I'm curious to hear people's systems for communicating on alpine climbs, especially in tough conditions.
As a backdrop for this question: my alpine experience has so far been limited to good conditions on clear days with light-to-moderate wind. I could hear my partners. Likewise ice and rock climbing ventures: good(ish) weather and relatively short pitches with clear vision. But I had one experience this winter on an alpine route on Mt. Washington in nasty conditions that included the following obstacles:
- Steady, strong winds (30-50 mph) that drowned out our voices.
- Constant graupel blown down in a what was effectively a river of snow flowing down the route. This made looking up at my partner hard, even with goggles.
- A route that after 25m swung around the wall of the gully, leaving the leader out of sight and hard to orally communicate with even when shouting.
- Due to poor communicative environment, my partner almost ran out to the end of the rope. Luckily, a lull in wind and some aggressive shouting let him know he had about 5m of rope left so that he could find a ledge and build an anchor.
Ultimately, we abandoned the climb due to the graupel, worsening conditions, and evidence of building wind slabs, all of which pushed risk to a level with which we were not comfortable. Nevertheless, the experience was helpful in that it exposed weaknesses in my communication skill set. I'm curious to hear how others deal with high winds, long distances, poor visibility, etc. Do you use body or hand signals? Is there a way to communicate different commands with the rope? Please share your experiences and systems, if any.
