Feb - Peak Climbing Section

February 2009
Peak Climbing Section, Loma Prieta Chapter, Sierra Club
Vol. 43 No. 2
World Wide Web Address: http://lomaprieta.sierraclub.org/pcs/ or http://peakclimbing.org/
General Meeting
Date:
February 10, 2009
Time:
7 – 9 pm – Note earlier time!
Where:
Sports Basement
1177 Kern Ave
Sunnyvale, CA
Program:
Mustagh Ata attempt (24751 ft)
Presenter: Arun Mahajan
history, conflict and intrigue, lying as it does just off
the Karakoram Highway and near the junctions of
China with Tajikistan, Kyrgyztan and Kazakhstan
and is also very close to the Silk Road city of
Kashgar where the Russians and the British
played the 'Great Game'.
PCS member, Arun Mahajan, lured by the wiles of
the hourie wandered into this region. He never
really summitted but thinks that he came away
with a great story. However, the hourie remained,
like what often happens to weary travelers of the
Taklamakan, a mirage in his altitude addled brain.
Come and find out for yourself if all this is really
true or a yarn worthy of Omar Khayyam, the
Tentmaker!
Good News – This is another Shopping Party at the Sports
Basement before our regular meeting. Not only is there free
beer and snacks, but also a 20% discount on anything in the
store. To participate just come and identify yourself as a
PCS member when you enter. To become a member just add
your name to our roster using our website at
http://peakclimbing.org.
Directions:
From 101: Exit south at Lawrence Expressway. Right on Kern
Ave. If coming north on Lawrence make a U turn at Oakmead
Pkwy, then go right on Kern Ave. Google map is at
http://tinyurl.com/9snt7g.
Translating to 'father of the ice mountains' in the
Uighur language, the native tongue of the original
inhabitants of the Xingjiang, Mustagh Ata is an
enormous peak, 43rd in the world, that sits in the
geological knot formed by the mountain ranges of
the Pamir, the Tien-shan, the Kun Lun and the
Krakoram-HinduKush-Himalaya groups. It is in an
extremely romantic region of the world, steeped in
Editor’s Notes
Help! We need a Scree Editor! It is actually fun to throw
together articles from various people and toss in a few tidbits
you have noticed here and there. You also become a member
of the PCS executive committee and get to have dinner
meetings several times during the year. If you would like to
Page 1 – Scree February 2009
edit this newsletter for the coming year, please contact
Louise at PCSchair@gmail.com or call her at 408-867-6658.
Chair Column
Scree Features
Trip Scheduling
•
Events - February Trip Planning Meeting
•
Chair Column – Scheduling Meeting
•
Trips - many thanks to leaders!
•
Trip reports - many thanks to authors!
Page Trip Report
5
6
Lone Pine Peak by Lisa Barboza
Backcountry Skiing by Mike Snadden
By Louise Wholey
The trip schedule is key! This is what we are all about –
trips! We have two planning meetings each year, one in
February to plan spring, summer, and fall, our main climbing
season. Then another one is held in the fall to plan the latter
part of fall, winter, and early spring. These meetings are not
symmetric; summer season is longer and stronger.
Your big chance to get an early start planning 2009 climbing
trips comes Monday, February 23 at 6:30 pm at Jeff Fisher’s
house, 15064 Charmeran Ave., San, Jose 95124. Home
phone 408-879-9892, Cell phone 650-207-9632.
Events
February Trip Planning Meeting
Monday February 23 at 6:30 pm
Jeff Fisher’s House
15064 Charmeran Ave., San, Jose
Home phone 408-879-9892
Cell phone 650-207-9632
Come one, come all! We will have a great time while we
put our collective heads together to come up with a suite of
trips for the coming climbing season.
Trip leaders please start thinking now about your trips for
this year and plan to attend the meeting! If you want to do
something but are not sure what, come and we will help you
decide!
Leaders-in-training should also attend and sign up to colead trips as the last requirement to become approved as a
leader.
Non-leaders, please come and help us choose trips that you
want to do, such as that peak you have wanted to climb for
years!
Pot luck dinner! Bring whatever you want to share. Please
bring your own plate, glass and utensils.
