Hayley Sierra

Thanks for another great Sister's Trip Val! This was probably one of the most challenging routes I have done, but with you it was enjoyable the whole time (even that squeeze flare chimney). Glad we could keep this tradition alive for another year

Trip: A tour of WA climbing - Ruth, Dumbell, and Ingalls (south ridge) Date: 9/2/2011 Trip Report: A Tour of Washington Climbing 1) Snow/glacier climb : Ruth Mountain 2) Scramble : Dumbell Mountain 3) Alpine rock : Ingalls South Ridge With a 2 week vacation to my home state of Washington (and a beautiful weather forecast), I wanted to show my boyfriend (and new climbing protégé) what the cascades have to offer. Fresh off the plane from Baltimore (and with a set of 4 new tires acquired during an emergency stop that morning), we headed to the Hannegan Pass trailhead, where Martin would get his first taste of snow/glacier travel on Ruth Mountain. Ruth Mountain The springtime wildflowers were indeed in full bloom as we headed down the trail at noon. It was virtually snow free to just below Hannegan Pass, with lots of opportunities for photography. The traverse around the subsidiary peak (5963’) was snow covered, with a short run-out before rocky cliffs, so an ice axe came in handy. A little while longer, we were standing on the summit (7115’), enjoying the gorgeous views of Shuksan and Baker. With the late start time (noon), we had to get moving back to the pass, but got a nice shot of Ruth in the sunset. Fortunately, the mellow Hannegan Pass trail was easy to follow by headlamp. Dumbell Mountain In just a couple days we found ourselves back in the Cascades, this time with plans to climb Dumbell and Greenwood Mountains, located at the head of the Phelps Creek basin. With word of ferocious bugs in Spider Meadows, we opted to camp high in the upper heather meadows, just beneath Dumbell’s false summits. We chose to follow a waterfall/snow/rock filled gulley to the upper basin, alternating between snowfields and heather slopes. (Spider meadows) (taken on the descent) It made for a long journey with overnight packs, but the views were well worth it. We awoke early the next morning for our summit day, moving at 4:45 am toward the summit (we were hoping to get back early for a welcome BBQ in Seattle). We bypassed the false summits on the right, continuing toward the Dumbell-Greenwood saddle. Here the route came into view. We crossed steep snow to reach the first rocky ledges, then even steeper snow to gain the rocks that would take us to the summit ridge. I was starting to feel a little nervous here with a new climber, but Martin really impressed me with his slow, methodical movements and solid kick-steps. We chose an upper 4th class gully to gain the ridge, which also required careful hand/foot placements to avoid a fall. From the ridge, class 2-3 scrambling gets you to the summit, with rewarding 360 degree views of Washington’s peaks. Once we downclimbed back to the snow, I decided to traverse over to the Greenwood saddle and take a look at the infamous ledges, but with a tired partner and time running short, we decided to give that one a try on another day. Seeming to feel more confident with each step, we made quick time back to camp and continued the hike out. We were greeted in Seattle with friendly faces and plenty of BBQ pork (courtesy of Nathan and Val). Great way to reward ourselves after a weekend of climbing! Ingalls Peak With the goal of sampling all kinds of WA climbing, an alpine rock trip was definitely in order. With poor luck on the Encahntments permit lottery, Prusik peak was out. Therefore, we headed to the Teanaway area to climb the south ridge of Ingalls peak (which just happened to be my first alpine rock several years ago). We enjoyed the scenery and wildlife in the area as we hiked to Ingalls Lake and made camp. After a rest, we decided to go ahead and do the climb that afternoon, looking forward to an easy hike out the next day. We ascended snow and rocky slopes to the base of the route, and began climbing just after 5pm. I chose the right hand crack (5.6 variation) for the crux pitch, which Martin happily followed, enjoying some nice hand jams along the way. We arrived on the summit at 7pm, and were treated with an amazing sunset. A few quick rappels (happy to have my new 70m rope for that crux pitch), and we were back at the base of the route by dark. We were able to successfully link snowfields together for an easy descent (avoiding a possible twisted ankle on the rocks), and made it safely back to camp. A herd of goats woke us up the next morning for some more photography, and we had a pleasant hike back to the car. Thanks Martin for putting up with me these last couple weeks, and going along with all my climbing schemes so enthusiastically. You made the perfect climbing partner, and I hope there are many more trips to come! Gear Notes: Ice axe, crampons, rack of cams to 3 inches, 70m rope (Ingalls). Approach Notes: Trails are melting out fast!

