Glacier Mountaineering Society

Sun, May 21 2017 - Crater Mountain (Registration opens May 10 for this event only.) (View Original Event Details)

Coordinator(s):		Paul Cogswell
Participants:		Paul Cogswell, Dell Meuchel, Gail Meuchel, Laurel R. Vielle, Stephen Smith, Jason Wilkes, Don Arthur, Jim, Sue Shannon

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Write Up:
Nine mountaineers headed up the trail on what promised to be a beautiful day, and were not disappointed. Snow was encountered early on and made things interesting and fun. The route taken brought everyone to Crater Notch where some climbers put on their crampons for the ascent to the south onto the long ridge. Hiking the ridge was easy and pleasant on snow, in the sunshine, with great views in all directions. To be able to have Crater Mountain on a person's list of visited summits, even though the ridge is higher, a lower feature on the map is actually the named summit, and the south end of the ridge must be descended, leading to another ascent to the named summit. Opinions varied on how the best way to descend, and the group split roughly in half, some opting for descending on fairly steep snow, and the others descending the steep but melted out rock and dirt. Once again, a steep snow ascent was required to reach the named summit. Finally the melted out summit was reached where nice comfortable rocks provided seating for a relaxing picnic. It wasn't possible to be totally relaxed knowing what challenges awaited for the return hike. Almost immediately a steep snow descent off the summit was required which meant climbers going down one at a time with some following while others waited their turn. Next, the long ridge needed to be ascended and a choice needed to be made- the snow, or the rock and dirt. Everyone chose what was the best option for them and the ridge was re attained easily enough. The last big challenge was the down climb into the notch. The down climb takes longer and requires more patience. Everyone got that done without incident and when the hike down was resumed, everyone was relaxed again knowing that the challenges were met and it would be a relaxed hike down to the starting point where after hike festivities awaited. With the large amount of snow from the winter still hanging on, the event was a bit more challenging but meeting the challenges gave satisfaction and experience for improving everyone's mountaineering skills.

Have some photos from this event that you'd like to share in our photo album? Please forward them to Tim Anderson at twamontana@gmail.com. Please note that we prefer to receive the photos in approximately 640x480 or 750x500 pixels - do NOT send original high-res photos. If you have a LOT of photos, please submit up to twenty of your favorites (only) for a day event, or up to forty of your favourites for a multi-day event. Thank you.