Note: If you're concerned about the obvious screw-up with the belay device at the 8:12-minute mark, check the comment section. Be advised this is NOT how to set a belay up; my parter made a mistake.
Thanks RU-vid algorithm for this- not an (ice) climber, seen movies and video’s before, but nothing that imparted the immersive experience so effectively. Great that the minimal editing left mundane aspects like pulling anchors and equipment checks, waiting for one another- not just the hero highlights- very real!
Very nice climbing. I never ice climbed the whites but have skied many of the bowls and chutes and have hiked all the 4,000 footers. Very nice job climbing and filming, thanks. For those of you who don't know the White's the weather can be brutal, wind like you have never seen before. 100 miles per hour are not rare. Much respect.
Oh my gosh, what an amazing video. That shot looking down at 25:09 ... I'm seriously blown away that there are humans that can do this. Thank you so much for filming and sharing. I subscribed, hope to see more of your adventures! -Ella
Thanks Ella! We were planning to be in the Canadian Rockies this August but that's not going to happen with these stupid virus lockdowns. We're trying to put something together in Colorado for August though.
What was the reason for the belay device setup at 8:12, I’m positive that wire on the reverse isn’t rated. At the very least that isn’t how that device should be setup in auto blocking mode.
Hm, yeah I hadn't noticed that before. That's my partner in the yellow pants; he's climbed all over the world so I trust his judgement implicitly, but I can't say I would've rigged the belay like that. It's actually not set up for auto-block at all rigged like that. It looks to me like the wire is rigged to the orange locker separately, and the other orange locker is rigged with the rope running through it. If he'd rigged the rope through the orange locker the wire is hanging from, it'd be fine with the exception of the auto-block being off. My only explanation is that it was a simple oversight on his part. The climbing on this pitch was fairly easy with minimal fall risk and I'm assuming it was easier for him to collect slack in the system as I came up. His intentions were good with the second locker, it just wasn't set up in auto-block mode like it should've been. Good catch; I'm gonna send him a screen shot and give him some shit.
@@robertseevers379 Honestly, it was the hardest day I've had in the alpine but I'm only just getting started. My mentor/partner has had some bad bad days over the years.
@@tacul9333 Yeah we've talked about it at length. There was no real danger of falling on that pitch despite what it *looks* like but nonetheless, it was a mistake that could've gone bad. We all do dumb shit from time-to-time.
it's that our feelings our hurt but rather all of us looking out for each other, that's how we all get better and stay safe. like at 19:57 - clipping that draw to the left anchor point: that's nearly a factor 2 fall of around 15kN on that ~10kN screw. meaning, you would both be toast if blue jacket fell before placing another screw above the anchor - best to just place another screw a foot or two to the left of the anchor and clip that.
All good and I understand. I edited the video description after a thread was started about it over on Mountain Project; my partner and I stepped in to discuss it with some folks who were trying to dunk on us. Anyways, it may not be apparent in the video but the crux pitch of this route is below us, and this was the exit pitch. There was about ten feet of plastic left before hitting the snow chute so there really wasn't any *real* danger of taking a fall here. The ice was in wonderful shape and the only other team on the mountain was a pitch below us. Had we gone up the plastic to the right, then yes, I absolutely agree, another screw would've been warranted above the belay anchor. Beyond all this, this was entirely up to my partner; his experience on ice is far beyond mine. In fact, this was the first time I'd ever been on ice.
@@GroundStudies good stuff! almost didn't say anything because the internet has a way of making all comments sound negative.. haha. Much easier to talk about this stuff in person with a smile and some beer. Good on you for getting out with an experienced person - far too many accidents on that mountain.
@@justinhardesty5131 Completely agree bro. No matter what, if you put yourself out there enough, you're gonna catch some hate. It is what it is, lol. I'm just here to learn and transfer any knowledge to anyone else. That's really the reason my partner and I film our bigger climbs -- to analyze what went down.
