6/20/08, Mt. Rainier, FF, from 12k
6/20/08
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
7089
6
Left paradise at around 3:30am, There was a big lenticular when I left, and it continued throughout my ascent and descent of FF.
No rockfall except for a car-wheel size boulder spinning down "like a saw blade", fortunately, I was watching this from the side when it came down.
Met some cool guys from Utah; Ben Ditto, Dave, and Megan, in the Finger area.
Had to wait for 2 hours around 11k for things to soften. Went up to the ~12k lent line, then skiied down near perfect corn to 8.5k without stopping.
Mank down from there.
Crevasse bridges are strong on the upper Wilson.
No rockfall except for a car-wheel size boulder spinning down "like a saw blade", fortunately, I was watching this from the side when it came down.
Met some cool guys from Utah; Ben Ditto, Dave, and Megan, in the Finger area.
Had to wait for 2 hours around 11k for things to soften. Went up to the ~12k lent line, then skiied down near perfect corn to 8.5k without stopping.
Mank down from there.
Crevasse bridges are strong on the upper Wilson.
got a "loaner" ;) camcorder from wal-mart, made a pretty mediocre video of my nonstop 12-8.5ish K descent of the finger, kind of cool sound effects though, no editing, it gets kind of boring, when i start traversing towrds the end.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3utitv3Bd0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3utitv3Bd0
Nifty! Thanks!
Hello Dan,
I watched your movie about the Furher's Finger this morning before work. Thank you for the nice start to my day of remodeling a condo with a Maui ocean view. I went to another site to get some photos of where you actually were on the Mtn. Forgive me, I am not familiar with all the routes on Rainier.
Kelly Yakley, from Mt. Hood and I skied off the Rainier summit back in '79 or '80 It was somewhere on the North side. Not a steep decent, just fun. I do remember a particular snow-bridge collapsing after our crossing on the way down. And this was very early in the day, as we had made a super early climb from a high ridge camp on snow. somewhere below, early the day before, we sat on a log to rest and watch some Mtn. Sheep and I kicked up a nice indian arrowhead. Marmots were barking in the rockpiles, seems like yesterday. As we were skiing down, we began to see lines of climbers coming up with no skis. That just never made any sense to me. Adios Amigos. Anyway, in your movie I saw the self arrest devices on your ski-poles. Could you please explain how these are improvised? They surely must be a step better than the Axe de glace attached to one pole with white fabric first aid tape. Dale Crockatt probably has some historic images of this fine technique we used to use.
Aloha
I watched your movie about the Furher's Finger this morning before work. Thank you for the nice start to my day of remodeling a condo with a Maui ocean view. I went to another site to get some photos of where you actually were on the Mtn. Forgive me, I am not familiar with all the routes on Rainier.
Kelly Yakley, from Mt. Hood and I skied off the Rainier summit back in '79 or '80 It was somewhere on the North side. Not a steep decent, just fun. I do remember a particular snow-bridge collapsing after our crossing on the way down. And this was very early in the day, as we had made a super early climb from a high ridge camp on snow. somewhere below, early the day before, we sat on a log to rest and watch some Mtn. Sheep and I kicked up a nice indian arrowhead. Marmots were barking in the rockpiles, seems like yesterday. As we were skiing down, we began to see lines of climbers coming up with no skis. That just never made any sense to me. Adios Amigos. Anyway, in your movie I saw the self arrest devices on your ski-poles. Could you please explain how these are improvised? They surely must be a step better than the Axe de glace attached to one pole with white fabric first aid tape. Dale Crockatt probably has some historic images of this fine technique we used to use.
Aloha
St. Alphonzo,
No need to improvise.
http://www.bdel.com/gear/fl_whippet.php
I'm sure these things can be improvised, but with safety equipment I'll let someone else do the construction.
No need to improvise.
http://www.bdel.com/gear/fl_whippet.php
I'm sure these things can be improvised, but with safety equipment I'll let someone else do the construction.
I did actually improvise these a little, I took out the removable arrest piece, cut off a couple inches of the steel, drilled a couple holes, then bolted it back onto the handle, a little lighter than the original. I also put carbon fiber lower pieces on.
THAT WORE ME OUT!
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