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This is the EScree - the Electronic version of the Scree newsletter from
the Peak Climbing Section of the Loma Prieta Chapter of the Sierra Club.
It should be viewed or printed with a fixed-pitch font such as Courier.
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This publication may not be posted on any public news group.
December, 2000 Vol. 34 No. 12
Deadline for submissions to the next Scree is Sunday 12/24/2000
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This issue of Scree will be on the Official PCS Website at
http://lomaprieta.sierraclub.org/pcs/scree
The EScree is distributed to email lists as described on "the back page".
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Next general meeting (PCS meetings are the second Tuesday of each month)
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Date: Tuesday, December 12
Time: 7:00 PM
Program: Holiday Party and Slide Show
Bring your own slides for a "slide medley". Limit about one dozen slides
per person. Bring your "best" potluck dish. If you need a suggestion for
what to bring, follow this guide based on the initial letter of your last
name. However, if you have a really special dish you would like share
with us that is outside your category, by all means bring it!
A-F: Snacks, Appetizers, Salads
G-L: Desserts
M-R: Drinks
S-Z: Main Course
NOTE: Names have been re-arranged for 2000 to avoid picking on the same
people! Bring your own utensils and drinking glasses/cups.
Location:
Intuit Cafe‚, Building 1
2535 Garcia Avenue
Mountain View
Directions: From the South: Exit 101 at Amphitheater Pkwy/ N. Rengstorff
Ave. Turn Right on Amphitheater Pkwy. Go left on Garcia. Follow Garcia
to Bldg. 1 (left side). >From North-101: Exit 101 at Amphitheater Pkwy/
N. Rengstorff Ave. Right on Amphitheater Pkwy. Go left on Garcia Ave.
Follow Garcia to Bldg 1 (left side)
Deadline for submissions to the next Scree is Sunday 12/24/2000 Meetings
are the 2nd Tuesday of each month.
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New PCS Officers
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The PCS held its annual election on Tuesday, November 14. The
new PCS officers are:
PCS Chair: Dee Booth
PCS Vice Chair/Scheduler: Nancy Fitzsimmons
PCS Treasurer/Secretary: Scott Kreider
Dee Booth, PCS Chair
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Special Thanks
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Thanks to the following people for helping out over the last year: Special
thanks for helping without being asked: Dee Booth, Nancy Fitzsimmons, Ron
Karpel, Sarah Bousfield and Arun Mahajan. Thanks to Dee Booth and Bill
Kirkpatrick for their efforts as Vice Chair and Treasurer. Thanks to the
following committee volunteers: Steve Eckert, PubCommChair; Aaron Schuman,
Webmaster; Ron Karpel, Listmaster; Bob Bynum, Scree Editor; Paul Vlasveld,
Mailings; Kelly Maas, Mountaineering Committee Chair; Bob Suzuki, MC;
Charles Schaefer, MC; Arun Mahajan, Election Committee Chair; Debbie
Benham, EC; Bob Suzuki, EC. In addition, several committees were
appointed at the section and chapter level that involved PCS members.
Thanks to Bob Bynum and Charles Schaefer for work on the Chapter level
investigations of alleged "PCS list violations", Jim Ramaker, Mike
McDermitt, and Aaron Schuman for volunteering for a committee to evaluate
a harassment complaint. The Bylaws Rewrite Committee consists of Dan
Tischler, Arun Mahajan, Ron Karpel, Steve Eckert, George Van Gordon, Kelly
Maas, Dot Reilly, Dee Booth, Bob Bynum, and Rick Booth. Thanks to the
following for putting together slide shows which are a big part of our
regular meetings: Jim Curl, Kelly Maas and Landa Robillard, Ron Karpel,
Charles Schaefer (twice!), Dana Isherwood, Maxym Runov, Bruce Bousfield,
and Joe Budman. Thanks to Judy Kaufman at the PCC and Western
Mountaineering for meeting sites. The goal for the year was to expand the
interests of the PCS out of the "class 3" window. Thanks to Ron Karpel,
Bob Suzuki, Kelly Mass, and Charles Schaefer for the Pinnacles climbing
clinic. Thanks to Kelly and the MC for the leadership training hike.
Both these efforts were intended to expand the mountaineering skill set
into the technical area and to encourage and educate new leaders.
Rick Booth
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Scree Input Wanted
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The Scree is your newsletter. You, the PCS member, determine its content.
In the past I have used your trip reports and trip announcements as
material for this newsletter. Also I have summarized gear discussions
from email broadcast lists. We need to have those of you who are leaders
lead more official PCS trips. Also we need more of you to become leaders.
If there is anything that any of you want in the Scree, please send it to
me or give me your suggestions at the next meeting.
Bob Bynum, Scree Editor
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Advance Trip List
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This is the list of trips planned for Spring and Summer. Please do not
contact the leaders until the trips are announced in the "Scree" or on the
broadcast list.
The trips listed on this page are not officially sponsored Sierra Club
trips until they are approved by the PCS trip scheduler and published in
the Scree. Trips that are not officially sponsored are private trips, and
are not protected by the Sierra Club's insurer.
