September 15-16, 2012, Sholes Glacier (+ bear)
9/15/12
4181
9
Atomic and I wanted to get some turns and also some camping in, so we headed out from Artist Point Saturday late afternoon. We couldnt have asked for more beautiful weather, and there was something especially lovely about hiking out late in the afternoon as the air cooled down and twilight approached. Past the first ridge on the summer trail, we ran into two guys coming in from a day on the Sholes, who greeted us with a friendly Dont you know that its September?
For those not looking to travel too far for September turns, coverage on Ptarmigan Ridge and Coleman Pinnacle is still totally sufficient to make at least a few turns. Evidence:
NW Face of Ptarmigan Ridge
SE Face
We left a little later than we might have desired, but it led to some beautiful views.
Sometimes it pays to lag behind.
We made camp in the fading light at (or at least near) Camp Kiser. Besides one set of campers we met earlier on the trail, and a second set we were told were farther along the trail, there was no one else around. With the new moon that night, he stars and the Milky Way were, unsurprisingly, stunning including two shooting stars.
The next morning, we moved in a leisurely fashion to give the snow enough time to soften up. Good thing we did too, because it meant that we saw a bear! We were camped just on the SE side of where the trail passes through camp. As we milled around, a hiker was coming through on the trail, and gestured to us that there was a bear just on the NW side of the ridge! By the time I got around the rocks with my camera, it was bounding away, and quickly disappeared.
Bear!
Soon after, we headed to do some skiing on the Sholes. We had some¦ good learning experiences that day. And a good reminder for myself that, no matter how safety conscious I think I am, I too can fall into the trap of focusing too much on trying to get to what looks like really good snow.
Looking out onto the glacier
We initially headed out across the snowfields in the foreground/left half of the photo above. We encountered a few crevasses near the crest of the hill of those snowfields, but had no trouble travelling around them. We traversed to the area just left of this photo and got a few turns, but I was itching to try and get onto the lower part of the glacier, which looked like it could be quite nice. Despite the large fields of crevasses opening up (see above), it looked like there was plenty of room to navigate around them on the lower slopes, and the sun had been strong on them since the morning.
We slowly headed northwest towards what looked like a potential way down to the lower portion, only to be turned around by a pretty good set of crevasses. We headed back northeast, looking to see if there were any other ways to travel down¦ and committed the cardinal sin of our crevasse management plan, of skiing things that we had not climbed despite the fact that we had previously discussed not doing exactly that! We traversed across some areas that could have been pretty high consequence had we fallen, and while we quickly got out of those areas, it was a good reminder that when I tell myself to only ski what I have climbed, I cant forget about it even when I am focused on trying to get to good snow. We had some good discussions about safety and travel techniques after the fact, so it was at least a good learning experience.
Things were much more low-key after that. We had a bit of a time constraint given the hike back to the car and a long drive home for one of us, so we contented ourselves with some nice turns below camp.
About to make some great turns.
Had a nice hike out. A beautiful weekend out in nature.
I will never get tired of these mountains.
For those not looking to travel too far for September turns, coverage on Ptarmigan Ridge and Coleman Pinnacle is still totally sufficient to make at least a few turns. Evidence:
NW Face of Ptarmigan Ridge
SE Face
We left a little later than we might have desired, but it led to some beautiful views.
Sometimes it pays to lag behind.
We made camp in the fading light at (or at least near) Camp Kiser. Besides one set of campers we met earlier on the trail, and a second set we were told were farther along the trail, there was no one else around. With the new moon that night, he stars and the Milky Way were, unsurprisingly, stunning including two shooting stars.
The next morning, we moved in a leisurely fashion to give the snow enough time to soften up. Good thing we did too, because it meant that we saw a bear! We were camped just on the SE side of where the trail passes through camp. As we milled around, a hiker was coming through on the trail, and gestured to us that there was a bear just on the NW side of the ridge! By the time I got around the rocks with my camera, it was bounding away, and quickly disappeared.
Bear!
Soon after, we headed to do some skiing on the Sholes. We had some¦ good learning experiences that day. And a good reminder for myself that, no matter how safety conscious I think I am, I too can fall into the trap of focusing too much on trying to get to what looks like really good snow.
Looking out onto the glacier
We initially headed out across the snowfields in the foreground/left half of the photo above. We encountered a few crevasses near the crest of the hill of those snowfields, but had no trouble travelling around them. We traversed to the area just left of this photo and got a few turns, but I was itching to try and get onto the lower part of the glacier, which looked like it could be quite nice. Despite the large fields of crevasses opening up (see above), it looked like there was plenty of room to navigate around them on the lower slopes, and the sun had been strong on them since the morning.
