2016-05-14 - Glacier Travel Crevasse Rescue Nisqually
Getting ready to go out, Day 1
Our team (Kevin, James, Ely, Rich, Barrett, and Gwen) after tieing in to ropes for practice. Unicorn, Castle, and Pinnacle peaks of the tatoosh in the backgound.
Two skis in the snow with an axe between them. The weight's on the axe. The skins are there for an even simpler anchor - no axe needed, just girth hitch around the skins.
Safety X and pull. SUPER strong.
Rich working at the top of one of the rescue systems. Super cool instructors Gwen in the background and Barrett in the front.
We were blessed to find better weather as we climbed. We left the parking lot in a mist, found a wet winty mix of rain and snow past Alta Vista, and then found light clouds and occasional sun on the glacier. Reflective heat is no joke - it felt like we were in an easy bake oven! My (black) gloves were hot to the touch after a few minutes sitting out!
When we reached the crevasse the instructors began setting up the anchor systems as our safeties. Here they are starting by looking for the edge of the crevasse.
Another of our instructors - another super knowledgable dude.
Patrick providing the belay for his team. James getting ready here.
The crevasse definitely goes a long ways back under the snow on top. Also, look at how much snow we got this year!
Prime example of getting all the stuff off
Putting on the loops for a foot prusik
I was able to kick in the wall and use that to get up a foot or two ... that made this process significantly less awkward than it is when free-hanging.
All my stuff dangling behind me
Skis off, poles off, pack off, and all left at the bottom of the rope. At this point I've also un-clipped from the rope so that I can haul myself up without dragging all my stuff.