Dee Booth
DECEMBER 2-3 Lee Vining Canyon Ron Karpel
16-17 Mt. Lassen Maxym Ruynov
JANUARY 13-14 Pyramid Peak Palmer Dyal
14 Junipero Serra Ron Karpel Arun Mahajan
FEBRUARY 2-5 Koip Peak Aaron Schuman
2-5 Ouray, CO Ice Climbing Ron Karpel
27 Snow Camping Seminar Chris Macintosh, Kelly Maas, Charles Schaefer
MARCH 1Snow Camping Seminar Chris Macintosh, Kelly Maas, Charles Schaefer,
Karen Davis, John Langbein
6 Snow Camping Seminar Chris Macintosh, Kelly Maas, Charles Schaefer,
Karen Davis, John Langbein
TBD Snow Camping Seminar Chris Macintosh, Kelly Maas, Charles Schaefer,
Karen Davis, John Langbein
11 Mt. Sizer Nancy Fitzsimmons
18 Round Top George Van Gordon, Arun Mahajan
Annual Snow Camping Seminar
Class Dates: Tuesday, February 27, 2001
Thursday, March 1, 2001
Tuesday, March 6, 2001.
Field Trip: mid-March (exact weekend TBD)
Contact: Chris MacIntosh,
cmaci@attglobal.net,
650-325-7841, or
Tom Wolf, twolf@snaptrack.com
650-961-2682
The Annual Snow Camping Seminar will be held later than usual. This
course prepares you for snow camping and gives tips for day skiers or
snowshoers caught out overnight. Participants must already be experienced
summer backpackers since this course doesn't teach basic backpacking.
Sign up details and form will appear in the February 2001 Loma Prietan.
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PCS Trips
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PCS trips must be submitted to the Scheduler (see back cover for
details). Trips not received from the Scheduler will be listed as
PRIVATE, without recourse.
NO FUTURE TRIPS HAVE BEEN LISTED!
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PCS Committees
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The committee chairs for this term are Kelly Maas, Mountaineering
Committee and Rick Booth, Publicity Committee. Thanks to Kelly for
continuing as Mountaineering Committee chair and for Rick in taking on the
new role as Publicity Chair.
I would also like to thank Steve Eckert for his years of service as
publicity chair. The PCS has evolved under his stewardship and I am
grateful for his hard work.
Dee Booth, PCS Chair
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Private Trips
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Private trips may be submitted directly to the Scree Editor, but are not
insured, sponsored, or supervised by the Sierra Club. They are listed
here because they may be of interest to PCS members.
Christmas in Death Valley
Peaks: Opal Mt, Kingston, Brown , Smith, Pahrump, Red Mountain
Date: Dec 24-27 or whenever
Contact: Debbie Bulger, 831-457-1036
We're doing rock hounding and geology as well as climbing. We Start Dec.
24 by driving to Opal Mt. near Hinckley, then on to Kingston which we
plan to climb Dec 26 (possibly with snowshoes). After a soak at Tecopa
hot springs we will go on (4-wheel drive needed) to do Brown, Smith, then
go on a geology hike, and later Pahrump. Possibly Red Mountain on the way
home. As always we remain flexible and adjust to weather, etc.
Argentina - January 2001
Peaks: A Seven Summit Mountain
Aconcaqua 6959 m
Contact: Warren Storkman, 650-493-895
Denali
Peak: Denali, 20,320 ft.
Date: May-June 2001
Contact: Tim Hult 408-970-0760, Timdhult@aol.com
Looking for qualified partners for this major, no nonsense peak. Must
have extensive experience in the following: high altitude climbing (18,000
ft +), excellent winter camping skills and equipment, proven ability to
get along with partners on a multi-week trip. Ice climbing and crevasse
rescue will be taught if required. Prefer those with the ability to ski
or willingness to learn how to ski with a pack on - need NOT be an expert!
Serious inquires only. Mt Sinai and Egypt High Point
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Egypt
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April 10, 2000
One of the goals of our (Peg Davis and me) three week trip to Egypt was to
get to the Sinai mountain area, do some hiking there, and climb the Egypt
highpoint if possible. The rest of the trip was mainly as
tourists-budgettravelers. We were not on a commercial tour; we used
Lonely Planet's Egypt guide religiously. So I'll give a brief summary of
things we did before and after, detail the mountain part, and some time
later hopefully write (I or Peg) a more detailed account of the whole
trip. We also took a lot of photos, for a slide show in the future.
