Lost: Skis on Torrey's Peak/Ski Recovery Mission

[George James]

Who's giving him a hard time? This is a freakin love-in compared to other stuff I've read. Good thing he didn't write on a rock before he dropped in...

Mister Waffles can take it. All these people are SO nice in their comments anyways, they say things like "Don't take this personally," "I'm not trying to be a jerk," and "consider the ribbing a rite of passage." They could be way more harsh, wayyy more. Besides, when you make a comment like "The route up torreys is avalanche free and I can guarantee that there will be no danger of any kind for the belayer" you're due to catch some heat.

I'm glad everything turned out okay and you weren't hurt, Waffles. Good luck getting your gear back someday, lookin forward to that trip report.

[Mrwaffles989]

Thank you Bryan. That was very helpful. I never thought I should turn around if my partner does. What a brillian f****** concept! Wanna ski north maroon this weekend so we can be RAD!!!?

[ajkagy]

don't mind the armchair climbers on this forum who will spout off caic quotes like they were memorized, but have not one ounce of backcountry experience. These are the same people who have taken an avalanche "awareness" class and go snowshoeing a few times a year...RELAX people. You caught a tough break, bad stuff happens sometimes, you got out ok though...lesson learned. Hope you get your gear back...++good vibes++

[Brian Kimball]

Hey Waffles I take that you are RAD comment back and replace it with 'you are a jerk'. I was not being sarcastic in the least bit...I really thought that was pretty RAD! I would love to ski that thing I winter myself but I just dont have enough experience or balls to try.

I have the same problem with no partners and partners bailing all the time. Just like you did I usally go ski crazy stuff anyways. Usally in avalanche terrain with no training, no partner and no becon. So I was simply saying that I can relate to being there and doing something that you know should not be doing since that is obviously what happed.

I would offer to go help you out and would love to be up on Torreys again but I would hate to have to go spend the day skiing with a jerk like you! GEEZ...

[Jack]

Hey Phil,
Definitely glad you are ok. I can't imagine what it would be like to see a slope like that slide right from your feet. I ended up climbing just Atlantic with one of my friends. Unfortunately we got turned around by a really sketchy looking N-NW facing snow slope at about 13,450'. I could see little slabs on the undulating surface that had started sliding naturally and couldn't get myself to feel comfortable even climbing the crest of the ridge above that. I wish I had more snow education, but for now I'll just follow my gut in situations like that. (I feel like with more of an education, I could have recognized a safe way across, but oh well.) Lower down before ascending the ridge, I did one of those tests where you dig out an isolated square of snow and pat the top of it to try and induce failure. I hit the top a bunch of times and then stood and hopped on top without any movement or sign of instability. Unfortunately the slope that we got stuck on was a completely different aspect than any others that we had previously crossed and I decided that we had to turn around. Looking at the photos, it doesn't look so bad, but pictures can be deceiving I guess. Pretty demoralizing only 400' from the top, but like you I completely enjoyed the climb that I had already completed and was glad to return home alive. Hope you can eventually recover some of your stuff.
Since you weren't able to join us, here is a shot from the climb. The slope that we were not able to cross is just above me to the right (you can only see about half of it in this picture).

2198_140446598841546850_6418_n.jpg

We'll have to climb some other time man. As long as you live through them, experiences like this can only make you stronger.
Jack

[Gahugafuga]

Excellent stuff Gahugafuga. How did you ascertain it is a hard slab? If you go by Mrwaffles hardness at F-F4. According to the CAIC write up it involved the "new and drifted snow".

I'm just making an educated guess that it was a hard slab. Relative to the size of the slopes that close to the summit, 300' sounds quite large to me, meaning that the slab was quite cohesive. Hard slabs are stiff enough to disperse energy over a tremendous surface area, giving the appearance that they are quite strong. But they are also brittle and will propagate massive fractures for long distances. It seems like that happened here. And of course, there is a gray area between hard and soft slabs which this might fit. The fact that the slab involved new and drifted snow is irrelevant since screaming winds can create hard slabs very rapidly.

