The Nisqually Ice Cliff on Mount Rainier has only been skied by one party in the past. This ski line is very rare because during most years there is not enough snow to bridge a large wall of rock and ice. Even on years when there is enough snow (like this year) the exposure and objective hazards of the line are enough to keep most parties away. It was first skied roughly a month ago and their trip report inspired us to give it a go.
A HUGE thanks is owed to Sam Lozier for taking pictures on this trip. You can see his write-up about the experience at Famous Internet Skiers.
A view of our descent line down the Nisqually Ice Cliff.
Photo by Sam Lozier
NOTE: Final videos will be created AFTER I finish this trip. Enjoy the previews, but there is better stuff coming!
Saturday, May 14th to Saturday, May 21st, 2011 - I went to Hawaii for a week of celebrating the wedding of my dear friends Doug and Meghan. We got to do all sorts of stuff, including; surfing, hiking waterfalls, watching the sunset from Mauna Kea, snorkeling and deep sea fishing (barf). I was honored to be one of Doug's groomsmen. The wedding was on the 20th and I flew back to Seattle on the 21st, arriving at 10 PM.
The Bride and Groom looking good at the reception!
Sunday, May 22nd - Josh Smith had a few free days due to a cancelled Liberty Ridge trip, and the weather report for Monday and Tuesday seemed to be improving. We decided to bite the bullet and give Rainier another try. We got our stuff packed and drove to Ashford to again prep at the International Mountain Guides HQ.
Monday, May 23rd - The weather forecast was still good early in the morning so we called Sam Lozier and he began his trip from Bellingham to Ashford. Sam arrived in Ashford at around noon and we made our way to Mount Rainier National Park. We began our climb to Camp Muir at around 2:15 PM and we arrived at camp roughly 4 hours later. Given that I had spent the last week in Hawaii, on the ocean, I was fairly pleased with climbing 5000' vertical in about 4 hours. At the start of the climb it was snowing and the visibility was very low, but as we approached 8500' we got above the clouds. That evening we were privy to a spectacular sunset.
Prep in the snow/rain at Paradise parking lot.
Photo by Sam Lozier
Skinning in the mist.
Photo by Sam Lozier
Our line comes into view through the clouds.
Photo by Sam Lozier
A couple of slack-jawed gapers.
Photo by Sam Lozier
Spectacular sunset above the clouds.
Photo by Sam Lozier
Mount Adams looking beautiful.
Photo by Sam Lozier
Josh and Sam in our abode for the evening.
Tuesday, May 24th - In the morning we met Aaron Mainer at Camp Muir and he joined us for the day. Due to some issues with altitude we ended up getting a slightly later start than we had hoped. We left camp and began to climb the Gibraltar Ledges (referred to as Gib Ledges, and pronounced jib ledges) route at 8 AM. This climb is much more direct than many others and offers a good view of our intended ski descent - the Nisqually Ice Cliff. Gib Ledges may be more direct than the standard routes up Rainier, but it requires one to be much more comfortable crossing exposure on mixed rock, snow and ice surfaces.
Gib Ledges approach.
Photo by Sam Lozier
One of the mixed rock and snow zones.
Photo by Sam Lozier
The climbing was not difficult, but the consequences for falling were high.
Photo by Sam Lozier
When we reached the top of Gib Ledges the issues with altitude sickness had significantly increased. Although we very much wanted to push forward, it was not worth risking people's health to continue up much further. We roped up and climbed a fair amount above the Nisqually Cleaver to an elevation of ~13,400' (oh so close to the summit!). At 3 PM we switched from crampons to skis and began our descent.
Roping up and slowly making our way above the Nisqually Cleaver.
Photo by Sam Lozier
For the entire descent down the Nisqually Ice Cliff we were above fatal exposure (i.e. a fall means death). The cliffs below us ranged from roughly 300' to 1000'. Simply having this sort of exposure puts many people on edge, but as soon as I clicked into my skis I felt confident. At no point during the descent was I really nervous nor did I think I was going to fall. I believe this helped me ski cleanly and go where I needed to be. Skiing is very much a mental game.
Making our way from above the Nisqually Cleaver down to the line.
Photo by Sam Lozier
I consider myself a "big mountain skier." This means that I like to ski steep pitches where I can go fast and jump off of cliffs. Although I was able to link long stretches of nice turns on the Nisqually Ice Cliff, it was certainly more of a "ski mountaineering" descent than a "big mountain" descent. Our party was subject to numerous objective hazards like; crevasses, fatal cliff exposure, bergschrunds and rock fall. Managing all of this, on snow that was quite variable, makes for a much more technical descent. I'm thankful that Josh Smith and Aaron Mainer were with us as they are both IMG guides and have ample experience navigating this sort of terrain.
Ripping turns above some huge exposure.
Photo by Sam Lozier
Photo by Sam Lozier
Photo by Sam Lozier
The views were incredible and we felt privileged to see this area in a way very few others ever had.
Photo by Sam Lozier
Josh with exposure on the left and crevasses on the right.
Photo by Sam Lozier
Aaron staring down some exposure and crevasses.
Photo by Sam Lozier
It was great to make turns in such an interesting location!
Photo by Sam Lozier
Enjoying the views.
Photo by Sam Lozier
Oh look, a huge wall of rock and ice...
Photo by Sam Lozier
Almost down.
Photo by Sam Lozier
When we reached the bottom of the Ice Cliff we were all pretty excited about getting to ski such a rare line. Although there were still felt some lingering effects, those experiencing the altitude sickness began to feel much better. We skinned back up to Camp Muir and chatted for a while before skiing mellow corn back to the Paradise parking lot.
The group enjoying the bottom of the line.
Photo by Sam Lozier
The Muir snow field with our line in the background.
Photo by Sam Lozier
Beta:
Day 1
Day 2
The descent from the top of our line back to Camp Muir took roughly an hour. As a group of four we did not move particularly fast from safe zone to safe zone, plus we were setting up multiple photo opportunities. If the conditions allow you can certainly ski the line in a much shorter time than we did.
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Wow, it looks like you had amazingly good weather for that decent. I'm glad you were able to make it back there and ski a great line!
ReplyDeleteThat's a great shot with the camera on the tip of the ski.
ReplyDelete