Whatcomboy Posted July 6, 2012 Share Posted July 6, 2012 Trip: South Early Winter Spire - Southwest Arete Date: 7/4/2012 Trip Report: Got to Blue Lake parking lot at 8am and found it all plowed out. Discovered I made a huge rookie mistake of forgetting my sunglasses. Doh! A skier showed up and gave me a beater pair of not so dark shades to wear. Figured it be ok since we'd be on rock most of the time. If traveling up high on glacier all day it would have been a no go. Anyway, it's snow all the way to the base of SEWS. The first couple moves are the crux with mellow climbing, some simo, fun short chimney move, a little scrambling then across the whale back which has a new bolt if you need it. The whole route takes pro real well. Warm and sunny on top in tee shirts. We were followed by a guide with two clients. Some downclimbing with 3 raps gets you down. As we were hiking back out two guys we had talked to on the way up were slowly decending the snow gully from Liberty Bell. One slipped and slid into the rocks, bounced back onto snow, slid some more and back into rocks. I yelled to them a couple times and finally answered back OK. Whew! That gully stays icy cause it doesn't get much sun. Take an ice ax if heading for Liberty Bell. chimney whale back Liberty Bell Summit West Gear Notes: small rack, took 60m rope but could go shorter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed_Hobbick Posted July 6, 2012 Share Posted July 6, 2012 Cool! Yes it was bright and WHITE with the sun and all. George1.6 and I were on the SW Rib. You guys must have topped out and descended before we got to the top. We didn't even hear you guys over there. Good times!! Did you see the people on Liberty Bell doing the firework show? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norman Posted July 6, 2012 Share Posted July 6, 2012 Good climb Nick. Caboose in Marblemount is the place for food coming down...even has beer! Crucial Beta by Norman... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtveld Posted July 6, 2012 Share Posted July 6, 2012 Fun, fun! Possibly the South Arete? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bush-in-sky Posted July 6, 2012 Share Posted July 6, 2012 We were on NEWS on the 4th - got some pictures of a few climbing parties on top of SEWS and one duo on Liberty Bell. These are from between 1:45 and 2PM - not sure if that's you on SEWS or another group. Here they are if you're interested: SEWS: Liberty Bell: A beautiful day out, but definitely still icy on the approach. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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