[TR] Stuart Range - Stuart Range Traverse 08/30/2021

[Michael Telstad]

Trip: Stuart Range - Stuart Range Traverse

Trip Date: 08/30/2021

Trip Report:

 

I was Initially a little hesitant to write this report as it was certainly nothing groundbreaking, I don’t really have any super helpful beta and it just kinda felt like I was stroking my ego. Anyhow, here is a short report of beta I wish I had for the traverse. I'd also like to echo that this is basically a long dry sidehill. If you are expecting a bunch a great climbing, think again. It felt like a dangerous hike. 

The other day I climbed the Stuart Range Traverse over about 31 hours, including a 7ish hour nap near Prusik. I decided to start on the W-ridge of Stuart via Ingalls and out to the Snow Lake Trail. This is the straightest line on the map, and that appealed to me for some reason. Thankfully my friend Alastair was generous enough to shuttle me back to my car the next day. Thanks bud!

The first crux for me was getting over to the east side of Sherpa. It seemed that one with a rope could easily rap over the other side of the summit and continue on their way, unfortunately I didn’t have that luxury. I chose to down climb the S couloir a little ways, and then follow a ledge system around the mountain to the east. This worked out in the end, but was time consuming and a bit circuitous.

The next crux for me came at Argonaut. In classic fashion, I had only gathered just enough beta (literally just a picture looking up the S-face) to not fully epic, but not quite enough to know where I was going. I opted for the first gully (pictured below) up to the ridge, hoping for straightforward traversing to the base of the S-face. I encountered anything but. This side of the mountain consists of an incredible grouping of gullies, towers and fins. While striking, it makes for slow arduous travel. I later learned that other solo travelers had dropped low down to approach the face straight on. This would probably be faster/less stressful, but not nearly as cool. I eventually got where I needed to go.

Getting off of Argo was definitely the most stressful part, and the spot that I really wish I had a rope. I ended up walking down to a 2-bolt 1-pin rap anchor, and down climbed from there. This bit was loose, slabby and just no fun. While not necessary, a rope here would be really really nice, especially after all the terrain you’ve already covered for the day. This spot also seems to seep earlier in the season, so a rope might be required most of the year. I believe there is a rap/downclimb route to climbers left that may skip it. More downclimbing on better rock took me down to the basin. A small snow patch below Argo provided a tiny trickle of water for me to fill up with. If It wasn’t for this, I would have only had one liter for the rest of the traverse.

The rest of the traverse is mostly walking unless you stick to the ridges. The snow free walk off of D-tail is chill and cairned right now. I’ll certainly be taking this route in the future for getting off D-tail late season. There is a small glacier at the pass between Boola Boola Buttress and Lil A. When I hiked by, there was standing water between the dirt and ice. This may be a spot to fill up, but I didn’t look too closely at how nasty it was.

GPS track found HERE

Here's a photo dump for inspiration 

Gear Notes:
60m 6mm tag line, Dyneema sling for harness, Reverso + Locker would be a perfect rap kit. Minimum 3L water storage. Good music to keep you company. Brought rock shoes but never used them. Trail gaiters are $$$!

Approach Notes:
Choose your own adventure

[Otto]

Absolutely. A classic, self-motivated, big day out. Well done.

Pardon my asking, but did you use the tag line at any point? 

[Michael Telstad]

4 minutes ago, Otto said:

Pardon my asking, but did you use the tag line at any point? 

I actually didn't bring a rope, the rap kit mentioned in the gear notes is what I should have brought. I chose to bring a bivy kit in lieu of a rap line because my ride wasn't coming till the next day.

[Matt_Alford]

Strong effort Michael T!

 

 

[robertm]

nice work,  that traverse around Sherpa is a PITA.   I also underestimated how long that would take.

[Michael Telstad]

25 minutes ago, robertm said:

nice work,  that traverse around Sherpa is a PITA.   I also underestimated how long that would take.

The high traverse I took was like 5.5/5.6 and didn't take all that long, but rapping would be SOOO much nicer. 

[olyclimber]

Appreciate you sharing.  Never underestimate the stoke you are providing others, and the conditions report, and all that.   Nice work!

[OlympicMtnBoy]

Yeah, way to get after it, I like these TRs.

[wayne]

Thanks for spelling out with this traverse is really like. People were so in love with it, that when I did it I didn’t want to pop that bubble, but I had nothing good to say about it other than the north ridge Stuart is always really cool.