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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