Starting out in Cairo, we spent a day at the Egyptian museum. Crowded, as
much of Egypt is, but there are many thousands of antiquities, including
the King Tut treasures -- the museum is very worthwhile. Also toured
monuments and mosques and walked through a lot of the hustling, bustling,
crowded and smoggy city. Next we spent a couple days at the pyramids, on
the outskirts of Cairo. Best spot there - the tomb chamber inside Cheops
Pyramid. The pyramid is 4500years old and made of about 2 million 2-ton
blocks. We migrated on south to Luxor on the train, watching 600 km of
Nile Valley scenery from the window. Then a couple days at Luxor and
Valley of the Kings area. Got some exercise pending a full day walking
between the tombs and monuments, rather than using a taxi or tour bus as
the masses of tour groups did. Amazing full-color art on the walls inside
the tombs. Then south on the train again to Aswan for more temples and
ruins. We next joined nine other travelers on a felucca(traditional
sailboat) cruise down the Nile. Very relaxing; although it was as low and
hot float all the second day with no breeze. More temples at Kom Omboand
Edfu then a minibus ride to Luxor again. A five-hour ride ($5 for a
luxurybus) put us on the coast at Hurgada which is an overdeveloped beach
resort area. Next a fast ferry ride across a rough Red Sea to
Sharm-el-Sheik at the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula. After that a
bus ride up the Gulf of Aqaba coast a couple hours to Dahab, which is a
very nice Red Sea diving and resort town. Here we had a new room for $12
which was 50 feet from the water, ate in lounge chairs on the sea front,
and snorkeled at the reef 100' from shore. Beautiful and amazing
underwater -- coral and fish every color of the rainbow. Tours to Mt
Sinai are organized at Dahab; so I asked a little; bought a decent map,
and a guided trip was arranged for us to go up Gebel Katarina which is
Egypt's high point at 2642 m or about 8700 feet. Gebel Musa, (Mt Moses)
which the world considers to be Mt Sinai from description in the Bible
(nobody knows for sure) is the mountaintop that many people (pilgrims,
tourists, Egyptians, and hikers) ascend every day and night. It is 2285 m
or about 7500 feet altitude. The star attraction for them is to see the
sunrise or sunset from the top. So we took a minvan filled with other
travelers and arrived in the St. Katerina (or El Malga) mountain town
area at 1 AM after a two hour ride. The others were left at the trailhead
start point for their hike to see the sunrise from the summit. We were
dropped off at Sheik Musa's office/house. He is a youngish guy who is
supposedly the only guide/organizer/official for all treks and hikes in
the area. I tried to get the best information I could about hiking there
and permits, but who knows what the real regulations are. Everything in
Egypt is negotiable. Anyway, "Sheik Moses" has a lucrative monopoly on
organized trekking there. We stayed in his dorm used for trekking groups,
nice because hotels there are all the expensive tour group motel type.
After a few hours sleep we got up, paid our fee and surrendered our
passports to Sheik Musa, and were introduced to our guide. The cost was
150 Egyptian pounds (LE), or about 45 US$ for the day of guiding the two
of us. Probably too much considering that is a few weeks income for much
of the Egyptian population. But there were two middlemen involved and I
didn't feel in a bargaining mood because I had very little good
information about the infrequently climbed highpoint. In Dahab I also had
been told that the highpoint was a 12 hour trip and there was rough rock
to negotiate. All part of the orchestration to claim the maximum tourist
dollars, but such happens frequently in Egypt. And they probably did not
have a lot of confidence in the ability of a white-bearded American. When
I examined the map the peak appeared to be about 1000 m gain and around 8
km one way. That would normally be only a few hours round trip for a
Sierra peakbagger.
We loaded bottled water and lunch in our packs and started at 6 AM, going
through the uncrowded town and past its goats, donkeys, camels, and some
irrigated tiny orchard trees. It was nice to see some trees and even a
little water in the canyon we then followed; most of Egypt is barren.
Away from the Nile at Luxor and Aswan there are zero plants; rainfall a
tenth of an inch per year or less there. In the canyon we hiked up - Wadi
El Arbain - there was an interesting grove of gnarled ancient olive trees
encircled by an old, old, wall to keep goats and other animals out. Our
guide was fit and knew the route. After 3 km we started up switchbacks to
another canyon (Wadi Shagg Musa) and onto a ridge toward the top. We
could see Mt. Moses on the opposite side of the first canyon with the
trees. There were some green bushes along the trail and gravelly
mountainside; occasionally it even snows in the area.
Three hikers including a nun in jogging shoes caught up to us from behind
and we found out they were from Poland, and they had hiked over after
going up Gebel Musa. Thus we could have done our peak without guide and
nobody would have cared. But I didn't know at the time. So we continued
up the switchbacks and passed the tired Poles. The rock seemed to be a
somewhat crumbly granite; little weathering with the sparse precipitation
there. Ahead and above we saw the white walls of a small monastery or
chapel we were told is on top. At a saddle along the way we took a rest;
the guide had a smoke. He could understand English, but he was very
quiet.
Eventually we got to a point 50 meters or so below the monastery, and he
indicated he would stay and we could go up the last bit. The monastery on
top was locked. We could see lots of barren mountains in the view from
the top. The problem was there was another peak, with a small antenna
only about 500 m south of the one we were on and it was certainly higher
than us - by about 20m- 30 m. The antenna with solar cells looked active
and maintained. We saw various wire and debris but no closed fence.
There was actually a dirt road to its summit; the map did show a track.
We had read that the monastery was atop G. Katerina, the high point and
shown so on the map. So why was the high point over there? I was ready
to walk over there, but we decided to confront our guide that we
understood we had paid to take us up the high point of Egypt. We went
back to him and asked why he didn't take us over there. His sketchy
answers were full of "unh unh" and "bad" and I continued to press him for
the reason. I even offered him an extra 10 LE to take us but he didn't
budge. He then indicated bombs and not allowable to go (Egyptians don't
like say no). We asked if he had been up there before and he said yes.
