Mount Adams Climber's Log

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Rob Ricks

Rob Ricks - Aug 19, 2004 11:56 am

Route Climbed: South Spur Date Climbed: June 30, 2004  Sucess!

Left Cold Springs Campground at 5:15 a.m.. Made the Lunch Counter by 9:30 a.m. Felt a little tired, so I rested for 30 minutes, melted some bug-infested snow and ate some peanut butter and crackers. Launched up the South Spur and realized there was no need for crampons and ice-axe. I was getting good snow purchase as it was softening. Dropped pack at Piker's Peak and made the summit by noon. Only one on the summit at the time. Felt Great!! Tremendous glissading adventure down the Spur. Got some good wilderness navigation practice on the way back down to Trail #183.

pjc30943 - Aug 17, 2004 1:22 am

Route Climbed: Southern (variation) Date Climbed: August 16, 2004  Sucess!

Ascended some of the slightly steeper glaciers to the West of the Crescent and Suksdorf glacier. Rejoined Southern route later on. Glacier conditions were pretty good overall on the South route, but at places pure ice was exposed.

Massive thunderclouds stalked the mountain the night before, but cleared up fortunately by 3am when I left.

Of course there's lots of running water by this time of year.

Glissading conditions were very nice!

Derek Franzen

Derek Franzen - Aug 14, 2004 5:30 pm

Route Climbed: South Spur Date Climbed: July 30 2004  Sucess!

Hiked in 4-1/2 miles on Thursday with daughter Kelsi, camped 200' lower and in rock rib W of Lunch Counter. Good running water at the minor col W of Lunch Counter. Fine, sand floored, camping spots in natural rock enclosures all along the rock rib W of Crescent Glacier. Not too many Snafflehounds at campsite. Good solid snow for cramponing Friday morning, marine air low but clear at elevation. Lookout shack at summit partially uncovered. Lost 3000' to camp in 40 min, Kelsi thought that was great. Great trip.

modeboy - Aug 4, 2004 11:02 am

Route Climbed: south climb Date Climbed: 8-1-2004  Sucess!

left the trailhead at 5:20am and had great weather until lunch counter. wind picked up and we had to put on windbreakers. summited at 11:30am and stayed up top for only enough time to eat and take a few pics. lots of wind at the top. glacading was possible just below the false summit. overall a pretty good day.

jtostenr

jtostenr - Aug 1, 2004 5:57 am

Route Climbed: South Spur Date Climbed: July 31, 2004  Sucess!

Started at trailhead at 6:15AM and reached the summit at 3:30PM. Took a short snooze at the Lunch Counter and enjoyed the weather. Very little wind on top and not too hot.

aishv - Jul 28, 2004 3:50 pm

Route Climbed: S. Side Date Climbed: July 25th, 2004

Date Signed: July 05, 2004 12:53 PM

Climb Party: John, Ofir, Nurit, Aish



One day ascent of Mt. Adams via the south side route. Reached south side climbers TH at 23:30. Started off on the climb at 12:45 AM. Reached Pikers peak/false summit at 08:20. John exhibited symptoms of altitude sickness and dehydration - decided that I'd stay back with him. Ofir and Nurit summitted 1.5 hrs later. Glissaded part of the way down. Back to the car at 17:00. Definitely not doing S.Side beyond June or when the weather is hot - climbing on scree is not fun.

Bentley

Bentley - Jul 10, 2004 8:22 pm

Route Climbed: Mazama Glacier/Suksdorf Ridge Date Climbed: July 15, 2003  Sucess!

Gigantic lenticular blew in just as I summited--my buddies who were 10 min. ahead of me got awesome summit pics!

notinkansas

notinkansas - Jul 8, 2004 4:17 am

Route Climbed: South climb, sort of Date Climbed: July 3, 2004  Sucess!

Started up Friday morning. Got a little off the main route. Spent a windy night directly above the South Butte, east of the Cresent Glacier. Summited Saturday morning around 11:00. Great weather, wonderful climb.

