iceclive

Oh I see. Hey thanks for saving me a tank of gas/a 17 mile slog.

Hey all- I've been thinking about taking a look at Greybeard's NF next weekend. Has anyone been up there recently or have any photos? Also, I noticed that the first ascent, and both of the TR's I found on here, took place in May...is this more of a late season route? Is it going to be too loaded with snow right now? Given the avalanche which caught those guys last year, I'm not interested in taking any chances on this thing. Thanks!

Trip: Mt Snoqualmie - NY Gully Date: 2/3/2007 Trip Report: My buddy Noah and I climbed NY Gully on Saturday. There are already a couple of good TR's on here, but you might learn a thing or two from us, such as DO NOT START THIS AT 8:00AM. We left the car at 8:00 (see above). The approach is easy to find, we followed tracks from the clearing on the Source Lake trail up through the trees, into a long couloir which steepened at the top. We didn't bring snowshoes and we didn't find them necessary. After crossing the "bench" we got to the top of the couloir which drops you into the basin below the NF, left our poles at the top. The approach took us 3 hours, which made us think there might be an easier way to do it. We were unroped up the entrance gully, and linked the guidebook's 2 leftward-traversing pitches into one long pitch with 20 feet of simul. The box gully was our second belayed pitch. We both thought that the box gully protected pretty well. Pretty spicy and a little run out, but never dangerously run out. There are a lot of fixed pins, and a spectre or two in the turf ties the whole thing together nicely. A really cool couple of pitches. There are no screws anywhere on this climb, at least not in its current condition. At the top of the box gully is where things started to get "interesting." Or, "confused and slightly desperate," if you like. At the top the box gully, we found a huge flake, big enough to sit on, right below a steep, 2-3" crack that we imagined was the aid section described in Selected Climbs. It started with a tough mantle onto a snow covered ledge and generally looked awkward as hell. So instead, from this belay on top of the flake, we made an exposed traverse 15 feet directly right to the base of a right slanting ramp/slab with a little bit of snow and ice on it, hoping it would lead us onto easier ground around the corner. After a pitch up this ramp, we found oursleves at the base of steep, 4th class corner of broken, loose rock. By now it was entirely dark and we were climbing by headlamp. A 60 ft pitch up the broken corner got us to a ledge just underneath a short, easy snowfield which ended at another rock wall. We found some faint footsteps on the snowfield, relieved that we were back on route. At the top of the snowfield was yet another 2-3" over-hanging offwidth. Big props to Noah for leading this one, with 3 points of aid this thing still felt like solid 5.8, not to be underestimated especially in the dark with 10 hours of work already under your belt. Luckily, this led us to a rock rib at the top of the face. From here, a long snow traverse across what we figured was the top of the entrance gully brought us to steep, tree-covered slopes on the back of the mountain. Walked back to the top of the basin-access gully (surprisingly easy to find), got the poles, and stumbled back down into the valley, getting to the car a little before midnight after a crux stream crossing. A little epic, but one of the greatest routes I have ever climbed. And again, thanks to Noah for holding steady and basically being a badass the whole way up. Gear Notes: pins, spectres. Cams to 3" are required.

thanks for the heads up guys....we'll be careful.

Hey- From the trip reports, this looks like a great route. I could tell you that I just moved out here from the east coast, but that would be a goddamned lie; I've been sitting on my ass for almost 3 months now and need to GET OUT THERE. Pretty out of shape but its been a loooong time since I saw a grade 3 I couldn't handle, so I could do the leading if necessary. I'd be happy getting on some water ice too.... ok, clive