Timpanogos Everest Ridge March 2003

Shaun and Jared climbed Timpanogos Everest Ridge March 27-28, 2003. Kelly and Lora helped with support at base camp, partly because Kelly (die hard!) had to get up at 5:00 a.m. to hike back down and present a paper at a conference in Salt Lake that morning. > Lora, Jared and Kelly take a brief break along the trail. The approach is approximately half the climb (4,000' elevation, 3 miles) but doesn't feel like it! Maybe it has something to do with the air at 11,750'. Maybe it's th trail vs. kicking your way up crusted snow. Probably it's just the angle. The summit push also climbs 4,000' but in only 1.5 miles as the crow flies.
Shaun & Kelly @ Base camp.	Jared & Lora. Temperatures dropped to around 10 F at 8,000'.	Everest Ridge from camp.
< Shaun kicks his way up the first part of Everest Ridge above base camp near the Baldy shoulder. > Jared climbs the first cliff band as Shaun boot belays with his axe.
Shaun poses half way up the ridge. Jared conducts the marvelous symphony of nature. "Fortissimo!"
Jared climbs the Step, named for Everest's Hillary Step near the summit ridge (this is around 11,000'). Shaun lowered the 40' rope as soon as Jared climbed high enough to reach it, which offered only marginal protection in the shallow, light snowpack for the anchor. The climb was easy enough because we didn't slip, but exciting because holds were small and we could rarely see what we were hooking with our axes. The photo is taken almost straight down.
Jared climbs the steep remainder of the Step. While deep snow made the going easier, a fall here, with the cliffs below, would be costly. Looking down at Everest Ridge from above the Step.
After traversing half way toward "the glacier" (left at the lowest part of the saddle) Jared pauses along the summit ridge. We continued on to the glacier and descended there (back down the west face to base camp) because of the lack of cliff bands next to Ginsu.
Jared glisades down toward Ginsu on a near-perfect sun crust. We sometimes got moving over 30 mph once we sat on our shovels. Remember kids, always climb with an avalanche beacon, probe and shovel. When the snow is too stable to avalanche, sitting on the shovel will give you another 5 or 10 mph on the ride down. And how do you stop when approaching cliff bands or cement-hard avalanche debris? Hold your axe like this and plunge it in deep. If the crust is hard, place your top hand over the axe head so it won't get ripped from your grip, and you'd better be wearing a leash! View other Timp climbs: Timpanogos May 2 '98 Timpanogos May 16 '98 Timpanogos North Summit Ginsu