Home > Trip Reports > Jul 3-5, Mt Rainier, Edmunds Headwall Mowich Face

Jul 3-5, Mt Rainier, Edmunds Headwall Mowich Face

7/15/09
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
7355
10
Posted by ryanl on 7/6/09 6:57pm



When Dan and I left his truck Thursday morning, I really didn€™t know what I had in store for me. I€™d never been to Mowich Lake before, nor had I ever seen the Mowich Face up close. All I knew was that Sky and Eric were planning to bivy somewhere beneath the Mowich Face Thursday evening (they€™d gone in the day before), and that we were all hoping to hook up and get after something together on Friday. The combination of uncertainties felt refreshing and kept things interesting as Dan and I began the 5 mile road slog early Thursday morning.

The hike-turned-skin was uneventful and before I knew it we were west of Observation rock looking down from Ptarmigon ridge for signs of Eric and Sky. Not much luck, although we did see where they left the ridge for the descent down to the North Mowich Glacier. Once on the glacier, Dan and I chose a conservative crossing due to the afternoon heat and made a bee line for Needle Rock, which we passed on our left on our way to the Edmunds Glacier.  We managed to find Sky and Eric lounging about at a beautiful bivy site at roughly 8000€™,  eleven and a half hours after we left Dan€™s truck.



The rest of the afternoon/evening was peaceful: sun, food, rest, and humor all kept our attention off Mother Mowich. We decided we€™d try the Edmunds Headwall. It looked to be in the best condition, with the only question mark being an ice chute just above where Sunset Ridge tops out. I was surprised at how calm I felt.  It was probably due to the fact that I was sitting with three of the baddest ass and skilled mofos I€™ve ever come across. Whatever the reason, I zipped myself into my bag around 9:30 for a 4:30 am wakeup and fell asleep almost immediately.

We were moving by 6 the next morning. The light pack felt nice.



We crusied the 2000€™ to the bergschrund on hard snow, then began without pause to climb the face. Conditions were fantastic, and we all were excited. Hard snow/ice that we knew would soften in the late afternoon sun. Around 12K conditions hardened. And steepened.


photo:sky sjue


At the ridge where the Sunset joins the Mowich we regrouped, melted snow, and talked strategy. We decided not to rope up for the ice chute, although we chose to carry our (2) 30m ropes in case we wanted to rappel the descent. The chute was fun climbing on solid ice with steep snow steps.



Above the chute we had (about a mile?) slog to Liberty Cap, which everybody but me practically ran. I, on the other hand, began to tire and arrived at the Cap well on my way to a full beat down.



We skied off the summit around 1:30 and regrouped above the ice chute. Sky went first and promptly  advised us to downclimb as he continued to sidestep to the crux. We followed his suggestion and each began down at our own pace. This took it€™s toll on me. I was already feeling fatigued, and down climbing wasn€™t helping. I began to fight a slight nausea. By the time I got to the ridge at 12.5k I was exhausted and asked Eric to melt some water with my stove while I laid down and tried to regroup for what lay ahead.



When we decided to go, Sky went first again. He made a few tentative turns, poking with his pole everything within reach. About 30 feet into it he said it felt too icy to turn and began to sidestep. Dan, Eric and I discussed whether we should wait a bit for it to soften up. Eric dropped in and followed Sky€™s approach: a few turns, then side step. Dan and I decided to wait a half hour (until 5 pm) with the hope that the sun would do her magic while Sky and Eric continued down to a safe zone.

At 5, Dan and I dropped in. I linked 4 or 5 turns but became tentative as I neared the Line-of-Death demarcated by Sky. I began to sidestep. About half way down the steepest, iciest section I began to get super tired and super nauseous. I began to worry that in my tired state I€™d make a mistake. I paused to gather myself. Dan was still working his way down over to my left, while Eric and Sky waited beneath the bergschrund. I had a moment of clarity and realized I was sidestepping because that€™s what everyone else was doing. I decided to transition to crampons and tools. I pulled my pack and performed the necessary acrobatics associated with getting skis onto a pack and crampons onto feet on a 50 degree slope. I focused on what I needed to do and ignored my stomach. The effort made my nausea worse but I felt safer once I transitioned into climber mode. Once I reached the bergschrund I performed the transition shenanigans again before gliding down to meet the boys.

After that everything was gravy. Sweet snow on steep and exposed terrain. At one point I asked Eric what he thought and he managed to use the word €sublime€ in a way that seemed surprisingly appropriate.





Back at camp I persuaded Sky and Eric to wait until Saturday to deproach. I was spent and didn€™t want to search for the reserves necessary for crossing Ptarmingon ridge. (Dan wanted to ski the lower section of the Central Mowich on Saturday, which he did)  So we spent the rest of the evening relaxing and gazing at what we had managed to do.

In the few days since I€™ve felt a heightened sense of calmness. It never ceases to amaze me how powerfully a mountain experience can affect one€™s life. Ptor Spricenieks once wrote: €œEngaging exposure symbolizes the commitment to one€™s process€¦.If we bring ourselves to a situation demanding the utmost at the right moment, it illuminates what we really have, what we really are€  Maybe not words to live by, but definitely words to think about€¦.


Great work Ryan. I wish i could've been there with you guys...sort of. Thanks for the story. Sounds like an amazing trip.

Congrats on a most amazing journey!!!!!!!

Nice work gentlemen!!  Quite the route to knock off, congratulations to you all!
You are pretty bad ass yourself Ryan, well done.  8)

Sweet TR, Ryan. Burly line. :).

Ryan, Dan, Eric, Sky - super effort - stay safe on them thar steeps.

The first-stringers do it again.  Amazing line that I hope to plumb one of these days.  Dan, way to get the two-fer.




Thanks for the TR Ryan and awesome work all of you !!

Good pics ryan. Your shots and words give a cool perspective to the decision making process that always goes down. Way to stick with your instinct.

Congrads guys
to say it is epic is a understatement

great write-up, Ryan; esp. like the closing paragraph and Spricenieks quote, resonated with me.

i was impressed that you and Dan were able to slay, with precious little recovery time, after that long approach.  Given your understandable fatigue, i commend your "moment of clarity" and decision to calmly switch to a little more downclimbing, despite probably not wanting to.

Years ago I had these two tag lines together as a signature:
"Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go." - TS Eliot
"You'd be right, but you'd be DEAD right." - My high school driver's ed teacher

Treading the line -- without crossing -- takes a clear head.  It's a different game when knackered; I'm thankful I had the opportunity to rest a while.  Anyway, well done, and thanks for a ripper trip.
A couple more ski shots from our excursion, from here: http://picasaweb.google.com/ewehrly/2009_07_02EdmundsHeadwallMtRainier?feat=directlink





Reply to this TR

6649
jul-3-5-mt-rainier-edmunds-headwall-mowich-face
ryanl
2009-07-07 01:57:37