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No doubt in my mind anymore. Richard owns the mountain!
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Joined: Jun 2003
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Originally posted by Rick Kent: Damn! 7 hours from Trail Camp to Trail Crest? Holy crap! Talk about staying focused. You must have an iron will.
Ugh. I'm tired just reading your report.
Like Len I too was puzzled when you apparently were not in your car. On Sat & Sun the more I thought about it the more I wondered if I might get back to see messages regarding your demise. But then I kept telling myself, hey, it's Richard. He wouldn't do anything silly.
So are you ready to go again this next weekend? heh! Maybe we could hit all the needles along the way. 
Congrads on such a challenging "dayhike". And that above photo is fabulous!
-Rick Rick, I'm avoiding Whitney for at least a few weeks. I'm still planning on going in March with you, but truly hope the MR is in shape by then. I hope your choice is for the END of March. Six, or seven, weeks away sounds really, really good to me.
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Originally posted by Passinthru:
Richard, Great to see you can post re. your 'solo' temptation of the mountain. Please don't take this the wrong way, but you have violated one of the rules of backcountry travel, especially under adverse conditions--going SOLO--. Please address this before your 'guru' status encourages others to attempt same, perhaps not with your abilities, and have a very different outcome...............steve Others can talk about this in a manner that would make more sense then I will. As I've said before, I've been doing this for a long, long time and the majority of trips I do are solo. That's just the way I got into this game. I'll also state that luck plays a part in this type of activity. Just because I've had lots of good luck mixed in with some natural talent, doesn't mean that others should do the same. I recently sent out an e-mail about the "me too" syndrome that can be dangerous. I do think that I show very good judgement in the mountains when I'm alone: I bailed off of the Switchback slope, knowing that it would cause a LOT more pain. Hiking/Climbing in winter under a full moon is no more difficult/dangerous than during daylight. If I had snapped a picture of my shadow, you'd be hard-pressed to tell whether it was a daylight, or night, shot. I stopped to rest when I lost the moonlight and didn't continue until I could see. I turned back from the Ebersbacher Ledges on Sunday morning. Others felt the risk was not so severe.
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Originally posted by Rick Kent:
Hey Richard, I assume you were on snowshoes until Trail Camp right? Or did you just force your way up without them? Also, how was the snow slope? Postholing most of the way down?
-Rick Rick, I didn't carry snowshoes with me because I was expecting lighter snow conditions. I had been thinking that skis, with skins, would have been nice for large parts of the route. Either would have saved quite a bit of time for me. Snowshoes would have been a pain on the traverse from Trail Crest to the summit because of the "put them on, take them off," nature of the snow up there, plus the slope angle of the traverses. The snow slope was not bad for a descent, but would be too much work for an ascent. It varied from hard-packed to powder. I do remember thinking that someone who knew the slope well (meaning where the big boulders are) could ski, or glissade it. But, that assessment was made under adverse conditions.
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Originally posted by Ken: Richard, great climb.
I generally think of the mountain as unclimbable around this time of the year....primarily due to the unconsolidated snow that generates severe postholing. That isn't to say that some people could not do a siege-type expedition climb, but why?
However, your climb should be in it's proper context...extraordinary.
One could find fault with going solo, however, I don't. And that is because I know that you were prepared for different eventualities should something have gone wrong. I'm sure that you were prepared to set up a bivy at any point, if that had been neccessary. I'm sure that reliable people knew where you were, and knew when to launch a search, if you didn't call in.
I think you have adequately scouted the mountain previously.
Yes, solo slices the margin of error to a very thin slice, in these winter conditions. But you are mountaineering at a level in which, as long as you use your good sense, the calculated risk is reasonable.
However, the mountain is ripe for an accident.....the front coming in will likely dump some significant snow, and apparently the base is such, that it is perfect for avalanches. A real large accumulation is likely to generate some very large avalanches, of which we see evidence in a variety of places...I'm particularly thinking of the chutes off Thor. But with this crazy weather year, who knows? Ken, I agree 100% with your assessment that things are going to become more dangerous before they become more stable. That layer that I kept punching thru on occasion will probably make for a real nice slide surface in the future. I don't remember where, but I did see evidence of one "slough" already.
