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Matt Kidd

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    [TR] Mt. Shuksan - Northwest Arete 09/26-28/2009

    in North Cascades

    Posted · Edited by Matt Kidd

    The anchor in the pic is a v-thread. The top was a picket rap because I hate bollards. The whole route was pretty much ice, but I'm sure there's a good 6-8 inches of snow now at least if the Baker seracs are any indication.

     

    Seemed like this route had a bit of a reputation for being dangerous after the '91 accident, but I think it is not exceptionally so for an alpine route. There is for sure loose rock, and entry to the Hanging Glacier could be interesting, but a bit of care keeps it all reasonable. I would encourage people to get on it!! Will post more pics of the arete if Nick has some good ones.

     

    [TR] Mt. Shuksan - Northwest Arete 09/26-28/2009

    in North Cascades

    Posted · Edited by Matt Kidd

    Trip: Mt. Shuksan - Northwest Arete

     

    Date: 09/26/2009

     

    Trip Report:

    My partner Nick and I had met in Squamish while bouldering, and had planned to get into the mountains before the summer was out. With the season winding down and an amazing weekend forecast it worked out that we both had time to take advantage. I had wanted to get onto Shuksan for a while, and was attracted to the variety and situation offered by the Northwest Arete. Nick was into it, so down we drove on Friday night.

     

    The plan was to approach and climb the arete on Saturday, and complete the ice, summit, descend the Chimneys, and head back to the cars Sunday night. Neither of us had been on Shuksan before so we gave ourselves an extra day for route finding and late season conditions, which turned out to be a good idea.

     

    Saturday went smoothly, we left the car at about 6:45 and headed down the forest service road which is also the approach for the North Face, and was also quite overgrown with alder. When it was convenient we dropped off toward valley bottom and followed game trails and older growth to the creek. The crossing was easy on logs. There was a roughly flagged route up to the ridge crest which we sometimes followed, but mostly we just stayed in the trees. The only important beta is to avoid walking too far up the drainage before heading for the ridge crest as it gets steep if you go too far. Once on the ridge crest stay there. The temptation is to contour but it is easier to stay high. The approach took us about 3.75hrs, right on according to the book and we weren't setting any land speed records.

     

    The route crosses mellow snow/ice to an indistinct arete which becomes more obvious the higher you climb. The lower arete is mostly 4th class with some low 5th on pretty good rock, and as you climb higher the exposure increases and rock quality decreases. We only took out the rope for two pitches, and they were quite loose. One was at the elevation of the terminal serac of the Hanging Glacier, was loose, run out and required a bit of gardening. Maybe 5.6/7? There were other possible chimneys, this one was the second closest to the ridge crest. The ridgecrest chimney looked really loose/nasty.

     

    After the pitch there was some scree walking and some fun low fifth to a beautifully clean biv site where I believe most usually drop down onto the glacier. We took advantage and enjoyed the sunset/sunrise views of Baker.

     

    Sunday morning we dropped down to scout access to the Hanging Glacier. It was pretty broken up so we opted to climb higher on the arete. There was a loose gulley followed by a short pitch (the second one we roped for, again 5.6/7?) that we only roped due to rock quality. We ended up climbing out the entire arete and rapped down into a col with a walk on approach to the Hanging Glacier.

     

    The route then has two pitches of AI2+, Nick's first alpine ice. It was fun, but quite broken up at the top and required a fair amount of time to negotiate. Definately late season conditions, as was the traverse to the south side. Lots of end running/routefinding.

     

    Once on the south side it was getting on, and neither of us had done the Fischer Chimneys, so we decided to forego the summit and head down. Hell's Highway was quite broken and melted out, and we decided to rap it (1 rap on a picket, 3 on v-threads). It was getting on by then, and we were thinking about bivy sites. We spotted a tent on the Upper Curtis, and headed up to say hi. Nice couple guys from Colorado, one formerly from Squamish. They suggested heading to the rock between the Upper Curtis and Winnie's Slide for the nice spots and running water. It was great advise (thanks guys). Windy night under the tarp, and an uneventful descent down the Chimneys and back to the road around 11:30 I think, and a great Forest Service guy gave us a lift down to the picnic area on his tractor (thanks a lot!!). A nice lady from Bellingham gave us a lift to the beginning of our forest service road (thanks a lot!!) And then 2.5kms later we reached our car.

