| Steve Dougherty ~ Oct 7, 2006 |
| This was the third annual Eliot Glacier Ice School under the direction of climb leader, Steve Dougherty. The organization of the school evolved during the first two renditions and the third was no exception. The biggest change this year was the inclusion of a roped tour of the lower and middle icefalls. On day one of this two day event participants drove to the north side of Mt. Hood to Cloud Cap Saddle Campground before hiking to the lower icefall on Eliot Glacier. On arrival, participants donned their crampons and wielded ice axes as they moved about the icefall unroped, practicing techniques introduced in a lecture/slide show conducted at the Den the previous week. The lower icefall seemed much smaller than the previous year and yielded no 20-30 foot crevasses for prusik and ice climbing practice, so we moved higher to the middle icefall where a suitable crevasse was located on the flatter upper part. Four top ropes were setup. Participants got to rappel into the crevasse and prusik out. The walls of the crevasse were glazed with a distinct layer of clear ice that often shattered when disturbed by crampons or ice ax. This condition made it difficult for most participants to accomplish a top roped climb of the wall using two ice tools. That evening, Amy Palacios prepared a wonderful spaghetti dinner for our large group back at the Cloud Cap Campground. Her efforts were facilitated greatly by the large camp kitchen furnished by Jim Collins. The following morning, Gary Greenwood rolled out of his tent before 6 a.m. to prepare a bacon and egg breakfast for our group. Many thanks to our cooks for the extra preparation necessary to pull it off. On day two we returned to the lower icefall where we put on our crampons and divided into three rope teams. Our objective was to navigate through the lower icefall. This was easily accomplished and the rope teams advanced on the much more impressive middle icefall. Leaders positioned ice screws along their path as they snaked their groups in, over and around features in the icefall. Participants employed all of the techniques learned in the varied and challenging terrain. It was determined that a half-length rope with three or four participants is optimal for this type of practice. Participants were Linda Bedard, Joel Bruhn, Jim Collins, John Coyier, Vincent Dunn (co-leader), Herb Fecker (co-leader), Gary Greenwood, Keith Hill (assistant), Jeff Howell, David Kenny, Kirk Kraschel (co-leader), Lynn Kropf, Amy Palacios, Jess Palacios and Steve Dougherty (leader). |
| Amy Palacios ~ Oct 17, 2006 |
| I've never seen myself climbing waterfalls or mountains like Everest, but I went on this trip to get some more practice on tougher terrain and see what it was like to be in a crevasse. This class was so much more than I expected! After walking around on steep ice and snow I feel much more confident in what my crampons can do. I think now I can move up and down steep slopes with less effort than before because I actually know how to use my crampons and ice axe to my advantage. Thank you so much for this introduction! In remembrance of our fireside chat - you can all rest assured that I will scrapbook the pictures I took! But sorry Keith, no shadow boxes for this girl. =-)
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