Forum Index > Trip Reports > Mt Adams Summit Bivy, Dec 7-8, 2019
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Eric Gilbertson
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Eric Gilbertson
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PostTue Dec 10, 2019 10:42 pm 
Mount Adams (12,267ft) Summit Bivy Dec 7-8, 2019, Eric I needed to preacclimate for an upcoming high altitude mountaineering trip, so wanted to get as high as possible for as long as possible over the weekend. I considered climbing Rainier, but with bad weather forecast Saturday it seemed likely the road to the trailhead at Paradise might not even be opened. That decision wouldn’t be announced until Saturday morning, so seemed risky. Mt Hood would have a reliably-open trailhead, but seemed like it would be crowded and not as high as Mt Adams. Mt Adams had zero red tape, had a crevasse-free route to the summit which meant soloing would relatively safe, and I could probably camp on the summit above 12,000ft. The forecast was for precipitation starting Friday night and continuing through Saturday night. But Sunday would be clear, so I figured if I could tough it out Saturday and hike up to the summit through the whiteout, I would be rewarded with a nice sunrise Sunday morning.
My campsite on the summit
My campsite on the summit
The first light near treeline Saturday morning.
The first light near treeline Saturday morning.
Entering the whiteout above treeline
Entering the whiteout above treeline
The road to the south side trailhead on Mt Adams was reportedly driveable as of Tuesday according to the Gifford Pinchot forest service website. However, there was forecast to be up to 9 inches of snow falling at Paradise Friday night through Saturday night (at a similar elevation, around 5,500ft). So it was unclear if the road would stay open past Saturday, or get snowed over. The road to the south side trailhead is unmaintained, so once it gets snowed over you have to wait until May until the snow melts out. Friday night I drove down to Trout Lake and up road FS 8040. There were many fresh blowdowns over the road that had very recently been sawed out. I hit snow on the road around 5,000ft and in several places the center was deep enough to bottom out the forester. I made it to the trailhead at 5,600ft, unsurprisingly the only one there. I stopped to decide on a plan. It seemed risky to park there for the next few days. If it snowed as predicted, I could probably barely make it down with an extra 9 inches of snow on the road. But if the forecast was a bit off and snow level was lower, I could easily get stuck. Just about then it started snowing very hard, quickly blanketing all remaining dirt patches on the road. I reluctantly made the call to park 1,000ft below projected snowline to ensure I wouldn’t get stuck. I drove back down to 4,600ft, just below a gate at the Morrison Camp turnoff. At that elevation the snow had turned to heavy rain. I parked on the side of the road, crawled in the back of the car and went to sleep.
My view for about the next 6 hours
My view for about the next 6 hours
My campsite Saturday evening on the summit
My campsite Saturday evening on the summit
Sunrise the next morning
Sunrise the next morning
The next morning a thin coating of snow blanketed the ground, but it had changed to cold rain. I scarfed down some food and starting hiking at 3:45am through the rain with all my overnight gear. As I got higher the rain changed to a heavy snow, and luckily I hadn’t gotten too wet yet. I reached the trailhead an hour later, trudging through deeper fresh snow. I put on my snowshoes then, following faint tracks likely from last weekend. The trail was pretty easy to follow up to the edge of treeline. Just as I emerged above treeline the sky was bright enough to no longer need my headlamp. However, it was becoming a thicker whiteout as I moved higher. I managed to follow the intermittent wooden posts up to the ~8,000ft bivy sites, but above then it was basically navigating by GPS. I tried to follow rocks sticking out of the snow to have some reference points, but often just pushed up through the snow. Progress was pretty slow breaking trail solo. Eventually I topped out on Pikers Peak, and then the wind and snow really picked up. The whole left side of my body (the windward side) was becoming plastered in thick rime ice. It took approximately 60 seconds for my goggles to ice over on the outside, so I was constantly scraping the ice off. I could barely see my snowshoes, and got a bit turned around in the flat area between Pikers Peak and the summit. It wasn’t actually that dangerous, though, since I was fully prepared to camp wherever I wanted with full winter overnight gear in my pack. The conditions couldn’t really get much worse, I figured, so if I’m going to camp anywhere it had better be the summit so I can get the most acclimation.
Summit panorama
Summit panorama
By 2:30pm my GPS showed I was on the summit, though it was impossible to tell. I eventually stumbled across the wooden structure up there, which indeed verified I was on the summit. However, it was completely buried in snow except for a small patch of wood visible between the 3ft-long rime ice feathers. I managed to find a small region on the leeward side where the wind was a bit less ferocious, and quickly set about making a campsite. I used my snowshoes to level out a platform, then carefully staked out the tent with my ice ax, hiking poles broken down, and deadmen anchors. I then crawled in the tent to insert the poles, and dug out a nice vestibule. I crawled in the tent and wouldn’t leave for about the next 16 hours. Over the next few hours I melted snow from the vestibule and put the warm nalgenes under my shirt. I also worked to peel the rime ice off all my clothes, and cooked up three packs of Ramen noodles for dinner. By 5:30pm I was done with all my chores, and pretty cold and tired still, so crawled in my doubled-up sleeping bag setup and went to sleep. The wind and snow appeared to continue throughout the night, until about 3am when the wind intensified. I recalled it was forecast to change from SW to NW, and the shift must have happened then. That’s also about the time my pad had self-deflated enough for me to be resting on the snow and very cold. I reluctantly got out of my bags to re-inflate my pad. After 3am I never really got any more sleep, through a combination of the wind shaking my tent and me being very cold (despite doing situps). I regretted not just bringing my heavier-20F bag. It was definitely a good character-building experience though. I just hoped the forecast was correct for clearing Sunday.
Summit shadow
Summit shadow
Looking west
Looking west
Standing on the true summit a little bit to the east
Standing on the true summit a little bit to the east
By 6:30am I poked my head out the tent and the skies were clear! There was an undercast in almost all directions, with Rainier and Hood sticking out prominently. It was quite cold, and I really wanted to stay in my sleeping bag, but convinced myself to get outside quickly to catch sunrise. I suited up, crammed my feet into my frozen boots, and braved the cold and wind to get some cool pictures. I soon retreated back to the tent and crawled back in the sleeping bag. Over the next hour I waited while the sun warmed up the tent and I warmed up my frozen toes. By 9am I decided to head down so I could get back to Seattle at a reasonable hour. I’m not sure if an extra hour above 12,000ft would help with acclimation, or if the benefit really comes from merely being exposed to 12,000ft and returning to sea level to let my body recover. At any rate, I was moving down by 9:30am. Navigation was infinitely easier this time, and I easily hiked down over Pikers Peak, then plunge stepped down the south slopes. I then crossed over some exposed rocks and switched to snowshoes as the terrain leveled. I descended down to the 8,000ft bivy sites and was surprised to see another group of skiers and snowshoers ascending. It seemed a bit late in the day, around 11am, but they said they were going for the summit. Hopefully my tracks helped.
Hiking back down
Hiking back down
Descending below the undercast
Descending below the undercast
Looking back up at the summit
Looking back up at the summit
I quickly descended back down through the trees and reached the trailhead around noon. Interestingly, much less than 9 inches of snow had fallen, and there were four hardcore trucks parked there. It looked like two of them were snowmobilers and the other two were from the group of skiers and snowshoers. In hindsight my forester could have certainly made it down in those conditions. But I think I made the right choice to minimize the chance of getting stuck there til spring. It’s much safer to drive up a road as high as possible in good stable weather than to drive up in worsening weather, and park while more snow accumulates. I continued hiking down the road for another hour back to my car, which was almost exactly at the edge of snowline. I didn’t even have to put chains on, and was soon driving back to Seattle. Link to full report and more pictures

