Schaef Posted August 31, 2011 Share Posted August 31, 2011 Trip: Sloan - West Face Date: 8/27/2011 Trip Report: Given a forecast of hot sunny weather Reid and I decided to forego the glacier on the Corkscrew route and spend the day on the rock. We were eager to get up into high alpine country and soak up the ambiance on "The Matterhorn of the Cascades." Video of Climb: http://www.youtube.com/user/bryanschaeffer?feature=mhee#p/a/u/0/Tm1XvQw8DAc Detailed Stats from Suunto Watch: http://www.movescount.com/moves/move2685359 After missing the logging road turn off we eventually found our way to a vacant parking lot at the Bedal trailhead. We left the Bedal trailhead by 7am and enjoyed the recently manicured trail. Two hours got us up to a basin and spectacular view of the west face, there is a lot of hard-man route potential here. Once we crossed over the first ridge and filled up our Camelbacks we climbed up to the prominent crest of the ridge and scoped out the route. See topo. Look for prominent dihedral as a reference. Climbing was fun and on fairly solid granite. The center of the wall steepens for a few pitches before easing back to broken facets with heather ledges in between. Connect to the Corkscrew trail at approx 7,000 feet. A few 3rd/4th class moves to the summit. One of the most spectacular summits in the Cascades. Didn't want to leave and begin the descent that took us longer to get down the mountain than it did up. Over 7hrs later back at the trailhead just before we needed headlamps. We had a great time climbing a spectacular peak on the intended route in perfect conditions (that's not usually the case of most of my alpine adventures). Gear Notes: • Alpine rack single cams, nut and hexes up to 2" (bring a 3 if you like to carry the bulk) • Poles were very helpful for ascending the ridge essentially dry-tooling on slippery steep heather • Ice Axe, running shoes with YakTrax and Talus Gaiters worked pretty well on the steep snow fields. Approach Notes: Hike 3 miles on Bedal trail to basin (2hrs). Ascend snowfield to steepening heather fields and bushwhack over ridge. From the other side there is assessable water. Ascend upward and left back on to crest of ridge find obvious climbers path to steepening rock where technical climbing begins. (Approx 3 hrs if stopping to get water). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wayne Posted August 31, 2011 Share Posted August 31, 2011 Nice! Good topo too. I that the standard W Face route in the Beckey book? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Figger_Eight Posted August 31, 2011 Share Posted August 31, 2011 Woop woop! Nice right up Bryan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schaef Posted August 31, 2011 Author Share Posted August 31, 2011 Sort of. We bypassed a wet corner (Beck Route) and went up to the right on heather ramps and climbed up and left to gain the upper dihedral. Adds a few steeper pitches. The Becky route mostly skirts steeper routes via heather ledges. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted August 31, 2011 Share Posted August 31, 2011 Looks about the same line that Rad and I took. Actually a real fun time! Good on you, that face deserves more traffic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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