| Steve Dougherty ~ Oct 7, 2001 |
| After meeting at 4 pm. at the State Motor Pool, Friday afternoon traffic slowed our progress to Mazama Lodge. Our group enjoyed being the only guests at the lodge. After a sensational vegetarian dinner, team members set about making last minute preparations to packs in the basement before retiring. Light snow was falling at 9 pm. A midnight alarm brought all to action. Within a half hour all were headed down the hill to the cars. Team members were delighted by the clear star filled sky. After several photos at the Wyeast Day Lodge, the long slog began. During the first two hours of our climb we observed several members of other parties retreating to Timberline because of the cold temperatures (15 degrees). Jim Rudy turned around due to fatigue near the top of the Palmer Chair Lift. Jason Pfau complained of cold/numb feet. After an attempt to warm his feet and the application of additional clothing and socks he was accompanied down with his father Mike, from 500' above the Palmer chair lift. As the group neared Crater Rock, Gordon Minten appeared fatigued and shaky from the cold. JP Petrin quickly volunteered to escort his friend back to Timberline. The remaining seven made their way slowly to the hog's back where two rope teams were formed. A snow bridge marked by wands allowed easy crossing of the bergshrund. Weather on top was sunny and cold. Clouds however appeared to be building in the valley's below. We departed the summit at 9:30 am. All climbers experimented with plastic roll up sleds to ease the strain of descent (below Crater Rock). All team members returned to the parking lot by 1:30 pm. Craig Siler was asked to "share" a snowboard with an injured snowboarder. The two straddled the board and made sensational time to the bottom. All team members regrouped at Mazama Lodge to shower and debrief before the trip home. |