snow?

[Cy Kaicener]

I just found out that the two people i was hiking with - Norma and Dave had to bivouac in the snow at the 7200 foot level (approx) and went down the next day. They did not want to call search and rescue because nobody was hurt and they could find their way back. The same thing happened to a Danish professor from Loma Linda (Tobin) who went up on Wednesday and hiked back on Thursday. Norma and Dave met him going up again on Saturday when they were going down.
The outdoorsclub went up to the tram today. There is no trip report yet.

[KathyW]

Thanks for the update Cy - I'm glad they're safe.

[Cy Kaicener]

When I phoned Norma she told me that they had climbed up to an area where there was class 4 above them. Apparently the guy who made the tracks also got lost. She said that she should have downloaded the way points from Travis's website http://www,gpsmountaineering.com
I am so glad they are safe. I took the tram up and didnt see any fresh tracks. I descended a little and yelled out. - It was quiet.

[guest]

Hi Cy,

I've been up the chute that I think they did, and it's very knarly & steep, especially in these conditions. They did a good job of getting back down & off it, which is also tricky.

I still wonder how smart it is to "rely" on GPS on a trail in these conditions. Batteries freeze, satelite's get obscured etc.

ss

[zippetydude]

Wow, there was way more snow than I thought. I had seen Cy's posting asking about what recommendation to make, and had thought it would probably be relatively easy to make it through. However, my personal rule on offering opinions is to err on the side of caution, so I didn't post anything. I'm glad I kept my mouth shut! (Or keyboard silent, as it were.) Good news all around, I guess. Everybody made it home safely and we're building a nice base of snow already!

z

[lee]

Cy, Four of us started at 7:35am Sunday, went up to 7800 ft and turned back. We saw 2 people, one at around 6500 ft and one at around 7000 ft, who were coming down and who told us they were turning around because of deep snow at the traverse to Coffman's Crag. We pushed on, got to the spot, presumably, where those 2 were because of the foot steps in snow stopped, and broke new trail in the snow. Three of us had crampons. Even though the snow was powdery, 1 to 2 feet deep, I found crampons helpful. At some point our 2 pathfinders decided to head straight up and found deeper and deeper snow. Decision was made to turn around, this was just after 6pm. I thought that was crazy since I thought we were so close, elevation wise. Now that I had a chance to look at GPS data, I am glad we did not push on: we were still too far from Coffman's Crag. On the way down, the two pathfinders took off and we lost them around 7000 ft. Mike and I slowly made our way down to about 5000 ft where we really lost the trail or where everything looked like the trail. We were going around and around in circle with all the switchbacks in one area. At 11:30pm, exhausted, to conserve our energy and water we decided to stay put and wait for daylight. It was a freezing and sleepless night for both of us. And it was not even windy. Finally, we could see the trail that made sense to us at 6:15am and started heading down. We got to the museum at 11am with 21 miles on my GPS. I slowed Mike down and he was a good sport about it. Not only was I slow, I also fell a lot in snow and on the way down in the dark. Plus I take pictures Only 725 this time. No pictures of the Cactus to Clouds Mountain Side Resort where we spent the night. I was shivering too much to hold the camera steady. Cold and couldn't sleep, I was watching this fantastic sea of lights that was Palm Springs slowly disappeared as daylight approached. And I brought a trash bag to collect the pants Cynthia wrote about. I did not see the pants but the trash bag came in handy at the Cactus to Clouds Mountain Side Resort as bed liner Will let you know when I have the pictures posted.

[Cy Kaicener]

Lee - I am sorry you had to turn around so close to the tram. Its heart breaking. I once did the same thing. Its the best thing to do rather than take risks. We are looking forward to seeing your pictures. Thanks for the detailed trip report. I read that you had the chance to stay at the Cactus to Clouds Mountainside Resort with a fantastic view of Palm Springs from 5000 feet.

[doug m.]

These trip reports are a great reminder that people need to respect the mountain as much-maybe more-in the winter as they do in the summer. If the conditions warrant crampons, "real" ones, not just the step-in kind, then you also need to have an ice axe for self-arrest. And you need to have used them before, practicing in safe conditions before the actual climb.

I've only used crampons once, on a trip up Mount Shasta. I did everything wrong: learning on the mountain, not practicing self-arrest, glissading with my crampons still on, etc. I'm lucky to still have my legs attached. It's really an entirely different game/mountain in the winter and it's easy to get in way over your head. It takes very little snow/ice below Coffman's Crag to make you feel like you're one misstep away from becoming a news headline...

[zippetydude]

lee, I'm glad you guys made it out safely. As tough as it was, I'm convinced you made the right decision in turning around. I think your adventure sounds as close to a SAR mission as it can get without crossing the line! For both guts and smarts, you get top awards. And remember, 5 years from now, sitting around a campfire, you won't be telling tales about easy, successful trips up Skyline - you'll be talking about this one!

z

[magikwalt]

Lee I haven't even met you before and already I like your style. "No need to bother anyone, we just need to go back the way we came. We'll get it next time. The mountain's not exactly going anywhere soon."

Congratulations. Yours is a hiking story I've enjoyed hearing and will enjoy telling others about.