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| NorthGate trailhead with shasta in the background |
Turning around from the summit was always hard. It was a mind game. No one wants to give up after putting a lot of effort. And this one was no different.
We had been climbing for 4 hours that day and was making a good time gaining elevation up until we encountered ice on the 40 degree slope. When I first realizing it, it was nervous.. my axe wasn't catching anymore and I was relying on my crampon. My mistakes was to let it get into me. I slowed down and not moving confident. We kept moving up ...
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| our campsite view at Shasta |
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| climbers heading up Shasta |
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| Brandon at 11 k |
We caught up with the team ahead of us on 11.5k . The client was short roped to the guide. They started traversing to the start of first gully. Right on the corner, they slowed down. We are watching them closely and saw that the guide put some protections. We put on our harness and gear then moving up following their track.. It was blue ice .. I was not happy.. We had 3 ice screws but not enough to move 3 people safely.
I was feeling great but mentally i knew it would be sketchy to keep going.
So there we were, contemplating what to do, looking for options. In the end we decided to head down. We were all bummed but there are still other days and other climbs to do ..
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| brandon taking pictures at 11.5k |
There were a lot of "what if", and I can't help but thinking about different scenarios too.
On the way down we saw 2 people going up, We stopped to tell them the condition. They were wearing hiking shoes, shorts and carrying small pack. I hope they are okay.
Back at the camp site, we rested for 30 minutes and started packing up . I kept looking up to see if the other team who was ahead of us was making their way down. And right before we left camp, I saw 2 people showed up at the rock band where we decided to turn around. Kept saying to our self that we can give it another go at the end of the trip . . The hike back to the car was sluggish .. Pizza and beer were on dinner menu that night.
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| Bolam Glacier |
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| me at hotlum glacier at sunrise |
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