We got an alpine start the next morning and were ready to go just before 2am. The wind was definitely stronger but still tolerable. Geared up and feeling our way with headlamps I took the lead. I knew I would need Jon to lead and pitch out the ice ahead of us, so I tried to lead until that point to save his energy. We went to the right above thumb rock working away back on top of the ridge line across snow and horrible rock sections. We were still technically on the upper Carbon Glacier here and at one point I punched through up to my waist into a crevasse or giant snow cave. Having your legs dangling free as you spread your weight and crawl out of a hole in the snow absolutely wakes you up, even at 4am. Despite the deep snow, darkness, and increasing wind we were making good time. I led our way across the ridge line and onto the edge of the Willis Wall just as it started to get light.
With the light we could finally get an idea of what exactly the mountain was throwing at us. We were totally clouded in and the wind was steadily increasing. The clouds made navigation tricky since we could no longer see the landmarks we were using to guide us. Also, since the air temps were still relatively warm the moisture from the clouds was condensing and misting on us. It was like climbing in the rain, with every gust of wind freezing the moisture.
"Jon, I think we need to go up"
I reached the ice face next to the black pyramid and passed the lead off to Jon to pitch out the climbs from here while I belayed and followed.
To this point we had been making really good time, but the moisture continued to come down and the wind continued to increase. It was now strong enough to force us to stay low and brace. An interesting concept as I stand in crampons on a tiny chopped out ice foot hold. Jon led and pitched out the first pitches of ice beautifully. But we were both starting to feel the conditions. Our gore-tex were entirely soaked through, my "water proof" gloves would drip water when I squeezed my ice tools and we were getting noticeable chilled from the wind. Before the last pitch of ice to the top of the black pyramid I looked at Jon and finally had to say what we were both thinking, we had to get shelter and get our core temps up. We were both shaking and totally soaked through, going on like that was just too dangerous.
Jon agreed so we finished the last pitch of ice and were just above the black pyramid and below Liberty Glacier. We found a spot of sheltered snow and dug in preparing a platform big enough for our tent. We braced the tent out as much as we could then dashed for the sleeping bags and out of the wet clothes. We passed out there as the winds absolutely battered the tent for at least 4 hours.
When I finally woke up the clouds had at least lifted and the sun was shining but the wind was still blasting the tent, enough that we were concerned it would fail. We discussed our options and realized they both were bad. We could stay the night at this bivy site, but it was extremely exposed and we weren't totally confident the tent would hold. We also were not confident we could melt snow for drinking water with the conditions and exposure as they were. The other option was push for the summit and try to find something more sheltered on the opposite side of Liberty Cap. Going for it meant putting back on the frozen wet clothes (didn't dry at all) and risking hypothermia and frost bite. We decided we had to go for it, the sun was out we could see and hopefully our body temps would dry our wet and frozen clothes.
Above the Black Pyramid we encountered the technical crux of the climb, at least three more pitches of steep (approximately 75+ degree), hard ice. Just as before Jon pitched it out while I belayed and followed. By this point we were both getting exhausted as we climbed and fought the wind. We later learned that wind speeds that afternoon and the next day were pushing over 80mph.
We cleared the ice then made the last push on to Liberty Glacier up to Liberty Cap, 14,112 ft.
We sat at the summit for around 45 seconds before descending between Liberty Cap and the true summit to find a sheltered bivy site. We knew the risk of taking this extra bivy since we only had limited amount of fuel to make water, but the sun was setting, we were exhausted, and just needed the rest. When I took my boots off to crawl in the tent, my socks had frozen to the inside of my boot and I couldn't dislodge them. Both of our finger tips were numb and I couldn't feel my big toes.
We slept in some the next morning to make sure we were good and rested. What finally pushed us out of the tent was the shifting winds. We were no longer sheltered and the tent was once again taking the brunt of 70-80 mph winds and threatening to collapse. We burned the rest of our fuel melting water to get us down, then quickly packed everything up and headed to the east to try and find our way onto the Emmons Glacier. My socks were still frozen to my boot and my finger tips and toes were still numb, but at least they were still the proper color!
Once we got to the ice wall above the glacier, we were clouded in again and could no longer find our land marks.
We climbed up to Columbia Crest 14,400ft on the true summit to get a better vantage point. We had to be precise in where we dropped off the summit in order to avoid the ice wall, and make sure we didn't end up 20 miles off course at the bottom. After waiting several minutes for momentary cloud clearings, we finally had our points of reference lined up and started our descent.
By now we were ready to get down. Naturally after dropping just a couple hundred feet off the summit the clouds cleared and visibility was perfect. The lower we got the more sheltered from the wind we were. We found the well used trail on the Emmons Glacier and plunged stepped our way to Camp Schurman. The Emmons Glacier was well traveled but the warm temperatures and being sheltered from the wind was making the snow unstable and both Jon and myself punched through hidden crevasses multiple times. We reached Camp Schurman and checked in with the ranger to let them know we were overdue a day but fine. They said no one had summitted any of the routes in two days due to the winds. After some high fives and strutting, we continued descending over the Inter Glacier, glissaded Glacier Basin and made it back to the car before dark. We sped to town and found a Mexican restaurant that was open late and literally ordered the largest things on the menu.
This was a true adventure that pushed my comfort zone. We were totally reliant on each other and our abilities to finish it, and it is only now setting in exactly what we accomplished. That being said, I hope the feeling returns to my finger tips and big toes soon.
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