If you can see Mt. Baker, you are part of The Experience
In the fall of 2024, climate change on the glaciers of Whatcom County likely took its first victims. Two individuals fell on separate mountains, one on Mt. Shuksan, one on Mt. Baker. And in each case, the fall was fatal.
Those new to mountaineering learn how to use ropes, crampons and ice axes to climb moderate routes like the Coleman-Deming and the Easton Glaciers on Mt. Baker, and Fisher Chimneys and the Sulphide Glacier on Mt. Shuksan. Historically, basic skills with these tools were all that was required to successfully summit one of these peaks. If one fell on a snowy slope, it was reasonable to believe that with the proper use of an ice axe you could arrest a fall.
But that is changing.
In the spring, the standard routes on Mt. Baker and Mt. Shuksan are beginner to intermediate level objectives. But as the season progresses, the mountains evolve. The security provided by snow that historically lasted throughout the duration of the summer no longer offers the security that it previously presented.
Over the last several years, the snow has been melting off glaciated peaks earlier and earlier, exposing the ice underneath. Occasionally the newly exposed ice is also peppered with rocks and dirt. This has long been a normal phenomenon on the lower flanks of the mountains, but now we’re seeing it much higher, and often in much more hazardous areas.
The basic use of an ice axe and crampons are no longer enough for late season ascents. And this is where the two falls in 2024 come into play.
It’s likely that dry glaciers – glaciers without snow on them – contributed to the two falls. When one slips in such a setting, the ability to self-arrest is inhibited by the fact that it is much harder to engage the ice axe pick to stop a fall. Ice axes were designed to arrest falls on snow, not on hard glacial ice.
In other words, late season mountaineering has become much more akin to ice climbing.
In classic glacier mountaineering, there are two hazards that climbers are constantly balancing. The first hazard is falling into the mountain. And the second hazard is falling off the mountain.
As the season progresses, it becomes less and less likely that one will fall into the mountain due to the fact that hidden crevasses reveal themselves and the safest routes become obvious. As the snow disappears and blue ice exposes itself, falling into a hidden crevasse becomes more and more unlikely, while slipping and sliding into one, or sliding off the mountain completely, becomes much more likely.
There are techniques that may be used to decrease the hazard of falling off the mountain in these kinds of conditions. Following is a simple breakdown of skills that climbers should practice before engaging in late season glacier climbing:
French technique is the term broadly used for crampon techniques that allow all of the spikes to engage with the ice. There are a few different tactics that allow one to engage all the crampon points.
First, the duck walk, or the duck foot technique. This is when your feet are splayed out like duck feet as you move up the slope. Your ankle will not bend far enough to walk straight up, so as the terrain hits 30-degrees or so, you have to adjust your steps to ensure that all the crampon points are engaging.
Second, as the terrain steepens, you will begin to do the crossover step, switchbacking up the slope. The idea is to step over your uphill foot with your downhill foot in a way that allows you to engage all the points on the bottom of your feet. This takes practice to do well. And you know you’re not doing it right if the crampon points on the bottom of your feet are not engaged.
Third, the American technique. This is for steeper, more hazardous terrain and could be used both going up and down if needed.
The American technique is a mix of foot positions. One foot is in a French flatfoot position, the other foot is “toe-in” engaging the front points. Consider it a mix of ice climbing with one foot and glacier walking with the other
When descending, it’s important to consider your crampon points as well. If you are traversing back and forth on steep icy terrain, it is unlikely that all of your points are engaging. It may be scary, but often going straight down, with toes splayed out a little bit to avoid tripping, is the best technique. This allows your ankle to bend enough for all the crampon points to engage the ice.
If the terrain feels extremely insecure, it is possible to shuffle down the slope sideways. In other words, your toes are parallel to the slope, you step down with one foot and then the other, allowing your ankles to bend sideways to engage crampon points. This is very slow, but it is also very secure.
Many people see ice axes as the combination of a walking stick and a way to arrest a fall. In late season icy conditions, this is the wrong way to conceptualize ice axe use.
There are nine principal ice axe techniques. There is not room here to cover each of them, but it is important for you to be aware of dagger positions. These are positions where you engage the pick of the ice axe while holding onto or near the head of the tool.
In low dagger, your hand is on the adze, with the pick in the ice at waist level. In middle dagger, you’re holding the shaft of the axe right under the head and placing the pick at chest level. And in high dagger, your hand is over the top of the head of the axe and you’re placing the pick at head level or higher.
Dagger positions are incredibly secure. And indeed, when you use two ice axes in dagger position, even on 40-degree terrain, your security is far better. The likelihood of falling off the mountain decreases dramatically.
As the season progresses and there’s more exposed ice, a rope team can move on a moderately steep glacier together with a reasonable level of security by placing ice screws between them. Though the terrain is theoretically easy, this ensures that the team is always attached to the mountain. And though the team could still get pulled down by an unexpected fall and there might even be injuries, it’s unlikely that a fall would result in a fatality.
The downside of this technique is that often the ice is dirty. Ice screws may be damaged on a late season climb of something like the Roman Wall on Mt. Baker.
The most secure technique of all is to literally pitch out steep terrain when it’s icy. This may feel like overkill going up, as you are often more stable on the ascent. However, when exposed and going down, it could make sense for the strongest person on the team to belay the others down while clipped into an ice screw. Once the team has gone down a rope-length, they could place a screw, clip into it and belay him down.
Climate change is making the mountains more dangerous. It is essential for late season climbers to take icy terrain seriously. For some this may mean going up a day early to practice ice techniques. For others it will mean a special trip. But no one should be high on Baker or Shuksan without solid moderate glacier ice skills. X
