24 replies to this topic

[Igloo Ed]

The spring climbing season is here and HPM joined me in a traverse of Otis Peak yesterday. It was a lovely day with mostly clear skies and warm temperatures with very little wind. The spring melt is in full swing down lower with the streams running full and the swamps melting out:


We took my route until just before Haiyaha and then turned off to head up Otis via a very steep route up the side of Otis. We climbed some steep snowfields after turning off my route but it wasn't as steep as what is the crux of the climb:


We got our first view up Chaos Canyon as we began climbing the crux:


Going up the crux was tough with the snow being pretty soft for the first foot or so. We had a choice to either boot it up the snow or use snowshoes. I was doing pretty good with just boots but HPM was a bit heavier than I and was working his posterior off so we chose to use snowshoes. The areas in the drifts with soft snow gave way at most of the time making it a struggle to get up onto the top of the next drift. We got just above the crux and I noticed that I had lost my Hoodman Loupe. I took off my pack and booted it back down our tracks and was able to find the loupe. That gave about an extra hundred foot of climbing for the day.
After the crux it was still steep until we got onto the top of the east ridge of Otis which is where the big drift around the huge rock outcropping that stands at a small pass on the ridge:


We took a lunch break at the rock and then headed up the east ridge of Otis while enjoying some great views:




A huge section of the cornice on Hallett had broken off and slid down into Chaos Canyon:

[Igloo Ed]

The snow had soften up quite a bit and it was a workout getting to the summit but the views from the top were well worth it:


We went down the west side of the mountain to Andrews Glacier and glissaded down:


We made it down to the woods pretty quickly with the glissading both on Andrews Glacier and the snow field below Andrews Tarn and then headed off through the woods down to Loch Vale. The Loch had water, slush and snow on it and we crossed the lake with snowshoes making good time. We then took my backcountry route past Beautiful Lake Marv.
The snow had soften up considerably but we pushed on and enjoyed it making it back to the parking lot pretty late in the day.

[renate1]

Great report Ed. What a workout!

Edited by renate1, 05 June 2011 - 11:05 AM.

[HighPlainsMedic]

Nothing would be complete without a photo of Ed.

This is Ed after he retrieved his Loupe and was coming back up..


Ed was wearing his Forum T shirt..


Ed's camera is much better than mine.. so I have nothing to add to views already posted.. "I really really really need a new camera" lol


I do have a nifty video of Ed sliding down Andrews ..

Edited by HighPlainsMedic, 05 June 2011 - 11:51 AM.

[jflo]

Cool!!!!

[Becky J.]

Great job - both of you.

Becky J.

[Igloo Ed]

HighPlainsMedic, on 05 June 2011 - 11:22 AM, said:

I do have a nifty video of Ed sliding down Andrews ..

Gotta get some slicker pants! Cool video, like the part with you filming while you were sliding down.

[mwilson]

Looks like a great day. Glad the 2 of you got to enjoy it.

[Rhonda]

Looks like so much fun!

What is a Loupe?

[Igloo Ed]

Rhonda, on 05 June 2011 - 02:35 PM, said:

What is a Loupe?

It's a magnifying glass like jewelers use but the Hoodman is special. Larry turned me on to it.

[Rhonda]

Just looked up Loupe on Bing. Is it a magnifying device?

I see that you were already answering me. Ok, learn something new every day! What do you use it for on hikes?

[Igloo Ed]

Rhonda, on 05 June 2011 - 02:43 PM, said:

What do you use it for on hikes?

It is used for looking at the LCD display. This particular one blocks out the light from the bright outdoors so you can see it as well as magnify the image.
Larry showed me his on our camping trip to Ouzel Lake a few years back.

[zzcoop]

Sweet pics and report, guys!

[Allie]

What a great day, so much snow. Loved the video.

[zzcoop]

I missed the video the first time. Sweet!

Apparently, I have glissaded several times in the past myself. Only not on purpose.