White Princess - April 25-27, 2008:

Roster: Ty, Ariel, Amy, Nick, Cody, Isaac, Johnny, Matt

Two trucks rolled out of Fairbanks shortly after 6:00AM under a grey sky and early morning flurries. After the usual stop in Delta and the finishing of coffee at the trailhead, the eight of us headed up Castner Creek, which remained nearly entirely still covered and frozen over, at 10:15AM. Overcast skies and a slight breeze gave us hope that the pleasant and rather solid snow conditions would make for an efficient ski in. After picking our way around the occasional uncovered band of rocks, and removing our skis at one point to scramble the rocky slope alongside one of the larger ice cliffs near the terminus, we made it onto the glacier with only limited views of the surrounding valley. While the use of wax on our climbing skins helped most with the wet snow sticking to our skins, a few struggled for a good portion of the seven miles to where we stopped at the junction of the main Castner and M'Ladies branch. At this point the group did a beacon check, tied into three ropes, and exited the moraine to head SE up the M'Ladies branch toward the south side of White Princess. Visibility worsened and we were welcomed with a wet, strong and gusting wind blowing directing in our faces. With white out conditions, we stuck to the rocks of the left side moraine for depth perception and made our way slowly but steadily up the glacier. Near 6:00PM we decided that digging into the north side of the large moraine that exists at the base of the glaciated west side of White Princess would provide for our best protection from the SE winds. After establishing our camp, all settled in for an evening of hydration and spindrift management. Pessimism (and deep routed jealously over who had dug the best tent site) lingered as the winds continued throughout the night.

The 5:00 am wake-up amounted to little as one could barely see the surrounding slopes. The winds had died but visibility remained poor. Eight inches of fresh snow blanketed the glacier below. Talk of what-to-do didn't cross tent walls until after 7:00AM. After a round of less than positive assessments, the group consensus seemed to be that it would be best to lose elevation and head for home. However, when the morning sun appearing through the clouds outlined the upper slopes of White Princess' SW ridge and glimpses of the summit cone reached our eyes, we easily convinced ourselves to give it a shot.

The three rope teams skied down onto the glacier and headed for the SW ridge just after 10:00AM. We unroped at the start of the ridge, ascended the first couple hundred feet and moved west across the snow field in order to gain the more manageable SSW ridge. The whoomping noises beneath caused little concern as we were able to gain the ridge without disturbing or crossing beneath any dangerous slopes. As a group, we steadily made our way to 7700 feet where we decided to rope up for the rest of the climb and to negotiate a short step in the ridge. The weather was not improving. The summit lingered above us, barely visible. With a group-decided turn around time of 7:00PM, and based on our forecasted slow progress on the upper stretches of the climb, we decided at 6:00PM to turn around. Our high point was 8800 feet, beyond the junction of the SW and SSW ridges. We returned to camp in calm conditions just before 10:00PM. The skis opened up briefly to provide nice views of Silvertip; however the group was not upset that White Princess remained hidden in the clouds.

We broke camp early Sunday morning under mostly blue skies and headed for a smooth roped-up ski down the center of the M'Ladies branch glacier. Temperatures in the low forties meant single layers and a chance to enjoy the sunny Spring weather in the Deltas. Tracks of the other AAC group (led by Max) that headed for the Thayer hut the previous day could be seen crossing the glacier and ascending the steep slope toward the hut's bench in the mountain. After unroping at the moraine of the main Castner branch, and some sporting their Sunday finest shirt, we skied out as a group - some with skins, some without. The snow remained intact and we made it in acceptable time back to the trucks by 2:30PM. With clear beautiful views of Blackcap, White Princess, and the surrounding peaks, we all agreed it was a fine trip despite scheduling our summit attempt for the wrong day. With burgers on our minds we headed for the Delta steakhouse and passed a couple of tasty-looking caribou that lingered along the highway just north of Donnelly Dome.

Lessons learned: If you're going to proceed in bad but manageable weather, you might as well proceed in bad but manageable weather as early as possible. I-Pods have no place near avalanche terrain or on a rope. If your tent partner goes to the trouble of offering you ear plugs from a fancy little sleep-well kit, it is an offer worth considering.

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Matt Druckenmiller
Geophysical Institute
University of Alaska Fairbanks
Office: 104B-WRRB
Phone: 907-474-1156

We managed to eek out success on the Item Peak club trip.  12 people signed up but only 5 (Steve Jewett, Ty Humphreys, Amy Breen, Jonny Mendez, and I) made it down to Trims Creek.  Getting up the creek was a mess.  Open water forced us up into the alders in several spots.  Someone commented that Trims Creek needs a trim as we wallowed through deep snow carrying our skis with packs hanging up in the brush.  Somehow managed to keep our boots dry.