So by my peak bagger mentality, I was ticked off and felt wronged by not
being told that it was not allowable for us to go on top the high point of
Egypt. Then I decided to give my fuming and sulking a little time and
thought while having lunch. It seemed he couldn't see us, and that he
would still be waiting while we walked over there anyway on our own, a 10
minute hike. So we started walking, but noticed other metal debris and
even maybe a piece of an airplane. And barbed wires threwn around - the
concertina type. But when I saw shell casings we developed a
uncomfortable feeling that we were walking on no mans land. I was not
peak crazed or enough of a mountain purist to continue against this risk.
So, we turned around and agreed with him that he was right, and that we
did not want to get blown up or go into a forbidden zone. It had been a
war zone; a strategic location previously, but the monastery and trail
area was apparently not involved and spared. And there had been a story
about some hikers getting blown up by buried explosives. With the army
presence and many tourist police at all the main attractions, Egypt is
trying its best to prevent terrorist attacks and protect visitors. We
went to the highest accessible point in Egypt, anyway. After 1 1/2 hours
on top, the hike back was easy downhill, and we got back to Sheik Musa to
pick up our passports at about1:30. It felt so nice in the mountain area
because it was not hot or smoky. The temperature was just right; 50's at
night and 70's day.
In fact, we felt so good and eager for hiking we decided to do G. Musa
too that day. We walked through the town and down the highway the two
miles to the St. Katherines Monastery, past a graveyard and various
construction. Egypt is building a lot of infrastructure - roads,
utilities, bridges. Also though, various projects seem to be just
forgotten; money ran out or some lawsuit came about. and sit unfinished.
We passed a graveyard and continued past the medieval fortress walls of
the monastery. The monastery is about 1000 years old and only about 20
monks live there. It is open to the public only in the morning, so we
weren't able to go in. We started up the 5 km, 650 m gain climb at about
3 PM. Not many people were around at the bottom; the camels and their
drivers were taking naps. After being refused to patronize their
services, some drivers with camel follow groups up the mountain anyway. I
wasn't sure whether to consider them like vultures in wait for a straggler
or protectors for wasted tourists. Anyway, this mountain, with a trail
well worn into the rock had lots of people, including tea shops all the
way to the top. The trail is gradual at first and steepens up to a saddle
where we could see below a Bedouin encampment. The guides and camel
drivers here were Bedouins, many with the characteristic headdress. There
were bright colored tents apparently put up for summer quarters. The
trail traversed under a cliff to another saddle where about four ancient
cypresses, tall and narrow, grow. There is a camping are at here for
backpackers. Steep rocky stairs the last 300'. The view from the top was
good. Lots of mountains around. A locked chapel and various tea shops on
top. Little flat area. Most people stay part of the night to see the
sunset or sunrise; it is a religious experience. We wanted to get back to
town before dark. Lots of people -- about 200 people near the top as we
went down. We asked and found the 3000? step staircase and took it. It
was built by a monk centuries ago as penance, the story goes. We didn't
notice its location while going up; it is hidden in a steep gully. Only
an hour back down for us and we walked back to the village as it got dark.
Tired after 16 miles and 5000' gain, we bought and ate a meal and went to
bed for an early start for the bus to Cairo in the morning.
Our remaining two days in Cairo we spent seeing more of the tiny alleys
with little shops that are the mainstay of the people's economy. Like a
worker beating metal from a forge into tools. Peg and I spent time
marveling and bargaining for souvenirs at the Khan el-Khalily bazaar.
Went inside a new big mosque; a quiet refuge inside the big city. Saw
more Egyptian Museum. Then goodby Egypt. It was great place to visit; so
different from life here in the U.S., at least by seeing it as a budget
traveler. Yet everything you need is there, it is safe; transportation,
food and lodging are very cheap, and the people are mostly polite and well
behaved. And all the culture and history. They love the visitors and the
money they bring.
Ron Hudson
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Mount Rainier
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How Much is Judgment Worth?
Preface: I heard this story around the campfire at Ron Hudson's SPS List
Finish, and asked Dave to send me the text so I could post it. We talked
a bit about continuing to travel two-on-a-rope even after proving with the
first fall that arrests weren't working, and I suggested driving in a
picket or two and running the rope thru a biner on it to limit the fall on
future trips. This is not as safe as a belay, way safer than not setting
pro at all. We also kicked around non-standard self-arrest techniques
that give you more grip in corn or powder snow. A GPS would have been
more useful than wands, because they would have known how close they were
to the route, and that could have gotten them out days earlier. Note that
radios and cell phones cannot always get you rescued, because sometimes
the conditions are too nasty to risk other lives! I'm posting this on the
gear list because it's as much about survival techniques as it is about
making the summit. I'm not sure I would have done as well after getting
in trouble, but then again I might not have continued climbing into the
storm. Enjoy, learn, climb safe. Dave has done us all a favor by
documenting his mistakes - way more useful than glossing things over, and
I wish others would do the same (yes, Bob and Rich, I'm talking about
Spanish Needle!).
Also, if you make the paper, remember to take the clipping so you get
sympathy and don't have to pay the extra days on your rental car!