D Smith

D Smith - Jul 6, 2004 1:40 pm

Route Climbed: South Spur Date Climbed: July 5, 2004  Sucess!

A great ski ascent, and an even better descent!



Got an early start from the Cold Springs campground at 1:45 AM. Reached Lunch counter at around sunrise and took a much needed nap for 2 hours. Reached the summit at 12:30 and descended via the SW Chutes...an unbelievable ski run...Highly recommended!



Had to traverse back East to the South Climb trail via the "Around the mountain" trail...about 2 miles.

aishv - Jul 5, 2004 12:53 pm

Route Climbed: S. Side Date Climbed: June 26th, 2004  Sucess!

Climb Party: Dave. G, John, Art, Aish



One day ascent of Mt. Adams via the south side route. Reached south side climbers TH at 23:30. Started off the climb after a short nap on the bed of Art's pick-up truck at 03:00. Reached summit at 12:30. Glissaded most of the way down. Back to the car at 17:00. Doing it in a single day may be long and strenuous, but well worth the effort and any day beats carrying bivy gear up to Lunch Counter.

jtschanz

jtschanz - Jun 22, 2004 2:02 pm

Route Climbed: South Spur Date Climbed: June 20, 2004  Sucess!

Great weather for an Adams climb. After camping below timberline, we skinned up to just below the false summit. We ditched our skis and climbed the rest of the way to the top where we rested and admired the great views all around. We strapped our skis back on at the false summit and descended the SW chutes - a very fun 3000' drop. At the bottom we traversed below some rocky ridges and then back east to our campsite. Great skiing for the last day of spring!

Ratballs

Ratballs - Jun 21, 2004 10:48 pm

Route Climbed: South Spur Date Climbed: mid-June 1995  Sucess!

This was my first serious solo mountain (well, it certainly felt serious at the time) and was my farewell to Washington (I moved to Colorado the next day). It was immediately after a big late-spring storm, and I had to hike in four extra miles as the road to Cold Springs campground was still snow-closed. I hauled my three-man tent up to Crescent Glacier's terminal moraine (what I remember as a high mound of rocks at its foot, in any case); pitching it (the tent, that is, not the glacier) on my own in a gale turned out to be the crux of the trip.



The next day brought great views down and around the mountain and a lenticular cloud sitting on top: I didn't know enough to be intimidated by it, so I pushed on upwards, into its white-out. I did know enough, however, to take back-bearings as I crossed the summit block blind. The only person I saw all day joined me on the summit and then skied down. I enjoyed the Mother of all Glissades back down to the Lunch Counter, where I congratulated myself on a job well jobbed.

hkutuk

hkutuk - Jun 21, 2004 1:05 pm

Route Climbed: Multiple Date Climbed: Multiple  Sucess!

Ski ascent via South side and descent via SW Chutes (June 20, 2004)

On the first day we were greeted by thunderstorms and rain so decided to camp low to be less exposed to weather and to stay on dry ground. The next morning woke up at 3am to a perfect clear morning. Strapped on the skis and skins and started from about 6500'. The firm snow on the south side route allowed us to skin just couple hunderd feet short of the false summit. Made a quick trip to the summit and enjoyed the views and sun for a long time as the wind was much less compared to false summit. We decided to ski down the SW chutes instead of the south side. From the top of the chute could not see the bottom, must be steep... Indeed the chute was around 40 degrees consistent all the way to the end of it. The snow was soft enough providing an excellent ski descent, looking back up was very impressive. The constant rock fall from the nearby ridges reminded us that we had to get out of there. The traverse back to our camp site involved some tree skiing and carrying skis over several ridges under a very hot sun, worth the ski.



