Trip: Early Morning Spire - Southwest Face
Date: 8/31/2007
Trip Report:
Claire and I climbed the Southwest face of Early Morning Spire on Friday, August 31st.
We hiked in on Thursday in beautiful weather via the Eldorado/Rush creek approach. Glacier travel is still easy, although crevasses are opening up quickly. It took us around 6 hours with a leisurely walking pace to reach the col between the McAllister Glacier and Marble Cirque. There are two notches to pass into Marble Cirque. The one to climber's left is better and brings you to the only campsite there is (up to the right a bit). We even found running water on a rock below a snowpatch. Friday morning found us dropping down the glacial remnant of Marble cirque and after skirting around the rock buttress we arrived at the snow-patch leading up the Early Morning Spire. 2.5 hours after we started from camp we arrived at the start of the route and after a bit of discussing the weather, we started climbing at around 10.30am. We took are more direct start than the original route since the moat made it difficult to get to the first pitch of the original route. The climbing itself is very good and pretty straightforward. On the last pitch before the 4th class ledge I wandered off the the left a bit and and we had to down-climb a little in order to get into position for the last two pitches on the face proper. Meanwhile, clouds came up from the valley and we had to stop at times to see were the route was. Two short pitches brought us up to the south ridge and two simulclimb leads later we were on the summit, 5.5 hours after we started climbing. Contrary to what was stated in a previous trip report, we found the blocky climbing up the ridge very enjoyable and not loose at all. About halfway up the ridge the sometimes heavy wind we had enjoyed while climbing the southwest face was joined by rain and soon it was getting quite chilly. The ensuing urgency and the whiteout conditions on the summit might have contributed to the fact that we down-climbed the wrong side, dropping down east instead of north. We got into steeper and steeper terrain on the east side of the mountain and when we found nowhere else to down-climb and a rappel sling, we knew we were in trouble. At that point we were soaking wet and getting really cold. We eventually chose to rappel a gully rather than climbing up the wet ledges again and luckily, after three, at parts overhanging single rope rappels we hit the moat from which we could get on the glacial remnant and walk down to where we left our poles. With no visibility it took a bit of trial and error to find the right path up to camp, which we reached just as it got dark. We were happy to have a warm meal plus tea and quickly went to bed. The next morning, when Claire received a text message from her sister in Berlin, saying that she had just gotten up and was heading out for breakfast, we wondered whether we should have chosen a more sedetary lifestyle. But the fog from last night surrounding our tent was gone and we were greeted by clear skies. With our boots frozen solid, we abandoned our plan for Saturday to climb Dorado Needle and hiked in polypro underpants across two glaciers to reach the rocks below Eldorado's East ridge, where we dried our belongings and chilled in the sun for two hours. The views were fantastic and we had the whole area for ourselves, until two big groups came by, planning to do the "ice route" on Eldorado. At 11am we decided it was time to head down and our uneventful descent was only interrupted by a marmot and a nice chat with Michelle and Joe, who were on their way to climb Eldorado's West Arête the next day.
Altogether it was a great experience with good climbing, although a bit more adventurous than we wanted it too be.
Lessons learned:
1. If you think the weather is going to be bad, don't let your girlfriend convince you otherwise.
2. Compasses can always come in handy.
3. You can receive text messages on the col between McAllister Glacier and Marble Cirque.
Inspiration glacier
Eldorado Northeast face
Torment-Forbidden with Sahale in the background
Dorado Needle
Evening
On the approach to EMS
The climb
First pitch
Another pitch
After the roof
Before the traverse pitch. Clouds coming in.
Claire close to summit. Follow the rope.
Back down and happy.
Next morning
Glacier peak
Drying up
Eldorado glacier
Green
Gear Notes:
Ice ax, crampons and medium rack to 3 inches.
Approach Notes:
Eldorado/Rush creek approach, then over Inspiration and McAllister glacier to the col between the McAllister Glacier and Marble Cirque. Bivi sites and one campsite are found in the left notch of the col.
