For the first day of the weekend, Tony and I climbed Polar Bear Peak. We hiked in the night before and then got an early start (4 am) to try and catch the snow before it got too rotten. Our plan worked really well - the snow was in good shape. The top two pitches gave us both butterflies but probably did not need to (we did not rope up!). On the descent we rappeled through the most difficult sections. Unfortunately, we only brought a half rope so we ended up creating (and leaving) four rap stations. Hope they can be useful to someone in the future! Next time, at least one full length rope (perferable two).
The night we hiked in:
4am:
A black bear we saw on our ascent (on the ridge in silhouette):
The first shots of the bear (before it went onto the ridge):
The snow was still pretty soft ...
The face before the glacier was surprisingly steep:
The transition from the steep face to the upper glacier:
On the upper glacier:
The final few feet to the summit:
The Top:
The snow really softened up on the way down:
The route we took in pieces:
Above the tundra but below the glacier, we used the right snow gully to get up onto the lower face. There was an anchor at the top of it. We descended the left (larger) snow gully. Either would work fine (when there is snow, at least).
The face below the glacier is actually steeper than the glacier itself:
Where we spent the next three days!! Twin Falls Valley!
