This is pretty much old news now but for various reasons we have not been able to cover it for you yet.
In short, couple of days ago, SkinTrack contributor Eric Carter was able to set a new fastest known time (FKT) for the ascent and descent of Mount Rainier via the usual Disappointment Cleaver route. The previous record was held by brother Andy and Jason Dorais using skis as well.
For the long story you can head over to Backcountry Magazine article – http://backcountrymagazine.com/stories/reign-rainier-carter-resets-speed-record/
Mount Rainier
Best 6 Ski Mountaineering Reported Trips of 2012-2013 "season"
The other day, on Twitter, Carl (@CarlKohnstamm) asked me for my opinion on “What are the top 5 ski mountaineering trip (reports) of 2012-13”? (It was worded a bit differently but after clarification that is what he meant.)
That is a one damn great question – fun to answer but by no means it’s easy. Here I am going to attempt to best express my opinion while approaching the question from a wider perspective, and obviously taking into account only trips that I know of.
Note: FKT stands for “fastest known time”
1. Matterhorn FKT (2h 52min) – by Kilian Jornet
Why I included it? Because it was realized by arguably the best skimo racer ever. Kilian “ran” from Cervinia, Italy (around 2,050 m) to the top of Matterhorn (4,478 m) in 1h 56min, which was an ascent speed of 1,256 m per hour!
He descented back in 56min which was a descent speed of 2601 m/h – that is almost like skiing!
» One of the various reports from this “trip” can be found on Climbing.com – http://www.climbing.com/news/kilian-jornet-shatters-matterhorn-speed-record/
2. Mount Rainier FKT – by Jason and Andy Dorais
Besides, Mt Rainer is almost 4,400 m high (14,411 feet) and the route up it definitely includes enough hazard negotiation that one cannot just go without thinking. Skiing it down fast is also quite dangerous.
This is also the one performance of 2013 that pisses me off the most as Dorais brothers stole the record from our team only about 10 days after Eric Carter and Nick Elson pushed their old one down to 4h 19min. 🙂
» Report by Jason from their attempt – http://jasondorais.blogspot.ca/2013/06/mt-rainier-speed-run-35755.html
» Report from our trip – http://www.skintrack.com/trip-reports-conditions/mount-rainier-record-4h-19min-12sec/
3. Steep descents in Coast Mountains – by Tevor Hunt
This is a superb read of a solo descent of a steep face on an undisclosed peak not too far from civilization in the Coast Mountains of BC.
But this one is only one of many under-the-radar (1st) descents of the little known steeps hunter Trevor Hunt.
(Interview with Trevor coming soon!)
» Read “Full Commitment” here http://www.coaststeepskier.com/wphome/?p=21242
4. Tantalus Traverse in a day (FKT) – by Skyler Des Roches, Christian Veenstra
A fitting quote from their day:
“Crossing above above a nunatak, then literally sprinting below a fierce cracked serac cave, we made our way along another bench between crevasses until we reached a notch on the south shoulder of Dione.”
» Here’s the full account of this 17h day – http://runoutoffroute.wordpress.com/2013/05/22/tantalus-traverse-in-a-day/
5. Spearhead Traverse 2 x FKT – by Eric Carter, Nick Elson, Brad Schalles
Spearhead Traverse has been testing grounds for Coastal speedy ski mountaineers for a long time. The tradition was likely started by no other than Greg Hill back in 2004 or so on the classic version (Blackcomb to Whistler Village via Singing Pass).
This spring three of my good friends took on these records with great success:
First, Eric and Nick lowered Greg Hill’s classic version of the traverse record from 4h to 3h 10min
http://coastmountainskiing.com/race-spearhead-traverse-fkt/
Then couple of weeks later, Brad Schalles called me to investigate the route I took in 2009 on the long version to make sure he stayed on it as close as possible. He pushed the time down to 6h 47min! No report but Brad’s blog is here – http://westcoastskimo.blogspot.ca/
6. Steep skiing on Mount Robson – by Reiner Thoni and Jeff Colvin
Reiner and Jeff are my good friends from which I have learnt a great deal whether about mountains or just life in general. I was happy to see that after over a year of not seeing each other they were able to hook up for such an adventure this summer.
By now, Reiner knows Robson very intimately – summitted it about 5 times and skied it twice in last 2 years – yet this must have been a highly rated trip up a familiar mountain.
