Backbone Ridge in Winter… Finally
On Friday John Plotz and I finally made it up Dragontail’s Backbone Ridge in winter. I’ve put photos and a full account of the ascent in the gallery. This has taken a ton of attempts, mostly with Al Turner, and “rehearsals” in the summer with numerous partners.
Couple of other things I learnt on this trip…
- Macadamia nuts are the best alpine climbing food ever. Over seven hundred calories of energy per hundred grams. Over twice what you’d get from one and a half Clif bars. And easy to eat on the go.
- Climbing at night isn’t so bad provided you know where you’re going and the weather cooperates. If either of those things aren’t true then things probably aren’t going to work out.
- Keep watching the weather. That’s the only way to get things climbed in the Cascades in winter. I knew this already but seem to keep needing to re-learn it.
You can read John’s excellent account of our climb too!
Still plenty of time for more winter fun and games before the snow stops.
