Crevasse rescue incident on Coleman Glacier

Hmmmm....Amar and I had this very discussion about how good a snow year it was above 5k.  He seemed to think it ended up below average.  This was further supported by Jason's opinion (and ultimately Amar and I saw evidence of this last week as well) that the East and North sides of Adams didn't look nearly as good as late June last year on his trip there in early May.  The East side of Adams last weekend had no snow down low, and the main icefalls on one of the SE Glaciers looked like late June or July.  The Adams Glacier is much more broken up than even late June of last year.  I also heard that the upper portion of the Kautz looked a bit thin already on Rainier (as of roughly a week ago).

I think the other thing about Hummel's crevasse experience is that it was up high, possibly on a wind scoured slope, which kept accumulations rather thin?

We had a crevasse fall on the Cowlitz in April 2005 1/2 hour out of Camp Muir. No one was hurt and my partner was able to prussik out. It was after a real windy night with blowing snow and the crevasse was bridged with dry snow and a thin wind crust on the surface. Those conditions always make me nervous because the snow is strong on the surface and weak beneath the surface crust. We didn't have skis, which would have bridged the crust and perhaps made things a bit safer.

I used to think that late winter and early spring are pretty safe because the snow pack was deep and the bridges were thick and strong. Although there may be some truth to that assumption I wouldn't take it to the bank...

Newby question here ....  I'm sorta thinking that given good visibility like you had, crevasse falls in January are VERY rare unless you have a really thin snowpack and/or warm temps (??) 

Early winter == scary crevasses.

One of my very few crevasse incidents was a February climb of Mt Rainier. Not serious -- I just punched a foot through.

Hmmmm....Amar and I had this very discussion about how good a snow year it was above 5k.  He seemed to think it ended up below average.  This was further supported by Jason's opinion (and ultimately Amar and I saw evidence of this last week as well) that the East and North sides of Adams didn't look nearly as good as late June last year on his trip there in early May.  The East side of Adams last weekend had no snow down low, and the main icefalls on one of the SE Glaciers looked like late June or July.  The Adams Glacier is much more broken up then even late June of last year. 

Last June the upper parking lot of Adams "reportedly" had 13' of snow in it....This number sticks in my mind, and so will the mid June picture of the roof of the Federal Privy.

My understadning is that we (S. Wash. & Oregon-Cal. Cascades/ 120% last year. ???with Lassen topping out the range?????

Luckily this year on some aspects "our favoite ones" the snow is holding very well so far...here below the 45th'.

Pin'

Hmmmm....Amar and I had this very discussion about how good a snow year it was above 5k.  He seemed to think it ended up below average.  This was further supported by Jason's opinion (and ultimately Amar and I saw evidence of this last week as well) that the East and North sides of Adams didn't look nearly as good as late June last year on his trip there in early May.  The East side of Adams last weekend had no snow down low, and the main icefalls on one of the SE Glaciers looked like late June or July.  The Adams Glacier is much more broken up than even late June of last year.  I also heard that the upper portion of the Kautz looked a bit thin already on Rainier (as of roughly a week ago).

I think Adams is a different story - it receives snow in the same circumstances as the east slopes of the Cascades. The Stuart area definitely seemed low on snow this year, the Washington Pass area pretty normal but below average below 4500' or so. Baker is a different story. The Coleman glacier coverage a month or more ago looked to be better than all but a few years. And it makes sense. If one looks at storms in the latter part of the winter - there were many that put down new snow at Baker, with little except convergence snow elsewhere. Incidentally, snowpacks in the southern coast Range were exceptional, near 200% in parts of the Fraser drainage (AVA Blanche). So, deep snow north (especially high) and shallow snow south and particularly on the southern east slopes of the Cascades.

I think the other thing about Hummel's crevasse experience is that it was up high, possibly on a wind scoured slope, which kept accumulations rather thin?

I'm always nervous about laterally convex glaciers with shallow snowpack. Much safer, when possible, travelling in the troughs or bowls of glaciers.