[pct-l] crampons & ice axes in the Spring Sierra

[ned at pacificcrestcustombuilders.com]

OK. Lets cover this one:

As you know, we spend all winter and spring on the backcountry snow in the 
Sierra from Tahoe to Mt. Whitney conducting our Snow Course classes. We've 
been doing this since 1981.

Sierra snow is different from Divide Snow is different from Appalachian 
snow/ice. However, when the pack starts consolidating (melting, compressing, 
sticking together) in the warmth of the hot, Spring sunshine, Sierra snow 
turns into, what we affectionately refer to as, "Sierra Cement."

This is what you'll experience out there in May and June:

Morning:  The top few inches of the daily, melting pack will be hard enough 
in the morning to walk on freely with out any traction devices other than 
the lug soles you have on your boots. If you're hiking thru the Sierra in 
trail runners that have a relatively flat traction deck (no heel vertical 
edge), they may slip on the surface crusty snow. There is very little "ice" 
like on the AT. Some spots may have a shinny surface you can see, but you 
can usually walk around it or kick steps through it (like in Forester's 
chute).

The safety skill, here, is your ability to spot those areas before you're on 
top of them and your ability to keep your ankles from rolling (or your 
ability to kick flat steps for each footfall) when you're traversing hard 
side slopes.

Hard suncups can be especially tricky when in soft shoes as you have to walk 
on the narrow edges between them, slide down their bowls to the bottom, or 
step from bottom to bottom, an agonizingly fatiguing ordeal.

Mid-morning:  As the snow becomes exposed to the sun, it's surface will 
soften dramatically and hold your boot well on the flats. As your slope 
changes, the soft stuff on top will slide on what remains of the harder 
stuff underneath making for a pretty hazardous walking surface. Just make 
sure each footfall is well "rooted" in the pack before pushing off to the 
next. On morning climbs and descents in this snow condition, you may want to 
pick a vertical route for control.

Midday:  Depending on your exposure, you may start "post-holing" about this 
time of day. Your footsteps will break through the harder crust of the 
surface into the wet, "airy" pack below. These plunges can be mere inches or 
feet deep, even up to your groin where the only way out is to roll over. If 
you are on a climb or descent, this process can be very dangerous to your 
skin, knees, and back because of the sudden, jarring one-legged fall. Get 
your climbs done before this point in the day. If the crust is still 
composed of hard crystals, your skin can get pretty cut up as you fall 
through with each step. Be careful with downhill plunge-stepping. Keep your 
weight back and anticipate the plunge. If you are caught off-guard and your 
weight begins to fall downhill ahead of your legs, which are now up to their 
knees in the pack, you may hinge forward at the waist, torque your knee, and 
fall down slope out of control to the rocks below. Learn how to avoid this 
situation or self-arrest techniques to save your life.

Mid-afternoon;  The snow pack is soup. It has become so warm that you will 
wish you had snowshoes to maintain a semblance of forward progress. The 
afternoon will be spent slogging through the stuff and burning so many 
calories that you will be eating for four. No Joke! At least with snowshoes 
you will make some miles.

So, crampons are not needed. Other traction devices only ball up and, for 
the most part, are just carried. We do not recommend them as they give you a 
false sense of security, usually do not work well in the Sierra snow, and do 
not attach well to the foot, even roll off on traverses in certain 
conditions.

For the thru hiker, we do not recommend ice axes, either. We love the design 
of the Black Diamond Whippet self-arrest pole. There are other similar nylon 
designs, as well. Most thru hikers do not anticipate where a fall might 
occur and do not have their axes in hand when they need them. The 
self-arrest pole idea solves that problem-and some can be converted back to 
a basic hiking stick by changing the handle. There aren't any passes along 
the PCT that require ice axe anchors when climbing straight up or on steep 
side traverses that one self-arrest pole in one hand and a regular, 
un-strapped hiking pole in the other will not suffice.

Practice. Practice. Practice in the conditions through which you expect to 
travel before you have that big pack on and can't risk a fall. Get trained 
in self-arrest techniques and snow navigation skills. Walking on the snow 
sounds simple, but tip it on an angle and give it a try.

It's all up to you. Be prepared. Take your time. Plan for less miles and 
more calories in the snow. Beware of sun exposure, hypo/hyperthermia, 
dehydration, snow blindness, and sunburn.

If you have any further questions about snow travel, camping, and thru-hiker 
climbing techniques, feel free to contact us.


Mtnned & Lady J
Mountain Education
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Brick Robbins" <brick at fastpack.com>
To: <robert at engravingpros.com>
Cc: <pct-l at backcountry.net>
Sent: Friday, October 23, 2009 12:01 PM
Subject: Re: [pct-l] crampons


I think that if you have an ice axe you are pretty much set. I know of
at least one hiker that slipped and fell with trekking poles, but no
ice axe, and died as a result of the fall.

Depending on the conditions, some sort of traction device (screws, the
various devices recently discussed) might be nice, but are not
essential.

Also Mountaineering crampons (10 or 12 point)  are probably more of a
danger than a help.

HYOH



On Fri, Oct 23, 2009 at 10:55 AM, Robert W. Freed
<robert at engravingpros.com> wrote:
>> Are crampons a must for a thru-hiker? Another discussion board I read
>> seemed to think they were superfluous, and mainly extra weight.
>> Thoughts?
>
> If you're asking I suggest you carry them. If you are starting north bound 
> in early April you may need them as early as section c.
>
> Last year I carried screws for my tennis shoes and a little wrench. Never 
> did use them though. Just kick step and trekking poles.
>
> Of course watching my twelve year old son negotiate a icy slope at Matther 
> pass I wish I had brought ice axe, crampons, rope and a few snow screws. 
> :)
> _______________________________________________
> Pct-l mailing list
> Pct-l at backcountry.net
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