RAM
08-11-2010, 03:08 PM
Ziff left and Aaron, Jenny and I headed up to Mt Sahale. It must have been cold,
for we needed our crampons the whole way. The corniced ridge was intense. We
stalled for hours, hoping the snow would soften. It did a little bit, but the
lost time threatened our 2nd objective of the day...Sharkfin Tower.
When we got to main gully on Sharkfin, we found a melted out nightmare. We had
heard rumor of a rock route nearby and after some delicate moat dancing, Aaron
led the mid to low 5th class pitch in boots. The hour was late and the snow
above was steep and hard. Time slipped away on dangerous terrain as we felt the
balance shift toward the side of high risk.
We gave ourselves a certain deadline to get to the notch, as we made cautious
choices. Then the upper snow field was soft enough for good step kicking and the
fabulous upper mountain was blitzed, in good form.
The descent went carefully and soon we were down to and running down the glacier
and into camp at 8 PM. The next AM, the clouds were back. Our entry and exit
days were stormy, but the 3 days of climbing in between were stellar. Aaron and
I tried to find the north ridge on Cutthroat and settled for the north ridge on
Molar Tooth the next day, as we prepared for the next 5 day overnight...this
time into the North Pickets. More pictures to come
http://picasaweb.google.com/aramv14/SahaleSharkfinJuly2010#
for we needed our crampons the whole way. The corniced ridge was intense. We
stalled for hours, hoping the snow would soften. It did a little bit, but the
lost time threatened our 2nd objective of the day...Sharkfin Tower.
When we got to main gully on Sharkfin, we found a melted out nightmare. We had
heard rumor of a rock route nearby and after some delicate moat dancing, Aaron
led the mid to low 5th class pitch in boots. The hour was late and the snow
above was steep and hard. Time slipped away on dangerous terrain as we felt the
balance shift toward the side of high risk.
We gave ourselves a certain deadline to get to the notch, as we made cautious
choices. Then the upper snow field was soft enough for good step kicking and the
fabulous upper mountain was blitzed, in good form.
The descent went carefully and soon we were down to and running down the glacier
and into camp at 8 PM. The next AM, the clouds were back. Our entry and exit
days were stormy, but the 3 days of climbing in between were stellar. Aaron and
I tried to find the north ridge on Cutthroat and settled for the north ridge on
Molar Tooth the next day, as we prepared for the next 5 day overnight...this
time into the North Pickets. More pictures to come
http://picasaweb.google.com/aramv14/SahaleSharkfinJuly2010#