Mt. Stuart - Stuart Glacier Couloir 4/13/2008
Trip: Mt. Stuart - Stuart Glacier Couloir
Date: 4/13/2008
Trip Report:It was a busy few days on Stuart. Here's another TR of the great conditions found on Stuart....
On Saturday morning we (JB, Greg and myself) set out to do a two day climb of Stuart Glacier Couloir. We made a semi leisurely start to our day with the idea that we would enjoy the day and make camp near the base of the Sherpa Glacier.
Sunday morning we set out from camp skinning up towards the Stuart Glacier. Unfortunately, shortly after starting out, Greg had to turn around due to some equipment issues; from the base of the North Ridge on it was just JB and I.
Booting up the Stuart Glacier with the couloir in sight.
After we rounded the corner from the North Ridge the snow became soft and we put the skis back on and continued up the glacier and over the bergschrund.
The Stuart Glacier Couloir was a bit of a powder slog at times, though the three ice steps were pretty fun. This is the third and easiest ice step. The first one was ~80 degrees and 10'-15'
The West Ridge was a bit tedious; not much different than climbing it in the summer (discontinuous route with ledges and to many left/right/up/down options). The routefinding wasn't too bad, though drytooling on front point with skis definitely added a new flavor to climbing on the West Ridge. Per the standard route we followed the ridge for a short traverse on the south side then made a short climb (60' feet?) and crossed over to a ledge/ramp system on the north side.
Looking back to the West Ridge notch.
We followed north side traverse for about 160-200'. At this point we finally pulled the rope out and started protecting a few spots that required a bit more effort.
Once we crossed back over to the south side at the small notch below the summit tower we made the easy down and across traverse.
One more long tedious and meandering pitch up (via short class 4/5 ledges & blocks) put us on the summit. We made the quick traverse over to the false summit and put our boards together and skied down to the Sherpa Glacier Couloir. There were plenty of boot and ski tracks all around this side of the summit (see other TR's: nice job guys, good climbing and skiing).
Skiing down the Sherpa was great powder, but the last few hundred feet quickly turned to heavy deep glop. Regardless the conditions up higher (particularly the upper Sherpa Glacier and Couloir) were fantastic.
The parting shot of Dragontail while skiing out the trail to the car.
Gear Notes:*Ice Tools and Crampons were needed for the couloir.
*We used some minimal rock pro for the West Ridge (#1, #2 and a couple of nuts) plus a few large slings for slinging horns.
*Splits for the skiing in and snowboarding down
Approach Notes:There are some great tracks up towards the Sherpa/Ice Cliff area. The established trail oddly sets off from the main trail at the first meadow just after passing the Colchuck Trail. It crosses the creek and follows the south side of the Mountaineer Creek. Regardless it is a great track right now and avoids the boulders pretty well.