We camped on a rock outcrop slightly above and left of the normal 6000' camp (maybe 6300'). It made the glacier crossing slightly shorter in the morning. We took a 40 degree snow slope directly up to gain the ridge. There was another snow slope to climber's right of the one we used, but it had a large crevasse blocking access to the bottom. Aside from potential rock fall danger, this route worked well for us.

Trip: Mt. Baker - North Ridge Date: 7/5/2010 Trip Report: NR Baker (a.k.a. Sisters Trip 2010!) We have kept the tradition of having an annual sisters trip for 6 years now. The goal of each of these trips has been to find a challenge for ourselves and, primarily, have fun doing it. With that, the NR of Baker was a fitting objective. Valerie has been dabbling with ice for a little while now, but had not yet attempted to lead an alpine route. Hayley has also practiced top-roping ice crags a couple of times and just last year became comfortable leading steep snow pitches with our ascent of the NF of Buckner (Sisters trip 2009). So, with a good forecast and great conditions reported on this route, we took off for a Monday-Tuesday climb. We took our time getting to the trailhead to avoid the tail-end of the last weather system. We hiked up in a misty drizzle passing several battered parties. All that we spoke with had made the summit, but it didn't sound like the most enjoyable conditions. Just as we arrived at camp, the clouds broke to blue skies and a clear view of our route. Our summit day was looking to be quite nice. A sun nap on our bivies and a spectacular sunset finished off our day. We started across the lower Coleman glacier at 3:45 the next morning. The crossing went far more smoothly than my last attempt at the route (late October 2008). Most of the crevasses were still covered and those that were opened had convenient snow bridges. Even though we hit the route early in the day, rockfall was an issue while gaining the north ridge. A baseball-sized rock wizzed by narrowly missing both of us. We sped up to reach the relative safety of the ridge. We continued up the ridge to 9600' and the start of the crux pitches. The crux was at the very start of the first pitch; about 15' of near vertical ice gained an arete that continued for 1.5 pitches. This section of the climb was ridiculously cool; the lower north ridge on one side, the massive Roosevelt glacier on the other- it doesn't get much better than this. The entire arete protected well with ice scews, which made for an enjoyable first alpine ice lead! A second ice/snow pitch finished the arete and gained more broad slopes. Three steep snow pitches with a little simul-climbing mixed in gained a ledge in front of an ice shelf. A left trending traverse around the ice shelf brought us to the summit at 1:30 pm. Colorado team member on the crux section: Hayley ascending the first pitch Top of the first pitch Looking up to Valerie at the bottom of the second pitch Nearing the top of the second pitch Hayley leads off above the second pitch Final walk to the summit Summit! On the hike down, Hayley commented that our sisters trip keeps getting more difficult each year. We now wonder what 2011 will have in store... Gear Notes: 60 M 9.4 mm rope Ice crampons, two tools 10 ice screws (~16 cm) 10 quickdraws or alpine draws 3 pickets (2') Approach Notes: Snowline is reached just below the hogsback ridge.