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Brian R
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PostWed Dec 11, 2019 12:50 am 
Wow! Absolutely amazing. I've climbed it by six different routes, skied it, done a circumnavigation--but I would never have the b@!!s to do a trip like this. Well done.

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Gil
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PostWed Dec 11, 2019 6:40 am 
Beautiful summit images!

Friends help the miles go easier. Klahini
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thunderhead
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PostWed Dec 11, 2019 8:33 am 
Legit climb! What are you preparing for? Aconcagua? Some other Andean peak?

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Blowdown
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PostWed Dec 11, 2019 1:00 pm 
Quote:
It was definitely a good character-building experience though.
Ya think?!? biggrin.gif When we climbed Kilimanjaro a few years back, the guides said that acclimation is most effective in the days leading up to the ascent, because your body adjusts back to the lower elevations fairly quickly. For prep, he said just doing lots of aerobic exercise is sufficient, and to leave yourself extra time before the climb to acclimatize. But I'd say that trip qualifies as lots of aerobic exercise! Awesome work! Way to watch the weather! up.gif up.gif

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Ski
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PostWed Dec 11, 2019 1:46 pm 
eek.gif

"I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach. I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each."
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reststep
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PostWed Dec 11, 2019 1:53 pm 
Thanks for the report.
thunderhead wrote:
What are you preparing for?
I was curious also on what is on your list that you are preparing for.

