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Date |
Ascent Time |
Descent Time |
| 1st Time |
30 Apr 00 |
2:06 |
1:07 |
30 Apr 00 - Henry and I went up the Wind Pass Trail and cut left (west) as the book suggests.
But when it came time to start uphill, Henry and I continued west onto the next ridge. In hindsight,
we could have gone either way. Once we got out of the trees, the wind really picked up. We continued
up the slope battling gail force winds the entire way. Once we got to the steep drop off at the top,
we continue left (staying away from cornices), and through a couple of rock bands. None were too difficult.
We made it to the summit, and we both signed the register. We were the first scramblers this mountain had
seen in the new millenium. The red arrow shows our descent. It was a very long gully which resulted in
a massive glissade, approximately 1500-2000 ft in elevation loss. I loss feeling in both cheeks!!
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30 Apr 00 - Here we see the summit. The picture is actually taken from the western side of the
cairn, after we signed the register and tried to get out of the wind.
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30 Apr 00 - From the summit, you have a unique view of three sisters. It also shows the upper
ascent route for middle sister, which doesn't appear to be in season yet.
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30 Apr 00 - While I was signing the summit register, Henry went looking for shelter from the wind.
He dropped down on the western side, then around the summit block to the north. He found shelter
about 10-15 feet below the summit. Once out of the wind, it was a really nice day. The color
contrast isn't that good in the picture, but I believe Henry is eating his sardines and crackers.
Yuck!!!
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30 Apr 00 - Finally, the highlight of the trip. This is just the beginning of a glissade
which went on for nearly 35 minutes. Conditions were just perfect. Your butt only sank about two
inches into the snow, and the axe was catching very well. The glissade was so long, that I tried
practicing my steering while glissading. At one point, I accidently turned myself around and was
going head first. Whoops. That wasn't a good thing, but it gave me a chance to practice a head
first self arrest. At another point, I was trying to steer around a small pine tree, which I seemed
to be headed for. Unfortunately, I haven't quite got the steering part down. I ran over the eight
inch pine tree top and got the worse end of that deal. I really need to figure out how to steer a
glissade.
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