Trip: Sherpa - West Ridge Date: 7/15/2009 Trip Report: Sherpa – West Ridge 7/14-7/15 With some unfinished business to attend to, Nick and I gave Sherpa Peak a third attempt. The first time out, we were rained off before we even got off the Ingalls Creek trail. The second time we made it up to camp at 6500 ft (sustaining a crampon point scrape on the forehead along the way) only to wake up to the sound of Nick vomiting, and more rain. This time, we had an excellent forecast, a clean bill of health, and we left the crampons at home! We approached via the Beverly Turnpike trail, which we greatly preferred over Longs Pass. The mileage is a little greater (about 6.5 to Ingalls creek rather than 5), but with far less elevation change, so its not so hard on the knees. Sherpa from the pass. We camped on a table rock at the base of the large snowfield beneath the col. In 7 hours we had made it to the large table rock in the 7400’ basin beneath the Stuart-Sherpa col . I would like to offer some advice as to the best way to cross the ridge to access this basin (from Ingalls Creek you ascend an open meadow approx. 500 ft and then traverse east over a ridge), but after thoroughly exploring various options, I cannot honestly say that there is any “good” way over this ridge. We traversed low—bushwacking through dense brush…we traversed high---sketchy scrambling over steep cliffs…we traversed in the middle—loose dirt and scree, and more cliffs. Good times. Once in the boulder field, ascend to the upper basin, staying just left of a waterfall and cliff band. At camp by 2:30 pm, we contemplated going for the summit that same afternoon, but decided that with the minimal daylight hours we had, we would have to wait until the next morning. It would make for a long day, but we would be sure to get off the route long before dark! We relaxed and took in the scenery. The next morning we set off at 6 am, and it was already comfortably warm. Excellent! No frozen fingers on the rocks. By 7 am we were ready to begin the first pitch. Nick led off up this class 4-5 pitch of about 40 m before rope drag caused him to stop at a rap station to bring me up. It followed blocky terrain directly up the broad ridge. P1 The next pitch was low 5th, involving a stemming chimney and more face climbing to reach a false summit. We took this pitch out an entire 60 m, combining P2 and P3 from the route description, which put us in an excellent location for the next step. We could see most of the traverse across sandy ledges to the base of the crux pitch. P2 Our third pitch brought us across this class 3 terrain (some class 4 moves to get around the corner) to reach a belay station at the base of the headwall. P3 (climber is now at the base of the crux pitch) Now for the crux pitch. Nick worked his way slightly to the right, then stayed left of a small roof to reach the cave (?) about half way up the pitch. Exiting this feature was awkward, and involved some tense friction moves, but soon the climbing eases up again. At a notch in the ridge at the top of the headwall, Nick brought me up. The crux pitch Finally, I led the last pitch up to the summit ridge with a final, airy step-across move to gain the summit block. It was 9:45 am, just under 4 hours from when we left camp. Making the step-across Initially hoping to at least begin our descent by noon, we decided we could afford to take some time and get a closer look at the infamous Sherpa balanced rock. To get to this feature, we had to rap off the north side of Sherpa (~40 ft) and traverse more sandy ledges (class 3-4) to the base of the balanced rock. From up close, this thing is huge! The first ledge is at least 10 ft off the deck, and the upper rock (5.7 friction moves) even looks overhung. A single bolt placed 50 years ago is the only piece of pro you have. Even with Nick standing on the small pile of rocks built up, and me standing on his shoulders, I could probably just barely reach the ledge. This was too much for us, but really fun to look at anyway! Rapping the north side of Sherpa Sherpa Balanced Rock How do I get up this thing? We reversed our route back up to the summit, then began to rap the west ridge route—2 rappels to the base of the crux pitch, then packing the rope across the ledges for several more rappels to the col. Most of the rap stations had new slings that were in good shape, but we backed each rappel up for the first climber for safety. The final rappel brought us a little shy of the col, but we were comfortable downclimbing this terrain to get to the base of the route. The descent took about 2 hours, and we were back to camp in a short while after that (8 hours roundtrip, including the balanced rock excursion). Rappelling the route. We then began the long hike out, up and over the ridge, up and over the pass, and out to the car (5 hours later). This is a very fun alpine rock climb. Although the approach is a bit tedious, it is well worth the effort, and you’ll probably have the place all to yourselves! There is good exposure on the summit ridge, some unique rock features, and great views of the Enchantments and Stuart. Enjoy! Gear Notes: 60 m x 9.4 mm rope, medium alpine rack (0.3-2 with doubles on 0.75 and 1), set of nuts, 6 alpine draws and 3 double slings. May want to bring some leave-it slings to back up rap stations, although they look pretty good for the most part (we didn't leave any gear). Approach Notes: The Beverly Turnpike trail is snowfree and mellow. Check it out before you head to Longs next time! Take the path of least resistance across the ridge to access the basin beneath Sherpa. Traversing perhaps 100 ft above the point that the trail brings you to the ridge seemed to work okay. No axe, crampons, or boots were needed (very little snow and can be avoided entirely)

