Fuhrer Finger, Wapowety Cleaver; 1/17-1/19
1/15/09
18340
28
alpymarr and i headed up to ski the fuhrer finger in the glorious, corny, sunshine of a beautiful june-uary weekend. first night we bivied between some seracs in the lower wilson glacier icefall in a relatively windfree location. cramponed up the finger to the top of the fuhrer finger-nisqually cleaver behind amar and david. though we didn't summit, we got nice tracks down the finger in sunny corn all the way back to our home-sweet-serac. props to amar and david for summiting and skiing the finger! we waved at you guys from our happy hour location, but we weren't sure if you saw us... i have some pics of you guys skiing the apron below the finger...
next day: skinned up the base of the turtle snow field in hard snow conditions (thank you splitboard crampons!) and waited for the corn... the lower we skiied the better. it stayed hard higher up today - not as warm as it had been the previous days, i suspect. saw a party headed up the van trump area... hope to see a post from them... skiied down the west flank of the wilson down the fan onto the nisqually. nice corny turns in that area. booted up to the zoo and skiied some extremely awful ice/mank/snowshoe tracks... garbage. now for pictures...
http://picasaweb.google.com/Graham.Parrington/FuhrerFingerEtc?feat=directlink
next day: skinned up the base of the turtle snow field in hard snow conditions (thank you splitboard crampons!) and waited for the corn... the lower we skiied the better. it stayed hard higher up today - not as warm as it had been the previous days, i suspect. saw a party headed up the van trump area... hope to see a post from them... skiied down the west flank of the wilson down the fan onto the nisqually. nice corny turns in that area. booted up to the zoo and skiied some extremely awful ice/mank/snowshoe tracks... garbage. now for pictures...
http://picasaweb.google.com/Graham.Parrington/FuhrerFingerEtc?feat=directlink
The best way to describe that run is.... 8)
Are those 16oz cervezas on the Fuhrer? You guys bivy in style!
very observant! si, those are empty 16 and 12 oz. cervezas! Old Chub scottish ale in a can (8%) and bitburger lagers. i call it combination weight training/liquid carb-loading. nothing like a cold, refreshing, carbonated beverage while enjoying a sunset amidst an icefall! 8)
[/nothing like a cold, refreshing, carbonated beverage while enjoying a sunset amidst an icefall!]
Most people don't take 16ers on winter ascents of Rainier, but then most don't climb it in the winter.
Did you followed the usual summer procedure of hiding 'em in your partners pack? ;)
Old chub or dales in a can is a good call...nice!
Did you followed the usual summer procedure of hiding 'em in your partners pack? ;)
That made me laugh as I threw a 12'er of Coors Light in a buddy's pack (unbeknownst to him) one summer when we did a long weekend in Yosemite.
he hid two in my mine, so i hid two in his. a beer for a beer makes the whole world doubled.
Sick tr. Nice bivy. That BD shovel is a wonder, eh? I love it. Way to knock out a sick line early and take advantage of the great conditions!
I wish we had brought some Gordons mystery ale, also an OB brew. IMO its the best weight/effect ratio available for backcountry happy hours, although its like $4 each. That and about 6in of fresh would have made the run unbeatable. Stoked to hike up that mother again sometime...all the way. Oh well, the corn was a callin'.
you think like us, stugie! we were worried that amar and dave (we knew they had to be TAY-ers...) were going to ski the finger first (not that it matters much in corn...), but they were going all the way to the summit. tho' the wind-packed powder on the upper nisqually looked pretty nice as well...you know, i'm not sure if i like the BD deploy or the transfer better... alpymarr's got the transfer and the extra length is crucial when you're digging out a bivy hole after skinning/booting for hours...
Nice work guys...
I ditched the Deploy because it's so short -- I figured in serious winter snow-camp building, or digging someone out of a burial, the extra length would be more efficient. Couldn't find the Transfer, so I got a Life-Link. The BD shovel design is pretty slick though.
I ditched the Deploy because it's so short -- I figured in serious winter snow-camp building, or digging someone out of a burial, the extra length would be more efficient. Couldn't find the Transfer, so I got a Life-Link. The BD shovel design is pretty slick though.
thanks marcus! if only they would design the deploy with another handle length inside to give it that crucial extra 8 inches or so... after losing a shovel handle during a powder day at crystal, i was adamant about buying a shovel that stayed in one piece! now i'm ambivalent...
I actually like the shorter shovel, and the only thing I can think might have influenced it is our short little scoop shovel I had back in the midwest. Had to shovel two to four driveways everytime it snowed.
I love the fact that the bivy photo has become so humorous and the origin of gear discussion. We put the photo in the mix as a joke...."haha look at Graham 10 mins after waking up with that sh*teating grin drinking instant brick joe" Even before we hiked up the cooly. It was almost more fun camping than skiing....almost.
