kurthicks Posted February 9, 2004 Share Posted February 9, 2004 Climb: Colchuck Peak-North Buttress Couloir Date of Climb: 2/8/2004 Trip Report: Climbed the North Buttress Couloir yesterday. After checking the weather and avy forecasts, i skied into the lake and broke trail for cc.comers Ade and Al? on Saturday. Slept for 15 hours. started up at 6:40 under a nice full moon. the wind was howling a little in the morning, but around 8 it stopped until i topped out. the couloir has some firm snow and some knee deep pow that is highly variable from one step to the next. anyways, the view from the top of the couloir was awesome. i traversed out onto the NW face as some clouds engulfed me, helping to ease the exposure a bit. the NW face has some really deep pow(waist) and some spots where it's 4" over slopy granite. the most exciting part was when i topped out on the NW face and had to climb 50+ degree powder above the east face and finish with a mantle onto the summit plateau. nothing like a 5.nothing mantle with 2000' of exposure and no belay. the descent is really straightforward down to the Col, but the SW slopes felt different than the northern ones (windloaded?) A fun route. Gear Notes: 2 tools helmet crampons pickets would be useless a partner would be nice Approach Notes: there's a well beaten path all the way into the lake now, but flotation is probably still useful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshK Posted February 9, 2004 Share Posted February 9, 2004 sweet! beautiful pics! I wish I had been able to go rather than sit at home all weekend hacking a nasty cough and blowing my nose once every 15 seconds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted February 9, 2004 Share Posted February 9, 2004 Stuart lookin' badass yo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshK Posted February 10, 2004 Share Posted February 10, 2004 Stuart lookin' badass yo You could mistake it for something in the himilayas! I love Stuart in the winter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bug Posted February 10, 2004 Share Posted February 10, 2004 Right on. Nice pics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ade Posted February 11, 2004 Share Posted February 11, 2004 Yeah that was us... Unlike wazzumountaineer neither of us could ski for shit so the approach took a tad longer. There was at least 6" of new snow on the lake so we bailed. In case anyone is (still) wondering the ice routes on Dragontail are not iced. Lots of powder snow in the gullies and not much else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurthicks Posted February 11, 2004 Author Share Posted February 11, 2004 Yeah that was us... Unlike wazzumountaineer neither of us could ski for shit so the approach took a tad longer. you should have seen the ski out i fell so many times and bent one of my trekking poles. gotta love skiing in leathers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ade Posted February 11, 2004 Share Posted February 11, 2004 Yep... We were there too. I skied right into a tree. A sharp branch missed my femoral artery but ripped my bibs... which I think hurt more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HRoark Posted February 11, 2004 Share Posted February 11, 2004 What did the cornice look like above the N.E. Couloir on Colchuck? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurthicks Posted February 11, 2004 Author Share Posted February 11, 2004 (edited) if i remember correctly, there was a little one (1-2') above the NE Couloir. I know there was one at Colchuck Col on the west side (right as you're ascending) of the big boulder, it wasn't too big either. i'd suggest waiting until the snow settles a bit though, it was a lot of wallowing... edit: look at this pic http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/plab/showphoto.php?photo=3448&size=big&password=&sort=1&cat=504 i can see a slight shadow above the couloir, but that doesn't necessarily mean a lot. Edited February 11, 2004 by wazzumountaineer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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