Le Piston

Sweeeet pictures! I've been trying to talk my wife into letting me take an extended trip there for several years. Thanks for the stoke. I'm even more determined!

Trip: Snowfield Peak and Pyramid Peak - Standard Date: 6/18/2010 Trip Report: This trail report will be without my usual lots of pictures, owing to a frustrating glitch in the Gallery uploading process. With a weather forecast of rain all weekend, I figured on getting a good workout and spending a lot of time inside my new tent reading. Luckily the weatherman is often in error, as turned out for our trip to Snowfield Peak. My friend Rod and I got our permits at Marblemount from a ranger who obviously thought we were nuts to go up with predicted 30-70% chance of rain all weekend and headed for the Pyramid Lake trailhead. We had one sprinkle en route to our camp on the toe of Colonial Glacier. The sun came out and we set up camp, ate, and dashed up to Pyramid Peak figuring to take advantage of the break in the weather. The snow was pretty mushy with some postholing up to the knees. The views of Baker, Shuksan, Jack, and the Pickets were a bonus. The weather Saturday was perfect, so we headed for our main objective...Snowfield Peak. We again ran into soft snow crossing the Colonial and Neve glaciers, making for some character building postholing. We went up the Northwest face on snow up to 50 degrees to the West ridge. The rock was partly covered in snow, so we opted to head via a ledge to the Southwest face and a snow ramp to the summit. At this point the clouds were piling in, so we took a few hasty pictures and headed down the way we came, placing a couple pickets to protect the steep runout section. About half way back on the Neve glacier, we found ourselves in fog/cloud with visibility of about 50 feet. We had another rain shower heading up to the col between the Neve and Colonial glaciers, but got back to camp dry. At this point the weatherman was proved correct and it rained on and off all night...spoiling any further peak bagging hopes for Colonial, Paul Bunyan's Stump, or any other close by peaks. The hike out Sunday proved "interesting", as our tracks were mostly gone and the trail is indistinct at the best of times. We ended up doing some good ole North Cascades bushwhacking to get back to the main trail through lovely wet slide alder, devils club, vine maple, etc. This was a great area, with awesome views and lots of climbing objectives to choose from. I'd love to go back in nice weather. Gear Notes: We took 2 pickets (used), 33 meter rope, standard axes, crampons (not used), small rock rack for Pinacle and Paul Bunyans Stump (alas not used). Approach Notes: Ran into snow at 4200 feet. The trail is hard to follow. We followed trail to a knoll approx. 5600 feet elevation with cairns at the top which led to fairly steep cliff. We bypassed this easily on the way out contouring on snow on the west side of this knoll.

I have taken several "new to climbing" friends up Sahale. Not technically difficult, moderate approach on good trail, great views of future objectives...check it out. Cheers!

Some of us use computers at work to access Cascadeclimbers, and don't get a choice of browsers.

I have some Trango aluminum crampons, and have been happy with them for the snow only non-technical stuff. I got them with rubber anti-bots that work just fine. That said, I would tend to go with the Grivel's as probably the better all around aluminum crampon in your field. I have the steel Air Techs and love how they perform for what I climb and if I had it to do over again, would have purchased the Air Tech Lights. Hope this helps...Cheers.

I know of two you might like: Bugaboo Rock: A Climbing Guide by Randall Green and Joe Bensen. The Andes-A Guide for Climbers by John Biggar. Also, you can get good information from Summitpost.org on climbs around the world. Good luck!

I had considered this very approach for Prusik several years ago, but ended up doing the Aasgard pass grind. Fun climb eh? Thanks for the pictures and TR!

If you plan to stick to mostly sport or trad short approach climbs where weight doesn't matter much...I'd go with the beefier rope. If you plan on doing alpine rock climbs, the 9.7mm should give you plenty of durability and save precious ounces in your pack. That is assuming you are only able to afford one rope. Cheers!

I believe what you are looking for is the East Ridge route (for descent). If memory serves there is a good description with a diagram in the guidebook "Climbing Washington's Mountains". Have a great time!

I made the mistake of letting a friend of my main climbing partner at the time belay me without ever having climbed with him before. My buddy told me he was very experienced...obviously not with a Gri-Gri. Lesson learned...the hard way.

A lot of good points made so far. I am one of the unlucky "dropped" climbers thanks to an inattentive belayer using a Gri-Gri. Instead of being lowered after finishing a sport route, I found myself in free fall and was relatively lucky "only" having a broken pelvis and internal bleeding. You have got to have a trustworthy, skilled, attentive belayer...whatever type of device you use. Your anchor needs to be bomber. You should know how to use a Muenter Hitch in case you lose your device. You should also know how to tie off and escape your belay/anchor. The climber also needs to give the belayer cues and commands to help them do a good job...though sometimes a challenge when it's windy or you've run the rope out a ways or around some terrain.

Thanks so much for the great TR and sweeeeet pictures! Way to get it done up there.

Thanks for the great TR and pictures. It really brought back good memories of climbing with old friends on sunny summer days. It's just too bad the approach hike is now the crux!

I'm with you...I like to have the full field of vision. I like my eyes too much so I go with quality protection. My personal favorite is the Julbo Advance, but there are plenty of fine wrap-around polarized sunglasses out there.

Nice pictures! Thanks for the update. I love that area (except the roads).

The Mountain Hardwear hooded Compressor jacket would seem to fit your criteria. I have a similar jacket made by REI (new version called the Spruce I believe) that I really like similar to the Compressor. It is under a pound, warmer than you'd expect for the weight, Primaloft insulation. I use it on almost all of my non-winter climbs.

You might also look at the Crater/Devils Dome loop in the North Cascades. I think it meets most, if not all of your criteria.

I've got some more gear for you if you're still distributing to those in need. PM me if you are interested.

Good point about carrying something not full strength, but I only use it for racking ice screws...not clipping, and then on climbs close to the trailhead. They are certainly stronger than the plastic racking biners. If I'm doing a multiday trip, everything is full strength in case I have to bail.

Also dating myself...I still use these. I think they work just fine and they won't break. Nice to see someone else has some gear as old as mine.

One spot I'll share is 29 Pines along the North Fork Teanaway river road...access for Ingalls and some routes on Stuart/Sherpa. It's free, though a bit dusty and open.

Yes! Thanks for keeping us up to date on the progress. Now I just want a little cold clear weather to firm things up there.

I've never bought boots online...for me fit is first priority and I hate mailing stuff back. You might consider going to Marmot, Second Ascent, Feathered Friends (as needtoclimb suggested), or Pro Mountain Sports. I've been fortunate finding boots there on sale or even used. I love the Trangos, but I have also had good experience with the Asolo Expert GV...very comfy on long approaches and climbs well. Deals are out there, you just have to keep looking for a good fit for your feet and climbing needs. I often buy boots when stores have their 20% or more sales so when my current boots wear out, I've got replacements ready. Good luck!

We went up mid August. Our original plan had been Robson, but the foot of new snow on the Kain Face changed that, so we headed to the Columbia Icefields area... probably much too late in the year for Columbia. Trainwreck could give you more up to date information (How are you doing Grant? Thanks for the help last year!) I'm planning on another foray to Robson, but if conditions are bad again, we'll be back in your neck of the woods. Cheers!

I went up to climb this last summer and it was crevasse city...big yawkers. It sounds like late Spring/early Summer is the best time, and bring skis. As trainwreck states, the Saskatchewan glacier is longer, but less technical. There is supposed to be an approach from the Bush River road (especially for the North Ridge). I don't have fond memories of driving this road...long, dusty, and bumpy. Good luck!