Camp Muir Advice...

Hello,

I am planning on doing the typical paridise to muir then board down trip in the near future. I went last year with a friend who climbs. He will not be with me this time but I feel pretty good about doing it myself. I belive this is a good intro to ski mountaineering. ( I may be wrong though) I do not neccessarialy remember the route up or down though as it has been awhile. Are there any suggestions on would have on maps or routes for a decent? What gear besides a pack, board, water, food should I bring. (compass maybe?) Any suggestions for a first timer also appreciated! Thanks

Dom

I always carry a map, compass and altimeter (set at Paradise) when I go to Muir. Too many people have become disoriented and died in bad weather up there. If you want to be extra cautious, you might pre-set your compass for the bearing from Camp Muir to McClure Rock. That's the direction you generally want to follow during the descent. Between McClure (Pebble Creek) and Panorama Point, the terrain can be rather disorienting in fog. Pay attention to the compass and altimeter. There's a ridge to follow, but it's quite broad and you can easily wander off the wrong direction. Below Panorama you're pretty safe just going downhill and south.

I think it's a good practice to never go to Muir alone if you think the weather may sock in.

the park service has a muir snowfield compass navigation cheat sheet available that you can carry in addition to (not instead of) a map to provide a little extra help if you get into a whiteout.
Its available here:
www.nps.gov/mora/climb/images/mapcompass.pdf

find a good gear checklist (theres one available in the Mountaineers Freedom of the Hills book, but theres probably plenty others available online.

definitely bring a sunhat, sunglasses, sunscreen....even if its overcast up there, you can get fried fast.

have fun, and play it conservatively.  as long as the weather is good its unlikely you'll be more than a few hundred yards from other climbers and skiers on a weekend up there.

Pick a blue sky day. You just don't want to be up there in nasty weather. Sometimes it is tricky, because it can be a little nasty at the parking lot and then you can break through to blue sky above Pebble Creek. The mountain can make it's own weather any time of the year. When it gets dicey, just turn around. I made the mistake of following an RMI group up into very nasty weather. When they convinced me to turn around, I was in some real nasty stuff. That was in July.

People have died or have dissappeared in whiteout conditions. They get blown off course on a North-South compass route. In bad weather, a gps would be a good backup. Take waypoints on the way up, esp. Pebble Creek.

The lower route between Glacier Vista and Pebble Creek is different between Summer and Winter.

July and August are premium day hike months, just follow the crowd.

I have never taken too much water, although I have given away water to folks who had none.

One bluebird day, I mindlessly followed some footprints on the way down. It finally occurred to me that I was off course. I made a left turn and finally found the main trail in the snow.

See you up there!

All good advice above.
Can't stress the sunscreen enough I just went kissless for a month because of a bout with skin cancer on my lips.
Ive heard Most inexperienced people get found to the west and more experienced people get found to the east. this is due to the Muir snowfield having a westward tilt or fall line that falls slightly SW.

the park service has a muir snowfield compass navigation cheat sheet available that you can carry in addition to (not instead of) a map to provide a little extra help if you get into a whiteout.
Its available here:
www.nps.gov/mora/climb/images/mapcompass.pdf

My brother Carl documented problems with the information provided by the park for the Muir Snowfield. I never got a copy of what he wrote, and I don't know whether he got the park to correct their information. Be cautious about the park cheat sheet.