2015 02.28-03.02 * Mamquam Mountain

PanShiBo

Bill Gates once said "Only paranoid survives". More often than not, in the alpine one has to rely on intuition rather than on logic. In the middle of our transition from glacier mode to climbing mode a familiar strong urge made me drop the idea without hesitation. We quickly touched safe mini subsummit (there are four of those within ~30m next to each other) looked in the valley of Squamish and promptly turned back to camp, which was one vertical km somewhere below.  The intuition once again didn't fail me - in half an hour we were in whiteout.

PHOTO: Mini subsummit of Mamquam is only 15 meters lower.

PanShiBo

Up and down, right and left all look the same. Being on a glacier without GPS in such times is no fun. As one person writes after going through such experience:

..Behind all this was the disappointing realization that without a GPS, it was basically dumb for anyone to cross the Neve in these conditions. Sure, you can use clever little map and compass techniques to do so and feel smart about it, but what's the point beyond that? And since we had no way of detecting all the possible dangers, was it worth it? We never even got any enjoyable downhill skiing. As for views, you've got to be kidding...That week, a Canadian Tire flyer arrived. It contained an ad for GPS units on sale for $135. I bought one so fast it wasn't funny..

The 1998 Garibaldi Neve Traverse: Cold, Confusion and Clouded Judgement

PHOTO: In whiteout you only see this.

Whiteout is a weather condition in which visibility and contrast are severely reduced by snow or sand. The horizon disappears completely and there are no reference points at all, leaving the individual with a distorted orientation. Whiteout has been defined as: "A condition of diffuse light when no shadows are cast, due to a continuous white cloud layer appearing to merge with the white snow surface. No surface irregularities of the snow are visible, but a dark object may be clearly seen. There is no visible horizon.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whiteout_%28weather%29

PanShiBo

Good news. After I posted an update on that overgrown road on Bivouac a number of people contacted me asking if it makes sense to clean the alder. Even that I said it will be too much work they decided to proceed - not only they plan to clean it, also will be building a new bridge over Paranoid Creek.

This means in the near future people can more easily access Darling Lake (a good backpacking weekend trip) and even Mamquam itself (isn't that exciting?).

Phase 1 of this exciting new trail involves clearing alder from an old spur from the Skookum dam to Paranoid Creek.  Clearing work beings immediately after only a short 15 minute walk from the parking area.  Phase 2 will involve construction of a bridge across Paranoid Creek.  

The road to the dam is permanently maintained, but 4x4/awd is preferred.  The more bodies on this first effort the better!

P.S. This a historic project and anyone can become part of that history by joining:
New Darling Lake (Mamquam) Trail Construction - Phase 1

8)

vera

在Mamquam，着实领教了什么叫whiteout。网上字典上说是“白茫茫一片”，还有一部电影，译为《雪盲》。总之，就是看不见了。

刚下了Mamquam的subsummit（次峰或侧峰？），天气马上就变了，全然不给气象工作者一点面子（预报是全晴），说翻脸就翻脸 ，很短时间，我就丧失了对方向/高低的判断力，看不出上坡还是下坡，不知道脚该上还是该下，马上就理解了人在绝境中的绝望感，因为你根本就没有任何参照物，不惶恐才怪呢！要不是和博士之间有绳子相连，简直是寸步难行。GPS在握的博士照例走在前面，走走停停，不断查看是否与GPS一致，而我呢，就能看到眼下的绳子，跟着绳子走。（跟在后面对GPS一窍不通的我，此刻对会使用GPS的所有各位更加敬佩）就这样，我们走出了冰川地带，本应该解除冰川模式，就是队员之间不再以绳相连，改为hiking模式。我准备脱掉Harness的时候，博士突然叫停，说想想还是不行，不能解除绳子，因为没有绳子后，他在前面，我在后面，那他还得经常回头check我是不是跟在后面没有走丢，这样check不仅麻烦，而且很难，因为能见度太差了。而有了绳子，就不用担心了。就这样，因为whiteout，我们一直连着绳子直到营地。

