How do you solo Glaciers. Stories here.

If I am going threw a patch of Cravasses I drag my pack with butterflys in the rope. What do you do?

Though I walk through the valley of the crevasses of death, I will fear no falls, for the mountains gods are with me; my axe and my staff, they comfort me.

Good one Allen.
What are you doing travelling on a glacier solo Erikonor?
Butterflies can't survive being tied up to a moldy rope in a frozen environment for very long.

How far can you throw a patch of cravasses? They must be noticeably lighter than regular crevasses.

One should never solo a glacier without an avy poodle.

Eriko wrote:If I am going threw a patch of Cravasses I drag my pack with butterflys in the rope. What do you do?

I went solo across crevassed glaciers two different days in the last week in the northern French Alps. Two large glaciers with large (and small) crevasses, two or three smaller glaciers.

What I do is first think carefully about three other more important things before special techniques or equipment.

. . . (much like if I'm going solo (or non-solo) on avalanche terrain I first think carefully about several other things before special techniques or equipment).

My recommendation is that if equipment is the first thing you think about for glacier travel, then you shouldn't solo.

And my advice further would be not to get on a glacier even with a partner -- because self-rescue of crevasse-fall with a party of two can be rather tricky.

If you want to try to "overpower" glacier terrain with equipment, some well-regarded books recommend a party of four.

Ken

Tom-onator wrote:Good one Allen. What are you doing travelling on a glacier solo Erikonor? Butterflies can't survive being tied up to a moldy rope in a frozen environment for very long. How far can you throw a patch of cravasses? They must be noticeably lighter than regular crevasses. One should never solo a glacier without an avy poodle.

All true. You nailed it, Tom.

kenr wrote: I went solo across crevassed glaciers two different days in the last week in the northern French Alps. Two large glaciers with large (and small) crevasses, two or three smaller glaciers. What I do is first think carefully about three other more important things before special techniques or equipment. . . . (much like if I'm going solo (or non-solo) on avalanche terrain I first think carefully about several other things before special techniques or equipment). My recommendation is that if equipment is the first thing you think about for glacier travel, then you shouldn't solo. And my advice further would be not to get on a glacier even with a partner -- because self-rescue of crevasse-fall with a party of two can be rather tricky. If you want to try to "overpower" glacier terrain with equipment, some well-regarded books recommend a party of four. Ken

Yea of course you look at the terrain but some times it gets a little complex and scary in certain sections. This is when a crevasse fall is possible. This thread is looking more on solo techniques, guess yours is nothing but luck right?

shower curtain rods

How is dragging a pack gonna help you?

I think the only two methods, both of which are mostly psychological protection (oh psychological pro, that a good one for the climbing clichés thread).

1) confidence in your knowledge of the terrain and the forces that form crevasses.

2) long ladders, poles or rods connected to your harness.

Dragging your pack can catch you via Alpine butterfly in the rope. I quite often use skis or take an Avalanche probe and probe out in front of me. I don't know about you guys but I can not read glaciers that well, I have only been traveling on them for 20 years.

that's not gonna catch you.

Dupre used a 10 foot birch pole when he soloed Denali this winter. outsideonline.com/1928606/l…’s-huge-deal

Marlin Thorman wrote:Dupre used a 10 foot birch pole when he soloed Denali this winter. outsideonline.com/1928606/l…’s-huge-deal

I didn't know anybody had climbed Mckinlay for years let alone solo it. Don't people fly half way up it?

ok, done with this thread.

YUR DUMB

They do though.

Get an extension ladder. Stand inside the rungs in the middle and put your skis on. Then hold the ladder around your waist. If you fall, the ladder should catch you and then you can climb up and cross the crevasse on the ladder. It's how everyone does Everest so it's cool. Obviously use an aluminium ladder for weight savings.

This method is also allows you to bypass tricky crux sections with ease.

Eriko wrote: I didn't know anybody had climbed Mckinlay for years let alone solo it. Don't people fly half way up it?

Yes pretty much everybody flies into the glacier at 7,200 feet, and I would assume Dupre did as well (since there is a picture of him pulling a sled with a plane in the background). Also I would guess people solo Denali every year. It isn't the norm or majority but I would say somebody does it every year solo. Last year Kilian Jornet soloed it and set the speed record, adventureblog.nationalgeogr….

It is like that here in the Southern Alps on Mt Cook. All the Tourists fly in to Plateau Hut and climb it but the locals walk in. I flew in one time to climb it and they told me I hadn't climbed the Mountain so I had to climb it again from the car.

Maybe there is a market for a avalanche probe that you can clip into and is strong enough to hold you if you went in a crevasse?

One should never solo a glacier without an avy poodle.

Tom, never take an avy Poodle onto a glacier. That is just asking for trouble, they have no clue how to sniff out a crevasse. You take a crevasse poodle. Get the right poodle for the right job.

Eriko wrote: If I am going threw a patch of Cravasses I drag my pack with butterflys in the rope. What do you do?

As long as my pack is more than 6x my body weight out of the handfuls of times I’ve whipped on my bag in a crevasse it’s been good. Safety ration is what I’m going for 3x is usually the rule but I like to be safe. Also make sure to have enough grigris to make a fast escape in case of crevasse goblins.