To make things more complicated, the nuclear winds on the summit might be far more relaxed a thousand feet downslope creating a continuum from bulletproof hard slab at the ridge to paper-thin soft slab down low. Here you get into a situation where a pit dug at the top says "go" where a pit dug mid-slope would say "stop." It sounds like that kind of variability existed here, but within a very compressed distance. It's just lucky that the trigger point wasn't halfway down the face where the consequences would've been fatal. The variability issue is enough to drive you nuts but I solved it by moving to Utah. Deeper snow, warmer temps and less wind equals better stability.

[ThinAir]

This thread had huge potential from the first post, and it has not disappointed. Bickering, defensiveness,and a few references to LSD. And, a comparison between skiing Dead Dog and soloing Moonlight Buttress! Popcorn worthy for sure.

Phil, I'm glad your not dead.

[McClelland]

Are you (original poster) kidding me!? Asking for help?

Anyone who puts them self in a position for that to occur...You need to re-assess your judgment and skill level...decision making skill level. CT15 Q2? That means moderately weak snow strength and a clean shear. At the top of a big line...wow? Brilliant!

"Sorry about all the wankers on this site, but consider the ribbing a rite of passage"...Rite of Passage? To what? The only rite to passage is to the ski shop to purchase new equipment. You are lucky to be in the position to purchase new equipment instead of your friends or family purchasing a casket.

I was up there the day before. Between the new snow, available snow, wind speeds and loading patterns, what were you thinking even considering skiing a 3000'+ line in February, in a continental snowpack with the previous weather history? Let alone solo? Are you the type who steps on the gas with a bus load of children when the light turns yellow?

What really blows my mind are all the folks willing to go back up there because the OP will carry "all the gear"? Seriously, consider thinking again before you commit to the task. The OP needs to take some classes in decision making before he ventures into the bc and potentially harming him self again or endangering SAR again. Did you realize that Alpine Rescue members are volunteers? And that many of them have families, kids, etc.? And they were paged because of multiple poor choices? Wow. I'm sorry, but I am just blown away.

Once the snow melts and there is little avalanche danger, please go back up there and pick up your trash. As of now it's litter.

Believe me, I am glad you made out okay, I really am, but Good luck.

[Brian Kimball]

Im sayin this thread is SICK....I told you this waffles dude is RAD.

The funny thing is if your Alex Honnold skiing Dead Dog right now is WAY MORE SUICIDAL then free soloing Moonlight. You cant control avalanches but you can walk 12d 800' of the deck with no rope if your name is Honnbold the Great.

SERIOUSLY NO ONE WANTS TO PIPE IN ABOUT HOW MANY TIMES THIS LINE GETS SKIED IN WINTER??? Thats it I am goin for it no doubt, no becon, sans avy training and add shovel for a booter at the top. I will get your skis for ya buddie.

Should he not have climbed the chute first? (thats what my "expert buddies" try to tell me) but then he REALLY could have gotten smoked.

Im getting some popcorn...

[ajkagy]

i smell some trolls on this forum...14ers is usually full of jongs.

post on TGR you might get better results, heh

[susanjoypaul]

Nah, we’re just trying to figure out if this is the same Brian from Alpinist, and Rock and Ice… or an imposter. Serious – or sarcastic. Either way – great posts. Better than most. I give him 5 stars. And a beacon.

[Brian Kimball]

I was in RnI like once and had a few shots published in Alpinist but thats it really...do you really think someone would imposter me? Thanks for the beacon award Miss Susan-I could really use it for this Dead Dog ski retrival mission. No wait what am I talking about, I don't know how to use one of those silly little things...I really should figure that out one of these days.

Just go get the skis man, I mean whats the big deal. If they are at the top of the coolie then tie into the middle of one rope with that ultra boomer double loop bunny ears figure eight knot then tie both tails to two seperate anchors far and deep on the Emperors side (burry your lines to dipurse the load if it makes you feel better) and drop in. Even if it slides again the force is not going to break two ropes...I mean really? I guess it might break your neck but certianly not the ropes.

You really dont want to be the belayer on something like this. It would be simalar to being Charlie Potters belayer on the first ascent of The Shield...all of those bags and the belayer tied into that one RP/rusty pin anchor. I mean if dude zippers you could both go all the way and now your tied together (I don't know if thats good or bad). I know it would be good for me since I don't have one of them yellow beepy boxes.

Seriously how does Davenport get away with climbing up stuff like this with some rad chick then ripping down the rig on a powder day in the middle of February. This guy must be God really...