Friday, April 26, 2013

Glacier Ski Camp, Wahoo Tower Area - Day 5

LOC: Camp Dolphin
Sky Obscured, Wind Moderate gusting to Strong, S-1, 1.3°C, BARO 781 Steady

It is windy! We are having a camp day. The wind started yesterday evening and hasn't let up. It will be calm for a moment and then shake the tent like a hurricane. I have secured the tent in every possible way and have eight lines coming off it to improvised anchors.

It is warm though which is nice. Last night I slept in just my base layers. It is good to have some down time and to be able to reflect on the earlier days of the trip. I'm feeling really good about things. The team is pretty great and our leader, though fresh is competent in her skills. Hopefully, this weather doesn't last to long and we can get back to doing more missions.

Yesterday was a shorter outing than on the previous days. Our objective was Mt. Oluk directly South of camp. We ascended a crevassed slope to attain a col in the East ridge of Mt. Oluk. This required a lot of boot-packing. We climbed as close to the rocks on looker's left as we could. The snow was more crumbly and difficult to climb but it kept us further away from the more dangerous crevasses.

On top of the col we stopped for lunch. It was a comfortable spot and I could have relaxed there for a while. Afterwords. We started up the ridge but it quickly became a knife edge and we gave up. It was fun watching Martina scout around like a mountain goat trying to find a route for us.

We turned around and headed up the lesser peak on the other end of the col. This was Mt. Dolphin, the namesake of our camp. We had some nice views and Martina was able to point out Overseer Mountain which was where she had gone on a previous trip earlier in the month.

Next, we skied back down. Martina found us an exciting route with great snow. Even though it was steep at the top Kat skied it without problem. Seems she is shaking off her fall from yesterday without issue.

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