Mt. Stuart - W. Ridge 7/2/2008
Trip: Mt. Stuart - W. Ridge
Date: 7/2/2008
Trip Report:I met my good friend Carl from Sandpoint, ID at the end of the N. Fork Teanaway road on Tuesday evening. We left the parking lot at 5AM the next morning and headed off to the West Ridge of Stuart. We started the climb in the first couloir from the West Ridge proper since the second (main) couloir had snow in the lower part and we didn't want to take our chances with snow sitting on slabs after lots of melting action. We traversed into the main couloir above the snow and climbed it to its head.
We traversed into the basin beneath Long John Tower and climbed the headwall to the left of Long John to the shoulder of the West Ridge.
Some pleasant scrambling across the ledges on the shoulder led to the notch at the head of the Stuart Glacier Couloir route.
From the notch it is possible to completely avoid climbing on the North side of the ridge, which is somewhat loose and is drippy in early season. Here is a key step across on the South side of the ridge:
We arrived at the summit at about 12:30 in the afternoon and spent an hour lounging in the sun before the long, hot, dry grind down the Cascadian Couloir and the trudge over Long's Pass.
We were back at the car by 6:30 in the evening with very sore feet.
Gear Notes:Ice axe, helmet if you worry about the goats kicking rocks on you.
Approach Notes:Snow after Ingall's pass. Good footlog over Ingall's creek at the start of the trail to Long's Pass.
