Keith Picket Posted September 29 Share Posted September 29 Major rockfall recently on Ragged Edge. My friend Kirk and I climbed the route on 9/24/24 (tuesday) The mid-upper part of the route are altered significantly. I copied this from Cascade Mountain Ascents - it is accurate. 🔹A large amount of rock fell from the “edge” of the main slab, right where it becomes more of a roof (which the 5th pitch traverses above). 🔹The last 10-15 feet of the 4th pitch are now more difficult and the protection opportunities are limited. These moves are hard to protect for the second as they make the final moves to the belay and a fall for a follower here would likely involve swinging out into space. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 🔹The belay at the top of the 4th pitch is now hanging, and the bolts are only ~4ft above the edge of the new section of roof. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 🔹The beginning of the 5th pitch now sports a wide step-across move to small footholds, although the hands on either end of the span are good. This move is rather height/flexibility dependent. The main challenge with the route now is the final part of the 4th pitch and the initial lead from that anchor. Both are loose, dirty and poorly protected. The first part of the fifth pitch is impossible to protect for the first 20-25 feet and the first 15-20 feet are directly above the bolted anchor and the belayer. Kirk managed a really heady lead there. It would be hard for the belayer to avoid a falling climber there, and a fall anywhere after the first 5 feet would result in a significant sling into the wall since the wall is overhanging there now.  Rappelling from there would be super sketch since you would likely be obliged to go right through where the rockfall occurred and there is now still a fair bit of loose rock and blocks. The photos below show me at the belay at the end of the 4th pitch. All the rock just below my feet is now gone. That section felt really hard for both of us but a lot of that was uncertainty of the holds and a fair bit of vegetation. I think it could remain 5.7 with some cleaning. If after that there is still no gear then a bolt or two might be nice. We heard a TON of rockfall on nearby cliffs. Be careful if you go up there.  1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmfoerster Posted September 29 Share Posted September 29 Looks like it got even more edgy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonG Posted September 30 Share Posted September 30 Looking spicier for sure. Just how @dberdinka planned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dberdinka Posted Monday at 05:24 PM Share Posted Monday at 05:24 PM (edited) Despite seeing a fair bit of references to the last pitch as "the ragged edge", I seem to recall that pitch 4 was what the name originated from. There are or were a number of spots on that pitch where you could see down through the cracks formed by those large blocks to the slabs below and I definitely remember being somewhat nervous moving across them for the first time.  How long had they been hanging there and how long would they remain?  10 years apparently! Not very long in the scheme of things. Considering that they've probably been hanging there for 1000's of years I have to think that climbers standing at the belay created the additional strain that eventually sent them free (honestly that seems hard to believe but the timing is peculiar). If you look on MP you can find a photo of a guy trundling a loose block off that belay ledge in the summer of 2023. I definitely had cleaned out all loose rock that existed at the time so I'd guess these blocks started shifting at least a year before they finally ripped.  I'm curious how stable the remaining massive blocks are that make up P4 (can be seen in the wide angle photo of your belayer).  As kmfoerster points out maybe the edge is about  to get a lot edgier! seems like someone with the appropriate tools and skills should move that belay anchor 4 feet higher to both make it more comfortable and to better protect the second on the traverse. Edited Monday at 05:35 PM by dberdinka 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonG Posted Monday at 05:37 PM Share Posted Monday at 05:37 PM There you heard it right here mountain guides, @dberdinka giving his seal of approval to tweak the belay. You can take it out of your annual commission payment to Darin for creating such a guide friendly day outing. You know your clients expect the best! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Picket Posted Wednesday at 08:08 PM Author Share Posted Wednesday at 08:08 PM Well said, Jason. Darin has done enough on either side of Headlee Pass! We cleaned a little as we went but I think Kirk and I both were too preoccupied with not falling to do a decent job. I don't think it would be a ton of work, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rad Posted 22 hours ago Share Posted 22 hours ago "Gravity always wins" - Radiohead Looks like it needs to be upgraded from the pink circuit to the red circuit. Â Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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