Trip: Fortress Mountain - SW route Date: 7/11/2009 Trip Report: Fortress Mountain 7/10-7/12 After turning back near the summit of Fortress’ SE route (4th class) a few weeks ago due to weather, I decided to give this peak another try. This time, we approached via the Buck Creek trail to climb the SW route (a class 2-3 scramble). The approach is 9 miles of mellow trail, although due to our late start (we left the trailhead at 6 pm), we got in the first 6.5 miles and decided to stop at a large horse camp in the forest for the night. The next day we soon found ourselves in a gorgeous high alpine meadow at the base of Fortress’ SW side. We ascended steep heather slopes to an upper basin (snow and rock) which allowed us to access the SW route. Avalanche lilies in the meadow. The SW scramble route. We covered the last couple thousand feet easily, encountering mostly class 2 terrrain up to the ridge. We then traversed the ridgeline to the summit, where we enjoyed views of Glacier Peak, Chiwawa, and the Entiat range. Chiwawa and the Entiat Mountains. Glacier Peak. We leisurely made our way back to camp, where we opted to stay an additional night in this wonderful location. This made the hike out the next day much more relaxing, and we made it back to the car just as it started raining. Good timing on the weather! Descending the meadows. Gear Notes: Helmet and ice axe Approach Notes: There are 4-5 avi debris fields across the Buck Creek trail, with many downed trees. Wouldn't want to attempt in the dark or when wet!

Thanks for the TR. I'm thinking about heading up to Fortress soon, and was wondering what trail you used for the descent (with avi debris). I tried Fortress last month via Chiwawa Basin and was rained off before I could attempt the summit scramble!

Likewise, it was great having you and "The Oracle" around to give us some pointers and share steps! Valerie and I are already trying to talk ourselves into giving Formidable another try. Here's a photo of when we met up at the col (strange that we came back to that spot at the exact same time after 8 hours, huh?).

Trip: Little Tahoma - Fryingpan-Whitman glaciers Date: 7/1/2009 Trip Report: Deciding that I still had some energy left after my Buckner trip, Nick and I went for Little Tahoma last week (Tues-Wed). We approached via the Fryingpan Creek trail, arriving in Summerland in 1.5 hours to get our first views of Little Tahoma up close. We ascended easy snow slopes to Meany Crest, and continued another 100 ft up and right to the edge of the Fryingpan Glacier, where we made camp. A small bivy/tent site was found among the rocks, although it was the only one we could locate. There was running water nearby. The approach took 5 hours total. Meany Crest from Summerland--we ascended the snow slopes to the rocks on the upper right of this photo. A 3 am start got us to the edge of the Whtiman Glacier by 5 am and sunrise. The traverse across both the Fryingpan and Whitman involved just a few, very large crevasses, so we opted to rope up for the ascent. At the top of the Whitman, we exited onto rocks. The scrambling was only moderate, and we found the rock to be better than expected (although that really isn't saying much given what we were expecting). Let's just say I'm glad there weren't other climbers on the route above us that day. Scrambling the summit blocks. We reached the summit (11,138 ft) at 8:30 am in full sun and with the temp rising fast. We saw numerous climbers making their way up the DC and Emmons. During the descent back to camp we saw at least two large rocks come rolling down the snow alongside us, and made our way quickly out of danger. With the temps as warm as they were that day, I'm glad we didn't stay on the summit too long. Still, the snow remained firm on the glacier, making for a quick descent. We packed up camp and were back to the car by 3 pm. This was an excellent trip and I'm surprised it doesn't see more ascents (maybe 1 group/week according to the summit register). The approach and climb are very straightforward, and as long as you avoid the rocks on warm days I think you shouldn't have any problems. Gear Notes: 8 mm x 30 m glacier rope We brought slings for a possible rappel, although we just ended up easily downclimbing the scramble route. Crampons, ice axe, crevasse rescue gear. Approach Notes: The trail to Summerland is in excellent condition and snow free. There seemed to be many campsites on top of Meany Crest, so stay left at the top of the snowfields and find a spot up there.

