Black Rapids Glacier trip: Day 4: Summit Attempt Day

(All photos by Ryan Shackleton and Sean Bemis. Click images to enlarge)

As you can see from our route above, we didn't summit. We did however, have great weather and an amazing climb. We got up around 4:30 or so, had some breakfast and headed off up the first snow slope.

This is a shot from the glacier on the way up. We we're headed for the ridge on the left.

Sean and Tommy: do these guys look ready for anything or what?

After finally attaining the first part of the ridge we ran into our first bit of technical climbing, which was a crumbly knife ridge with a sheer cliff on one side and steep, mostly loose rock slope on the other. The ridge beyond it also looked pretty well corniced. We decided to put me (novice mountaineer) on belay to see if we could get across. Unfortunately, we only had slings to protect the rock portion of the lead, so I didn't get far before we decided it wasn't worth the effort or the risk. So, we took an alternate route up a snow slope further along the ridge, which worked out great. Unfortunately, we had already wasted a lot of time.

So, after dropping back down off the ridge, we found a nice wide snow slope to head up to attain a different part of the ridge. The slope was really steep, but a lot of fun to climb up. Here's Nate and Tommy at the top of the slope.

Tommy and Nate on top of the ridge.

Sean on the ridge overlooking the Black Rapids Glacier. Meteor Peak is the pointy peak in the background behind and to the left of Sean's head. The picture doesn't really do it justice, but the world drops off right behind Sean.

Me with a view down the Black Rapids Glacier in the background.

Here's a nice shot by Sean off off to the west. I think Denali's in the haze there somewhere.

Another nice photo by Sean of myself in front of some of the peaks to the west of Aurora. Pretty magnificent views up on the ridge.

Here's the narrow part of the ridge that lay ahead. It's pretty heavily corniced on the east side, in fact, since returning I've heard two stories of people breaking off cornices on this particular ridge. The west side is steep, but relatively tame, requiring the occasional picket. So, with novice mountaineer (=cornice probe) Ryan in the lead, we got about halfway to the ridge before deciding to turn back. We decided that the rocky ascent to the summit looked like it might take a while given the lack of snow this year, and since we were already short on time we decided to head down.

Tommy, Nate and me on a nice spot on the ridge before descending.

Sean, Nate and Tommy on the way down. Meteor Peak is the highest peak in the background.

Mt. Deborah and Hess from the ridge.

(time shown is the last weather observation)

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As you can see from our route above, we didn't summit. We did however, have great weather and an amazing climb. We got up around 4:30 or so, had some breakfast and headed off up the first snow slope.	This is a shot from the glacier on the way up. We we're headed for the ridge on the left.
Sean and Tommy: do these guys look ready for anything or what?	After finally attaining the first part of the ridge we ran into our first bit of technical climbing, which was a crumbly knife ridge with a sheer cliff on one side and steep, mostly loose rock slope on the other. The ridge beyond it also looked pretty well corniced. We decided to put me (novice mountaineer) on belay to see if we could get across. Unfortunately, we only had slings to protect the rock portion of the lead, so I didn't get far before we decided it wasn't worth the effort or the risk. So, we took an alternate route up a snow slope further along the ridge, which worked out great. Unfortunately, we had already wasted a lot of time.
So, after dropping back down off the ridge, we found a nice wide snow slope to head up to attain a different part of the ridge. The slope was really steep, but a lot of fun to climb up. Here's Nate and Tommy at the top of the slope.	Tommy and Nate on top of the ridge.
Sean on the ridge overlooking the Black Rapids Glacier. Meteor Peak is the pointy peak in the background behind and to the left of Sean's head. The picture doesn't really do it justice, but the world drops off right behind Sean.	Me with a view down the Black Rapids Glacier in the background.
Here's a nice shot by Sean off off to the west. I think Denali's in the haze there somewhere.	Another nice photo by Sean of myself in front of some of the peaks to the west of Aurora. Pretty magnificent views up on the ridge.
Here's the narrow part of the ridge that lay ahead. It's pretty heavily corniced on the east side, in fact, since returning I've heard two stories of people breaking off cornices on this particular ridge. The west side is steep, but relatively tame, requiring the occasional picket. So, with novice mountaineer (=cornice probe) Ryan in the lead, we got about halfway to the ridge before deciding to turn back. We decided that the rocky ascent to the summit looked like it might take a while given the lack of snow this year, and since we were already short on time we decided to head down.	Tommy, Nate and me on a nice spot on the ridge before descending.
Sean, Nate and Tommy on the way down. Meteor Peak is the highest peak in the background.	Mt. Deborah and Hess from the ridge.