Crevasse Rescue Skill Builder

Our skill builder classes designed to teach, in one evening (or day) of lecture and one day of field practice, some of the essential skills needed to take your climbing to the next level.  (If you’d like to assist in teaching any of these classes, please contact the Mazamas office at 503-227-2345.)

Crevasse Rescue

Lecture: Thursday, March 20 2008 7:00 pm, Mazama Mountaineering Center
Field Session: Saturday March 22, 2008, 8:30am - 4:00pm, Mount Hood
Cancellation/Refunds: Cancellation fee is 50% of application fee if canceled 7 days or more prior to the lecture. No refund if canceled within 7 days of lecture.
Cost: $50 members, $75 non-members
Registration: Call the Mazamas (503-227-2345) and give us your name and a credit card number to reserve your spot.

Lecture details
Slides, lecture and demonstrations of crevasse terrain, proper ways to rope up for glacier travel, crevasse avoidance, self-rescue techniques, group rescue techniques, 2:1 and 3:1 mechanical advantage hoisting systems.

Field session details
Note that it takes about 1 1/2 hours to drive to Timberline from most parts of Portland.  Plan to leave home no later than 7:00am.  We’ll meet in the lower dirt “climber’s parking” lot, the first parking area to the right as you approach the main Timberline area.  We’ll gear up, form into teams, walk to our practice area and hopefully be on the snow not much later than 9:00 am.

Our practice area will be about a 30-45 minute uphill hike from Timberline Lodge, off to the east of the Silcox Hut.  (Note that this field practice will not be on an actual glacier.) We’ll be able to walk to the practice area, so there’s no need for skis or snowshoes.

We’ll cover how to properly rope up for glacier travel, then move onto building snow anchors - the quickie methods and how to back these up to really make them bomber.  After we have anchors and a place to fix some ropes, we’ll move into crevasse self-rescue (usually the preferred and most common crevasse rescue option) by rapping off a small cornice and then ascending the rope back to the top.  Experiment here with combinations of various ascending knots (prusik, klemheist, Bachman) to decide what works best for you.

The rest of the day will be spent in rope teams in different scenarios, including assisting another rope team with simple haul, and building 2:1 and 3:1 hauling systems.  (We will probably not be covering the more complex 5:1 and 6:1 hauling systems in this class.)

Gear and equipment
Mazamas will provide ropes and some snow protection (pickets).  Please bring lunch, water, 10 Es, clothing and footwear appropriate for being in snow all day, and dress warmly as you might not be moving around very much.  You’ll need to bring a harness, helmet, belay device, prusik loops, 4-6 biners, and 2-3 locking biners.  Optional (bring it if you have it): pickets, cordelette, pulley.  We suggest buying these optional items AFTER the field session, because you will see a variety of gear and techniques used which might help you make more informed purchases after the class.

Suggested Reading
Freedom of the Hills, Glacier Travel and Crevasse Rescue chapter, and The Illustrated Guide to Glacier Travel and Crevasse Rescue, by Andy Tyson and Mike Clelland.  (This latter book is highly recommended and available at the Mazamas Mountaineering Center.)

Pre-class practice
If you can make the time for it, practice rigging a C-drag (2:1) and a Z-drag (3:1) at home on the floor.  (Watch it when you yank the sofa around - it can be tough on the hardwood floors =^).  Note that you only need 1 biner to make an effective C-drag, and 2 biners and 2 prussiks to make a Z drag.  Brush up on climbing knots and snow anchors as well, from Freedom of the Hills.  Also, check this site for some good online knot instruction.

About the Instructors
This class will be led by Wim Aarts with assistance from Mazamas Expedition committee, Ski Mountaineering committee, and recent graduates from the Intermediate School and Advanced Snow and Ice classes.

Feel free to contact the Mazamas office if you have any more questions about this class.