Tod Posted April 28, 2003 Posted April 28, 2003 iceguy and dbb’s TR were really great and the conditions/look of the route have not changed since last week. Brief TR of Dragontail/TC for Sunday April 27, my buddy JB and myself: Left Seattle at 2am, started heading up the trail at 5:20. It took us about 3 hours to get to the lake and after taking a break and then heading across the lake to the route we started on the route at a little after 9am. There were soft snow conditions up all three couloirs since there has been a bit of new snow all week and cool temps. The ice runnels were in great condition. Some styrofoam ice and some water-ice. In places it was a bit thin, but overall lots of fun. There weren’t many options for pro so we ended up simulclimbing the first pitch and a half and then belayed the crux with a picket anchor and a tied off screw and one .75 cam for pro. The belay at the top wasn’t much better, a picket. After the crux ice between couliors one and two we simulclimbed the rest of the route. We summitted a little before 1pm with a micro blizzard bearing down on us. The glissade down Aasgard was great, very soft snow… We were back at the car at 5pm and in town by 8pm. Second time on the route and it still is one of my favorites! Quote
Alex Posted April 28, 2003 Posted April 28, 2003 I have a pic of you guys on route. Will post tomorrow. Alex Quote
Tod Posted April 28, 2003 Author Posted April 28, 2003 That'll be cool to see. Where were you when you took the photo? I saw multiple groups (15+ people total) heading up Colchuck via the glacier. I also saw Stephen_Ramsey heading up the Colchuck NE Coulior (said hi to him on the way down from the lake ). There were a lot of camps and tents up there over the weekend. Busy place.... Quote
daylward Posted April 28, 2003 Posted April 28, 2003 Tim Matsui and I did the route on Saturday, and it sounds like a very similar experience to what you had. We left the car at 3:00 am, passed one pair at Colchuck Lake who were just breaking their bivi, hit the base of the route by 5:15 and were on the summit by 10:30 am. After a quick butt-slide down Asgard, we saw that a third party had made tracks up to the route from the lake, that place is getting downright crowded! On our way out we passed what must have been about 30 people coming up, one of them said they were on a WSU alpine club outing. They didn't look like they were planning to do anything technical though. We drove out at 1:30 and had a HeidelBurger, then met our girlfriends who were climbing at Castle Rock and did a couple pitches there. A fine day in the hills I must say! Quote
Tod Posted April 28, 2003 Author Posted April 28, 2003 I was figuring it was some sort of group or club, to many people not to be. It was kind of funny/scary looking at one of their camps. It looked like it was on the edge of the lake, where the ice/snow always seems to be the thinnest. Looks like you made pretty good time. We ended our day at Heidelburger also, but we weren't as lucky to be climbing with our girlfriends at Castle Rock. Quote
Tod Posted April 29, 2003 Author Posted April 29, 2003 Way cool! I'll have to make sure my buddy sees that. That's right after I've lead the crux between first and second coulior (crux is just below and to the left of the lower climber), and my buddy JB has already seconded and passed me. In the picture JB is in lead and I'm now seconding up behind him in. Thanks for taking the photo! Quote
Skisports Posted May 2, 2003 Posted May 2, 2003 Alex said: Alex said: I have a pic of you guys on route. When did you take that pic.. That could be Joshk and I.... BTW did you guys enjoy our steps or were they covered ? Quote
klenke Posted May 2, 2003 Posted May 2, 2003 Here's where that group was camped on the "edge" of the lake. Go figure. Looks like it's over the water to me, but can't say for sure: Photo taken around 5:15PM 4/26/03 from Dragontail's summit. Quote
JoshK Posted May 2, 2003 Posted May 2, 2003 Yeah, we saw that clusterfuck on the lake. I'm pretty sure they were on the lake from what I could tell. It was like a tent city there. Quote
Tod Posted May 2, 2003 Author Posted May 2, 2003 Smart group... I could just see it happening - "why does the tent floor seem like a waterbed?" A few people wake up in the night with a sinking feeling and a wet sleeping bag. Skisports - when were you and JoshK on route? We were climbing between 9:15am and 1:00pm on Saturday, April 27th. We were probably at the point in the picture at about 11:00am. It didn't seem like anyone was in front of us, but was possible. The steps were great, thanks for breaking trail. The snow was soft enough (and somewhat filled in) that we still had to kick the steps in pretty well, but they certainly helped. Even a few of the pick placements on the ice came in handy. Every so often you'de find a nice spot to throw your tool that looked like it had been used before and the ice would just suck the pick right in... Quote
JoshK Posted May 2, 2003 Posted May 2, 2003 Tod, we were on route between 6:45 or so and 10:45 if I recall, so that's probably why you didn't see us at all. I'm surprised the steps were filled in a bit. Even though people had done the route the previous day we found no sign of previous steps at all. Lots of spindrift I suppose. Quote
Tod Posted May 2, 2003 Author Posted May 2, 2003 Nice! We saw some spindrift and ice coming down just as we were starting the route and figured there was someone above us, but since we never saw any definite sign of anyone we never figured out if it was climber debris or spindrift. Now we know. I'm surprised we didn't see you when we were scoping the route out from the lake though. Do you have any gps tracking coordinates or three independent witnesses to verify your ascent and time? The steps were definitly there but I think the steps were partially filled in due to fact that the snow was soft enough in places that just kicking your feet around would push snow into the step. Nice job doing the climb in 4 hours and breaking trail! Quote
Skisports Posted May 5, 2003 Posted May 5, 2003 Nope but avatars will vouch for me... and we did the entire route in 15mins Quote
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