It was windy where cold air was spilling over from the Jarvis Glacier but we skied out of the wind zone to camp up the first rise of the glacier moraine with no wind.  After a quiet night, except for one person's snoring, we got up at 6 AM and skied on up the glacier.  Last years route on the left edge of the glacier appeared more loaded so headed to the right side on the theory that the NW winds that had been hitting the range would have worked this slope.  A pit confirmed a solid snow pack and off went our strong man and woman Ty and Amy cramponing up the 40 degree slope to a charming ridge with glaciers on both sides and nice views from Institute to Black Cap.

As we approached the summit some big cracks were crossed and the common Item
discussion of "which bump is highest" ensued.  A wind from the S had come up and was tearing away at the four rim covered summits.  We crawled up the S summit with ropes flying in an arch out over Item's N face.  As soon as the last person tagged the top we headed back down.

Bad weather was on the way in with Moffit to Shand disappearing into the forming clouds.  Packed quickly and with skins on made good time back down Trims Creek to find truck windows intact.  Great group of people and pure luck with the weather made for a fantastic trip.

Triangle: March 22-23, 2008
Roster: Brad, Christie, Ellen, Jason, Jeff, Isabelle, Issac

The moral of this story is "you'll never know unless you try." Seven of us packed into two vehicles and with early morning moonlight headed for the Deltas. Weather forecast: cloudy skies and chance of snow all weekend (never believe the weather forecast). We set out up Casnter Creek around 10:30am with high overcast skies, allowing for views of Old Snowy, Black Cap and White Princess. Six were on skis, one on a spilt-board, with three folks sharing a communal sled. The trek up the Castner was quick work for most. The sled hauling proved to be more of a hindrance than a help and made for slower travel. A trail had been blazed through much of the fresh few inches of snow by back-country powder hounds the following day. We saw some of their tracks high up on the south facing slopes. The sun poked out a few times during the day and sweat poured.

The original intention was to head up the M'Laides branch and attack the mountain from the windswept east facing slopes. However, at the intersection of the Castner and M'Laides Glaciers, Brad and I wandered over to the north facing slope to test out the stability. With a group split because of slow sled travel, we decided if the north face was stable, we could avoid further glacier travel and camp out at the corner. After testing the slope and determining it was stable, Brad kicked steps in about a quarter of the way up and packed down some sugary snow at base of a rocky band. This would let it set up over night and expedite travel in the morning. It was decided, we would attack from the north aspect, carry our skis and hope for more "skinnable" snow up higher. Camp was established; thanks to Jason's excellent snow wall skills we were protected from any evening winds (of which there were few).

The 5 am wake-up call was greeted by clear starry skies. After a beacon check around sunrise, we were on our way. Making quick work of the first slope, we skied around to the east facing aspect and determined it looked good. Brad continued in the lead (note: go on trips with Brad -- he will always break trail and make your life way easier!) and criss-crossed up the slope. With care taken to space out properly to avoid traffic jams on the "red-light" slopes, we headed up. Even though the snowpack seemed stable, avalanches were high on some of our minds and we tried to travel on the slopes smartly. With such a large group, this made travel slower, but definitely safer. We continued to skin up for 75% of the ridge. The group was already beginning to salivate at the turns they were going to make on the way down. In a wind carved area next to some tall rocks, we dropped the skis, donned crampons and followed Brad up the remaining way with a wind blowing us sideways. The summit was reached by all but one. Pictures and moments to bask in the ever present sunshine and clear views of Silvertip and the Hayes Range were enjoyed. With such great weather we took our time descending back to the skis.

The stellar back country ski conditions made for an enjoyable decent. Fresh powder on top of well bonded snow made for textbook turns (and a few face plants)! Camp was quickly packed up and the ski out the Castner was enjoyed -- despite the inevitable rock hopping lower on the glacier. Once again the sled made travel a bit slower and only intensified the hunger for the Alaska Steakhouse for those waiting patiently back at the cars. Once all returned to the cars we made a quick trip to the steakhouse -- in time for the final pizzas of the night.

Despite a weather forecast that called for lousy conditions and previous warnings of instability on north facing aspects, we were happily reminded that you never know what you're going to get unless you just get out there and test it out.  We also learned that sleds are not the most ideal method for carrying gear on the Castner. Keeping it on your back is by far the way to go.

