Summerland skiing/kiting - June 1-2, 2002
Friday email discussions resulted in Greg and I heading up to Summerland for some skiing,
and hopefully a climb of Little Tahoma - oh, and to try out our kites in the unlikely event
that wind and terrain conspired for good conditions.
Summer's a comin'
We attempted to follow ski tracks through the mostly-snow-covered forest heading up to Summerland.
It didn't work out too well, and at a confusing section, we took out the GPS, and I was like
"damn, why are GPS's so inaccurate! These coordinates make no sense, we're off the map! Ah wait..
the datum is wrong " (adjust datum) "We're still off the map!". Ok, so it was right, and we were in
the wrong valley. Oops. We followed the tracks over a ridge, and descended back into
the valley of Frying Pan creek.
In the hot sunny weather, we reached a camp below Panhandle Gap in the mid-afternoon. There seemed
to be a light wind. Hmm... time to get out the kites. We walked out onto the snow and nervously, with
great anticipation, set up our kites.
Greg's first time
I got my lines sorted out first, and once a gust of wind came, I lifted the kite into the air.
Here we go... I began moving it around, and felt a gentle tug which pulled me forward - woohoo!
And for the next hour, that's about all it was. The wind was inconsistent and a little too light.
Greg and I were not getting our "adrenaline-soaking". Maybe good for the first time out, but it would
have been nice not to spend most of our time waiting for gusts of wind.
Up up and away...
Finally, I got hungry, packed up, and started heading back to camp. Around this time, Greg discovered
that the wind was stronger along the valley wall, and he started making (relatively)
quick progress on an uphill traverse. This traverse was taking him under a steep corniced slope,
replete with bergschrund and cliffs above. I snapped pictures of him and his long uphill traverse,
and I couldn't stop laughing at the ridiculousness of it all! We thought maybe
we would, with difficulty, putter around on some flat stuff, but this was seeming hardcore
for newbies!
Eventually, he could go no higher, and
he packed up and returned.
Greg trying to get some power, to minimize time spent in the danger zone.
Of course, I got jealous. With food and drink in my belly, I set off to duplicate Greg's run.
Soon I was following his track up the hillside. The wind here was stronger. My arms
grew tired. Then - rockfall! We had been joking about kiting through "objectively hazardous"
terrain, and now it was for real! I looked up at the volley of small rocks heading my way - would they
reach me? But I had to concentrate on the kite in order to keep moving. Luckily, most
of the rocks fell into the bergschrund, and the few remaining ones rolled to a stop a
hundred feet above me.
My path beneath the rockfall.
Then, more distractions... ice worms everywhere! Early evening feeding time I guess. I called to
Greg across the valley (trying a new route up the other side) to check it out, but I don't think
he heard me. The worms covered every square foot of snow I could see. I took some pictures when
my kite went down, but I didn't want to hang out too long here, because I was now under the
big cornice, so I quickly set off again, making my way through some fallen cornice blocks.
Ice worms everywhere! Click on the picture
for an action-packed ice worm movie shot on location on my hand. 232KB
Higher up, the wind became stronger and more erratic, and things got a little crazy... a gust
came up and pulled me off my feet, knocking me to the ground, and the kite started spinning
around out of control. Eventually, I was able to pull the brake lines and land it. I tried
to fly it a few more times, but the steeper slope and sketchy winds made me decide to end my run.
View of camp from my highpoint
We awoke at 5 the next morning, and cramponed up to Meany Crest. There was another party here with
the same goal as us, and they were just getting ready.
Ascending Meany Crest
The morning was cool and windy.
The further we went, the windier it got. Clouds were moving over the ridge above us. Not
quite living up to the weather forecast... hmm. We are weak and slow, and it shows on this morning.
We begin to lose motivation. It's mid-morning, and the snow surface on the Frying Pan Glacier
is still rock hard, due to the cold wind and cloud cover. An occasional whiteout stops and forces
us to think about where to go.
Eventually we end up a short distance below the Frying Pan/Whitman glacier notch,
mostly in a whiteout. We haven't seen Little Tahoma in the past half hour. Motivation
waning. The snow still sucks, and we're here mainly to ski, so the decision is made to not
bother going any further. The party of three behind us never catches up to us, so apparently they have
made the same decision.
Feel like bailing? Me too.
We ski down the gentle slope of frozen snow for a thousand feet or so, following deep ski
tracks from yesterday as a reference point. During a time of 50 foot visibility, Greg and I
lose touch of each other for a few minutes. I see some small nearby crevasses suddenly pop out
of the mist - I begin to worry a little more about Greg, and begin to exercise more caution
in descending. This glacier is fairly benign overall, but a crevasse is a crevasse - especially
in a whiteout! Time to be cautious.
Finally I see what I think is Greg's ski tracks, and decide to stop and wait
until the mist clears a little more before descending. Finally, I hear him whistle from below,
and his silhouette slowly materializes as the cloud dissipates a little. Whew!
We ski down to the edge of the glacier where the slope steepens as it drops to Summerland. Here,
we are below the cloud deck, and the snow is softer. The next 1600 vertical feet are pretty sweet
smooth soft snow, and the weather is better down here.
Coming off the Frying Pan (K's Spire off on the right)
Back at camp, it's barely noon, and Greg has the urge to get the kite out again. Okay then!
Greg wonders what to head for. I casually suggest the large basin to our southwest. I see his
eyes light up, and in no time, he's up and running, and glides up into the basin.
Meanwhile, I'm sorting out some nasty tangles with my bridle lines that happened when I lost control
yesterday. Finally, I get going, but the wind has died down! Grrr!
Click on the picture for a kiting movie warning, there is a soundtrack
Greg is up in the basin now,
and appears to be trying to climb steeper and steeper slopes! He's making steep traverses up through
old avalanche debris. Impressive, but I'm still stuck down here... soon though, I encounter stronger
gusty winds, and my speed increases. But like Greg higher up, the erratic winds are a little too
much for me to handle, and eventually I decide to stop.
We actually got a decent ski run out of this... but it's a little unnerving skiing down the runnelled
snow with no poles.
Primo ski terrain at Summerland
On the way out, we find the *real* trail down frying pan creek... much better.