Posts tagged glaciers
I'm planning a backpacking trip to Juneau with some friends next summer and was interested in taking the North Ridge route to Bullard Mountain (see: https://www.summitpost.org/bullard-mountain/9303...
I'm starting to go through the book "freedom of the hills". Somewhere in the initial pages, it states that a climbing party must consist of a minimum of three members. A bit later it states that du...
Is there a well-known free webpage in Europe where you can find hiking partners to go on > 4000 m mountains? For bouldering and climbing it is usually not a problem to find "new friends", since...
I came across an interesting looking device on the Petzl website. As per the description, the mobile fall arresters follow the user automatically as he moves, whether on an inclined or vertic...
In the case of a roped up team marching along a glacier with some hidden crevasses, the greatest risk is of a team member falling in and then dragging everyone else along before they can self-arres...
What are the main risks of a glacier in winter compared to the risks in summer? How can you deal with these additional risks? Which additional materials or thoughts do you need to have? I would li...
Sure you have to look out for crevasses which is nicely explained here: How to detect a crevasse on a glacier. But what else does one have to consider when trying to cross a glacier? Some glacie...
What sort of rope would be ideal for glacier travel? I have a 10mm 60m rope, but this is quite heavy. Would a 9mm 50m rope be suitable for a team of three, crossing glaciers in the Swiss Alps?
What exactly is meant by the terms "wet" or "dry" glacier? This link here seems to point to the existence or absence of a film of melt-water below the glacier. This has an impact on how the glacie...
If you want to walk on a glacier you usually do this roped together as a team. How to walk as a roped party on a glacier? What I have to pay attention to when knotting the rope? Related ques...
When there is no snow cover on the glacier and crevasses are visible, no need to really worry about crevasses. But what about when there is a layer of snow on top of glacier, hiding crevasses, and ...
When hiking in early summer I often come across patches of old snow. Till now I have managed to cross those by cutting my steps in the snow or walking around. And whenever I had my hiking sticks wi...
I am planning to do a 3-day hike combined with multiple via ferratas this summer in the Brenta Dolomites in Italy. I haven't done the big research yet, but from looking at the (hiking) map I can se...
Imagine the situation. You are somewhere in the montblanc massif crossing a glacier and you come across a pair of climbers. You/ I are well trained in crevasse rescue, but are not a certified guide...
This has been bugging me for a while. A party is traveling on a glacier and adds braking knots evenly to the length of the rope as seen in this answer. The person leading the rope falls into a crev...
What is the technique involved in crevasse rescues? Presuming a group are all moving together on a glacier and the leader of the party has fallen into a crevasse (collapsed snow bridge, etc.). Th...
What level of UV protection is recommended for glacier travel? For example, I have sunglasses which says 40% UV layer. Will this be ok for glacier trekking, or do I need glasses with higher level o...
I want to climb a mountain with my daughter. There is a glacier on the route that we should cross. Other routes take much longer or are technically more difficult. The glacier does not have many ...
When walking on Hofsjökull glacier in Iceland, I wondered: how do people camp on multi-day trekking trips across icecaps, such as when crossing Greenland? My primary choice of tightening a tent is...
I had to turn around on a long (5000ft) glacier route last week because one of my ankles had really begun to hurt. The ankle was so fatigued after 1000ft that I doubted my ability to safely finish ...
What are some methods to obtain drinking water from a glacier or icefield, in the absence of snow or reachable meltwater? Collecting ice is much harder than collecting snow. Do I need to bring sp...
Excited for an upcoming ski mountaineering trip to the Fuhrer Finger in May. I've seen many guided groups (e.g. IMG) recommend two ice-axes. This left me wondering, what is the ideal tool combo f...
While Dyneema is in use for cordelettes for quite some time manufacturers started bringing long ropes made of dyneema on the market. The benefits are obvious: Less weight, less volume and no water ...
When you're walking in a roped party over a glacier, how can the leader detect crevasses? Sometimes it's possible to walk existing tracks, but even then it's possible to have a crevasse fall. W...
What is the exact equipment I need for walking safely on glaciers? The route I will be taking is the Hvannadalshnukur ascend from the ring road and same path descend. From what I could find out the...
As a child, I remember walking with my family over the Gornergletscher to reach the Monte Rosa-Hütte. I remember the same for crossing Vadret da Diavolezza. In both cases, we did not have crampon...
We are going to descend some snow-covered glacier on skis while roped-up. If my partner falls into a crack, and I stopped him (i.e. didn't get dragged down there), what should we do next? Assumin...
When crossing a glacier (or other mountaineering activity for that matter) I've heard that roping everyone together without having a fixed anchor is falling out of fashion since more often than not...