;D true enough. it must be god's plan to put so much snow in such a flat area. maybe THAT's why i'm agnostic... ;)
Well, as gear discussions go, we must also cover the brewskies in all fairness. Anyone got a favorite that needs to come with on a trip? I'm a Guiness fan, on tap or the can, so that's my go, but we got Old Chub and I know a few people that like to summit with a can of Rainier...
Just curious, does Bitburger come in a can? Nice call on the Old Chub! And sweet turns you guys, awesome trip!
Hands down, Young's Double Chocolate Stout. It's a great breakfast beer.
Yep. Bitburger is available in the canned form, by I much prefer Pilsner Urquell if I'm going for the lighter styles. Indeed, Youngs is tasty, but I look for a little more bang fro my buck if I'm gonna be muling it uphill for a while. There seems to be a wider variety of good beers in cans now like Fat Tire (although I'm not a fan). Perhaps one of the best backpack beers available is from Calderra brewing in Ashland. If you have a local beer shop, they should have it or at least be able to get it. Their IPA is phenom. All of the Osar Blues beers are superior, at least for our purposes. Enjoy the suds in the upcoming pow....hopefully.
also a fan of drinking rainier tall cans at rainier...! they have rainier malt liquor in 16oz. cans at liquor stores, which is another option... ;) probably my all-around favorites are oscar blues dale's pale ale, old chub scottish, and caldera ipa. dales is rated the best pale ale in the country by the NY times, and is a deliciously dry and hoppy beer, and at 6% is strong, but splitting a sixpack with someone (or not) won't cancel your next day's plans; the chub on the other hand, at 8% is delicously malty and one will give even a homebrewer like myself a nice buzz! caldera ipa is one of my favorite ipa's hands down, and it packs a punch. as an equal opportunity beer drinker, i won't turn down a malt beverage under normal circumstances, but if i'm packing it in (and out), i want it to be as special as my surroundings, and guinness, and most lighter beers just don't fit that profile. to that end, i've taken four bottles of pyramid snowcap on overnight ski tours in the crystal southback. how i fit that into a 32L pack is a mystery. ???
author=Splitboard Graham link=topic=11981.msg50295#msg50295 date=1232783677]
i've taken four bottles of pyramid snowcap on overnight ski tours
Amen, I need to ski with you guys.
Does anyone ever pour their beer into a more travel-proof container before the trip? One of my most disappointing trip memories (another sport, admitted) is hearing the hissing sound and then watching about 11 ounces of precious liquid soak out into the pack, about a thousand feet and 10 rope drops underground. Salvaged one swallow.
Well done!
Looks like a good one!
Looks like a good one!
thanks mtraslin! :) be sure to check out amar andalkar's tr if y'all haven't already...
i've poured booze and wine into tougher containers, and i've done that with beer for concerts and other events, but not in the backcountry... maybe i should tho', since i have had the same thing happen on a ski trip to the basin on the west side of elinor and washington in the olympics, i had a 24oz can of Tecate that burst in my bag. i didn't get any enjoyment out of it, unfortunately! :'(whatever you do, my advice is to not ever carry a 24oz can in your backpack, because the distance between the ends of the can make it very, very week. the pressure change when gaining altitude further puts the 24oz can at risk, and the slightest external pressure and - BAM! the safest can for the backcountry is the heineken keg can, hands down. plus, the beer tastes ok.
i've poured booze and wine into tougher containers, and i've done that with beer for concerts and other events, but not in the backcountry... maybe i should tho', since i have had the same thing happen on a ski trip to the basin on the west side of elinor and washington in the olympics, i had a 24oz can of Tecate that burst in my bag. i didn't get any enjoyment out of it, unfortunately! :'(whatever you do, my advice is to not ever carry a 24oz can in your backpack, because the distance between the ends of the can make it very, very week. the pressure change when gaining altitude further puts the 24oz can at risk, and the slightest external pressure and - BAM! the safest can for the backcountry is the heineken keg can, hands down. plus, the beer tastes ok.
Travertine, you a caver? :)
I usually use a flask. Or a nalgene. Took a girl out to the olympics to hike up the Elwah a ways...brought wine in a couple of Nalgenes. She dug it and we both got drunk without having to suck any kind of dampened pack...
I usually use a flask. Or a nalgene. Took a girl out to the olympics to hike up the Elwah a ways...brought wine in a couple of Nalgenes. She dug it and we both got drunk without having to suck any kind of dampened pack...
author=Stugie link=topic=11981.msg50331#msg50331 date=1232920762]
Travertine, you a caver? :)
Totally a caver. Not so many good caves around here, so I fly to former home turf in KY a couple of times a year for the best caving in the world. Many of the same skills apply, such as packing beverages in containers that are not going to fail in mid trip.
Nice! It's good for teaching rope work - parallels with jugging/crevasse rescue too. That's awesome! I just watched the Planet Earth series "Caves" the other night...made me want to go drop some vert in a different way! ;)
"caves" is ridiculously rad.
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