Bondcliff. Only Bondcliff the 2nd group 1/24/09

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Darl58

Active member
Joined
Feb 1, 2005
Messages
755
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Location
The Matterhorn
I met Frodo, neighbor dave and Hamtero at Lincoln Woods for a 7:30ish start out to Bonds in hopes of meeting Mats & Gillian's groups for their Winter finishes.

We had a few ditches to cross which made it a little challenge...especially for ones like me who haven't x-country skied in years..hmmm :eek:

We knew Stevo & Donna were ahead of us as we skied. Frodo was nice to haul a sled with our plastic boots...thanks! Trail was hardpacked and nice all the way to bondcliff trail where we skied up a little ways and dropped our skis and added our snowshoes.

I managed to fall in one ditch and another gracefull dump while standing still..those are not my alpine "phat luvs" on my feet! :eek:

We had a nice hike, pretty cold but we layered and de-layered as we hiked up. Ran into Rocket, Stevo & Donna as they were hiking down. They reported high winds that had knocked Donna down, made them turn around.

We continued up and layered up just before the final pitch to the summit. We saw Davebear up on the summit, but he hadn't seen us until we were almost right up to him. Frodo and I were trying to scare him, but he turned and caught us. :rolleyes:

As we were crossing over the summit trying to decide whether we should continue ahead to Bond or not a strong wind gust came and knocked Davebear over pretty hard and it wasn't long before Frodo and I found ourselves grabbing for rocks to stay upright before being slammed down too. As we were all crawling and grabbing our way back across the summit, it was an easy decision to not and try to go down into the cull to Bond. We were also hoping that the other teams coming from Zealand would make the right decision to turn back..
Thanks Davebear for coming over and being my anchor so I didn't have to crawl all the way across that summit!!

The hike and ski down were uneventfull and fun..Bob did throw a shoe! His MSR self-destructed by the end of the day.

The rest of the story is Mats & Jeff finishing across with that wind and cold!
Amazing determination and strength!!

Nice going guys!! We were worried for you! Wish I had thought to take video...Davebear that video was great!

Pics:
http://picasaweb.google.com/hikerdd13/BondcliffForMatsW48?feat=directlink
 
Nice T/R & pics. Too bad the day wasn't at all as it appears in the pictures. You guys made the right call to head back down.

Next time. ;)
 
Nice to meet y'all! Glad you made the right decision!
 
Darlene, sweet tr and pics as always! Had to laugh at me looking more like a turtle then a bear on the cliff! Its surprising that it knocked me that far back, literally off my feet, at about 275lb with the pack on! Shoulda looked back to see if your feet were even touching when I held your hand across the summit, it did feel a little like flying a kite!;) There's always a good reason not to make the diet a New Year's resolution! Sorry I missed your and Ma's cooking at the Mountain House and getting to visit!
 
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Great photos, Darlene! But how did you take so many with the wind howling like that????
 
Great pictures Darlene!!! It looks like you guys had a great day. I was disappointed that I didn't get to see you guys but that's just how it goes sometimes. I will be seeing you this weekend for sure!!!
 
I sure was envious thinking of the team on the other side cruising out on skis while I did that blanking road walk.
Congrats for tagging Bondcliff on a tough day.
 
Darlene, dynamite pictures. Had to put on my helmet and goggles just to view them. Just sorry I wasn't there to partake in the journey.
 
Nice photos, donna! Good to see you again yesterday!
 
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