slothrop Posted April 20, 2003 Share Posted April 20, 2003 eric8 and I climbed Colchuck this Saturday via most of the north ridge. We had intended to climb the north buttress couloir, but forgot the important points of the route description ("From the lower W extremity of the Colchuck Glacier... just E of the prominent lateral moraine...") and just started up the first promising couloir we found (6.45am). The couloir we chose is to the right of the moraine, above a lightly treed slope, and doglegs right after a couple hundred feet below a short cliff of yellowish rock. Mellow snow climbing (45 degrees) with rock pro and trees to sling leads up to the ridge. We climbed a short rock step to below the formation labeled "The Sandpiper" in brown Beckey (45 minutes in). The rest of the route was a long slog up snow slopes on the west side of the ridge. There was plenty of wallowing, but the snow was stable and good for kicking steps in most places. It got a bit steep (60 degrees?) and exposed on the last section below the summit, which seemed to go on forever. We spent just over four hours on the route. A party of two summitted via the n. buttress couloir just after we finished eating our lunch on top (or in Eric's case, losing our lunch ). We only managed a couple short glissades down the Colchuck Glacier -- too much fluffy freshiez. The hike out just sucks, especially the slog back up the slushy road. It was a good day to be out. We had a little wind and spindrift on the latter half of the ridge, but the weather was fine. I met a couple friends down at the lake who were going to try for the third consecutive weekend (!) to climb Colchuck. Hopefully they'll get it today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cracked Posted April 20, 2003 Share Posted April 20, 2003 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayB Posted April 20, 2003 Share Posted April 20, 2003 slothrop said: A party of two summitted via the n. buttress couloir just after we finished eating our lunch on top (or in Eric's case, losing our lunch ). Very interseting. We had a brief vomit or urine? debate while climbing past that particular patch of snow. Not sure if we ever arrived at a consensus. The vomit camp with be glad to know that they have been vindicated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg_W Posted April 20, 2003 Share Posted April 20, 2003 JayB said: The vomit camp with be glad to know that they have been vindicated. Hey, what did I win? Being in a fraternity for four years made me an expert on emesis. The NBC was nice on Saturday; the constant spindrift stream was cool. It was nice to meet Alex (or wake him up, actually), as well. Greg W Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted April 21, 2003 Share Posted April 21, 2003 yeah, and here I thought the stories about how big your redneck truck was were exaggerated...damn thats a big truck! I found your guys cloudveil beenie!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slothrop Posted April 21, 2003 Author Share Posted April 21, 2003 (edited) Ah, that must have been the Alex we met late Friday night. We were the three guys in the minivan. Did you do Triple Couloirs? I lost a blue and white spectra runner with a funky wiregate biner on it somewhere that day. Anyone come across such a thing? Edited April 21, 2003 by slothrop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattp Posted April 21, 2003 Share Posted April 21, 2003 Did anybody pick up my hiking shoes I left stashed near the Eightmile Lake trailhead? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juan Posted April 21, 2003 Share Posted April 21, 2003 Did any of you who went up there need/use snow shoes? I'm thinking of going up later this week to the NBC, one of my fave routes. I assume you still have to walk the whole road. In the couloir itself, was the narrowest section in the middle just snow, or has any ice formed? Rocks showing there? Its been different each of the three times I've been there. Thanks for the beta! John Sharp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slothrop Posted April 21, 2003 Author Share Posted April 21, 2003 No snowshoes needed and the road is no longer gated. See the other thread. From what I've heard, the NBC was all snow all the way this past weekend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juan Posted April 21, 2003 Share Posted April 21, 2003 Cool. I saw other thread after I typed. Thanks for the info. It's a great route that is getting popular. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bronco Posted April 21, 2003 Share Posted April 21, 2003 John: I wore trail runners all the way from the truck to Colchuck lake on a very hard crust in the early AM. The trail is well packed and was still firm in the afternoon on the descent so no need for snowshoes. You can drive to within about 1 mile of the trail head as of Saturday. Just snow in the Couloir. There was a river of Spindrift that running down the right side of the Couloir that might have scoured snow down to ice in some places. Have fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshK Posted April 21, 2003 Share Posted April 21, 2003 John, how does Colchuck NBC compare to triple couliors on dtail in length, difficulty, etc? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juan Posted April 22, 2003 Share Posted April 22, 2003 Josh: I wish I knew. At this point in my not-so-illustrious climbing career, Triple Couloirs would probably just make me cry, and my wife would call me irresponsible. I should have done it years ago, but never did. But the NBC is not too steep is acceptable. I wasn't close to scared soloing it in May a couple years ago, though it was in more challenging shape last Memorial Day weekend when a partner and I did it. It's a great moderate in my opinion, and when Jim and Peter's revised Vol. 1 comes out with that route, it will become even more popular. Cheers, Sharp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klenke Posted April 22, 2003 Share Posted April 22, 2003 JoshK: Having been up the NBC last Friday, I was a bit perplexed at the terrain at the col (the prominent one at the top of the couloir that 'most' people probably climb up to). I thought, once we got to the col, that we would simply climb up and over the rocks of the buttress there and continue on to the summit. But the rocks on the south side of the col were steeper and slabbier than I expected. The snow on the tops of the rocks did not help, as it was not deep enough to support crampons. I suppose we could have removed our crampons to climb the rocks. Instead, from a small snow platform 50 feet southwest of the col, we traversed right (southwest) on a high-exposure 60+ degree snow slope for one 50m rope length to a corner (for a follower belay, big cams go well in a crack in a moat/overhang at the corner). From the corner, we continued on the mostly snowbound Northwest Face hugging close to the North Buttress. I placed pieces every 150 feet or so on rock outcrops for a running belay (more a formality than anything since it could easily be free-climbed; just the exposure is high). Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that we didn't climb the North Buttress at all but the Northwest Face. In winter, it seems like the Buttress would be slower. It was an afternoon climb for us, so expeditiousness was the key. We simply did not want to waste time on the buttress. I'm wondering if most people complete the NBC via the NWF or the NB. To answer your query: "How does Colchuck NBC compare to triple couliors on dtail in length, difficulty, etc?" I haven't been up the 3Cs (yet) either, but I'm pretty sure the NBC is much easier and much shorter. For one, there's no WI in the NBC nor on the Northwest Face. The maximum slope angle encountered anywhere on Colchuck for us was probably about 70 degrees (for very short traverses over swales, undeveloped cornices, etc.). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattp Posted April 22, 2003 Share Posted April 22, 2003 Klenke - Most parties approach this climb as a mountain climb where the goal is to get to the top, and not as a rock climb where it matters exactly which variation you take on any given ten foot stretch of the route. I think very few if any parties feel compelled to stay right on the crest of the north buttress. Does that mean they should call it the NW Face? Not, in my opinion, if they are generally following the N. Ridge rather than heading out to the middle o the face. I did it twenty or twenty five years ago, and I remember detouring a little bit, but I remember it as a ridge climb and not as a climb of the NW Face. Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klenke Posted April 22, 2003 Share Posted April 22, 2003 I agree with that, Matt. I guess you could say we climbed up in the gray area between the North Buttress ridge crest and the Northwest Face proper. In summer when the snow has melted away, where we were may very well be slabby rock under foot. Brown Beckey (1979 edition) says the NB climb "is largely scrambling...often about 200 feet right of the crest." This is about exactly where we went up. In winter, it just feels and looks more like the Northwest Face than the North Buttress. Who knows? And more to the point: who cares? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juan Posted April 22, 2003 Share Posted April 22, 2003 The three times I've climbed the NW Face, we were out in the middle of it. Twice coming out from the NBC, and once after coming up from below after crossing near the Sandpiper. I've yet to encounter slabby rock or 60- degree terrain, though we did stick the axe into some frozen grass clumps on the face last year. Anyway, I have no doubt that Triple Couloirs is a much more difficult climb. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sverdina Posted April 22, 2003 Share Posted April 22, 2003 Juan, Your beta came in handy for the NBC this past Friday! Really fun route, though a bit of a sketchy traverse to the face proper given the sugary snow we encountered. Going in there this weekend? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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