Hayley Sierra Posted July 16, 2009 Share Posted July 16, 2009 Trip: Sherpa - West Ridge Date: 7/15/2009 Trip Report: Sherpa – West Ridge 7/14-7/15 With some unfinished business to attend to, Nick and I gave Sherpa Peak a third attempt. The first time out, we were rained off before we even got off the Ingalls Creek trail. The second time we made it up to camp at 6500 ft (sustaining a crampon point scrape on the forehead along the way) only to wake up to the sound of Nick vomiting, and more rain. This time, we had an excellent forecast, a clean bill of health, and we left the crampons at home! We approached via the Beverly Turnpike trail, which we greatly preferred over Longs Pass. The mileage is a little greater (about 6.5 to Ingalls creek rather than 5), but with far less elevation change, so its not so hard on the knees. Sherpa from the pass. We camped on a table rock at the base of the large snowfield beneath the col. In 7 hours we had made it to the large table rock in the 7400’ basin beneath the Stuart-Sherpa col . I would like to offer some advice as to the best way to cross the ridge to access this basin (from Ingalls Creek you ascend an open meadow approx. 500 ft and then traverse east over a ridge), but after thoroughly exploring various options, I cannot honestly say that there is any “good” way over this ridge. We traversed low—bushwacking through dense brush…we traversed high---sketchy scrambling over steep cliffs…we traversed in the middle—loose dirt and scree, and more cliffs. Good times. Once in the boulder field, ascend to the upper basin, staying just left of a waterfall and cliff band. At camp by 2:30 pm, we contemplated going for the summit that same afternoon, but decided that with the minimal daylight hours we had, we would have to wait until the next morning. It would make for a long day, but we would be sure to get off the route long before dark! We relaxed and took in the scenery. The next morning we set off at 6 am, and it was already comfortably warm. Excellent! No frozen fingers on the rocks. By 7 am we were ready to begin the first pitch. Nick led off up this class 4-5 pitch of about 40 m before rope drag caused him to stop at a rap station to bring me up. It followed blocky terrain directly up the broad ridge. P1 The next pitch was low 5th, involving a stemming chimney and more face climbing to reach a false summit. We took this pitch out an entire 60 m, combining P2 and P3 from the route description, which put us in an excellent location for the next step. We could see most of the traverse across sandy ledges to the base of the crux pitch. P2 Our third pitch brought us across this class 3 terrain (some class 4 moves to get around the corner) to reach a belay station at the base of the headwall. P3 (climber is now at the base of the crux pitch) Now for the crux pitch. Nick worked his way slightly to the right, then stayed left of a small roof to reach the cave (?) about half way up the pitch. Exiting this feature was awkward, and involved some tense friction moves, but soon the climbing eases up again. At a notch in the ridge at the top of the headwall, Nick brought me up. The crux pitch Finally, I led the last pitch up to the summit ridge with a final, airy step-across move to gain the summit block. It was 9:45 am, just under 4 hours from when we left camp. Making the step-across Initially hoping to at least begin our descent by noon, we decided we could afford to take some time and get a closer look at the infamous Sherpa balanced rock. To get to this feature, we had to rap off the north side of Sherpa (~40 ft) and traverse more sandy ledges (class 3-4) to the base of the balanced rock. From up close, this thing is huge! The first ledge is at least 10 ft off the deck, and the upper rock (5.7 friction moves) even looks overhung. A single bolt placed 50 years ago is the only piece of pro you have. Even with Nick standing on the small pile of rocks built up, and me standing on his shoulders, I could probably just barely reach the ledge. This was too much for us, but really fun to look at anyway! Rapping the north side of Sherpa Sherpa Balanced Rock How do I get up this thing? We reversed our route back up to the summit, then began to rap the west ridge route—2 rappels to the base of the crux pitch, then packing the rope across the ledges for several more rappels to the col. Most of the rap stations had new slings that were in good shape, but we backed each rappel up for the first climber for safety. The final rappel brought us a little shy of the col, but we were comfortable downclimbing this terrain to get to the base of the route. The descent took about 2 hours, and we were back to camp in a short while after that (8 hours roundtrip, including the balanced rock excursion). Rappelling the route. We then began the long hike out, up and over the ridge, up and over the pass, and out to the car (5 hours later). This is a very fun alpine rock climb. Although the approach is a bit tedious, it is well worth the effort, and you’ll probably have the place all to yourselves! There is good exposure on the summit ridge, some unique rock features, and great views of the Enchantments and Stuart. Enjoy! Gear Notes: 60 m x 9.4 mm rope, medium alpine rack (0.3-2 with doubles on 0.75 and 1), set of nuts, 6 alpine draws and 3 double slings. May want to bring some leave-it slings to back up rap stations, although they look pretty good for the most part (we didn't leave any gear). Approach Notes: The Beverly Turnpike trail is snowfree and mellow. Check it out before you head to Longs next time! Take the path of least resistance across the ridge to access the basin beneath Sherpa. Traversing perhaps 100 ft above the point that the trail brings you to the ridge seemed to work okay. No axe, crampons, or boots were needed (very little snow and can be avoided entirely) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toproper Posted July 16, 2009 Share Posted July 16, 2009 cool! Thanks for the useful approach beta, I'm hoping to get out there later this season Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Le Piston Posted July 17, 2009 Share Posted July 17, 2009 Nice work Haley...glad your determination won out. I've been trying to get Rod to climb this for years. Maybe I can use your success as motivation for him. Still planning for a rematch with Formidable? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bishopp66 Posted July 17, 2009 Share Posted July 17, 2009 I'm surprised you didn't mention the loose holds on the climb, especially the top of P2/3 (before the ledges). Lots of stuff moving up there a few weeks ago. Nice job... much better style than our group... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KaskadskyjKozak Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 I'm surprised you didn't mention the loose holds on the climb, especially the top of P2/3 (before the ledges). Lots of stuff moving up there a few weeks ago. Nice job... much better style than our group... They were probably "on route" for P2/3. I think we went too far to the right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JensHolsten Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 Nice report. I really like this route. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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