Big Chief Mountain

BOE Alps outing #3 at Steven's Pass, Saturday March 17.  We kicked steps in the snow, creating a trail for ourselves up the mountain to the ridge, approximately 1,800 feet.  The snow was deep.  At times, when I was first in line, the snow came up to my head. And it was my task to clear it enough to be able to lift my legs and 'step'.  What it actually felt like was knocking down and wading through a snow wall.  The second and third persons in line cleaned up and more clearly defined the steps for the rest of the group (12 in our team).  The first person took 10-30 steps, then stepped out of line and hopped back in the end.  We rotated like this for five hours.
  Once we made it to the ridge, we practice two kinds of belays.   Usage would commonly be to provide extra security and comfort to team members who want added protection for sketchy crossings. The boot-axe belay and the axe-biner belay.  Next was practice with self-arrest using our ice axes.  We simulated falling down a slope, and practiced stopping our fall from four positions: sliding feet first on our stomach, feet first from the back/butt, head first on the stomach, and the 'oh shit' position of head first from the back.
Our last skill learned was making anchors in the snow for emergency rappel situations.  We used pickets, the snow itself, ice axes, and miscellaneous items (a stuff sack filled with snow) to create 'dead man' anchors which held 1-3 person('s) body weight.  Our next task was to complete the journey with a short trip to the summit.  We shared 'summit treats' at the top - today's selection included chips and salsa, brownies, grapes, juice.  On the descent, we practiced plunge stepping in to the snow.  I mostly practiced controlled sliding down a steep slope.  Though did get a bit better at shifting my weight forward (counter intuitively) while stepping down, which actually does help keep the center of gravity balanced enough to stay on the feet.  We left Seattle at 4:45 AM.  All four teams left the parking lot at 7 AM, and returned around 6:30 PM.