Mt. Pfeifferhorn

The Pfeifferhorn, one of Utah’s highest peaks at 11,326ft, this was our objective. Our morning began at the White Pine’s trailhead at 9am. Yes this was late but we needed a ride to the trailhead and this was the best that we could do. Our route would be a 9-mile round trip of beat out trails, then deep snow and finally a knife-edge traverse. Summer through Fall ascents take 10 hours round trip. Winter ascents often take “at least” 16 hours round trip. Post holing and winter gear can add a lot to an ascent.

In the beginning much of the trail conditions were good for winter. The trails were packed down well by backcountry skiers and snow shoers. This allowed our initial pace to be fast for the first half of our attempt. We would take the White Pine trail for a mile and then the Red Pine trail to the summit ridge. The route was becoming more and more difficult. Our last third of the trail began to steepen with increased post holing. Jen and I tried to go somewhat light but found this to be difficult due to temperatures in Salt Lake City were in the 60s. 40s were called for the Wasatch mountain range but there was no direct forecast for particular areas in the backcountry. We decided to take our normal summit gear minus only a few items. High winds were a concern of ours since we would be on the knife-edge for ½ mile each way.

Out of necessity and curiosity I decided not to wear boots at all. Instead I wore my trail running shoes and a type of sock called Seal Skins. Those socks are supposed to keep your feet waterproof. Not the case on this trip. I would also be wearing a Garmin 305 Forerunner. This device kept a continuous record of my heart rate, pace, distance, time and elevation gains and losses.

The running shoe idea was a technique I have thought about for some time, I just needed an opportunity to test it. Since we were in Utah and the mountain temperatures were moderate I thought this might be a good time to try. On average, 1lbs. on your foot applies 5lbs. of torque to muscles in the lower back. This also wasn’t the first time that I have worn running shoes on a mountain. I had done it the year before climbing Mt. Whitney via the normal route a 22 mile round trip. But that was a summer route and this was a winter attempt, a very different story. While on the move my toes were fine. Even after stepping in a creek and much to my displeasure, my feet becoming wet. The most difficult part of only having running shoes would be the uneven terrain that we encountered. I have never needed ankle support before but after miles of my feet stepping at odd angles I found myself wincing at the site of every steep traverse.

Our route took us between the lower and upper Red Pine creek lakes. We would follow a prominent spur to the summit ridge and follow that to the summit of the Pfeifferhorn. We began to ascend a spur of steeping snow with interspersed rocks. The snow was an unconsolidated sugar snow giving us little purchase for our axes or crampons. The avalanche reports that morning gave the entire Wasatch mountain range a moderate avy rating. The freeze thaw cycle had been fluctuating greatly for the past week and a half creating the sugar snow and not allowing the rocks to anchor in well in the permafrost. We were not surprised or worried by these reports; we wanted to get to the route and make our decision there with our own eyes. We hoped to put ourselves in a position to get lucky so we rolled the die that a possible rock band maybe the ticket to circumvent any avy danger. The snow spur gave us that protection; we had rocks that we could navigate through and a spur that acted like a ridgeline. We had lucked out on the first avy danger area. Our benefit also proved to be a hindrance. The snow was not consolidated enough to catch our crampons, the rocks were mostly covered in snow, our crampons would simply scrape through the snow on rock until a point caught some ridge of rock. Much like scraping the pick of an ice tool through snow when mix climbing. Jen doesn’t seem to like the mix type climbing and found this a bit unnerving.

Once we climbed though this part we were on the summit ridge. Here the winds were howling as though we were in the White Mountain range. This would normally be exhilarating to me but my toes were becoming non-feeling clubs in my shoes and I was beginning to wonder if I had made a mistake. We began to make our way across the ridge when we suddenly saw the true peak. All of the video I had taken before about our route and pointing out the peak was completely wrong. Instead we seen a perfect pyramid shape of the Pfeifferhorn jutted out from the ridgeline quite a distance away. It is the type of peak that every beginning mountaineer sees himself or herself climbing. The type of peak that we learn doesn’t actually exist, it is something that we draw and picture in our minds but do not naturally form. We began our traverse toward the summit. Unfortunately the North faces were heavily loaded with snow from the storms a week prior. We studied the face for a while and decided that it would be too much of a risk. We had just ascended a similar face to gain the alpine ridge and knew it was going to be dicey. The snow was sugar, the rocks were loose and we just didn’t see a point. The trip was already a success. We had already hiked 4.5 miles, got to with in 50 ft. of 11,000 and tried out a few new systems. We came within 365ft. of the summit; it was time to say, “good enough.” It still hurt but it is better to have another chance in couple years.

The hike out was pleasant and low key. Jen and I goofed off a little enjoying the terrain. We met a couple skiers on the way out and took some pictures of an avalanche zone that really put things in perspective. A quarter mile wide chunk of forest literally leveled by an avalanche far up on the mountain face.

I am very happy with our attempt. It taught me some new lessons (that is the best of all) and reinforced philosophy’s that our club practices. In the end Jen and I ate only 2 gel packs each and some Endurox in our water. I had a few chocolate covered raisinettes. We were never tired and our pace only slowed on the extremely steep climbs and post holing up to our waste. We completed our attempt in 6.5 hours; as stated earlier, summer round trip takes 10 hours and I read to give “at least” 8 hours one way in winter. I don’t really see how someone could be so slow.

 

My packing list:

Garmin 305 training watch

Camera

Trail running shoes (Salomon’s)

Gaiters

Sealskin socks

Mountain school shirt for base

Running shirt (long sleeve)

Running pants (winter)

S12 flexible crampons

Glacier axe

Shell pants (stayed in pack)

Shell jacket

Liner gloves

Ice gloves

Hat

Neoprene mask

Compass

Headlamp

Mylar bag

Chocolate covered raisinettes

2 Endurox gels

2 bars

Endurox in water bladder

My stats:

	Zone 1	Zone 2	Zone 3	Zone 4	Zone 5
Heart Rate (time)	0:37:18	3:02:16	2:46:25	0:31:36	0:00
Heart Rate (distance)	0.5 mi	4.4 mi	3.8 mi	0.6 mi	0.0 mi
Speed (time)	1:06:51	17:05	3:23	:23
Speed (distance)	2.9 mi	0.9 mi	0.2 mi	152 ft
Total distance	8.75 mi
Total time	6:37:19
Avg Pace	45:23 /mi
Avg Speed	1.3 mph
Max Speed	5 mph
Total Calories	3096 cal
Avg Heart Rate	134 bpm
Max Heart Rate	164 bpm
Total Ascent	6348 ft
Total Descent	6351 ft