GPS实在是太重要了。我都不敢想象，在whiteout的情况下，没有它的结果会怎样。如果有足够的食物／水／保暖的衣服等，也许可以坚持等到它消失，可是谁能预测要等多久呢？随着夜色降临就更危险了。另外，有了GPS，还要完全掌握它，这也同样重要（一旦错了，就是引向歧途），就如同alpine的技能一样，失之毫厘，差之千里。二者缺一不可。

感谢有这样完全whiteout的经历，在有惊无险的情况下，让我对GPS有了彻底的认识，也强烈激发了我对它的学习兴趣。希望我们人人都会使用，这样整个team会更安全。

PanShiBo

The exit from Mamquam Icefiled didn't look exactly as "light at the end of a tunnel" but hey we had no complains: the danger of falling into invisible crevasses will be no more very soon. 8)

PanShiBo

Snowing. Oddly, in such moments it is often as in popular song "And I feel just like I’m living someone else’s life It’s like I just stepped outside" - my thoughts split, running simultaneously, some of them examine potential seriousness of the situation, yet at the same time some float to our car that we parked at the bottom of the hill just past last rather ugly waterbar.  How can we get out if the road condition looked sketchy even when it was dry? If we are stuck there ~17 km walk out would not be fun..And it would be only the beginning.

Photo: Whiteout on Mamquam Icefield. A rope takes new extra role of ensuring you don't lose your climbing partner in low visibility.

vera

看了博士如上所述，不由心生感叹，人和人就是不一样，什么也看不见的时候，我最多只想到脚下的路怎么走，怎么在天黑前回到营地，怎么让冰爪不要踩到绳子，更多时候是什么都不想，只是跟着走，一点也没有担心。可是博士真想得远，都想到怎么把车开回去了。安全的考量已经成了他的本能，而我呢，经过提示可能才会说“哦”或者“对呀”这样附和一下，唉，真不知道这样的距离到底有多远。

PanShiBo

The taste of whiteout.

Photo: Below Darling Peak.

vera

就是这个在我相机中出现频率最高的背影，不管遇到什么样的状况，都能给我完全的安全感；就是跟着这样的背影，登高望远，留下了那么多一生难忘的记忆。特别致谢。

PanShiBo

We came back to our camp just in time, 45 minutes before sunset that is. Well deserved hearty hot dinner followed. 8)

Photo: Creek just below Darling Lake.

Christine

钦佩！ :cb:  :cb:

PanShiBo

Next morning views were nice.  Temperature -8C meant we may have a "rich experience" driving our car (or hike out extra day) on now icy forest service road but this valid concern was greatly diminished by usual Vera's optimism, beautiful weather and morning coffee. 8)

Photo: Delusion peak from our camp on Darling Lake Ridge. Mamquam is not visible: it is behind Delusion. Our footsteps from yesterday can be seen below.

PanShiBo

From our camp we could see Mt. Garibaldi. We didn't know yet that only a week later we will be standing on its top. 8)

PHOTO: Garibaldi Group as seen from Darling Lake ridge, from L to R: Atwell Peak, Dalton Dome, Mt. Garibaldi, The Tent

PanShiBo

Memories of Mamquam.

PanShiBo

Going down was a lot easier than going up with alpine overnight packs and in the dark. 8)

PanShiBo

Paranoid Creek condition has changed since two days ago: now rocks had black ice covered by dust of snow.

PanShiBo

It's rather sad fact that we humans learn best by making mistakes, especially when it hurts. As long as it is safe, of course.

Photo: Crossing Paranoid Creek. Next second will be a fall.

PanShiBo

The consequences could be worse: got away with "just"  twisted ankle.

vera

上面这张照片拍的是我的“杰作”：大石头上是我踩滑后crampon留下的划痕。大大的教训。

vera