If you cannot make it to the meeting, please send your
thoughts to Jeff Fisher at jeff_fisher_5252@sbcglobal.net, or
call Jeff ahead of time at 650-207-9632.
Women on Top: Lessons for Life and
Business from the Mountains
An advantage to attending the meeting is getting to claim a
spot on that trip you have coveted for years. One easy way
to get on a trip is to co-lead it! We have numerous people
who have taken leadership training and need to finish the
requirements by co-leading. These people should definitely
join us.
We will publish the list as an Advanced Trip List in the
March issue of Scree. Not all of these trips happen as
originally anticipated; some happen at different times; some,
unfortunately, not at all.
Occasionally someone will
graciously rescue a trip when the leader is called
unexpectedly out of town.
Some people have concluded that the PCS wants only tough,
fast trips. Nothing could be further from the truth. We want
to get out into the mountains to enjoy them and to climb to
their tops for the best views of the magnificent Sierra
landscape, as well as the physical and mental challenge of the
ascent. We want leaders to lead more casual trips. We want
participants - that’s you! - to beg for such trips.
The SPS list-baggers are an intrepid group of dedicated
climbers who keep offering trips because they seek
companions. These trips are fast and demanding, and not for
everybody. This year I hope we will include in our trip
descriptions an over-all commitment rating, such as easy,
moderate, strenuous, or extreme (ie., a “Lisa” trip). We will
also try to include distance and elevation gain information to
help people decide if a trip is appropriate for them.
Happy Climbing!
Louise
Emilie Cortes speaks Thursday, Feb. 12, 6:30 - 8:30 PM
Charles Schwab Auditorium, San Francisco
http://www.theawm.com/
Page 2 – Scree February 2009
PCS Trip Calendar
Jan 31-Feb 1 – Backcountry Skiing near Ostrander Lake
Leader: George Van Gorden
Jan 31-Feb 1 – Snow Camping Course – field training
Leader: Chris MacIntosh
Feb 28-Mar 1 – Mt. Tom
Leader: Lisa Barboza
Mar 6-8 – Split Mtn.
Leader: Lisa Barboza
Mar 13-15 – Koip Peak Ski Mountaineering
Leader: Louise Wholey
Peak:
This course will enable you to climb peaks in winter
Date:
January 31-Feb 1
Leader: Chris MacIntosh (cmaci@sbcglobal.net, 650/325-7841)
Co-Lead: Steve Sergeant (steve.sergeant@lomaprieta.sierraclub.org,
408-937-8116)
Mar 22 – Roundtop Peak ski or snowshoe
Leader: Arun Mahajan
Mar 28-29 – Mt. Reba Ridges – Ski with Alpine Ski Patrol
Leader: Charles Schafer
Peak:
Lots to see at Washburn Point, no climbing this time
Date:
February 19 – 20, 2009, Thu – Fri
Leader: Louise Wholey (louisewholey@yahoo.com)
Co-Lead: Jim Wholey
Private Trips Summary
Important: Private trips are not insured, sponsored, or
supervised by the Sierra Club. They are listed here because
they may be of interest to PCS members. Private trips may be
submitted directly to the Scree editor. Details on these trips
follow the trip reports. In this issue.
March 22, 2009 - Roundtop Peak Ski or Snowshoe
January 2010 – Kilimanjaro
This is the final part of the snow camping training course described
earlier in the Scree.
Ski Tour to Glacier Point
Apr 11-12 – Mt. Shasta Casaval Ridge
Leader: Lisa Barboza
October 2009 – Nepal - Mera Peak 21,300 ft
Peak:
Whatever high point we can find near Ostrander Lake
Date:
January 31 – February 1
Leader: George Van Gorden (gvangorden@gmail.com)
Co-Lead: needed
Snow Camping Course – field training
Mar 14-16 – Mt. Shasta via Sergeants Ridge
Leader: Kelly Maas
May 2009 – Nepal/Tibet, Mt Kailsh - Lasa
Backcountry Skiing near Ostrander Lake
This will be an easy winter over-night - a good beginner trip. Sat.
we will meet at Badger Pass ski area at 8:30 on Sat. morning. We
will head out toward Ostrander Lake and go about five mile before
setting camp. After setting up camp we will explore the area and
look for good views. Sunday morning we will make an early start
which in winter probably won't be that early and go to Ostrander
Lake, climb to a high point and return to camp and cars before 4:00.
