Nice work! I climbed it in Feb. of '94. The narrow steep section in the middle is of course the crux, and is referred to as the hourglass. We were probably 30 minutes later in the sun's path and stuff from the top zinged at us hitting me a few times. You're in better shape than I was for sure! I didn't recall difficulty with my axes but I don't remember. Our snow conditions were a bit better than what I see here, lowering the main part of the climb by one grade.. I didn't complain. But after Leuthold's, coming down the slogsback was like walking down a sidewalk - with my chest puffing out with bravado. Of course you can die just as easily going down the slogsback. with the simulclimb rope-adope technique I recommend the upper guy has you on some sort of belay. When you get all tired and shit (I was feeling as badly as you!) . I know JUST what is was like.
Nice! I feel lucky because I was just starting to lose purchase and struggle as it got icy in the hour glass, but then was able to kick in again once on the snowfield above it. I decided that day I would never do Leuthold with normal snowboard boots again. Cheers!
Climbed it in 1998 with Les Campbell and another climber from Idaho. We were there for the tri-state Mountain Rescue training. Les and I represented Deschutes County Search and Rescue from Bend, OR.
Epic content! Thanks for taking the time to document and share! On the icy part of the coulior you guys we’re basically soloing right? Neither could’ve arrested the other in a fall?
Hey, Thanks! If the uphill climber falls, all the downhill can do is brace for impact. The uphill climber will generally be feeling some amount of tension in the rope as he climbs. If downhill climber just slips, the uphill climber will likely feel tension build in time to react and provide support. Don't want to have much slack in the rope to avoid dynamic loading as much as possible. A real fall with some shock load would probably take us both down in the icy a. The primary use of the rope was for crossing the snow covered crevasse below the couloir. If the climb was much more difficult, we would probably have used a couple ice screws where possible.
Man, I remember being desperate to get out of the steep and make it over that hump to see the other side and rest. The final pitch from there is a nice rewarding walk by comparison, lol. Thanks for the info. Cheers!
Why climb steep on a rope if you aren't sticking in a picket / ice screw to simul? Looked steep and icy enough that if one of you fell, the other would just get yanked off his feet. Not criticizing specifically. Just looked for you thought process. Maybe you guys are just super confident in that terrain and though a fall was super duper unlikley?
You are right that we were not fully protecting. Mainly roped up to cross the known crevasse on lower reid glacier and after that point we just kept moving. I agree fully with your criticism and I dont like being stuck under rope teams on hood for the sake reason. They go down together. Lead climber can help support weaker downhill climber, small time to react as he feels rope get loaded, but if he gets cherry bombed or falls himself, it is 2 dead instead of 1. Fun stuff!
Question from someone with less experience, planning on taking a course soon: if your partner above you falls in the couloir, do you expect to be able to dig in well enough stop him after he slides past you and the rope bottoms out? Do you use a dynamic rope for this purpose? Similarly, if you fall below your partner, is he supposed to be keeping 3 points of contact and be ready to catch you at all times?
It's better if the upper climber falls through bc the force would pull the lower climber uphill and it would be easy to arrest that fall in a steep area. It would also be easier to work a recover from the downhill edge of a crevasse. It's a lot easier to yank somebody downhill because it's the same direction as gravity. I think the upper climber always shoulders more risk. You can minimize impact load by keeping the line taught, so not allowing slack in the rope is important when crossing a crevasse, but the upper climber would only have a moment to feel increasing tension and react if the lower climber falls, whether they fall through the snow or just slip/slide back downhill. Dynamic rope is generally best, in this video you can see there were also stop knots tied that may add some resistance or help catch the edge of a crevasse and also provide other points to clip on. In deep snow static line may be better, but I'd talk to people with more experience about that. I'm only an amateur :)
@@summitspecials thanks so much for the detailed reply. That makes sense about the uphill climber falling into a crevasse and pulling their partner uphill. What about a scenario where the uphill climber loses footing and slides down past the downhill climber? Do you hope the uphill guy can arrest himself before yanking you down? Or do you dig in for dear life to brace and absorb the impact when they hit extent of the rope? Or is it just critical to avoid this scenario because you’d be SOL lol
Nice work! I climbed it in Feb. of '94. The narrow steep section in the middle is of course the crux, and is referred to as the hourglass. We were probably 30 minutes later in the sun's path and stuff from the top zinged at us hitting me a few times. You're in better shape than I was for sure! I didn't recall difficulty with my axes but I don't remember. Our snow conditions were a bit better than what I see here, lowering the main part of the climb by one grade.. I didn't complain. But after Leuthold's, coming down the slogsback was like walking down a sidewalk - with my chest puffing out with bravado. Of course you can die just as easily going down the slogsback. with the simulclimb rope-adope technique I recommend the upper guy has you on some sort of belay. When you get all tired and shit (I was feeling as badly as you!) . I know JUST what is was like.
