Posted: Sun Jul 16, 2006 6:05 pm
H-H-H-Harrison P-P-Pass! Slowly I turned... step by step... inch by inch...
I crossed Harrison many years ago from south to north in July of a normal snow year (1979). The upper 3 feet of the north side had the near vertical remnants of a cornice. The snow was relatively soft, so I was able to work my way down diagonally. At the base of the vertical part, I encountered steep ice that was covered with just an inch or so of soft snow... UGH! I had to ever so carefully chip my way over to an outcrop of rock to put my crampons on. To make matters worse, there was some debris in the chute, lying on the snow, that came to my attention as I was putting on my crampons. There was a Sierra Club Cup, bandana, bits of other clothing... all strewn at various locations all the way to the bottom of the chute. There were even some prescription medicine bottles. Oh my god! Someone had taken a pretty serious fall, here! This, of course had a very negative psychological affect on me as I slowly picked my way down the steep ice and loose rocks carrying a heavy 'multi-week' backpack. I was relieved, when I reached the bottom of the chute, not to have found a body there! I talked to someone later that day near East Lake who'd crossed the same day I did. He said that he had followed the crest up from where Harrison is marked on the map toward Mt. Stanford and found a much easier chute with less ice and snow. I suppose that if I'm ever to cross that divide again, I would try to find his alternate route.
I crossed Harrison many years ago from south to north in July of a normal snow year (1979). The upper 3 feet of the north side had the near vertical remnants of a cornice. The snow was relatively soft, so I was able to work my way down diagonally. At the base of the vertical part, I encountered steep ice that was covered with just an inch or so of soft snow... UGH! I had to ever so carefully chip my way over to an outcrop of rock to put my crampons on. To make matters worse, there was some debris in the chute, lying on the snow, that came to my attention as I was putting on my crampons. There was a Sierra Club Cup, bandana, bits of other clothing... all strewn at various locations all the way to the bottom of the chute. There were even some prescription medicine bottles. Oh my god! Someone had taken a pretty serious fall, here! This, of course had a very negative psychological affect on me as I slowly picked my way down the steep ice and loose rocks carrying a heavy 'multi-week' backpack. I was relieved, when I reached the bottom of the chute, not to have found a body there! I talked to someone later that day near East Lake who'd crossed the same day I did. He said that he had followed the crest up from where Harrison is marked on the map toward Mt. Stanford and found a much easier chute with less ice and snow. I suppose that if I'm ever to cross that divide again, I would try to find his alternate route.