This trip can be done on snowshoes or skis. To our camping site
will be easy skiing and after that intermediate but without a heavy
pack.
Feb 19-20 – Glacier Point Ski Tour
Leader: Louise Wholey
February 6-8 – Bear Valley Telefest, MAS
PCS Trip Details
Ski 17 km to a European style hut at Glacier Point. Meals and
sleeping provided. Cost TBD. Call leader for further details.
Stay Friday night at Yosemite West to participate in the Yosemite
Nordic Holidays weekend events – 17 km classic race and Telemark
race on NASTAR course on Saturday, plus a 35 km skate race to
Glacier Point on Sunday. Lots of food and many raffle prizes
included. The classic race is the oldest in the west.
Mount Tom (14,042)
Peaks:
Dates:
Leader:
Co-lead:
Mount Tom (1)
Feb 28 - Mar 1 2009, Sat-Sun
Lisa Barboza (lisa.barboza@gd-ais.com)
Emilie Cortes (ecortes@axiomainc.com)
This is a snowshoe trip; crampons and ice axe required. Trip is
restricted to Sierra Club members. Expect winter conditions. Be
prepared for winter climbing at altitude and snow camping.
Extreme weather cancels. Must be in excellent physical condition
for climbing. Trip will be private if not approved in time by the
MOC.
Page 3 – Scree February 2009
Private Trip Details
Split Mountain (14,042)
Peaks:
Dates:
Leader:
Co-lead:
Split Mountain (14,042)
March 6-8 2009, Fri-Sun
Lisa Barboza (lisa.barboza@gd-ais.com)
Emilie Cortes (ecortes@axiomainc.com)
Climb Split Mountain from Owens Valley, Red Lake TH. This is a
snowshoe trip; crampons and ice axe required. Trip is restricted to
Sierra Club members. Expect winter conditions. Be prepared for
winter climbing at altitude and snow camping. Extreme weather
cancels. Must be in excellent physical condition for climbing. Trip
will be private if not approved in time by the MOC.
Koip Peak Ski Mountaineering
Peak:
Koip Peak from the east
Date:
March 13-15, Friday - Sunday
Leader: Louise Wholey (louisewholey@yahoo.com)
Co-Lead: Jim Wholey
Climb Koip Peak from the east and ski down it. Requires excellent
physical condition, advanced skiing skills, avalanche training, snow
camping, Randonee or Telemark skis, climbing skis, ski crampons,
avalanche beacon, shovel, and probe. This is a phenomenal ski
descent under good conditions – 5000 feet vertical. Of course, that
means a big fast climb is needed to get up as well as down the peak
in a day. The recently published guide to skiing the eastern Sierra
has great photos. Richins guide has a good description.
Note: Private trips are not insured, sponsored, or supervised
by the Sierra Club. They are listed here because they may be
of interest to PCS members. Private trips may be submitted
directly to the editor.
Roundtop Peak Ski or Snowshoe
Peaks: Roundtop Peak
Dates: March 22 2009, Sun
Contact: Arun Mahajan (650-327-8598, arun.mahajan@att.net)
Contact: George Van Gorden (gvangorden@gmail.com)
Day hike on snow, ice-axe, crampons, skis or snowshoes. Skis with
skins or snowshoes needed for the approach then ice-axe and
crampons for the summit area.
Meet at 8am at Carson Pass Sno-Park on Highway-88, ready to go.
To park there you will need a sno-park permit.
Call/email to sign up. Must have experience with ice-axe and
crampons.
Difficulty: Snow/winter conditions but otherwise intermediate level
skiing and you have to have some experience with axe/crampons
and be able to handle the altitude of over 10k ft, early in the season.
Mt Kailsh, Nepal/Tibet
Mt. Shasta via Sergeants Ridge
Peaks: Mt Kailsh – Lhasa
Dates: May 2009
Contact: Warren Storkman (650-493-8959, dstorkman@aol.com)
Peaks: Mt. Shasta (14, 179)
Dates: March 14-16 2009, Fri-Sun
Leader: Kelly Maas (kamaas444@sbcglobal.net)
Co-lead:
Camping 14 days, Hotel 7 days
This is serious winter mountaineering. Contact Kelly for details.
