It was beautiful but cold - Sam (first-timer, 25) and I (57) got permit from LP Station a little after 8 a.m. (lot of cancellations that day) - 1/2 inch to 1 inch snow at UBSL, turned into 6 to 10 inches snow by Iceberg Lake(about 3 to 4pm), turned into 3 to 4 feet of snow in the chute up to the niche - a group of 4 ahead of us (Andrew and 3 others from San Diego) made and compacted steps that made the chute so much easier for us that that we only occassionally post-holed the 3 to 4 feet - Thank you guys! They waited for us at the niche. I think it was Andrew that asked my opinion and I said the blocks on the left are real easy - of course the 8 to 10 times I've done the MR there was never any snow on them - they were not easy - they were very difficult - the 4 from San diego were still very nice to me even after my bad advice. We couldn't get up to begin the the final 400'; so 2 helped push the 1st person up, then each successive person helped the next along with their being pushed, and then we used my jacket to pull the last person up. About half of us ended up going to the left and half to the right - Lots of difficulty at first - I ended up on far left, finally climbing some blocks that faced the sun and were clear of snow (a bit of exposure on my left) but great hand-holds and a lot of fun. Arrived at summit about 10 minutes before sunset - left flashlights in two stuff sacks near iceberg lake (DUH! DUH! DUH! - I so know better!), so Sam and I hurried down the chute, semi-glissading where we could (scratched up rears from some exposed rocks and gravel sections) - it was dark by the time we got down to Iceberg - looked for 30 minutes and gave up. I only slid off one little ledge before we got down the incline to the flat leading to girl scout lake (unnamed on maps I believe) - I was sitting on a grassy ledge testing the slanted slab in front of me with my heel for a dry spot or crack when ... Oops! probably slid 5' then flew through the air and dropped maybe 8 or so downward feet onto another slanted slick granite slab that gently led to an easy stop - took total impact on left side of rear-end which is 3/4 black and bloody today - wife says it's a very ugly left cheek - new nick name is "half-butt" - immediatley had huge painful 3" x 1" x1" lump there - was thankful it was not worse! Met Ziggy and friend in a tent a little before girl scout lake (they were to do East Face on Sunday) who loaned us flashlight - we returned it to top of left rear-tire in overflow parking lot - thank you so much guys - we were down by 3 a.m. instead 8 a.m. - The 4 from San Diego stayed on the summit for a while and passed us a little before the Ebersbacher Ledges. There were still icy patches in the shade past LBSL on the south side of the creek that you needed to be careful on. A great trip! If anyone runs across a goldenrod dry bag and bright orange stuff sack near Iceberg Lake, I'll pay your postage and send you $20.00 for returning them to me - had extra gloves, thyroid med, flashlights, snacks, and more, in them - plus they are my favorite stuff sacks. thank you!
Tony B.