     

    Oh yeah, if you're headed up the Chimneys it is a good idea to bring at least a couple ice screws.

     

    Gear Notes:

    Nuts and cams #.5 to 2., a couple pins which I didn't place (but could have). Brought 7 ice screws but less would do if your party is comfortable on ice. 2 tools, I think one would be fine in earlier season depending on comfort level. 2 pickets.

     

    Approach Notes:

    Take the ridge approach in late season. According to some Japanese climbers the White Salmon Creek approach was a nightmare.

    [TR] Pigeon Spire - Cooper-Kor 8/6/2009

    in British Columbia/Canada

    Posted

    Great TR, looks like a cool route. How much longer was the approach on the south side of Snowpatch? I was there last week and the Bugaboo/Snowpatch col was crappy, but definately not the horror show that people made it out to be. The worst part was the lineup for the two rappels at the end of the day. Each party had to complete both and clear out to avoid rockfall from the next. We were waiting for around an hour and a half...

    Mt. Assiniboine Beta Request

    in British Columbia/Canada

    Posted

    Not sure if it's the same couple that own the lodge anymore, but if it is then the husband is a great source for beta. Met the guy at Berg Lake a couple years ago and he's not surprisingly a wealth of knowledge about all the different routes and variations if you want any specifics.

    [TR] Duffey Lake Rd. - Loose Lady 2/15/2009

    in British Columbia/Canada

    Posted

    Trip: Duffey Lake Rd. - Loose Lady

     

    Date: 2/15/2009

     

    Trip Report:

    Short TR, sorry no pics.

     

    Mike and hit the road around 6am Sunday morning from Vancouver and headed up with a general plan to hit something on the Duffey. On the way up we met Ben and brought him from Squamish to meet Rob from Whistler with the thought that we might all climb a route together. As it happened Rob and Ben decided to head to the D'Arcy area and Mike and I decided to head for the Duffey.

     

    Looked to be several parties on the Rambles, and Carl's Berg looked really good and had noone on it, but Mike wanted to have a look at Sychronicity, which looked fat but possibly a bit white on the highest pitch or two. I talked Mike out of it because of the late start and so despite there being two other cars at the base we headed up Loose Lady around 10:45.

     

    The lower pitches were in good condition and we left the rope in the pack. Briefly met the other two parties on the lower pitches (nice people but didn't catch any names) and found the final pillar looking quite impressive. The final pitch was formed in two separate pillars with the right side slightly less steep and the left steeper and significantly more featured.

     

    I led the first pitch which was largely easy grade 3 with hero ice with a short exit section of interesting mushrooms to the belay at the left. Once up close it was clear that the only way to get up was via the left side as the right was a cold shower. When Mike got up to the belay he said "Looks pretty wild. I'm going for it." Glad he did because I wouldn't have. With a shrubby sort of belay I asked Mike that he get a screw in as quickly as possible, and off he led. The final pitch started on clear ice with poor protection for about five meters up to a cave with the first good pro. From the cave it traverses onto the steep and highly featured final pillar, which has good rests but difficult/awkward moves and placements, the occasional sketchy hook. Mike led it in fine style. When it came to my turn I found it more difficult than I anticipated, and was glad to be on a top rope. The crux for me was gaining the pillar from the cave, and had to grab the back of the pillar to lean out far enough to get a placement for the traverse. After gaining the pillar the climbing was fun and difficult, definately the most technical ice I have climbed. Really enjoyable.

     

    A 60m rope stretch rap to climbers left got us down in one, and one more rap for the final grade 3 pitch and a bunch of down climbing got us back to the car for 5:30. Fantastic route and thanks Mike for leading that last pitch! :tup:

     

    Found some gear on the route. Would like to return it to its owner. Claim by identification.

     

    Sounded like Rob, Ben and his friend had a good day in D'Arcy, lots of stuff in. Go get some.

     

    Gear Notes:

    Standard

     

    Approach Notes:

    Nice easy approach

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