Mera Peak 21,300 ft, Nepal
Mt. Reba Ridges - Ski with Alpine Ski Patrol
Peaks: Mera Peak (21,300 ft), Nepal
Dates: October 2009
Contact: Warren Storkman (650-493-8959, dstorkman@aol.com)
Peaks: Mt. Reba Ridges
Dates: March 28-29 2009, Sat-Sun
Leader: Charles Schafer (c_g_schafer@yahoo.com)
Co-lead:
Join Charles for some fun skiing in the Bear Valley area. Overnight
in the Alpine Ski Patrol cabin.
Mt. Shasta via Casaval Ridge
Peaks:
Dates:
Leader:
Co-lead:
19 day trip to trek the tallest walkup peak
Rural experience. Approach from the South East
Kilimanjaro 19340 ft / 5895 m, Tanzania, Africa
Peaks: Kilimanjaro 19340 ft / 5895 m
Dates: January, 2010
Contact: Warren Storkman (650-493-8959, dstorkman@aol.com)
Trip will be similar to Warren’s previous trip to Kilimanjaro in
January 2002. A couple of detailed reports on Summit Post supply
myriad detail:
Mt. Shasta (14,179)
April 11-12 2009, Sat-Sun
Lisa Barboza (lisa.barboza@gd-ais.com)
Emilie Cortes (ecortes@axiomainc.com)
Two day climb Mount Shasta from the Bunny Flat TH via the
spectacular Casaval Ridge. Conditions permitting as there must be
sufficient snow on this route. This is a snowshoe trip; crampons and
ice axe proficiency required, no exceptions. Trip is restricted to
Sierra Club members. Expect winter conditions. Be prepared for
winter climbing at altitude and snow camping. Extreme weather
cancels. Must be in excellent physical condition for climbing with
recent experience at altitude and carrying heavy pack. This climb is
strenuous and not a beginner route. Trip will be private if not
approved by the MOC. Difficulty: Winter, crampons and ice axe.
http://www.summitpost.org/trip-report/168519/kilimanjaro-warrenstorkman-expedition-january-2002.html
http://www.summitpost.org/mountain/rock/150202/kilimanjaro.html
Page 4 – Scree February 2009
Trip Reports
The January Lone Pine, January 16-18
By Lisa Barboza
Abstract: January 16-18, 2009 Participants: Emilie Cortes
(co-lead), Julius Galwas, Peter Hawkins, and Enrique
Rodriguez
Trip Abstract:
Jan 16th TH to camp: 3.0 miles, 4010 feet 11am – 5pm
Jan 17th camp to summit 1.8 miles, 2300 feet 630 am-noon
summit – 230 camp
Jan 18th – hike out 900 am – 1230 pm
Equipment used: Ice axe, crampons, helmets, winter
conditions – melt water
Our noble band wanted a winter climb to prepare for higher
peaks around the world, and to test ourselves in winter high
altitude conditions. So we left the Bay Area on a warm
January Thursday afternoon, got to Lone Pine in 6.5 hours
via Tehachapi Pass, and found ourselves jointly at the Lone
Pine campground, and the Best Western Hotel in Lone Pine.
Waking in the morning, I have to say that the impressive east
face of Lone Pine looked like a very interesting climb, and
we could actually see the route on the face. Actually, I was a
bit intimidated but remembered that peaks always look
steeper from far away. But it’s a steep climb, no matter
what!
use trail on the west side of the creek. We found that staying
close to the creek bed was best, but the use trail can be
followed. Eventually, we crossed the creek to the east side
and started climbing toward waypoint CLIF2C. This is a
CL2 route that avoids some of the CL2 and CL3 climbing
that Steve and Daryn mentioned in their excellent trip report.
