Intermediate Alpine Ice - Field Trip 1 - Mount Rainier Lower Nisqually Glacier

TBD

PROGRAM

There is natural progression of things and the focus in this clinic is on the kind of skills you need for alpine ice climbs in the cascades, so working up to leading on low-angle alpine ice and progressing to top-roping vertical or steep ice is the goal for this weekend.

1. Practicing walking in crampons on low-angle ice without rope.
Once on the moraine and our way to the seracs, I anticipate stopping as soon as we hit exposed ice, but while still mostly on some mildly ondulating flats. We'll take off our packs, put on crampons and a single ice tool in hand, and practice 5-10 min. walking around on the surrounding terrain without rope protection until people feel comfortable.
Afterwards, we'll get to the seracs and find a spot to use as the base. Once there, we'll repeat the above again, but now walking on the seracs, still mostly low-angle terrain, without rope, only with an ice tool in hand. This is where you'll have the chance to make sure your crampons fit well, practice proper French technique, explore the limits of where you feel comfortable without the safety of a rope, both on the way up and on the way down.

2. Practicing screw placements, V-threads, and anchor building.
Next, we'll switch gears to placements. Everyone will build at least two different 2 or 3 point anchors out of a combination of screws and V-threads.

3. Next we’ll set up top ropes to practice ice climbing. There will be multiple top ropes and varying degrees of difficulty, so folks can rotate around as they feel.

4. Once folks are feeling comfortable on the ice, we can transition to mock leads or leading on ice.