Priti Posted April 8, 2015 Share Posted April 8, 2015 Trip: WA Pass - Assorted Ice Date: 4/4/2015 Trip Report: This weekend Ben, Andrew and I went out to WA Pass to find some ice to climb. The pass just opened Friday morning and we were excited to check it out. On Saturday we drove up from Seattle and at first we were skeptical about finding any ice at all, because of how little snow and unfrozen everything was. We drove up and down the pass peering out the windows with binoculars and found some ice to climb in a gully right near the hairpin turn on WA-20, just above a pile of avalanche debris. It was tucked away in the gully and shaded from the sun. We slogged up the snow to take a look, and it looked wet but still good. Andrew and I took turns leading up the ice which was a full rope length and around WI3. We rappelled down from a tree to the left of the climb. Just in case no one has climbed it before (which is likely since it is SO remote and FAR from the road ), we tried to come up with a name for the route. But we had a hard time so decided to name it maybe after a few beers. It turns out that night we had a few beers and completely forgot about naming it. So we called it ‘Maybe After a Few Beers.’ There was also a neat, short but thick bit of ice to the left that ended in a sort of cave. Both of the ice formations should last another week or so if the weather stays cold, but note that they are in a high avy danger area. [img:left]http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/500/medium/pic55.jpg[/img][img:left]http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/500/medium/pic45.jpg[/img] When we got down from that gully we set up a top rope on the vertical avy debris wall on the side of the road, just for fun-zies. It turned out to be pretty rad to climb and monkey around on, especially if you include the overhanging sit-start, and the mantle over the top. We practiced the Poo & Screw technique, and decided to call the rarely-forming route that, after these irreplaceable motions: “Hang like you poo, swing like you screw.” The sun had been shining so hard all day, and the weather was just so pleasant that we weren’t looking forward to setting up our snow campsite. You know how uncomfortable and inconvenient snow camping is. It’s cold, the snow is uneven, it’s hard work to shovel and set up, and the freeze dried meals are awful. Okay, actually we set up our glampsite at the pull out for the unplowed road up to the Cutthroat trail head. We pulled out our chairs, table, grill and beer. We put our tent on the flat snow on the road, fluffed our down bags and pulled on our booties. Ben cooked a gourmet meal of crispy quesadillas, we downed some beer and we howled at the full moon. In the morning, the Easter Bunny had gone through our car and left Easter eggs full of candy everywhere! That bunny is so thoughtful, he even left the bag for us for later. Andrew cooked breakfast, delicious breakfast burritos, with slightly frozen strawberries on the side. Being nicely full of amazing food, we skinned up the snowy road (NF-400) toward the Cutthroat Trail head. After twenty minutes we spotted some good looking ice on the left side of the road on the ridge. We ripped out skins and flew back to the car and repacked for ice. Then we skinned back up and hiked to the base of the route. It was degenerating, but there were still lines that were climbable and it looked better higher up. I lead up the first pitch, squeezing behind a tree and doing some mixed. Andrew led the next pitch and it was phenomenal! It may be the best ice pitch I’ve climbed so far. I really wanted to lead it too. I’ve got dibs on the next one. It was super fun! [img:left]http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/500/medium/pic82.jpg[/img][img:left]http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/500/medium/pic91.jpg[/img] We tried to make the summit, and got to the top of the ridge, and it just kept going up to Hinkhouse Peak. So we turned around after the snow-slogging-sweat-fest up the steeps. One double rope rap got us just barely to the base of the climb. (Pro tip for smaller folks: carry the heavy pack so the rope stretches) As we rappelled, Ben found one screw that got left in the ice on the top of the first pitch. He bootied it, and in all fairness, I should give it to him. The route got named ‘The Booty Screw,’ it only took five minutes and three repetitions of the name for me to like it. Then we hiked back to our skis and skied down to the door of our car, resort style. Who said you can’t glamp, ski to your car, and climb great ice too? #KillingIt [img:right]http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/500/medium/pic7a.jpg[/img][img:right]http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/500/medium/pic7b.jpg[/img] Gear Notes: We ended up using: 3 pickets, 8-10 screws, and our skis Approach Notes: Right off the WA-20, near the hairpin turn Right off the road up to Cutthroat trail head, on the left hand side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devin27 Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 Didn't anyone tell you there is no ice climbing in Washington Nice find guys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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