"The mountains are calling and I must go." - John Muir
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Eric Gilbertson
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Eric Gilbertson
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PostWed Dec 11, 2019 10:24 pm 
Quote:
What are you preparing for?
I'll be trying to hit a few 20,000ft peaks in Bolivia, Chile, and Ecuador (Sajama, Parinacota, Pomerape, Chimborazo, Cotopaxi). For acclimation it's my understanding that it's very specific to the person, but one rule of thumb is the time spent acclimating is roughly the time it takes to deacclimate. Also, that the more times you expose yourself to altitude the faster your body will acclimate on future trips. (Reference: Training for New Alpinism by House/Johnston). In the past I've done 3 days at Camp Muir (10kft), then 3 days in Seattle, then flew down to do aconcagua on a somewhat accelerated schedule (11 days) with no problem, so a bit of pre-acclimation might be helping me for these sorts of trips.

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Michael Lewis
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PostThu Dec 12, 2019 2:21 am 
Way to go on the summit bivy! I look forward to seeing your trip to SA. Hope you remember to bring the warm bag

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Matt Lemke
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PostThu Dec 12, 2019 4:46 am 
Excellent! Enjoy Sajama. I wanted to run over and do it after Illimani but was done at that point. Next time!

The Pacific coast to the Great Plains = my playground!!! SummitPost Profile See my website at: http://www.lemkeclimbs.com
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thunderhead
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PostThu Dec 12, 2019 11:54 am 
Nice... sounds like an awesome trip! Ive done the Ecuador bit though Chimborazo's scary slide conditions turned me around early. In the opinion of this climber, hanging out in Quito or other highland bars and restaurants is also a great way to acclimatize cool.gif

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Bernardo
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PostThu Dec 12, 2019 7:45 pm 
Very cool! Or should I say cold? Nice and done safely too!

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iluka
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PostFri Dec 13, 2019 1:50 am 
Lots of opinions and myths out there about how best to acclimatize ahead of a trip to high altitude but very little in the way of evidence to support most of the claims. In regards to some specific comments made in the thread: - Exercise training ahead a climb will help with performing physical work at high altitude and make exertion at high altitude more tolerable but it doesn't promote acclimatization in the sense that it will not prevent acute mountain sickness, HACE or HAPE. - A single trip to 12K overnight well ahead of the planned trip to high altitude isn't likely to be of much benefit in terms of acclimatization. In the end, the utility of such trips depends on several factors including how high one goes, how long they stay there, how frequently they do it and how close it is to the eventual trip. A single trip to Muir or the top of Adams a few weeks before heading off to climb Kilimanjaro won't do anything. Spending two weeks hanging out in Colorado, climbing to the tops of the 14ers and then heading from there over to Kilimanjaro would be of more benefit. Single trips up Adams like this won't really hurt someone (apart from the risk of getting lost in a whiteout, frostbite, hypothermia etc on this particular trip) but whether they promote true acclimatization that will provide benefit on a subsequent trip to high altitude is unclear.

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Eric Gilbertson
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PostFri Dec 13, 2019 9:39 am 
Thanks for the feedback iluka.
Quote:
very little in the way of evidence to support most of the claims.
In fact, there is evidence for the claims I specifically made, which can be found in the reference I mentioned. The rule of thumb that the time to deacclimate is roughly the time to acclimate is based on the study in the reference of individuals living at 4,000m for 16 days, then going to sea level for 7 days, then returning to 4,000m and were found to retain about 50% of their acclimation. Thus, the trip I mentioned of me staying at Muir for 3 days, then 3 days at sea level, then starting aconcagua would be roughly consistent with retaining a bit of acclimation. I agree if it had been instead a 2-week rest at sea level there would likely be no benefit. I agree it would be difficult to rigorously test the idea that repeated exposure to high altitude helps acclimation in the long run. This concept is based on noted high-altitude mountaineers like Anatoli Boukreev who trained by doing many trips to 10,000ft - 13,000ft peaks during the year. Thus, doing as many trips like this to Adams and Rainier over the year would be consistent with Boukreev's training for high altitude. The other claim that acclimation is very specific to the individual is based on my own experience. I have no problem going sea level to summit of 15,700ft peaks in the same day on multiple occasions (Mt Fairweather, Mt Blanc), though I know this is not necessarily normal.

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cascadeclimber
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PostFri Dec 13, 2019 9:46 am 
Strong work, nice pics.

If not now, when?
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