[TR] Vesper Peak - Ragged Edge - Rockfall Beta - 10/12/2024

[Christopher Fisher]

Trip: Vesper Peak - Ragged Edge - Rockfall Beta - Ragged Edge

Trip Date: 10/12/2024

Trip Report:

TLDR: Recent rockfall on Ragged Edge has made the climb even more ragged. Summary at bottom.

I followed Ragged Edge on Vesper Peak last year, and I decided to wrap up my alpine season this year with a victory lap leading Ragged Edge on 10/12 to celebrate my hard earned leading skills. Reading up on the beta, I discovered that sometime last month (first mention I saw of it was Sep 17th), rock fall at the pitch 4 anchor modified the route. Beta on how the new route is still minimal (best report I found on Cascade Climbers here), but what I found implied the route was still climbable. So I decided to go check it out and try to write up a more detailed report on what changed. I don’t imagine too many more attempts will be made on Ragged Edge on Vesper Peak this year, so this is more of a heads up to next year.

This is my best guess of the rockfall that occurred (picture taken from a screenshot of this video)

Having climbed it, and because the new route has now been gardened a bit, I did not think that the difficulty of pitch 4 has been impacted (I would say that 5.7 is still reasonable). The main difference is that you now have to do face climbing to get to the anchor. Protection opportunities were limited, but still there. ***Beta Ahead*** There is a thin crack vertical system where I managed to put a size 3 or 4 nut. Above that, there was a small crack that you could probably place a .75 cam (I didn’t place because I put my foot there), and higher up, I was able to get a sub par .5 cam in (crack wasn’t very deep to get great teeth engagement). See pic below for my nut and cam placement.***Beta Done***

Top is pre-rockfall (screenshot from here), bottom is current

I did not see any obvious signs of damage to the pitch 4 anchor (I don’t think the rock that fell was ever directly connected to the wall the anchor was on). And the only impact I saw to Pitch 5 was the first move to get onto it. I really struggled with finding a remotely ergonomic position to belay from. Here is a pic of me belaying, and I recommend flipping positions from what I did to the position shown in the post I referenced above, because the way I was positioned resulted in the rope going over my leg while belaying.

The start of Pitch 5 is what I would call the new crux of the route, though difficulty will be quite dependent on your height and arm span. To add to the difficulty, a fall at the start will drop you over the edge. At about 6’, my partner made it look pretty easy to make the transfer over. At 5’7”, the move was close to my full arm span, and I thought the transfer quite challenging. I’d personally put that single move at 5.9. A recommendation to the leader, is after making the transfer over, to place the first piece as high as possible in the first crack system, so as to reduce the risk of follower going over the edge if they fall on the first move. ***Beta Ahead*** This is roughly what I did to transfer over to pitch 5. Just up and to the right of the anchor there is a vertical edge for your left hand, then there is a very small divot in the wall roughly halfway across that you can put your right foot. From here, I was able to reach over and grab the right side (another vertical edge). Then with my arms near full span on the holds, I swapped to my left foot on the divot, then (it gets a little hazy), I took my left hand off the hold, and with most of my weight on that left divot, very carefully moved my left hand and right foot over to the crack system and pulled myself up onto a nice step on the side of the crack system. ***Beta Done***

Left is new route, right is old

Due to how popular this climb is, I think there are a few adjustments that could be made to keep the route at about the same grade. To start, moving the pitch 4 anchor up 3-4 feet would make belaying much more comfortable. Also, because of how committing the move to the start of pitch 5 is now (if you fall before placing a piece, you’re going over the edge), I think it also makes sense to add a high bolt between the pitch 4 anchor and the crack system at the start of pitch 5. This would help reduce the risk of you going over the edge if you fall on the first move, and could also be potentially used to “aid” the first move if you don’t have the arm span to make that transfer. This way the climb won’t have a new crux that is potentially significantly harder than the rest of the climb.

I would also keep an eye on the remaining stacked blocks that are on the route of Pitch 4. They did not appear to be connected to the section that broke off, but they did appear to take a glancing blow on the side when the rocks fell. I did not see any obvious signs of rock shifting, but it was definitely a little unnerving climbing that section, knowing that another section just above it broke off the wall.

Summary:
-Rock fall modified the end of Pitch 4, but not in a way that I thought changed the grade at 5.7
-I did not see any obvious damage to the pitch 4 anchor
-Only the first move of Pitch 5 has been impacted, and depending on your height and arm span, might be the new crux of the climb. At 5’7”, I thought the transfer quite challenging at 5.9 (or maybe a touch higher).
-Current belay at the pitch 4 anchor is quite awkward. Adding an anchor 3 feet up would make it much more comfortable.
-Because of how committing the move to the start of pitch 5 is now (if you fall before placing a piece, you’re going over the edge), I think it also makes sense to add a high bolt between the pitch 4 anchor and the crack system at the start of pitch 5. 
-I would keep an eye on the remaining stacked blocks that are on the route of Pitch 4, to make sure they don’t start shifting too.

A few good links showing the rock section that fell:
Old Pitch 4 belay stance: https://youtu.be/v7txavGSxUY?t=223
Old start of Pitch 5: https://youtu.be/3LhEzi3i8go?t=170
Old start of Pitch 5 (with a 360 camera): https://youtu.be/RIifPYskm-Q?t=58
Looking down at the Pitch 4 anchor: https://youtu.be/twQmCoWF_dA
Drone footage of the face (will need to pause, and possibly go frame by frame to a view of the side): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOYiEt3aCFA&t=29s

Gear Notes:
Unchanged, except maybe also bring a small nut in the 4/5 size range for the new end of pitch 4.

Approach Notes:
Unchanged

Edited October 14 by Christopher Fisher
picture adjustment

[Otto]

Thanks for the fabulous description, both graphic and text, of the recent rockfall. As someone interested in doing the route next season, I'm glad to know just what I've been warned about. Beautiful write-up.

[Christopher Fisher]

Happy to share the beta! Especially for a route as popular as Ragged Edge that got a new potential crux at a higher grade than it was previously. 

[olyclimber]

Wow this is awesome @Christopher Fisher thank you!

[Trent]

Thanks for posting! Its a great route; glad it was impacted too much.

[Keith Picket]

That's a great write-up, thank you.  I wrote the prior TR you referenced and was up there a couple weeks before you.  Everything you reported feels accurate to me.  My partner and I were perhaps more affected by the height-dependent nature of the path you took leaving the belay.  We could not picture the lateral exit moves you describe so my partner Kirk charged straight up a partially imagined crack system with a lovely vertical alpine garden.  He found no pro but charged on regardless, traversing right after about 15-20 feet.  There is probable some gear options with a bit more excavation.  It felt like 5.8 maybe but I am out of shape so maybe not that hard.