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the written trip report didnt do justice to the verbal one over beer at the pizza factory. i was going to do one on the mr route from saturday and sunday, but conditions changed so fast over the one day that it would not be accurate now. at the top of the notch i was wondering how many SAR people would head up on superbowl sunday for a rescue? i know they would leave me there after all the jokes about me being a SARR ( search and rescue rescuer ) anyway those of us that have the confidence in our ability, common sense, double digit ascents, and proper equipment, have very little to worry about when going solo. looking forward to march
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RICHARD (The Legend) P.: Fantastic report & pics...remarkable stamina to pull this one off as you did in difficult - but gorgeous - conditions!
Doug F.
Doug Forbes
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Originally posted by Len_aka no1climber:
the written trip report didnt do justice to the verbal one over beer at the pizza factory. i was going to do one on the mr route from saturday and sunday, but conditions changed so fast over the one day that it would not be accurate now. at the top of the notch i was wondering how many SAR people would head up on superbowl sunday for a rescue? i know they would leave me there after all the jokes about me being a SARR ( search and rescue rescuer ) anyway those of us that have the confidence in our ability, common sense, double digit ascents, and proper equipment, have very little to worry about when going solo. looking forward to march Len, I was hoping you'd at least post your "pucker factor" statement about the descent of the Ebersbacher Ledges. When I heard it on Sunday, I felt quite relieved that I wasn't a coward for turning back. I'm still working on the other photos that I took over the weekend.
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Here are the rest of the photos from the weekend: http://piotrowski.smugmug.com/gallery/2445182 I headed up the North Fork to work the kinks out of my legs. I also headed down the road from my car, afterwards, to clear up the road a bit.
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As usual, Bob R said it best.
-B²
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Richard – your post and others like it show how serious this can be and how close disaster looms. People learn from these accounts and because of that avoid injury or worse. With that in mind, could you be more specific about your comments:
“A posthole that I had created on the way up collapsed when I weighted it. As instinct forced me to react to save myself, my mind was thinking that it was all over. I punched my heels down into the snow as I started to slide and caught the edge of the trail.”
I’m having a hard time visualizing what that means. Where did this happen? Can you describe this event in more detail? Thanks.
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Originally posted by gregf:
Richard – your post and others like it show how serious this can be and how close disaster looms. People learn from these accounts and because of that avoid injury or worse. With that in mind, could you be more specific about your comments:
“A posthole that I had created on the way up collapsed when I weighted it. As instinct forced me to react to save myself, my mind was thinking that it was all over. I punched my heels down into the snow as I started to slide and caught the edge of the trail.”
I’m having a hard time visualizing what that means. Where did this happen? Can you describe this event in more detail? Thanks. I'm going to have a little fun with this one: http://www.mt-whitney.info/viewtopic.php?t=1686 See the third post for additional detail.
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Richard - that first picture was really scary!
Assuming the snow was similar to the later picture you posted (as loose), it would seem that an ice ax would not have stopped you nearly as well as what you did. That would mean years of experience and instincts probably saved you. Do you think there's any validity to that take on it?
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Credit for the climbing photo belongs to Bob Rockwell. As I stated in the other thread, I've used it on occasion to scare people away from thinking that the Main Trail terrain is easier than the MR in winter.
In answer to your quesiton, one statement that has popped into my head many times over the past week is: "I'd much rather be lucky than good."
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Richard - I was actually referring to the cheerleader picture but you answered my question: there's a lot more magic at work than any of us suspect.
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Greg, that's what I thought, but what's scary about a gorgeous woman? Or was it the thought that I was so out of it that I thought a metal sign was a woman? I might still be stuck to the sign if I tried to steal a kiss.
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OK, if someone doesn't photoshop RIchard kissing the sign, I'll find someone who can!
Happy Birthday, buddie!!
-L
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extremely well done! Thanks for another great adventure.
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Holy crap..I just ran across this post, and it does make me feel like a wimp as my longest hike ever was about eight hours. Anyway, it's also inspiring and I'm glad you made it back OK and with another real adventure under your belt.
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