Steve Eckert
June 3, 2000
Our trip started on June 3, 2000, with a frantic rush to the Reno airport,
almost missing our flight. Judy Rittenhouse and I arrived in Seattle at
around 10:00 PM, and picked up our rental car. We set off toward the
mountain with high hopes, knowing the weather was predicted was to be good
for the next several days and having seen clear skies surrounding the
mountain from the air. We stopped about 2:00 am in a roadside park and
slept until morning. Sunday, June 4, we got a 4-day permit for climbing
Mount Rainier. Our plan was to climb the Kautz Route, taking advantage of
the good weather. We set off and hiked upwards, following the
Disappointment Cleaver Route (main trail) until our cutoff towards the
Nisqually Fan at around 6,200 feet of elevation. We dropped 500 feet down
to the glacier and crossed the glacier. On the far side, we encountered a
large guided group doing crevasse rescue practice and saw our first large
crevasses. We then proceeded up the Wilson Gully, which was full of
recent avalanche debris and overhung by a large cornice. We continued up
the route to about 8,800 feet of elevation and camped at one of the
established campsites a few hundred feet below Turtle Rock. Monday, June
5, we headed up at about 4:30 am, planning on summitting. By the time we
approached Camp Hazard at 11,200 feet of elevation, the weather started to
worsen, with fog rolling in. We decided to retreat and regroup, since we
had allowed for inclement weather in our schedule.
Tuesday, June 6, the weather was still foggy, whited-out, and not looking
good. Our food and fuel situation for a longer stay was not good, and our
permit would expire the next day, so we opted to go down for a permit
extension and re-supply. We spent the night at Lou Whittaker's Bunkhouse,
drying out our gear and relaxing for only $25/person. We purchased
additional fuel and food and made ready to head back up.
Wednesday, June 7, we set up a new schedule for an additional 5- day stay,
through Sunday, when our flight would leave. The plan was to hike up
leisurely over two days, since the weather was not due to break again
until Friday. We hiked up to about 7,000 feet of elevation and set up a
nice sheltered camp in the snow. Thursday, June 8, we got a late start,
knowing we had a short hike and worked our way up through zero visibility
conditions and fresh, untracked snow to Turtle Rock at 9,300 feet of
elevation. As we arrived at Turtle Rock, we passed through the cloud
layer and conditions cleared. The summit became visible in all its
splendor. Excitement coursed through me, for I knew we could climb and
summit the next day. We pushed on in clear conditions, although blowing
fog occasionally obscured our visibility, so we used compass bearings as a
backup for the final climb up to 10,200 feet of elevation, where we
finally established camp about halfway up the Turtle. Our camp, suggested
by a climbing ranger, was in the lee of a boulder and nicely sheltered.
Friday, June 9, we got up at 3:00, for a planned 4:00 departure. It was
after 5:00 am by the time we got started. We were roped up leaving camp,
intending on staying that way the whole day. We climbed up towards the
Kautz Ice Falls and Camp Hazard. It took us around 1 1/2 hours to make
the 1,000 foot ascent. We quickly headed down the narrow gully (which
resembles a bowling alley for climbers) under the icefalls to the 600-foot
"technical" section. These pitches proved to be very arduous, since a 2-3
inch coating of hard crust covered hip deep powder. By lying on the snow
and crawling upwards, I could sometimes make as many as ten moves before
breaking through the crust again. About halfway up, we were able to
traverse over to the left side, which was solid ice coated with either
rime or snow. Climbing proved easier here for the most part. I set a
couple of screws on steeper sections. Finally we hit the top of the
section. The relatively flat Kautz Glacier lay in front of us. I could
see some clouds starting to swirl around and decided to wand the route
across the glacier as well as use compass bearings. I set wands about
every 200-250 feet as we crossed, in order to conserve my small supply
(~30). We encountered several crevasses, which were crossed uneventfully.
When we attained the ridge on the other side of the glacier, we
encountered our first heavy winds at around 13,000 feet of elevation.
This was at the small ridge where the Kautz Route variation, Wilson
Headwall and Fuhrer Finger all join to head for the summit. By now it was
obvious that the weather was deteriorating. Judy suggested that we turn
back, but with the summit so close (1,400 feet), we continued to push on.
I continued to wand the route and take compass bearings as we ascended.
By the time we reached the crater rim, it was a complete whiteout and I
had run out of wands. Judy again suggested turning back, but the summit
loomed so close! We continued on, following the rim, leaving a couple of
pickets as wands. Close to an hour later, we reached the summit, having
post-holed around the rim. After briefly looking at the forlorn lump of
snow on the summit in near zero visibility, we headed down.
We retraced our route around the rim, noting that our footprints were
already filled in. Finally, after hiking for what seemed forever, we got
back to our point of arrival on the summit rim. We set off down the
slope, holding our compass bearing and following the wands. The system
worked well and we were able to stay on course. About 3/4 of the way back
to the ridge where the various routes met, we encountered our first
problem. As I descended the steep wall (40 slope) of an old crevasse
(which was now wide and open), I was unable to see the vertical drop over
a smaller remaining crevasse, causing me to fall the last 10 feet or so.