For those that don’t know Reiner – he is consistently highest placed North American at skimo world champs and placed 15th at Pierra Menta last March. But his big heart mostly beats for things outside of racing.
Eye candy
I left videos out of the above list on purpose. Because if you are like me then I didn’t want you to get caught up in a spectacle and forget about priorities. And you are welcome 🙂
Here’s a short clip of Kilian’s record on Matterhorn.
Reiner’s and Jeff’s skimo adventure on Robson.
Honorable mention
This didn’t make it to the list as it has nothing to do with ski mountaineering but what a performance and inspiration – Ueli Steck speed soloing South Face on Annapurna this October. More at Alpinist – http://www.alpinist.com/doc/web13f/newswire-ueli-steck-south-face-annapurna
Giving all: Mount Rainier on skis in 4h 19min 12sec
Every year, I am amazed with progress of speed oriented ski mountaineering in North America, whether that be the actual performances (racing or speed attempts) or the growth of passion for such things.
To me, mountains and speed represent joy, freedom and progress, each on their own. Blended together, one finds plenty of reasons to not sit still.
However, we are happy to sit still today 🙂
The Rainier speed mission
Obviously, a big mountain like Rainier is on the lists of many people. And it is an obvious target for speed loving ski mountaineers as well.
Our yesterday’s attempt was spurred on mainly by Eric’s obsession with it and a small window of opportunity between stormy weather periods. And so the day before three of us – Eric Carter, Nick Elson and I – set out from Vancouver to give our sea-level lungs a beating.
Up to Camp Muir and to Ingraham Flat
The forecast was calling for a sunny day with no winds, and that’s exactly what we got.
Right from the beginning Eric set a fast pace with Nick and I trailing behind. Once out of the trees and above the rolls the travelling became easier as we were able to find patches of untracked snow.
Traversy terrain features and the very firm conditions were proving a bit challenging as my binding’s toe piece released couple of times on me. With each time becoming more difficult to close the gap on the boys.
Not knowing how Eric and Nick were feeling but seeing them having about 3min on me by Camp Muir (10188 ft = 3105 m), we reached it in about 1h 35min, I had to honestly decide what was best for us. Feeling weird overall, I yelled behind them that they should continue without me. They shouted back that I should go on as they knew I usually come around.
Since a long traverse followed I thought I might recover but by Ingraham Flat (around 11000 ft = 3350 m) my engine light definitely came on. Altitude played some role too and once more I waved at the boys to go for it without me. Nick had the rope, so they didn’t really need me.
Here is how Nick and Eric were dealing with the altitude:
Nick: “I’d say it started to be quite noticeable around the base of the Cleaver. By the summit I had a pretty good throbbing in my head and just couldn’t move very quickly.”
Eric: “Below the cleaver I felt good and above, increasingly out of breath. No headache or nausea. I think we got to descending before anything serious could kick in. Certainly being acclimatized above sea-level would have been useful. I can see the Pacific Ocean from my street so that is really no help in the mountains.”
Summit and descent
Before I skied down I watched the boys climbing while eating at Ingraham Flat. Here are some words from Eric: “The cleaver went quickly without crampons though we put them on higher up. Two crevasses had bridges but the route was fairly straightforward and direct. The summit rim rocks were a welcome sight and from there it is a quick run over to the tippy top.”
The summit of Mount Rainier is at 14,411 feet (4392 m) and Eric’s Suunto watch measured a total of 2777 m of ascent.
From the cleaver down they had “…nice spring conditions. Luckily the Muir snowfield stayed fairly cool so the hard crust that made skinning up trickier was screaming fast on the descent.”
Nervously watching up the slope from my car, once I saw them ripping I ran up the snowy trail-head in my sandals to share the moment with them. Amazing, we knew a good shave off the old record was possible but we sure didn’t really expect 4h 19min 12sec!
Surprising things happen when you dare to try and you give it all.
On being fast in the mountains
He summarized:
“Sadly, there’s no secret to skiing fast, as I’m sure you know. You have to train, but I suppose that if you’re inherently a bit lazy like me, it helps if you can do fun stuff that also happens to be good training.
A big part of alpine climbing is actually planning, strategy and logistics and I’ve learnt a lot about that sort of thing from some very good climbers and I think a lot of it is very applicable to skiing.”