Trip: Mt. Buckner - North Face Date: 6/28/2009 Trip Report: Mt Buckner – North Face My sister and I have kept up the tradition of setting aside one trip each year to climb something both remote and challenging, testing our skills and developing some new ones. The north face route of Mt. Buckner (9080 ft) was chosen for Sisters Trip 2009! The long route involved several obstacles: 1) Ascend Sahale arm and climb up and over Sahale Peak 2) Traverse around/over the false summit of Boston Peak 3) Descend the Boston Glacier to the base of the route 4) Climb the north face of Buckner! 5) Traverse the long Horseshoe Basin back to the Sahale ridge 6) Ascend to Sahale glacier camp 7) Hike out via Cascade Pass We chose the carry over option so that we could bivy essentially anywhere en route and make sure we were prepared for any emergencies. In true Sisters Trip style, we set out at 10:30 pm to complete the first leg of our long journey—the 5 mile hike to Cascade Pass. We woke the next morning to some wonderful views: We set off at 7 am and reached the base of Sahale Peak at 10:15 am. A single pitch of 4th-low 5th class climbing up the face (in plastic mountaineering boots and overnight packs—nice lead Val!) got us to the summit at 11 am. Sahale Peak from the arm: Summit rock pitch: We then rappelled off the summit and traversed the heavily corniced ridge down to the Boston-Sahale col. There we met up with another party of two destined for the north face. They approached via Boston Basin, the other commonly used route. Traversing the chossy Boston ledges: We then descended the Boston Glacier to a flat area near Ripsaw Ridge. Arriving at this location at 3 pm, we toyed with the idea of climbing the route that afternoon and bivying on the summit ridge, but decided to wait until the next morning, hoping for firm snow and equally good weather. Camp on the Boston Glacier: We awoke at 5:30 am in white-out conditions. Crap. We decided to give it a go and hope the weather would clear. We left for the summit at 6:15 am. As we approached the face, the clouds burned off, and we got a good look at the route up close. Valerie led the lower section of the route, negotiating an interesting snowbridge and debris chute to gain the upper slopes. I then followed: On the upper slope it was my turn to lead. We placed pickets every rope length with a running belay, and soon we were near the summit ridge. Val led one more short section past me, and then it was just an easy class 3 scramble to the top. The final pitch: Summit! It took us about 3 hours to climb from the base of the route, topping out at 10 am in full sun. We then began the grueling descent across Horseshoe Basin. We carefully downclimbed the steep slopes directly below the summit ridge, then traversed to the base of the ridge leading off of Sahale. It took nearly 3 hours to reach this point, with a couple rest breaks along the way. Looking back at Buckner: We checked out the snow filled gully leading on top of the ridge, but weren’t sure about the exit onto the rocks above. We therefore decided to descend further to the base of the ridge and then climb steep snow slopes approx 1000 ft to reach the Sahale Glacier camp. This was quite a tall order by that point in our trip, but we safely reached the camp in about 1 hour. Finally, the long descent back to the car. At least we didn’t have to hike the road this time!!! This was an excellent trip all around. Conditions on the route that morning were perfect, the weather cooperated, and it was very enjoyable, solid climbing on the face. Another great Sisters Trip! Gear Notes: 9.4 mm X 60 m rope 4 pickets two ice tools crampons small rock rack (0.3-1 BD cams, set of nuts) for Sahale face Approach Notes: Cascade river road is open! Trail is snow free for the first 6 miles (to Sahale arm). Running water is available on Sahale arm, then none until Horseshoe Basin, so bring fuel to melt snow.

waterboy: I love my Hilleburg. Four pounds for a 2 person, 4-season tent just can't be beat! Le Piston: The schrund on Klawatti was just opening up. I heard another party fell part way into the moat on the previous evening. Last August, it was at least 15 feet deep and completely impassible. Now is definitely the time to get that one in! franklinb: Thanks again for the steps! Hope to see you around soon.