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Christie Haupert

Our trip began with a great twilight drive saturday morning to McCallum Creek.  Our small AAC group met up with 3 local Fairbanks climbers (one with a summit of McCallum) and headed up McCallum Creek.  The first 3/4 mile was quick, finding the road packed with snowmachine tracks.  At the small AT&T gate and bridge, we headed back onto the creek finding snow between 3 to 10 inches deep for the fearless trail breaker to overcome.  As the creek narrowed into the gully and up into the McCallum Glacier basin, the snow was wind packed and easier for travel.  The day was slightly above zero, and turned overcast by mid-afternoon, limiting visibility to around 1 mile. We had a few mishaps with bindings and skins on the way, cutting away at our day. However, the groups intuition, our bailing wire, keyring, duct-tape combo prevailed; making our ascent to base camp around 7 hours. We made base camp at the base of the south ridge.  We arose with the sun breaking the horizon and hardly a cloud in the sky. A small breeze kept us cool as the sun softened the snow and view pushed us to reach the top. Leaving base camp, around 9:30 we made the the McCallum summit (6700ft) in just under two hours. We enjoyed views of Institute Peak, to Mount Hayes, to all the way down to the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park on the horizon with Mount Blackburn standing tall.  We descended after spending about a half hour soaking in the sun, the view and snapping some photos.  We enjoyed a few ski turns on the way out, taking about 2 hours back to the car, all safe and in one piece around 3:30.  We all filled our empty stomachs at the Delta Buffalo Diner with nothing less than a Jumbo Buffalo Burger, Buffalo fries, and some with multiple chocolate shakes, thanks to Ashley.

Hope to see you on the mountain,

WHAT HAPPENED:

In the early afternoon, Saturday March 1, a group of 17 people (15 class members, co-leader Ty Humphrey, and me) arrived on skis and snowshoes in an area with ice cliffs for practicing crevasse rescue in the lower section of the Castner Glacier. I arrived first and found a suitable ice cliff. This ice cliff was located underneath a moraine slope of the length of about 100 feet and the angle of about 35 degrees. The snow on the slope was about thigh-deep, mainly sugar snow with a thin slab on top of that.
Being accustomed to the false idea that the moraine slopes on the Castner Glacier are not long enough to accumulate sufficient amount of snow that could create an avalanche of a concerning magnitude, we neglected to give the situation a deeper thought and started setting up anchors at the upper edge of the slope without testing the snow on the slope for stability. The anchors ("dead men" made from skis) were set up in a lower angle (~25 degrees) section of the slope close to the upper edge of the slope and combined with an anchor formed by a rope going around a big rock in a flat area above the slope’s edge.

I was the first one to rappel down the slope and down the ice cliff. I was just about to unclip from the rope when I heard an avalanche. First, I thought the avalanche was on one of the distant mountain slopes, but it didn’t take me too long to figure out that it was actually on the slope above me and coming right on me. Even though I tried to swim on top of the avalanche, my feet got caught in the packed snow and I got partly buried, with my head, hands, and part of my chest sticking out after the snow movement completely stopped. The only other person affected by the avalanche was Eamon. He was at the upper edge of it when the snow came loose and he ended up riding down with it. After flying down the ice cliff, he supposedly had a relatively soft landing on top of the avalanche debris. Soon after that, Eamon was delivered a shovel and he dug me out from the snow. Nobody was hurt.

Looking at the slope above the ice cliff, it was now pretty much free of snow up to the upper edge of the steep slope section.

It ended right below the anchors that were in the lower angle section. The surface was ice and small rocks. The avalanche was most likely triggered by our activity at the upper edge of the steep slope section.

After a short discussion with the class about the mistakes we made, we redid most of the anchors; we placed some of them into the flat area above the slope’s edge and made ice-screw anchors on the slope, which now was free of snow and allowed us to find rock-free areas for ice screws. The slope clear of snow and the ice cliff underneath were now safe to practice crevasse rescue. The rest of the course went normally.

WHAT WERE THE MISTAKES:

My mistake was acting automatically (choosing a similar slope and ice cliff as the last year and the year before) and not using enough thought in action. I should have initiated a snow stability test. Especially since this was a class, we should have spent a good amount of time on analyzing the conditions (pit, layers, compression test, angle estimate, etc.) and reviewed the students’ avalanche knowledge.

The mistake of others was not-thinking for themselves and relying on my thinking. They should have questioned whether what we were doing was safe. Nobody voiced any concern.

HOW DO WE LEARN FROM THAT:

Prevent acting automatically. Think of what you are doing.

Be self-sufficient; think for yourself and don’t rely on thoughts of others. Safety is everyone’s responsibility.

Even relatively short moraine slopes can pose an avalanche danger. Test the slopes before you use them

SHOULD WE CARRY BEACONS ON THE CASTNER CREVASSE RESCUE COURSES?

One of the questions asked by students at the planning meeting before the trip was whether they should have beacons. My answer was that they don’t need beacons because we won’t be in an avalanche prone area. I encouraged them to have shovels and probes, though (even though at that time, I mainly meant it for camping and testing crevasses).

Next time, I still wouldn’t require the participants to have beacons, but I would at least recommend them. I think most of the years, we will be able to eliminate avalanche danger by proper selection of ice cliffs to practice on. But good cliffs are scarce and it can sometimes happen that the only suitable ice cliff will have an avalanche slope above it. Beacons could be useful in that situation. I still don’t see them as a necessity, though, because we are talking about small avalanches and chances are high that people won’t get completely buried and if they do, chances are high that even without beacons they will be quickly found, given the number of people around and given the relatively small area covered by the avalanche.

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Tomas Marsik