[TR] Dragontail Peak, NE Towers - This, My Friend 09/12/2021

[kmfoerster]

Trip: Dragontail Peak, NE Towers - This, My Friend

Trip Date: 09/12/2021

Trip Report:

 

 

   Yesterday Kat and I climbed "This, My Friend" on the east aspect of Dragontail Peak. The route is only a year old at this point and is getting alot of attention, for good reason.  Hats off to the FA party for the vision and the work cleaning this thing up. Its five pitches and all but a short connector pitch are 55m of clean, fun climbing. We got moving at the trailhead around 5am Sunday morning and reached the base of the route around 8am. I lead the first pitch which is also the crux of the route. The general consensus of this pitch so far is that its 5.10-. It starts with really easy climbing then heads straight up a shallow, flaring thin hands and ring lock crack followed by slightly easier terrain. Pro is tricky on this pitch, but I found three bomber #1 placements. From there Kat lead pitch 2, THE money pitch and an absolute gem. A full rope length of  5.9 awesome finger locks and perfect hands. Stupid good.  After that, Kat lead the 5.meh connector pitch to the base of the headwall so I too could have a money pitch. Thanks again Kat. Pitch 4 goes up a clean headwall split by a 5.7 varying crack, mostly hands. Awesome jams peppered with knobs all around it. Pitch 5 is wandery 5.7 crack and face climbing to the summit of the East Pinnacle. From there we followed the descent description trending southwest down ramps and ledges to the Dragontail trail. We found a way that stayed in 3rd or 4th class terrain with only one spicy no falls allowed section. I built some cairns along the way. Its a quick hike back to the base following the Dragontail southside trail to Asgard. We got back to the base around 2pm. We both climbed with little packs to carry our shoes, puffies, and a little water. That all could fit on your harness if you want but I liked my harness being a bit less crowded. None of the climbing felt cumbersome with a small pack. The hike out went just fine and got back to the car around 5:30pm. This is an awesome route that will no doubt become a crowded classic due to the quality moderate climbing.

 

 

 

 

Me starting the first pitch. it veers left from here:

 

Part way through the first pitch:

 

Kat on the 2nd pitch:

 

Me starting up  the pitch 4 headwall.

 

Kat photo of the headwall cracks:

 

 

Kat coming up the final moves of the Pitch 4 headwall:

 

Last Pitch:

 

Me coming up the last pitch:

 

 

Coming down the steepest part of the descent:

 

Gear Notes:
60m rope. At least a double rack of cams .2-2 and one #3. Metolius 00-1 proved quite useful too. With this route triples of certain sizes would not go unused. We had triples of .4-2, which we thought was just a bit overkill. If doing it again I'd bring triples of .75-2 instead. Selection of small to medium stoppers. 10 alpine draws and 2 double length slings. Seasonally dependent snow gear.

Approach Notes:
Colchuck Lake to Asgard pass. Cut over headed west on scree and talus at approximately 7300-7400'.

Edited September 14, 2021 by kmfoerster

[Grant789]

That headwall crack looks awesome! Way to get it!

[Trent]

Wow! Nice tick! That rock looks really good. Training for S. Hozo?

[kmfoerster]

@Trent everything is training for South Hozo!!

[JonParker]

Nice photos! Pitch 2 alone is worth the hike