Brad Marshall - Jan 16, 2009 4:58 pm Date Climbed: Jan 3, 2009
Losing a New Friend on the Polish Direct
Attempted the Polish Direct with Stefan Jeromin who, I sad to report, fell to his death during his descent. He will be sadly missed.
LuisGijon - Nov 7, 2008 10:24 pm Date Climbed: Feb 12, 2008
Polish Glacier Direct
Climbed solo in a nice no wind (in this side of the mountain) sunny day. I left camp 2 at 6am, and after 7 exhausted hours reached the summit. Deep snow in the first part. To pass the big crevasse in the 1st rock band was the crux . After it was ice, and very tired for the calves. Last part flat to reach the summit.
My climber partners were Dennis Wasserman and Dale Wagner. But the last day, almost in the last moment, they decided to attempt the polish traverse to assure the summit. We met, the 3 of us, in the summit at 3pm; and we took the group picture.
granitepeaker - Feb 29, 2008 6:25 pm Date Climbed: Feb 4, 2008
Too much fresh snow
Started up the Polish Direct at about 5am. Not long after being on the route we decided the snow was too deep and the risk of avalanche was way too high. We saw people attempting the route a couple days before and it was taking them forever and one man got severe frostbite from having to camp out over night on the route. After the decision we returned to camp two and dropped off our technical gear and started up the traverse to the normal route at 6am. It took me five hours to reach the summit from camp two. I would have to wait a couple hours before I could share the summit with anyone else. The clouds started rolling in around 1pm so I was the only one that got any clear summit photos that day. I stayed on the summit with perfect weather for just over three hours. Many people had to retreat from their summit attempts that day in fear of frostbite. The temperature was -13 with wind chill. I also saw people retreating because they didn't have crampons. I ended up breaking trail for everyone that day in about six inches of new snow. You definitely wouldn't have wanted to do the Canaleta without crampons. The return from the summit took two and half hours. We would then traverse the mountain and descend via the Horcones Valley to experience the whole mountain.
My partner and I had excellent snow conditions on our trip. We found mellow kick-stepping up the low angle glacier which leads to a mellow rock step and a little flat walking to the summit. We spent seven hours round trip from camp 2. The Polish Direct is a lot of walking for an anticlimactic summit day, but still worth the trip.
cdog - Jan 17, 2007 1:54 am Date Climbed: Jan 5, 2007
polish direct climb
joined Brad Marshall's expedition (10 people total) in 2006/2007 to climb this route with Mark Hinton. Although greeted by many discouraged/disappointed climbers on the way in who had been blown off by wind and cold, our trip worked out perfectly.
No crowds and great weather let us climb the direct on Jan5th in a long push from camp2. The route was mainly snow of various conditions, with a little ice in the 2nd rock band.
Good route at altitude, with a nice descent route down the false polish traverse back to camp2.
-cb Link to more detailed trip report with photos
Brad Marshall - Jan 16, 2009 4:58 pm Date Climbed: Jan 3, 2009
Losing a New Friend on the Polish DirectAttempted the Polish Direct with Stefan Jeromin who, I sad to report, fell to his death during his descent. He will be sadly missed.
LuisGijon - Nov 7, 2008 10:24 pm Date Climbed: Feb 12, 2008
Polish Glacier DirectClimbed solo in a nice no wind (in this side of the mountain) sunny day. I left camp 2 at 6am, and after 7 exhausted hours reached the summit. Deep snow in the first part. To pass the big crevasse in the 1st rock band was the crux . After it was ice, and very tired for the calves. Last part flat to reach the summit.
My climber partners were Dennis Wasserman and Dale Wagner. But the last day, almost in the last moment, they decided to attempt the polish traverse to assure the summit. We met, the 3 of us, in the summit at 3pm; and we took the group picture.
granitepeaker - Feb 29, 2008 6:25 pm Date Climbed: Feb 4, 2008
Too much fresh snowStarted up the Polish Direct at about 5am. Not long after being on the route we decided the snow was too deep and the risk of avalanche was way too high. We saw people attempting the route a couple days before and it was taking them forever and one man got severe frostbite from having to camp out over night on the route. After the decision we returned to camp two and dropped off our technical gear and started up the traverse to the normal route at 6am. It took me five hours to reach the summit from camp two. I would have to wait a couple hours before I could share the summit with anyone else. The clouds started rolling in around 1pm so I was the only one that got any clear summit photos that day. I stayed on the summit with perfect weather for just over three hours. Many people had to retreat from their summit attempts that day in fear of frostbite. The temperature was -13 with wind chill. I also saw people retreating because they didn't have crampons. I ended up breaking trail for everyone that day in about six inches of new snow. You definitely wouldn't have wanted to do the Canaleta without crampons. The return from the summit took two and half hours. We would then traverse the mountain and descend via the Horcones Valley to experience the whole mountain.
Ialewis - Jan 22, 2008 10:14 pm
Good funMy partner and I had excellent snow conditions on our trip. We found mellow kick-stepping up the low angle glacier which leads to a mellow rock step and a little flat walking to the summit. We spent seven hours round trip from camp 2. The Polish Direct is a lot of walking for an anticlimactic summit day, but still worth the trip.
cdog - Jan 17, 2007 1:54 am Date Climbed: Jan 5, 2007
polish direct climbjoined Brad Marshall's expedition (10 people total) in 2006/2007 to climb this route with Mark Hinton. Although greeted by many discouraged/disappointed climbers on the way in who had been blown off by wind and cold, our trip worked out perfectly.
No crowds and great weather let us climb the direct on Jan5th in a long push from camp2. The route was mainly snow of various conditions, with a little ice in the 2nd rock band.
Good route at altitude, with a nice descent route down the false polish traverse back to camp2.
-cb
Link to more detailed trip report with photos