Judy was yanked off the steep icy wall, with no possibility of arresting
and fell over 50 feet to land flat on her back beside me, gasping for
breath. After regaining our wits and making sure Judy was ok, we decided
to continue on. I headed on down, still following our wands. I knew I
had skipped a small section (no wands), where I needed to turn right. I
missed this turn and unbeknownst to me continued lower into the crevasses
in the upper end of the Wilson Headwall. Shortly thereafter, due to near
zero visibility and fogged glasses, I literally walked into a large
overhanging crevasse. "Falling", I shouted, as I attempted to sink in my
axe to prevent going over the edge. I continued to fall for a long time,
bouncing many times along the way. As the fall continued I was certain
Judy was plunging into the crevasse too. Judy, meanwhile, was digging
into the fresh powder with little success in making a self-arrest. The
crevasse was about 15 feet higher on the uphill side than the lower and
Judy plunged over the edge and was catapulted to the other side of the
crevasse, where she quickly arrested and set an anchor. Once Judy had
come to a halt, I too stopped falling, after about 65 feet of total fall
distance. I brushed myself off, checked everything out, and prepared to
climb out, assuming Judy had an anchor set. I climbed to the surface. At
about halfway, I heard Judy asking if I was ok. I replied affirmatively.
Once I got out, we decided that with our current location unknown
precisely and the blowing storm and zero visibility, we should bivy. We
dug a snow cave near the side of the crevasse. Once we climbed in, we
sealed the entrance, allowing the storm to add insulation over us. We
each had almost a quart of water left and most all of the day's food, with
some extra. We had brought a single insulite pad as emergency gear and
each had a space blanket with us. We removed our boots, but kept on the
vapor barrier systems and socks. One of the packs was used as a common
foot bag to provide insulation from the snow. The rope and the insulite
pad provided our main insulation from the snow. The other pack was used
to seal the entrance. The night was cold, but we remained functionally
warm, with occasional shivering in near freezing temperatures.
Saturday, June 10, we dug out of the cave at around 8:30 am, planning on
continuing. The weather was still bad, but we could see a rocky ridge
adjacent to the crevasse field we were ensconced in. We roped up and
headed over, thinking it was the ridge we had missed the previous day.
After carefully checking it out and hiking around in the cold and blowing
snow conditions for several hours, we decided to dig another snow cave,
since our location was still unknown. We settled in for another night,
after checking the weather again in the afternoon and seeing no
improvement. Sunday, June 11, we checked the weather again, morning and
afternoon, with no improvement. Our water supplies were reduced to snow
melted with body heat inside our jackets, and we began rationing food,
considering the possible 4-day stay until the next predicted weather
break.
Monday, June 12, we checked the weather in the morning, and noted no
improvement. The afternoon check yielded clearing and reasonably good
visibility, with continued high winds. We decided that starting out late
in our debilitated condition and with the high avalanche danger of the
recent snows was not prudent, and settled in for another night. We were,
however, able to ascertain our exact location and plan our descent. We
were less than 100 feet off route.
Tuesday, June 13, we got up early and broke camp just after 7:00 am,
heading down to our base camp at 10,200 feet of elevation. Our movements
were slow due to lack of food and water. Serious concern about avalanches
weighed heavily on our minds. After about 7 1/2 hours of traveling we
reached the tent. Salvation! , I thought. The tent, however, hadn't
survived the storms. The poles were broken and the sleeping bags in a
puddle of water and snow. As we attempted to clean up camp, we noted
climbers below, camping at Turtle Rock. After trying to revive the tent
in the 50 mph winds and having yet another pole snap, we decided to pack
up and head down to the lower camp. The fierce winds and the snow
conditions, prone to small slabs and giant snowballs heading down, made
travel difficult. Finally, we arrived at 9,300 feet of elevation. I
chatted with the climbers, a group escorting Peter Rieke, a paraplegic,
attempting to summit Rainier (3rd attempt) using a hand cranked snow pod.
We dug a snow platform in a sheltered lee of Turtle Rock and set up camp,
feeling pretty good at having survived. The tent was repaired with duct
tape and bits of wands, i.e. it was barely functional. High winds
continued to plague us through the night and we were still cold, having
managed to only partially dry out one sleeping bag, with the other still
sodden. We asked the Reike's team to use their radio to notify the NPS of
our safety.
Wednesday, June 14, I woke up with numb feet and unable to walk.
Frostbite, insidiously had invaded my socks during our bivies, but
remained undetected until my feet had re-warmed. We again contacted the
NPS, asking for evacuation help. No help was available due to avalanche
danger, high winds and low visibility. The adjacent climbing team had a
nurse available to help evaluate my condition heading up that day. I
anxiously awaited her arrival. Upon examination, she indicated that I was
capable of walking out. I felt relieved that my feet's condition was no
worse than that. We settled in for another cold night with high winds in
a marginal tent.
Thursday, June 15, we got up at 5 am and packed. The paraplegic climbing
team had agreed to carry out part of our load (~10 lbs), while we retained
enough gear for technical protection and a possible additional overnight.
We needed to hurry down before avalanche danger became too high. Hiking
was painful but possible and we made good time down to the Wilson Gully.
There, post-holing slowed progress considerably. At the lower part,
wracked by avalanches the previous day, standing glissades made the
descent fairly quick. We roped up and crossed back over the Nisqually
Fan, meeting several rangers on the far side. The rangers helped us down
by taking our loads for the last three fourths of a mile of the hike back
to the trailhead. We had survived. Poor judgment cost us dearly, but
competent mountaineering skills (and some Luck) brought us back alive
(barely). Skills and technical competence are requirements for
mountaineering, but nothing will ever substitute for good judgment.
David German
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Mt. Goddard
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September 7-9, 2000
The SPS trip I was scheduled to go on had been canceled. Since I had
already planned to take a day off from work, I had a choice to make: stay
home (and work on the house), or plan another trip. After agonizing over
the decision for several seconds, I decided on a solo attempt of Mt.
