Tom, Rachel, Mike and myself made a strong effort towards Mt. Alice in the Palisades region yesterday, but with temps nearing 60degrees on the snow, and variable snow conditions throughout, it made for a tough climb.
Notes:
1) At the moment you can drive all the way to the Big Pine Creek Trailhead. We opted to start the day in showshoes, as the crust wasn't really supporting any our weight.
2) The snow was a bit crusty in the early morning, and parts would stay that way for most of the day. But underneath about 2" the snow was still quite powdery. I started with snowshoes, then switched to crampons and either way I was doing my usually outstanding job of punching through. Even Mike was having a few issues...
3) We topped out around 10,400ft, just below what was perhaps a false summit (there was a bit of debate here), but we were losing the sun, and the snow hardened up incredibly fast. For the most part, though, the conditions were pretty good for my first glissade ever! Woohoo! It took me a while to get past the scaredy-moose (whimper factor up to about 7/10 in some spots), but I felt better when Tom admitted there were a few dicey sections. Rachel did a wonderful job of teaching me the basics, as well as self-arrest, and there were plenty of opportunities to try it out. An imperative skill, that, and I'm glad to have finally gotten a chance to try it. Now it's just practice, practice, practice!
All in all a fantastic day, capped off with a dinner pah-tee back at the Moose Lodge! Although they are somewhat washed out by the sun, I managed to get some good shots of Middle Pal and the glacier, in case anyone's heading up that way! I can't wait to get back to Alice and finish the job.
Rest of the
pics are here. -L
