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Nick heads S to |
View up the steep gulley on NE side of than it would be on our return. |
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The ridge was blown bare of snow above 11300’ |
Winds were fierce – the worst I’ve Experienced. |
Coming down, we stopped at this copse of bristlecones. Mummy is in back, with the mummy head at L. |
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View back up from rest stop. |
Nick relaxes at 11200’. |
Panorama ~N and NW. |
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Nick descends with just trekking poles. This gully rang my alarm bells; the snow was hard and steep. In the tree shadows, it was icy. I was about to get out my ice axe, when my L crampon rotated off the bottom of my boot and I lost purchase… more at page bottom. |
Looking up as Nick lowers himself down the last cliffs of |
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Nick and Ron walk out. |
The night before this trip, I adjusted my crampons to fit my new boots, which were oddly shaped in the heels. I had to increase the crampon length to fit the new boots; I walked in the boots with the crampons on. But about 2 hours into the trip, it was obvious that the rubber spur on the boots had worn off*, and now the crampons were too loose, and could not be tightened. I re-strapped my crampons 5 times during ascent, and really did the best I could before entering the top of the gully for descent. When the crampon turned and I fell, I tried to self-arrest by jamming in the trekking pole; this partly worked, but the pole eventually collapsed (the flick-lock didn’t hold). That remaining section of trekking pole eventually stopped me; I jammed it in hard, and eventually I was able to steer myself into a more benign area and stop. Before that I had dug in my hands to slow and steer, so hard that a finger was ripped off my glove. I had steered myself to small bristlecones and grabbed the branches, only to have them break apart. From GPS records, I dropped 400’ vertical before I finally stopped, at an average linear speed of 12.2 mph. (Obtained by differentiating the elevation-time curve, then applying the sine correction from the x-z profile – i.e. NOT from GPS instantaneous speed.) This speed is really slow compared to downhill skiing; but it’s tough when you are prone. I kept my speed under control by applying friction any way that I could. Except for the point where I almost self-arrested the 1st time, my speed was remarkably stable. Lesson: check your equipment again and again, and have a preliminary outdoor run, BEFORE doing anything epic. And if alarm bells go off in your head, listen to them. I could have skirted the gully and avoided this too-exciting adventure. When the alarm bells start to ring, get to a safe place and get out the ice axe. *I was later unable to reproduce the crampon collapse on a 3-hour winter ascent of Mummy… so to this day, I don’t really know the cause. |
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