Trip: Dorado Needle and Klawatti Peak - NW ridge, W face Date: 5/24/2009 Trip Report: Dorado Needle and Klawatti Peak Nick and I returned to the Eldorado Icecap over Memorial Day weekend to tackle some unfinished business from last year. On a four day outing with Valerie in August, we were unable to access Klawatti Peak and Dorado Needle due to late season moat issues. This weekend, we had great snow all the way up! We donned our heavy packs and set out on the Eldorado Creek trail on Saturday morning. The trail was melted out, but we hit snow near the top of the second boulder field which took us up to the lower camps (~6000 ft). Several skiers passing us on their way down warned us of soft snow slides higher up, and when we reached the camps we saw just what they were talking about. The entire ridgeline that we needed to climb to get to Eldorado glacier was in various stages of avalanching (from shallow debris to hanging cornices!). With the heat of the day baring down on us, we decided to wait until morning to give it a go. Avalanche debris on the ridge With a 5 am start the next day, we found the snow nicely consolidated, and we safely gained the ridge (whew!). We made great time up the glacier, traversed the Inspiration glacier, and made it to the McCallister col by 8 am. A team of four had already set out about an hour ahead of us, so we had great steps leading to the base of the route up Dorado Needle. Dorado Needle from McCallister col (the team of four is visible midway up the glacier) To access the route, which is described as 2-3 pitches of 5.4 climbing, we first climbed a short section of steep snow (Nick belayed me up). We then caught up with the party ahead and took our turn on the 2 pitches of mixed steep snow and rock. The highlight of the climb is a ~10 ft section of au cheval near the summit! Pitch 2, with a climber making a tricky move at the top of the snow slope. The top was sunny and calm, so we were in no hurry to leave while we waited for the other group to take turns downclimbing/rappelling the route. Snowshoes were great for the trip back to the col, and we were back in camp by 3 pm. We had a leisurely afternoon in camp with lots of photography and snow melting. We decided to climb Klawatti on Monday morning, hoping for more consolidation overnight. At 6:30 am we roped out and set out to Klawatti col, which took around 30 minutes to reach. The sun was already heating up the snow on the glacier, but we found the snow slopes leading up Klawatti to be in excellent condition. The route follows the west-facing slope directly up (40-50 degrees) for ~1000 feet, then we traversed left to gain the NW face, which was slightly less steep. We both agreed that a second tool would have been nice, although not necessary. We were at the summit in one hour from the col. Looking up the west face Downclimbing the route took almost as long as going up because we had to back down most of the way, but we experienced no problems during the descent. We then began the long trip back to the trailhead, arriving at the car with tired legs at 4 pm. Gear Notes: Set of cams (0.3-1), slings, 3 pickets for Dorado Needle Snowshoes for afternoon glacier travel Second tool for Klawatti?