Goddard from the west side.
The good news about a west side entry is that permits are not a problem(at
least in this area). The woodchuck trailhead (where I left from)has no
quota, and getting a permit requires nothing more than calling the ranger
station and then picking up your permit in the night drop box. The bad
news is that accessing the trailhead requires hours of driving (ok only an
hour and a half) on winding mountain roads - a lot different than 75-80
MPH on highway 395. I left the nearly deserted trailhead (one other
truck) at 6:30 Thursday morning on a route that would take me above wish
on reservoir, up the woodchuck creek drainage, through crown pass, around
scenic halfmoon lake, and eventually down to the north fork of the kings
river where I made camp at 3:30 near some slabs along the river at ~9,500
ft. While the hike in was long (18+ miles), the trails were in good
shape, the weather was perfect, and the elevation gain was administered
gradually. My goal was to pick a campsite that would get me close enough
to Mt. Goddard so that I could climb it in one long day - but not too
close, otherwise I'd be hauling my backpack in (and out) farther than I
needed to. In retrospect, I came close to that goal - faster hikers may
be able to get away with staying a little farther away.
I was off the next morning at 6:30 again. From camp I angled northeast up
into blackcap basin and through Lightning Corral Meadow using the high
point on the ridge northwest of Ambition Lake to help guide me. After
locating Ambition Lake, I went around it's south side and up a nice ramp
northeast of the lake to Valor lake. You can get around Valor Lake on
either side - the east side is shorter, but requires passing through a
boulder field - the west side (which I took on the way back)is a little
longer but is over easier terrain. Once around the lake, any one of
several ramps will get you up to Valor Pass.
Descending from Valor Pass was a little tricky as I was trying to minimize
the elevation loss while traversing over to the large gap above and east
of Martha Lake. The most direct route was interrupted by several 30-40 ft
cliffs which forced me to take more of a circuitous route than I'd hoped
(some class 3 climbing required). Also, as I neared the point where the
route turns east (north of peak 12,432), I ran into several other cliffs
which slowed me down. Others may find it easier to simply descend to
about 11,000 ft, follow the easier terrain on the east side of the lake,
and then ascend to the gap.
As I approached the small lake at ~12,000 ft, the climbing became much
more loose and crummy. I found the going a little easier (although not
much) by staying north of the lake and on top of the various piles of
rubble. At this point, I found some very interesting rock that had
fractured off from a band up on the south side of Mt. Goddard. It was a
"pinkish purple" color and very heavy. I continued heading northeast
until I could see the large lake at 12,240 ft. at this point I could also
see the chute that would get me up to the south ridge - it didn't look
like much fun (loose) so I continued traversing the east slope hoping to
find a more enjoyable route. On the way, I found what appeared to be a
small piece (3'x4') of fuselage from a private airplane- no other wreckage
was visible. After passing several other chutes, I found one that looked
o.k. and started up it. It soon became disappointingly loose so I exited
onto the left rib of the gully (southside) and followed it (class 3) up to
the south ridge. From here, it was class 1 with a couple of easy class 3
moves to the summit, which I plopped onto at 12:30. After some lunch and
soaking in the panoramic view, I headed back down. The return to camp was
uneventful and I chugged back into camp at 5:00 ready for some hot tea.
Since I wanted to get home for dinner, I left the next morning at 4:30and
was treated to a beautiful sunrise as I hiked out of the canyon. As I
approached the spur trail to Chimney Lake, I ran into the first humans on
the trip (I'd had plenty of visits from deer, squirrels and sage grouse in
my camp) - 2 guys who were heading in for a week long trip. These were
the only other people I saw the on the whole trip - are refreshing change
from some of the more crowded trailheads. I eventually reached my truck
at 1:30, and was back home in time for dinner.
Ron Norton
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Mt Thompson
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
North Couloir
Alois Smrz and I climbed the North Couloir (or Moynier Couloir) of Mt.
Thompson on October 1, 2000 in superb conditions. This gully is the
furthest right of the four on the north face of Thompson.
This is a serious mixed climb. We soloed the first four or so pitches on
beautiful, hard firn and ice. From here, the couloir pinches down to ten
to fifteen feet width on steep, hard, glassy water ice. We roped up here,
and Alois took the first pitch of ice. After two screws and a stopper, he
began putting in a belay anchor but made the critical mistake of removing
his wrist from one of his ice tool leashes. I heard brief profanity and
saw his tool start falling. Amazingly, the tool hooked the hanger or
biner on his last ice screw and stayed. However, it was not to stay long.
Unable to lower to it or downclimb to it, I would have to try and recover
it following the pitch.
I followed the pitch, collected the gear from Alois, and led the second
and last pitch of water ice. Reaching the large crux chockstone, I looked
under - considering the 'tunneling' advice from John Moynier himself -
only to find tunneling impossible. We would have to bail from the ice and
climb rock. I put a two- screw belay here.
Alois would have to follow my lead with a single ice tool. He reached me,
we swapped gear and off he went on exposed but moderate fifth class moves,
exiting the couloir to the left. A pitch and a half later we were on the
summit plateau, greeted by warmth and sun after spending a few hours in
the shade and cold of the icy couloir (it really wasn't that cold as long
as you were moving
Twenty minutes or so later we were at the summit proper, observing the
minor number of entries since its placement by PCS'ers in July.
