Scepter, Mummy 2 and Avy

Submitted by climberdancer on Sun, 03/13/2005 - 00:53
So 5 of us (2 who knew the area and 3 new to MT ice) climbed Scepter and Mummy2. Scepter is going at 4+/5- and very pegged out. The lower section is vertical or not quite while the upper half is about 80 degrees or less. A very fun lead. Ice was fairly soft. Mummy 2 seemd to be on par for the grade (wi3 - wi4) and a bit brittle. Knocked a fairly large sized peice onto my head. :) The Hyalite trailhead got about 8" of powder and the parking lot was empty. Perhaps ya'll were skiing? However, with the snow falling all day, we experienced 3 powder slides. 2 on scepter and 1 on Mummy2 while my second was on it. Below is my report to MT Avy Center if you're interested: Twas after 3:30pm. I had just finished leading and bring up my 2nd on Scepter and then rapped down while my 2nd setup a TR for the other 3 in our party. About 20 minutes later a small avlanche or large spin drift of powder snow came sweeping down. This should be considered a naturally triggered avlanche. No memebers of our party were near the climb (top or below) when this happened. During the day, the snow seemed to bond well to the ice. When brushing off the ice to find a spot to strike, a thin layer always persisted in staying bonded to the ice. The snow falling during the day (we got to the trailhead around 10ish am) was wet. There were no signs of avy activity before we reached the climbs via the gulley from Mummy 1. Noting that first small avy, I lead Mummy 2, after 3 of members of our party climbed it and rapped. After topping out, I hurried to the belay tree, feeling a bit wigged out looking up the gully, though it is realtively low angle. I put my 2nd on belay and proceed to belay him up. When he was about the last headwall on the climb, I spied an avy (number 2) coming down and yelled to him and the others. My 2nd described it liking walking in front of a snow blower, "not bad but not the most enjoyable thing". He felt had he been on the lower angle ice, it could have hurt a bit more. Another member of our party was below in the cave area on climbers right. He reported being pushed against the wall from the wind. This particular avy could have been caused by us (or me belaying) though it seems unlikely given the low angle of the gully. Additionly, when I looked up the gully, the avy cloud was already at the top of it. The last (number 3) came down scepter perhaps about 20 minutes later. I had just lowered my 2nd and was cleaning the anchor and putting myself on belay. I heard "the train" and looked up and saw a very large cloud high up the scepter gully. Knowing members of our party were TR'ing the climb, I yelled "Avalanche." I yelled a 2nd time a few seconds later as the sound noticably picked up. This avy was naturally triggered, most likely coming from very high up the mountain. The members of our party were not TR'ing the climb; in fact, they were in the process of coiling the ropes on climbers left side of Scepter. Watching video footage of this later this evening, this avy lasted about 15 second (counting 1 one thousand, 2 one thousand, etc). The runout on this climb was about 100m and about foot deep and less the 5 feet wide. The debris was still in powder form. No members of the party were hurt. In fact, they seemd to enjoy watching them as we always kept ourselves clear of the climbs (mostly for ice until the first avy). Other than knowing it had been snowing hard all day, we never saw signs of avy danger in our immediate surrounding. Most of us (3 of 5?) have had multi-day avy training. We did not have beacons or probes but 2 brought shovels. My apologies for any misspellings and grammer errors. I'm not feeling the mood to correct them. brad

It's worth noting that throughout the day (3/12) sizeable sluffs could be heard roaring through Flanders - namely above Killer Pillar and Bobo while less volitile, yet constant, spindrift swept the Champagne climbs. The wise will give things a few days before venturing into exposed terrain. Recent ventures (prior to yesterday) into the East Fork have shown stable conditions, yet potential for increased hazzard with new load. Expect to find 18" of unconsolidated sugary facets sandwiched between this new load and a firm 3" crusty layer for things to slide on.