Mount Bancroft
by Jeremy
Recently I “ministered to a brother’s soul” by going climbing with him up Mt Bancroft. He’s been very busy with school, and he needed to get outside. How could I say no? We got up early last Saturday and drove to the trailhead to climb the east ridge of the mountain, which is a little bit over 13,000′ in elevation. I picked up some new mountaineering boots at an REI garage sale recently, so I was excited to try them out. The climb was very scrambly with one technical section through what is called the Notch. We had a short rappel, then a short technical climb which Jon led. In the summer we could have probably climbed this free of rope, but not a chance with the ice and snow. This section was the by far the easiest and safest… with other exposed areas pushing class 4 and a 20-30mph wind with 60+ mph gusts, there were some uneasy sections of traversing and climbing. A slip of the boot and we would’ve bounced a long ways!
You are crazy or the cold has frozen your sensible side of the brain! This is not, and I repeat, NOT, good for your mother to see at this point in our lives. With one child down with a broken hip, from running, this does not make us feel very good! By the way, the pictures are awesome and if I were your age, I might try it, too>
What do you mean if you were my age? Come on up, and I’ll take you!