We slowly headed northwest towards what looked like a potential way down to the lower portion, only to be turned around by a pretty good set of crevasses. We headed back northeast, looking to see if there were any other ways to travel down¦ and committed the cardinal sin of our crevasse management plan, of skiing things that we had not climbed despite the fact that we had previously discussed not doing exactly that! We traversed across some areas that could have been pretty high consequence had we fallen, and while we quickly got out of those areas, it was a good reminder that when I tell myself to only ski what I have climbed, I cant forget about it even when I am focused on trying to get to good snow. We had some good discussions about safety and travel techniques after the fact, so it was at least a good learning experience.
Things were much more low-key after that. We had a bit of a time constraint given the hike back to the car and a long drive home for one of us, so we contented ourselves with some nice turns below camp.
About to make some great turns.
Had a nice hike out. A beautiful weekend out in nature.
I will never get tired of these mountains.
Great report. Good looking snow and cool bear pic! There has been a TR drought and this one is refreshing.
We ran into that exact same navigation snafu on our trip there at the end of August. It's very inviting to just head out from Camp Kiser and cut over to the saddle between the Sholes and Rainbow Glaciers by staying at the level of Camp Kiser. This time of year, that gets you cut off by crevasses. The best thing to do now is just drop onto the lower Sholes from Camp Kiser and then climb back up to that saddle.
You are exactly right; it looked like that was the only way to get onto the lower part of the glacier. I only wish we had realized that earlier! Next time.
We actually did one of the pitches down from the "first" portal to the lower Sholes a couple of weeks ago, but it was dicier than we had expected, steep over a crevasse. To get to the saddle between the two Portals and to the Rainbow, Iluka's way is definitely better.
Bob,One of Fabulous Baker Boys, took this of me and inreturn I took this of him.
author=knitvt link=topic=25647.msg108391#msg108391 date=1347947034]...no matter how safety conscious I think I am, I too can fall into the trap of focusing too much on trying to get to what looks like really good snow.
Amen. The longest and scariest two falls I've witnessed took place on hard snow in mellow terrain in ~November. I can still hear the scream of the second. Late/early season snow has its own different (and quieter) set of important hazards.
If it feels wrong, don't do it; powder's coming.
A few years back, on what sounds like pretty much the same spot, I too got to the point where the roll over began to make me think about pitch, the snow got crusty-scratchy, and I decided to stop and side-step back the way I came...
Deb & I were also in attendance last Sunday. We saw you playing on the Sholes while we had lunch on the knob W of CP (also saw the usual goats off to the N of CP, but no bear). A few weeks ago we had sampled the N slopes of CP and this time were back for the S. Although somewhat more constrained from a choose-where-to-go perspective, there is still a continuous ~800 vf to be had if you start as high as possible, keep left and go until the snow tongue stops. Not as asthetic as cruising the Sholes, but there you have it. We did it twice and rambled on home down the ridge, hitting patches as appropriate on the way out. Beautiful day.
It is significant to notice that we saw some of our first blueberries of the season out there - meager though they were. Everywhere else this summer the bushes have been pretty much barren. Tough pickin's this season for Mr Bear.
-Dave
Deb & I were also in attendance last Sunday. We saw you playing on the Sholes while we had lunch on the knob W of CP (also saw the usual goats off to the N of CP, but no bear). A few weeks ago we had sampled the N slopes of CP and this time were back for the S. Although somewhat more constrained from a choose-where-to-go perspective, there is still a continuous ~800 vf to be had if you start as high as possible, keep left and go until the snow tongue stops. Not as asthetic as cruising the Sholes, but there you have it. We did it twice and rambled on home down the ridge, hitting patches as appropriate on the way out. Beautiful day.
It is significant to notice that we saw some of our first blueberries of the season out there - meager though they were. Everywhere else this summer the bushes have been pretty much barren. Tough pickin's this season for Mr Bear.
-Dave
Its nice to know that I'm not the only one who was taken off guard coming down the portals. That steep slope before the crevasses was rather icy when I was there about two weeks ago. Lesson learned.
author=Dave_R link=topic=25647.msg108437#msg108437 date=1348103842]
Deb & I were also in attendance last Sunday. We saw you playing on the Sholes while we had lunch on the knob W of CP (also saw the usual goats off to the N of CP, but no bear). A few weeks ago we had sampled the N slopes of CP and this time were back for the S. Although somewhat more constrained from a choose-where-to-go perspective, there is still a continuous ~800 vf to be had if you start as high as possible, keep left and go until the snow tongue stops. Not as asthetic as cruising the Sholes, but there you have it. We did it twice and rambled on home down the ridge, hitting patches as appropriate on the way out. Beautiful day.
That sounds like a lovely day. Despite the increased melting on the S face, it is nice to see that some good turns can still be gotten in there.
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