The Real Nick Sweeney

That’s just like, your opinion, man.

An absolute pleasure meeting you and sharing the route with you, Matt! if you are a competent alpine ice climber, GET YOUR ASS TO THE NORTH SIDE OF HOOD ASAP. The goods are waiting.

Solid day out!

Very cool! Strong work. That’s a nice looking line to say the least. How long did the approach take you?

SO sick.

Awesome trip!

That’s what I thought as well - Direct N Ridge of Stuart felt like a comparable effort. Both climbs took me two days, I unexpectedly bivied on the descent from Stuart.

What are your thoughts on the commitment grade of this route? I’ve seen it mostly referred to as a IV, but I recently spoke with some guides who strongly felt that it was a V. Nelson/Potterfield give it a V, curious what others think. Obviously, it doesn’t matter at all at the end of the day... this is an ass-kicker!

A rite of passage, for sure

The bivy was incredible, but not THAT incredible!

The bivy was incredible, but not THAT incredible!

Trip: Johannesburg - 1957 NE Rib Trip Date: 08/01/2020 Trip Report: Here is my report with photos for the mighty Johannesburg: Spokalpine Amazingly, we shared the face with Karsten and Matt (Karsten posted a trip report on CC right after their climb) but used different starts. As a result, we never even saw each other on this giant, complicated route. We started an hour earlier than Karsten and Matt, but they reached the bivy hours before us(!) and continued up and over the summit. Karsten and Matt used the traditional 1951 start while John and I took a lower start, far right of the waterfalls. Gear Notes: Singles .4-1, nuts, ice tool, aluminum crampons, approach shoes Approach Notes: None

Nice one! I think that TFT makes sense as a car to car trip for most people. For the right climber, like you, its a great alpine solo.

Amazingly, my partner and I climbed the 1957 route from bottom to top from 8/1-8/2 and never even saw Karsten and Matt, despite starting only one hour earlier! The 1957 start adds a few hundred feet of rock and jungle climbing, and we did belay three pitches before reaching the snow bowl where the 1951 and 1957 almost intersect. During the time it took us to reach that point, Karsten and Matt must have overtaken us. Nice work guys. I’ll be posting up my own report this week. Congrats to you guys and all who have climbed this face... I have new respect for anyone who takes on this challenge!

We did the same as you. The team we climbed alongside climbed the tower and they said it was proper 5.8.