From here we had to consider the descent. Alois could not consider a
downclimb of the Harrington Couloir on Thompson (which he'd done before)
due to the loss of his second ice tool, so we agreed to descend the North
Ridge. High-end or crazed climbers solo the whole North Couloir and the
North Ridge descent; Boy, I'd like to see their balls.
Looking off the extreme end of the summit plateau does not engender one
with marvelous feelings. There is approximately 1/4 mile of knife edge to
reach what appeared (on the approach) to be a class two talus and scree
gully. We agreed that we would belay the dangerous downclimbing, placing
pro where necessary. I would end up 'leading' all the roped downclimbing.
Thinking that we could descend this questionable gully faster than
belaying across the ridge, we began descending it despite my uneasy
feelings about it. Two pitches of belayed downclimbing brought us to our
first rappel of about 80 feet. Fortunately, someone had been here before,
and we found two fixed slings which we equalized, then rapped on. A short
amount of unroped descent on scree brought us to another rap - another
full length at 80 or more feet. Not sure how to get down this one, at the
last moment, my eye caught a single, large green sling (new) on the
largest boulder in the center of the rubble filled gully. Two more
pitches of belayed downclimbing opened to even greater views. Our gully
hooked to the right, and rounding a corner of the rib, I could see easy,
scree-covered ledges and slabs that led to the high end of the Thompson
Glacier.
At the last belay, as I brought Alois to me, I was able to scan the North
Couloir. Alois reached me and we unroped. A few minutes of travel
brought us to the glacier's edge. Alois and I hugged. We reached our
camp at sunset, packed up, hiked and scrambled out in total darkness -
reaching the parking lot at 930pm. We still had the drive home to LA in
front of us. We were not to enjoy the beer in the cooler.
I finally put my head to pillow in Long Beach at 330am - just two hours
before the work wakeup.
Michael Gordon
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Granite Chief
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
April 30, 2000.
This is a short note on a trip that Rick Booth, Dee Booth, and I did to
Granite Chief which is close to Squaw Valley.
We started at 7.30 am on Sunday, 30th April. After about a mile or so the
trail vanished in the snow. We identified Granite Chief and then decided
on a line to it. This line took us near the ski area boundary and then to
the right hand ridge line of Granite Chief. Once at the saddle, we had a
small amount of somewhat steep snow climbing, but the snow was not icy or
excessively deep. We didn't use crampons or snowshoes, but used ice axes.
We were at the summit in four hours. We basically retraced our steps and
returned to the cars in less than three hours making it a seven hour day
in all including a lazy lunch break at the top.
Arun Mahajan
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE BACK PAGE
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scree is the monthly journal of the Peak Climbing Section of the Sierra Club, Loma Prieta Chapter.
Our mirror website is http://www.climber.org/pcs/
and our official website is http://www.sierraclub.org/chapters/lomaprieta/pcs/
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Elected Officials
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Chair:
Dee Booth/ rdbooth@worldnet.att.net
408-354-7291 home
237 San Mateo Avenue, Los Gatos, CA 95030
Vice Chair and Trip Scheduler:
Nancy Fitzsimmons / pkclimber@aol.com
408-957-9683 home
1025 Abbott Avenue, Milpitas, CA 95035
Treasurer and Membership Roster (address changes):
Scott Kreider / pcs-treasurer@climber.org
408-737-8709 home
1007 S Wolfe Road #5, Sunnyvale, CA 94086
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Publicity Committee Positions
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Scree Editor:
Bob Bynum / pcs-editor@climber.org
510-659-1413 home
PCS World Wide Web Publisher:
Jim Curl / pcs-webmaster@climber.org
Mailing:
Paul Vlasveld / paul.vlasveld@infineon.com
Publicity Chair:
Rick Booth / rwbooth@home.com
408-354-7291 home
237 San Mateo Avenue, Los Gatos, CA 95030
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Subscriptions and Email List Info
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Hard copy subscriptions are $10. Subscription applications and checks
payable to "PCS" should be mailed to the Treasurer so they arrive before
the last Tuesday of the expiration month. If you are on the official email
list (lomap-pcs-announce@lists.sierraclub.org) or one of the email lists
the PCS feeds (either the sierra-nevada@climber.org discussion list or
the california-news@climber.org read-only list), you have a free EScree
subscription. For email list details, send "info lomap-pcs-announce" to
"listserv@lists.sierraclub.org", or send anything to "info@climber.org".
EScree subscribers should send a subscription form to the Treasurer to
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both plain text and fully formatted Adobe Acrobat/PDF.
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Rock Climbing Classifications
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The following trip classifications are to assist you in choosing trips for
which you are qualified. No simple rating system can anticipate all
possible conditions.
Class 1: Walking on a trail.
Class 2: Walking cross-country, using hands for balance.
Class 3: Requires use of hands for climbing, rope may be used.
Class 4: Requires rope belays.
Class 5: Technical rock climbing.
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Deadline for submissions to the next Scree is Sunday 12/24/2000.
Meetings are the second Tuesday of each month.
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"Vy can't ve chust climb?" - John Salathe
First Class EMail - Dated Material as soon as it's published!