Thursday, March 13, 2014

March 12, 2014, Mt. Rainier, Gib Ledges & Chute

  On Tuesday, 3/11/14, Tom Meiner and I left Seattle bound for Camp Muir and, with conditions permitting, a climb of Gibraltar Ledges and a ski descent via Gib Chute the following day. With the numerous storm cycles over the previous month we were unsure exactly what conditions we would find. With the recent wetter storm system having finished a few days previously we hoped to find more stable conditions and good coverage on the upper mountain. At around 11:00 am we stopped at Longmire to pick up our yearly climbing permits. There were a number of other cars in the day parking lot, but only a few in the overnight lot, with one guiding companies van. We departed Paradise around 11:45.
 The skin up was great with a slight breeze and only a few clouds in the sky. Snow conditions were a few inches of sun warmed snow and made for great touring. From the parking lot the Gib Ledges route looked to be well filled in.


On our way to Camp Muir The Gib Ledges route (roughly) is drawn in blue and the Gib Chute ski descent in green. Mt. Rainier is displaying its power as a chunk of the Nisqually breaks off and causes a slide.

 When at Camp Muir Tom and I talked with a guy from Montana named JD. He had just applied with RMI to work this summer and had came up to check out the conditions of the Gib Ledges route and possibly then return to climb them this coming weekend. JD had climbed Rainier before, but like myself was also looking to make his first winter ski descent. After some talking we all agreed he could climb with us the following day. First hand beta for his climb the coming weekend would be best!
 There were two other people in the public shelter at Muir that night, as well as a group staying in the guide hut. The guided group was not going up Wednesday and the other 2 gentlemen planned on climbing the Ingraham Direct route.


That night at Muir we were treated to a great sunset!

 We awoke a bit after 3:00 am, Wednesday morning, and after making breakfast and melting more water we left the shelter around 4:20. The initial climb up the Cowlitz was through mainly boot top snow down low and changed to wind buffed with a 1” crust in places closer the start of the route. We began the route directly below Gib Rock. The initial section was easy and about the width of a side walk.  The snow was firm in most places and made for good cramponing. The second ledge was steeper and we traversed front-pointing across some of this section. We then moved around a rock corner that led to the final ledge and eventually the exit chute. This last ledge had some sections of granular snow, but travel was still not bad. We stayed directly below, and next to, Gib rock the entire way. We all found the Ledges to be a really enjoyable climb. They provided some great exposure, while every move was still right there.  Plus they are certainly a great place to watch the sun rise!



JD coming across the first section of the final ledge as the sun rises.

 The exit chute was firm and the descent down Gib Chute looked to be in excellent shape. After the chute the rest of the way to the top of Gibraltar Rock at 12,700ft was about 6” of boot top snow. For reference we climbed on the climber’s right side of the chute most of the way.
 At the saddle winds were blowing around 25 mph and we dug a small hole to take a break in at around 7:45am. Looking up at where our route was meeting with the Ingraham Glacier there were a few crevasses that would be easy to navigate around. After initially traversing climbers left between 2 crevasses we then continued more or less directly towards the crater rim. We entered the crater at 11:00 am after crossing a small section of wind blown snow with rock and then following a small patch of snow to the rim. It was a crystal clear sunny day with relatively calm conditions and such a treat for a winter summit of Mt. Rainier! Wind in the crater was around 20 mph, but Columbia Crest was blowing harder, I would say around 30 mph.



JD on the summit

 It was a very unique day on Rainier in that we did not have to share it with one other person or group! We did not encounter the team climbing the ID until about 13,000ft on our decent at around 12:15 pm.
 We stopped back at the hole we had dug that morning at about 12:20 pm and took a break while discussing the descent of Gib Chute (and the part we all had looked most forward to) that was to come. The previous day we had decided the latest we would want to be skiing the chute was 1:00 pm. One reason we had decided this was because of what we had witnessed the previous day, with a chuck of the Nisqually breaking off, and the reality of the large ice cliff also overhanging Gib Chute.  None of us wanted to be caught in that! Also, we could see lots of evidence lower down near the Nisqually Chute of soft sun caused point release avalanches that must have released later the previous afternoon.  Thankfully, we were right on time for this 1:00 pm deadline (our back up would have been to ski the ID, which is actually much more “direct” this year, as we were told by the other 2 climbers).
 Tom skied it first and communicated via radio that everything was good to go. It was sun warmed pow and rippable. He cautioned that he did have some sun sluff to deal with, that there was a very small bergschrund at the bottom and that we should ski it fast as conditions were warming rapidly. I then skied it next and wished that my legs were not tired from the climb and that I could have shredded it even harder!


Tom and JD after skiing Gib Chute.


 We then went back to Muir, packed up from the night before and had an enjoyable ski back down to Paradise. It was one of the of the best days I have had in the mountains. Excellent climbing conditions, great team work and solidarity, good skiing and by far the best part was that it was only the 3 of us on such an amazing mountain enjoying the day.

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