and made the 10 mile trek back out to Paradise where Becky was waiting with some gifts for all of us! Another successful trip in the books, no summit, but we were all back down safely.
You can see video which we filmed for http://www.visitrainier.com/ , along with pictures from the climb in our blog from Friday, January 9, 2009. Check it out.
In June of 2010 we will be back, Making another attempt at the Fuhrer Finger. Dates are to be determined, as is the final team (s). There could be as little as 3 of us....and it looks like there could be as many as 8 of us. Our blog will be updated as we get things in order and make some trips up to Mt. Washington to train, get some riding done in Tuckerman Ravine, and maybe some rock climbing in the Valley.
Till next time...
Monday, April 13, 2009
Some Easter ice and a dog rescue
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Memorial Ceremony for 10 Turkish mountaineers killed in avalanche
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Lincoln remains on the list, and Tragedy on Mt Hood
Yesterday (1/21/07) a two person team climbing Mount Hood was hit by ice fall near the "Hogsback" around 10,000 feet. 31 year old Brooke Colvin was struck by ice while climbing with her husband Stavn. Stavn watched her get thrown down the mountain after being struck. He was able to down climb to his wife, But she had been killed instantly. A Blackhawk was called in but later called off when the Rescue turned to a recovery. Crews were headed up the mountain Wed afternoon to recover Colvins Body. This is just days after a climber was struck by ice on the same area of Mt Hood. The 45 year old climber was airlifted off the mountain. RIP Brooke, and condolences to Stavn.
Friday, January 16, 2009
MLK weekend climbing & spot tracking
http://share.findmespot.com/shared/gogl.jsp?glId=02jKfbrqLJzkn2RgvnHuzfDzkOACI6EDP
Friday, January 9, 2009
Our 2008 Rainier climb for VisitRainier.com
A brief trip report can be found on the photo page.
Photo's:
http://www.visitrainier.com/index.php?&gigpag=gallery_sypniewski
Video's:
http://www.visitrainier.com/index.php?&gigpag=videos
(There are 3 video's. One promo, and parts I and II located in the second row of video's)
The new Spot Satellite Messenger
The company's moto is "Live to tell about it". Open the box, and you get the comforting (??) message, "Opening this box is this first step to making sure you don't come home in one." The Spot satellite messenger will give family and friends the ability to track our position using Google Maps. Using a combination of GPS satellites and Spot's own network, you will be able to see a preset "OK" message along with our latitude and longitude. By clicking terrain or satellite on Google Maps you will have a good idea of where exactly we are on the mountain or during our training climbs at any given time. This also provides the technology to alert 9-1-1 for any life-threatening emergencies in locations without cellular or wireless coverage.
I have begun testing the unit and will continue to use the tracking feature on upcoming trips. So far the unit has worked flawlessly. All "OK" and "HELP" messages have gone through very quickly. Obviously I hope to never find out if the 9-1-1 function works.
At any time, you can go to the following guest web address and view our most current locations and climbs. The link will be updated prior to our Attempt on Liberty ridge. Any question about the website, Send me an email.
Click the following link:
http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=02jKfbrqLJzkn2RgvnHuzfDzkOACI6EDP