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Trip: Little Tahoma - Lawless Trip Date: 03/03/2020 Trip Report: I first became interested in Little Tahoma talking with Matt Christensen (my step father) about his first ascent of the West Ridge with his climbing partner Paul Cook. We found it interesting that the third highest peak in Washington has had only a few significant ascents. I teamed up with my friend Jay, who had been wanting to climb something on the north side of the peak for awhile. On the third of March we started walking from camp at 3:30am, our starting elevation was around 8800ft on the Cowlitz Glacier. We crossed below Cathedral Rocks and got onto the Ingraham and started to head west up glacier. The Ingraham was covered in a thin windblown snow crust which made glacier navigation difficult. I punched through into a crevasse and went in up to my head. I remember looking down and seeing a lot of open space below my dangling boots. From that point Jay graciously took the lead. It took us longer than planned to navigate the Ingraham due to the weak snow bridges. Eventually, we made it to the termination of the West Ridge of Little Tahoma and descended the Winthrop Glacier to below the North Face of Little Tahoma. We encountered a significant bergschrund which took two rappels using v threads to get across and to the base of our route. By that time the sun was fully out. We didn't have too much beta to go off of as we scanned the north face for a weakness. We chose a line and went for it. The climb started out on lower angle snow and ice leading to the second pitch which was fun AI4 up a thin ice runnel. The next two pitches were AI3, M3-M4ish climbing and really enjoyable. Pitch five was more serious (at least for me). It was steep mixed climbing with a thin layer of snow cover on what, in appearance, was a cement mix with cobblestones protruding. I was able to find a pin placement low on the pitch, but the majority of the lead was unprotected. This was definitely one of the hardest pitches I've done due to the mental aspect, trying to keep the negative thoughts at bay. Jay took the sixth pitch, which was the crux. A short crack system lower on the lead led up to difficult moves pulling around an overhanging bulge. This pitch had some loose blocks and my belay was directly below and exposed. I had my fingers crossed Jay would not pull any off. At the top of the sixth pitch we started to gain the West Ridge. On the West Ridge we started to climb a series of gendarmes. At this point we were able to put away the ice tools and do some fun alpine rock climbing. There were a few large loose blocks, but most of the pitch was on good rock. From there we reached the last major gendarme on the West Ridge. We rappelled down into a notch between the gendarme and the final buttress of the West Ridge. By that time the daylight was gone and the weather had moved in causing whiteout conditions. We were not expecting to bivy and our gear was limited, which would have made a very cold night. We made the decision to bail on our original plan of climbing the distinct vertical chimney system that cuts directly up the final buttress to the summit. Instead, we traversed around the South Face until we found a large couloir. Pitch ten climbed the couloir up 65-70 degree snow leading us to a short pitch of AI3. From here we were essentially on the standard route up the east side. Even though we were close to the summit, being as exhausted, and frankly grateful to have made it as far as we had, the decision was made to descend. We got back to camp with a round trip time of almost exactly 24 hours. Grade V AI4 M6 5.8, 11 pitches Gear Notes: Single rack in rock pro .1-3 in BD, 5 ice screws, 7 pins, 2 pickets, twin 70m ropes Approach Notes: Approached from the North Face of Little Tahoma by going around the the terminus of the West Ridge.

Theres a couple routes in the Beckey bible (green). I climbed the sw dihedreal last fall. It was pretty enjoyable, but much like kroc said be prepared for large swaths of unprotected 5.easy climbing. The rock was kinda slippery greenshist with really big holds. I found mostly solid rock with maybe 2 pitches of less than solid rock near the top. Wear a helmet and be safe, its an alpine climb. Make sure to have the decent beta down. Once you get to the summit, you need to hike north to the notch then climb up a 3rd class step. Neither my partner nor myself had been on the summit before and the climb back up to the false summit eluded us for some time.

I climbed the SW face of Whitechuck in 2003. We followed the two paragraph description in green Beckey. It was pretty accurate, 800 ft. six pitches, last one was kinda loose. I remember the rock was steep, solid and positive. Vertical 5.6 on big holds seemed right. The rock was solid featured greenschist I think. We found very little protection, occasional crappy small pieces. I remember running out chunks of 50+ mostly, maybe one pitch I only got one piece in ?? We would climb out half the rope and start looking for an anchor, fuzzy memories but usually two junky pieces or one decent piece and a good stance. The lack of pro was just manageable for us because of the solid featured rock. The nerve racking thing for me was that all around were these big swaths of horrible rock shattered in blocks large and small. I was afraid because I was run out 60 ft. over a horizonal small nut and wondering if I was climbing into a trap of looseness and downclimbing to a anchor I might not be too psyched to rap off of. The rock never failed and was featured enough that you could stay on you feet. I probably was wearing decent rock shoes and was always able to climb in control. Was around a 5.9 trad leader at least 33% of the time those days. Because of the heady nature and difficulty placing gear we took a long time to get up six pitches. Not that we had to put on headlamps or anything, but I definatly remember thinking the time per pitch was way off our normal. I wonder if pitons would have been helpful. I would not repeat this route and wouldn't specifically recommend it. But I am happy to have done it and enjoyed much of the climbing. It had a free solo feel to it, only it was a team effort. Seventeen years? Trust any beta from me at your own risk.