Nice! I feel lucky because I was just starting to lose purchase and struggle as it got icy in the hour glass, but then was able to kick in again once on the snowfield above it. I decided that day I would never do Leuthold with normal snowboard boots again. Cheers!
Man those are some hard swings
Agreed. Probably more due to inexperience and less than ideal axe combo. Wore myself out pretty quickly there.
Climbed it in 1998 with Les Campbell and another climber from Idaho. We were there for the tri-state Mountain Rescue training. Les and I represented Deschutes County Search and Rescue from Bend, OR.
That's awesome! I was in 4th grade that year lol
big respect brothers! Leuthold looks so technical!!!
🤙🤙
Epic content! Thanks for taking the time to document and share! On the icy part of the coulior you guys we’re basically soloing right? Neither could’ve arrested the other in a fall?
Hey, Thanks! If the uphill climber falls, all the downhill can do is brace for impact. The uphill climber will generally be feeling some amount of tension in the rope as he climbs. If downhill climber just slips, the uphill climber will likely feel tension build in time to react and provide support. Don't want to have much slack in the rope to avoid dynamic loading as much as possible. A real fall with some shock load would probably take us both down in the icy a. The primary use of the rope was for crossing the snow covered crevasse below the couloir. If the climb was much more difficult, we would probably have used a couple ice screws where possible.
At 16:41 that's the queen's chair. I took a nice long break there. There's more exposure above but the climbing is easy.
Man, I remember being desperate to get out of the steep and make it over that hump to see the other side and rest. The final pitch from there is a nice rewarding walk by comparison, lol. Thanks for the info. Cheers!
Nice job! Thanks for the video, very interesting and very detailed.
Much appreciated!
Why climb steep on a rope if you aren't sticking in a picket / ice screw to simul? Looked steep and icy enough that if one of you fell, the other would just get yanked off his feet. Not criticizing specifically. Just looked for you thought process. Maybe you guys are just super confident in that terrain and though a fall was super duper unlikley?
You are right that we were not fully protecting. Mainly roped up to cross the known crevasse on lower reid glacier and after that point we just kept moving. I agree fully with your criticism and I dont like being stuck under rope teams on hood for the sake reason. They go down together. Lead climber can help support weaker downhill climber, small time to react as he feels rope get loaded, but if he gets cherry bombed or falls himself, it is 2 dead instead of 1. Fun stuff!
Question from someone with less experience, planning on taking a course soon: if your partner above you falls in the couloir, do you expect to be able to dig in well enough stop him after he slides past you and the rope bottoms out? Do you use a dynamic rope for this purpose? Similarly, if you fall below your partner, is he supposed to be keeping 3 points of contact and be ready to catch you at all times?
It's better if the upper climber falls through bc the force would pull the lower climber uphill and it would be easy to arrest that fall in a steep area. It would also be easier to work a recover from the downhill edge of a crevasse. It's a lot easier to yank somebody downhill because it's the same direction as gravity. I think the upper climber always shoulders more risk. You can minimize impact load by keeping the line taught, so not allowing slack in the rope is important when crossing a crevasse, but the upper climber would only have a moment to feel increasing tension and react if the lower climber falls, whether they fall through the snow or just slip/slide back downhill. Dynamic rope is generally best, in this video you can see there were also stop knots tied that may add some resistance or help catch the edge of a crevasse and also provide other points to clip on. In deep snow static line may be better, but I'd talk to people with more experience about that. I'm only an amateur :)
@@summitspecials thanks so much for the detailed reply. That makes sense about the uphill climber falling into a crevasse and pulling their partner uphill. What about a scenario where the uphill climber loses footing and slides down past the downhill climber? Do you hope the uphill guy can arrest himself before yanking you down? Or do you dig in for dear life to brace and absorb the impact when they hit extent of the rope? Or is it just critical to avoid this scenario because you’d be SOL lol
I just saw this climb posted on Reddit and now I am wondering if this is the elusive poster THB??
Awesome video dude. LC is on my list of routes to take up there.
Lol I'm not THB if that's what you mean
Route looked like a pumper, where do you find all this imagery for route planning?
In this video I pull up summitpost.org ... I added a link in the video description✌
just slow down man... your partner should have slowed way down, and kept your pace. shouldn't be redlining. the slower climber always sets the pace.
Thanks. Yea, I understand the concern there. We pushed it and wouldn't have had to if we had more water. Cheers!