Mazama Glacier (August 3, 2003)

Group of eight Chemeketans headed to Sunrise camp through the green Bird Creek meadows. We shared the entire camp with only another team of two people, a rare thing on Adams. The summit day was overcast but the strong west wind was blocked by the mountain. The glacier consists of two moderate snow ramps. We stayed close to the crumbly ridge dividing Mazama glacier from the Klickitat ice fall to avoid the crevasses on the first ramp. The snow was hard but not icy on the first ramp. There is rock fall hazard along this way. The ramp levels of and leads to the second steeper ramp which was hard ice and required a straight up climb rather than zigzagging until we intersected the south slog at Pikers Peak. The rest of the way is snow free all pumice. The cloudy and windy skies still allowed for good views of Rainier. We came down the South side with as much glissading as possible.



South Side (August 25, 2002)

Was quite dissapointed when our group decided to camp at Crescent glacier after only two hours of hike. Afternoon thunderstorms rolled in and it was quite a show. Next day was clear and perfect for the summit attempt. Long slog to Pikers Peak, it is kind of depressing to see the summit still far away at that point. Glissading down earned me the name of "Flying Turk" as I was airborne on some of the icy sections.

jamminjman

jamminjman - Jun 18, 2004 3:02 am

Route Climbed: Mazama Glacier Date Climbed: June, 16 2004  Sucess!

Traversed to high camp from cold springs. (Road to cold springs camp is closed about 1/4 mile from camp due to downed tree across the road). Crevasses are starting to open up on this route. Stayed to the left and had no problems. Crystal clear day and could see to Baker in the north and the Sisters in the South.

modeboy - May 11, 2004 10:52 am

Route Climbed: south side Date Climbed: 7-14-2003  Sucess!

great weather almost the entire way, windy at the top. glacading was awesome the whole way down. first mountain climb ever for my friend. way to go christian!

pjc30943 - Apr 17, 2004 12:38 am

Route Climbed: Easy South Spur Date Climbed: Sep 2003  Sucess!

This was a relatively easy climb done in one day. Four of us left at 7:30am, and returned just by dark at 7pm. The summit was cold and windy, and clouds had moved in by afternoon (I was last to leave at 4pm).



Glissading was great! "Subway Tunnels" were already cut, and all one had to do was "transfer" over to the other subway tubes to continue the trip down:)

Crampons and ice axe needed, but the glaciers weren't in as good condition as they could have been...



Very fun climb!

rmuir

rmuir - Apr 13, 2004 2:58 pm

Route Climbed: Mazamba Glacier Headwall Date Climbed: July 8, 1996  Sucess!

Great climb and a challenge route finding since the route markers were under 2 feet of snow. We kept having rocks roll down the mountain toward us. Most of them would veer away from us but one or two kept coming straight and we had to scurry out of the way. Some of them picked up enough snow that they were 2 or 3 feet in diameter.

dmuja

dmuja - Mar 24, 2004 10:37 pm

Route Climbed: South Spur Date Climbed: August 23rd, 2003  Sucess!

Great job brother Mark! Fun mountain, fun route.

derbilly

derbilly - Feb 24, 2004 2:20 am

Route Climbed: South Spur Date Climbed: Spring 1997  Sucess!

One of my first summits. One thing that sticks in my mind is walking through miles of slush on the way back with semi-waterproof boots.

Zarn

Zarn - Feb 17, 2004 12:57 pm

Route Climbed: South Standard Date Climbed: 08/23/2000  Sucess!

8/22/00 Mi-day start, w/ a bivy @ Lunch Counter. Hot walk on soft snow. Encountered a mountain goat w/ calf @ approx 8300'. They crossed the glacier 200' above me, Amazing!! Stary, moonless, cold evening w/ distant lightening turning nite into day. 5am start on the solid only to mush out on the apporach to the pikers peak headwall. Beautiful clear day. Suncupped, plateau w/ sharp ridged recessed path. Sloged last 600' to summit on the loose rock & pumice. Excellent views all directions as it was clear & 40 degrees on the summit but it was a long hot walk back out.



Z1

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