Trip: McClellen Peak - Date: 4/19/2009 Trip Report: 4/18/09-4/19/09 Nick and I decided to take advantage of the nice weather and get some climbing in! Our plan was to do a loop trip in the enchantments via Aasgard pass, combining McClellen Peak and Cannon Mountain in a two day outing. We arrived at Icicle Creek on Friday night, and found to our dismay that Mountaineer Creek road was still gated at Bridge Creek campground. We spent the night at a bivy site and got started up the road at 8 am Saturday morning. We first found snow about 2 miles up (about 1 ft deep initially to several feet by the time we got to the parking lot), which persisted for the rest of the trip. We made fresh tracks across Colchuck Lake, which is still frozen and stable, and began the arduous process of kicking steps in soft snow all the way up Aasgard, which took 3.5 hours. Lastly, we descended the Enchantments valley to Perfection Lake, where we set up camp. During the night the wind picked up considerably, and we spent many sleepless hours in the tent before getting up at 6:30 am. We packed up camp and stashed our overnight gear, then made our way to the base of McClellen. We found a moderate snow ramp that led us to the main snowfield, with just one short step that we had to negotiate. We headed up the snowfield to a notch just above The Prong, where we had to ascend a steep snow/rock finger to gain the ridge. From that point, we ran the ridge to the right and had to loop around the summit slabs to find a decent route up. The scrambling was class 3-4 in most places, which was made more difficult by the presence of soft snow. We ended up ascending a somewhat sketchy chimney that was covered in snow to reach the summit block. The ascent took 3.5 hours from camp. An enjoyable glissade took us to the base of the mountain, and we were soon back to camp. We packed up and were ready to head out by 2 pm. At this point, we decided to change plans and just head back down Aasgard pass to the trailhead. It was getting too late in the day to go for Cannon, especially knowing that there may by some routefinding issues on the back side of the mountain which we were not willing to negotiate in the dark. Oh well, it gave us the opportunity to enjoy more glissading down Aasgard, and we were back to the lake by 4 pm. The hike out seemed painfully long, and our progress slowed considerably as we post-holed to our knees with nearly every step (as much as the weather reminded me of spring, snowshoes were definitely essential). We reached the car (the CAR!) at 10:30 pm and began the long drive back to Bellingham. This summit puts me at #32 for completed climbs of the Bulger Top 100 list. I hope to finish a few more this spring/summer before leaving Washington (temporarily) for grad school! Approach Notes: Mountaineer Creek road still closed (snow for the last 1.5 miles to trailhead) Snowshoes (or some other flotation device) are advised.

Trip: Colchuck Peak - North Buttress Couloir Date: 2/7/2009 Trip Report: You can’t say no to a weather window like the one we had last Saturday, right? Nick, Valerie, Aaron and myself opted for a “day trip” on Saturday to climb Colchuck Peak via the North Buttress Couloir. We estimated that it would take us approximately 16-20 hours car-to-car, hoping to get out before the weather came in on Sunday. We departed from Bridge Creek campground at 3 am Sat and got to the base of the route by around 10:30 am. After gearing up and planning our route, we set off. We found the climbing on snow very enjoyable although it was not as consolidated as we would have liked (more of a sugary powder), and aside from a couple rock steps that had to be negotiated early on, we made good time up the couloir. I was glad for the opportunity to use my Quarks! The only other obstacle was an 8 ft bergschrund near the top of the couloir which Nick thankfully agreed to lead. Another party on the route opted to traverse to the left below this feature, which put them on a different path to the top. I’m not sure which would be best in the conditions we found it. Approaching the North Buttress Couloir Geared up and ready to go! Midway up the couloir Nick negotiates the schrund Valerie follows We were surprised by the lack of snow coverage on the route, but it wasn’t really an issue until we reached the saddle at the top of the couloir and had a look at the NW face, which was intended to be our route to the summit. Instead of straightforward snow slopes, we were faced with an expanse of mixed snow and loose rock. We traversed right, hoping to find easier terrain, and instead ended up climbing 10-12 pitches of 4th to mid-5th class rock. Needless to say, this took quite a bit longer. We kept moving as darkness fell, at this point just taking our time to avoid any mistakes that would lead to injury, which would leave us stuck out there overnight with no bivy gear. We reached the summit at 3 am, happy that everyone was okay and that we were on our way down. We headed to Colchuck col and then down the glacier, and were greeted by a foggy sunrise at the lake. The hike back to the car was more of a continuous stumble, with several short naps along the way, and we finally made it back at noon (33 hours later…does this still count as a day trip?). Regardless of the epicness of our journey, we were pleased that we were able to keep control of the situation and make good decisions. We got some amazing views of the Enchantments bathed in moonlight, and I personally am glad to know that I can survive an unplanned winter night at above 8000 feet. That being said, we were lucky that we were able to find our way up this unknown route, and that the weather cooperated—clear skies and virtually no wind for most of the climb. “Team Scarpa” group photo Gear Notes: 60m rope (2), 4 pickets per team, 3 cams(0.5, 0.75, 1), set of nuts, ice tools (in one case an alpine ax and second tool also seemed appropriate), crampons, warm clothes, and a headlamp! Approach Notes: Snow covered all but a couple hundred feet of 8 mile road, although snowshoes were not needed.