We had absolutely zero desire to climb CL2 and CL3 with
snow on the ledges and full packs, and the camp spot that
Steve noted (CLIFFB) didn’t have enough snow to dig a tent
platform. Most of the climbing is on sand, and in a few
places we got up on the slabs to avoid the dreaded onestep/two-step sand crunch. In the chute between CLF2C and
LPCAM7, the snow was 4-5 feet deep, soft, and difficult
going. So we stayed to the right, somewhat on rocks and
snow, and at 5pm found a good basecamp. We kept climbing
until we reached 10,600 where we found snow deep enough
to dig. We dug snow platforms (although Julius and Peter
comically managed to sleep with their tent at a 10 degree
angle), melted water, watched the afterglow, moon rise, and a
long line of cars going north from LA to Mammoth for the
MLK day skiing. Emilie enjoyed sleeping outside in a nook
under a granite boulder without a bivi. It got down below
freezing at night, to about 15F, but warmed up to 35F during
the day. We were all in bed early. Note that we essentially
climbed to the same altitude as Steve noted in his report; our
campsite was 500 feet north of his waypoint CLIFFT.
Day 2: High Camp to Summit
Up at 5am melting water, eating Oatmeal, getting ready. We
started out from camp and immediately started breaking trail.
What looked like a steep couloir from 10 miles away turned
out to be a 25 degree snow-filled 2nd class chute, which was
our route above our camp. Steve Eckert previously wrote up
a great trip report, and we modified his route a bit, but
followed his directions:
http://www.climber.org/TripReports/2006/1473.html
Following Steve Eckert’s excellent directions to the OLIVAS
Ranch Trailhead, Julius had a 4WD and we saved about 1.3
miles and 700 feet of walking. Two-wheel drive cars can
easily get to a small unmarked parking area (LPCAR1), and
we left one car there, piled our packs into the 4WD and
Julius carefully navigated up to the actual TH. Yes, it’s
really a 4WD road and a high clearance vehicle wouldn’t
have negotiated some of the snowier portions of the road and
some true off-road type rock outcrops.
Day 1: TH to high camp (LPCAM7)
We started at 11am, late for us, in sunny, warm weather in
the 40s. We followed the drainage up to P8KSAD, which is
the saddle to the north of the very obvious large knob that is
closest to the Trailhead parking area. You can go over this
saddle in 3 spots; the P8KSAD is the northernmost spot to go
over. But don’t get to close to the south side of the saddle.
You will see a myriad of use trails all over the place. Our
conditions were part snow, part sand, Pinyon pine and
sagebrush desert. Once you drop over the saddle, there is a
The snow was deep, not well consolidated, and we rotated
between all of us to keep the trail open. We gained about
700 feet through the snow, although we were tempted to get
on some of the rocks. Our route was just on the south side of
the ridge that separates our small, unnamed drainage, from
the larger drainage on the NE side of the peak. The larger
drainage on the NE side can be seen from Lone Pine town
and goes all the way to the summit plateau, but we didn’t
have any beta on it and didn’t go that way. We stayed at the
trail breaking, taking very few breaks until we reached the
summit plateau (LPLATU). We didn’t take snowshoes,
betting that the summit plateau would be wind-scoured and
Page 5 – Scree February 2009
that the snow would be scant. We were rewarded: We
walked mostly on sand on the plateau, surprised 8 Bighorn
Sheep ewes, which bounded away on a crag, keeping their
distance while we respectfully hiked on a path away from
them.
We had a liesurely breakfast and started hiking at 830, at the
TH by 1230PM. This time, we went right down the center of
the snow chute that we climbed on rocks on the right on the
way up. Enrique broke trail, and we had a really fun time
going downhill through the deep snow. It’s a lot easier to
break trail when you’re going downhill. Then we stayed
mostly on sand and found a descent use-trail on the east side
of the creek that brought to an easy place to cross the creek.
From there, we stayed on the west side of the creek close to
the center, and found a spot near PK8SAD to cross over into
the Trailhead drainage. Once on the sand, it was an easy
jaunt to the 4WD.
In town, we dined on well-deserved Venison and Buffalo
burgers at the Mt. Whitney restaurant, and Julius, Peter, and
Enrique even had ice cream sundaes. All in all, a great
winter trip with great participants!