Now I will agree that some of the mistakes are simply atrocious and would never be done by a competent leader. That belay mistake is just absolutely unacceptable and a clear sign that guy is dangerous as hell to climb with. It can not be written off as a simple mistake. When you lead on rock or ice you triple check and then you look at the device every so often. That being said you cannot really have a true factor two fall on slab like that. Now You are correct about the issue of clipping into one of the points of anchor as a first piece. Because of the pulley effect it will put a lot of force on that point. It would prob be better to either not clip and make sure he is on the correct side depending on belayer left or right hand on the brake strand OR put a piece much lower in what looks like a bunch of good ice. TBH I hope that leader has climbed with a guide or found a mentor... not trying to be mean either but the fact that he did that and it was your first time ever on ice... again you will probably look back on this in 5 years and be like yeah what in the hell haha
Around the 19 minute mark, and you are set up with the two ice screws, and clipped into the master point to start belaying your partner. Is the red rope specifically your tether to the anchor? How are you attached, it looks like a little device attached to the carabiner. Just looking for advice. Such an awesome video. I’ve done the Lions Head route before in the winter, your route made that look like the bunny hill! Great job.
Thanks dude! The orange line you're looking at is my personal anchor. It's a Petzl Connect Adjust; one end of the line has a fixed loop which is cow-hitched to the belay loop on my harness. The actual device hooks in to the anchor with whatever locking carabiner you choose; mine is set up with a Petzl OK ball-lock. The free end of the line allows you to adjust the length of the leash by pulling on the loose end. When you want slack, you grab the little device and rotate it so it unlocks and lets you pull slack. This is the only personal anchor I use now, regardless of the type of climbing I'm doing.
@@GroundStudies awesome man, thanks for the reply. Seems like a perfect piece of gear that I’ll be adding to my kit. Never saw one prior to this video. Glad I watched.
@@timmyfng Whatever locker you use, I'd recommend it be an auto-locker, and one you can manipulate one-handed. It also comes with this rubber stopper thing, which isolates the cam to prevent cross-loading, so don't throw that way. Slide it over your locker and down the long axis so the device is isolated between the stopper and the hinge of the gate. It's all pretty straightforward. Glad I could help!
Yeah we took the garden up underneath the summit and topped out that way. George and Tomaz topped out of Pinnacle on the right side up the brittle ice-flow, gained the ridge, and humped it to the summit. We saw them the following day and we'd apparently summited about an hour or so ahead of them. They were getting hammered by the wind all the way up that ridge so the route we took ended up being more protected than theirs.
Is it not better to place ONE tool (at a time), then step up with both feet, then place the second tool? Why place/move both tools every time? Best to keep the tools staggered, rather then at the same plain , is it not? I see so many videos on youtube were people do this. Isn't considered bad technique? Also it's more efficient, able to climbing faster and saving energy. Thoughts?
Makes good sense but if you notice, I was hooking a lot of the time, meaning I was reusing placement where others had picked out. Honestly, this was only the third route I've ever ice-climbed. Three days before Mt. Washington, I was two hours off the plane and swinging tools on some easy multi-pitch WI2-3 at Frankenstein Cliffs, so my experience and knowledge of ice-climbing is very limited. And when you actually get on the ice, things change.
I see people moving both tools at once a lot on steep snow in the Alps, people who otherwise move confidently and seem experiened, so I've also asked myself this question. I've also noticed that I feel compelled to move both tools at once when the medium is less supportive, e.g. steep neve or crap aerated ice. My theory now is that depending on where you learned to move on tools you might prefer moving both tools at once more or less. On good quality ice moving one tool at a time is the preferred technique, and those who learn on that medium (e.g. climbers from the American Rockies) will learn that lesson faster and more effectively. Those who spend more time on more pliant but less supportive mediums (e.g. steep glacial snow climbs, like in the Alps or PNW) might be less fastidious about it. There's also that entire group of people that just aren't that competent on any medium and use bad technique because they don't know any better, but that's the less interesting scenario.
@@UAPReportingCenter Pack some micro-spikes and at least one trekking pole for the alpine garden up on the summit cone. There can be a lot of ice flowing between all the boulders and I skated around a LOT the last time I was up there. And it gets windy AF up there so I usually take goggles too. Enjoy!
I went with the Salewa Vultur Vertical GTX, though I think I would like some with a removable inner boot. To be fair, these are my first and only pair of proper mountaineering boots. My partner favors the Scarpas, which are nice as well. Crampons are the excellent Petzl Lynx set up with dual front points.
Yeah I'm quite happy with them, but keep in mind, this was my first time ice-climbing, ever. I used my Petzl Glacier axe on Granite Peak in the Beartooths and on Gannett Peak in the Winds, but this was the first time doing proper winter mountaineering, so I'm certainly no expert. But yeah, I do like them quite a bit. Great ergonomics, and the adjustable triggers are excellent.