[TR] Mt Thompson - West Ridge 12/09/2017

[bellows]

Trip: Mt Thompson - West Ridge

Trip Date: 12/09/2017

Trip Report:

Jake and I took advantage of the high pressure and big inversion to climb Mt Thompson over the weekend.

We hiked in Friday night and camped on a flat spot on the ridge below Kendall Peak and before the Katwalk.  Hiking up in the dark was easy, with the bonus of shortening up the long winter night sleep.  We arose at dawn and made our way along the surprisingly easy to follow PCT.  

Snowed over Kendall Katwalk:

First view of Thompson:

From Bumblebee Pass:

The route was mostly dry, although moves on the north side of the ridge had some snow/ice on them.  The very first move of the entire route perplexed us for a bit as we debated on boots/gloves vs crampons/tools.  In the end Jake led it with the steel assist while I gingerly followed without:

The next three pitches were quite good on warm rock with a bit of snow/ice on ledges and in cracks.  Spring like climbing in December!

The easy pitch from the false summit to the summit is on the north side and was full on winter conditions and added nicely to the climb:

Views for days on top:

Two raps and some slogging back had us drinking whiskey at the tent by 9PM.

Easy hike out Sunday morning.  The inversion layer was startling, especially with how defined the temperature line was.  ~5000' temps dropped 10-15 degrees over the course of a few steps.

Gear Notes:
tools & crampons, snowshoes for the approach

Approach Notes:
PCT

[OlympicMtnBoy]

Nice!  Now I feel like I've been missing out!  Way to get at it in these odd conditions!

[Woodcutter]

It's probably worth knowing that inside thatr enormous pack are...snowshoes!

Yeah baby... better than skis on this gig, or I'm a lying pilgrim!

[geosean]

Nice, that looks awesome! Thanks for posting and fueling the imagination.