WAYPOINTS: TOPO! GPS Data Format Deg NAD83
ElevFeet Local-Time
But it was beautiful. We could see the North side of
Corcoran, LeConte, Shark’s tooth, Mallory, Irvine peaks, and
the broad summit of Mt.Langley. After a scramble up some
CL2 very typical High Sierra sand-rock-ledge stuff, we were
on a higher summit plateau and we saw the summit before
us. The whole time, we didn’t want to displease the
mountain gods and decided to never say that we were
actually going to make the peak. But at 1145 AM, after 5
hours of climbing, we made it. The view of Whitney was
fantastic – we could see Russell, all of the Whitney region
peaks and we had brilliant, sunny weather. We didn’t find a
register, although it could have been buried in the snow. But
the view was just grand. We tarried for about 30 minutes and
headed
down.
From our Trip:
LONEPI,36.56184,-118.22571,12895,01/19/2009,16:53:30,
030,36.56092,-118.20748,10848,01/19/2009,16:53:30,17JAN-09 7:55:19AM
LPCAM7,36.56204,-118.20565,10606,01/18/2009,07:22:52,
CLIF2C,36.56208,-118.20251,10016,01/19/2009,17:03:43,
From Steve Eckert’s Excellent trip report:
CLIFFB,36.56090,118.20297,NA,01/19/2009,16:53:30,CHUTE AT BOTTOM
OF CLIFF BAND
CLIFFT,36.55992,118.20546,NA,01/19/2009,16:53:30,PLATEAU AT TOP OF
CLIFF BAND
P8KSAD,36.55715,-118.19288,NA,01/19/2009,16:53:30,PT
8080 SADDLE
PT8080,36.55607,-118.19118,NA,01/19/2009,16:53:30,GO
NORTH OF PT 8080
Backcountry Skiing, Jan 17-18 2009
By Mike Snadden
No sign of the Bighorn. Retracing our steps, we headed back
to camp, arrived at 2:30 pm and spent the remaining 2 hours
of daylight drying out cloths and socks in the weak winter
sun before the cold night crept up on us. Most said that our
2nd night out was colder than the first, and indeed my water
bottles froze in our tent.
Day 3: Hike out
I have posted some photos from the weekend. I hardly took
any pictures on Saturday climbing Houghton as the group
was moving so fast, but I took quite a few on Sunday on the
climb of Silver Peak. The snow was better on Sunday, we
were able to make turns!
http://picasaweb.google.com/snaddens/BackcountrySkiingNe
arSilverPeakJan09
Page 6 – Scree February 2009
Scree is the monthly journal of the Peak Climbing Section
of the Sierra Club, Loma Prieta Chapter.
Our official website is http://peakclimbing.org
Elected Officials
Chair:
Louise Wholey/ PCSchair@gmail.com
21020 Canyon View Road, Saratoga, CA 95070
408-867-6658
Vice Chair and Trip Scheduler:
Jeff Fisher / jeff_fisher_5252@sbcglobal.net
650-207-9632
Treasurer and Membership Roster (address changes):
Jesper Schou / schou@sun.stanford.edu
415-606-5760
Publicity Committee Positions
Scree Editor:
Open/ screeeditor@gmail.com
PCS World Wide Web Publisher:
Joe Baker/ pcs@joebaker.us
1524 Hudson St, Redwood City, CA 94061
650-261-1488
Email List Info
If you are on the official email list (lomap-pcsannounce@lists.sierraclub.org) or the email list the PCS
feeds (pcs-issues@climber.org), you have a free EScree
subscription. For email list details, send "info lomap-pcsannounce" to "listserv@lists.sierraclub.org", or send
anything to "info@climber.org". EScree subscribers should
send a subscription form to the Treasurer to become voting
PCS members at no charge. The Scree is on the web as both
plain text and fully formatted Adobe Acrobat/PDF.
Climbing Classifications
The following trip classifications are to assist you in
choosing trips for which you are qualified. No simple rating
system can anticipate all possible conditions.
Class 1: Walking on a trail.
Class 2: Walking cross-country, using hands for balance.
Class 3: Requires use of hands for climbing, rope may be
used.
Class 4: Requires rope belays.
Class 5: Technical rock climbing.
Deadline for submissions to the next Scree is Monday, February 23th. Meetings are the second Tuesday of each month.
Peak Climbing Section, 789 Daffodil Way, San Jose CA 95117
"Vy can't ve chust climb?" - John Salathe
First Class Mail - Dated Material
Page 7 – Scree February 2009