It was a great and sunny morning! We woke up late to a high sun. Hot water was ready before I was even out of the tent but I really slept good and my lower back is responding to this great sleeping bag therapy! By noon, we were ready to go after our breakfast of coffee and granola with hot water and dried milk. We learned how to load our sleds: webbing is run and tied at waste level around your pack, an overhand knot is tied at the end, and the webbing is clipped onto a carabiner that is also clipped to perlon cord that runs to the sled; the rear of the sled is also tied to the rope that connects to the climber behind you using a prusik knot so that in the event of a crevasse fall, the sled remains above you. All gear has to be secured! The climb took us 450 feet down Heartbreak Hill starting at noon. It was like walking on the surface of Pluto, with pristine white and blue terrain everywhere you looked. It took us 6.5 hours of slog to get to the base of Ski Hill with hourly breaks. I drank 2 liters of water and will need more tomorrow. The previous group had put up a latrine on a snow bridge over a crevasse but Mike found it while probing. Dinner was quesadillas--yum! The radiant heat of the sun can bake you but as soon as the sun ducks under the ridge, frigid temperatures return fast! Mike s showed us the various routes: West Rib, West Buttress (our route), Cassin, Valley of Death, Orient Express, etc. All of them are visible from here.Total Time: 6 hrs, 30 min.
Total Gain: 853 ft.
Total Loss: 509 ft.
No comments:
Post a Comment