South Brother TR

[Norman_Clyde]

Climbed South Brother yesterday with Fairweather and Fairweather's buddy Dieter from New York. The weather being what it was, and with Dieter's needing to fly back on Sunday at noon, we bagged our Rainier plans and went on a day trip instead. I left Seattle at 3:20 AM, joined the party in Tacoma just after 4, and we headed up the trail at 6:50, delayed only slightly by waiting for the Hoodsport Kwik-E-Mart to open at 6. Weather was cooler than expected, upper 30s, but we were optimistic that the clouds would burn off (ha ha). We switched to boots above Lena Forks. Fairweather and I had opted not to bring crampons, figuring the snow would not be too hard in May on a summit under 7000 feet (ha ha).

 

There is still a generous snowpack starting at the first meadow. Travel was easy up to the first right turn onto the primary ascent couloir. Several inches of fairly light new snow lay over a hard base layer; step kicking became increasingly difficult. I could find the buried boot track by feel only intermittently. We bypassed the hourglass in favor of the bench to the right, being uncertain about avalanche potential above (there were no slabs, as it turned out). A couple of times I had to resort to cutting steps on the steepest parts of the upper gully. Once below the summit, I took off up the first gully I found, despite Fairweather's suggestion that the closest rockpile was not quite as high as the next one. Sure enough, after traversing above a small cliff and cutting steps up the gully, I found that the block I stood on was not the summit. However, this gave me an excuse to approach the true summit from the north, involving a few invigorating yards of step-cutting while exposed to the generous drop down the north face. Fairweather, Dieter and two other guys we met on the way chose the correct gully the first time, and joined me shortly.

 

From the summit we had a few all too brief views, then the clouds closed in and it began snowing in earnest. Ball-bearing graupel fell and did not stick, instead rolling down the mountain in a continuous flow. We heard thunder a few times. At one point we heard a series of terrified yelps, and looked down to see a guy we had passed at Lena Forks with his husky dog, the dog in a panic squeezed up against the rock, afraid to move. That is, the dog was the one yelping and afraid to move, his master doing his best to calm her down. (He eventually succeeded, and by the time we saw her down below she had got her good cheer back.) The descent made for good glissading. New snow had already buried our tracks, and continued to fall all the way down to about 2000 feet. Got back to the car at about 7:30.

[eternalX]

[Flying_Ned]

Norman, congrats on your summit. That's a heckuva long day--especially this time of year.

 

Where is the snowline on the route now? That first right turn you mention, at the base of the first fat couloir after exiting the creek bed, is a frequent high camp for those not wanting to stay at Lena Forks. The bench above (to the west) is the summer route which swings back into the couloir where it narrows out. What you described as the Hourglass, I think, is the lower section of same, which becomes impassable when free of snow. I've always referred to the entire couloir as the Hourglass. In late season it's a loose dirt & talus track that recommends a helmet if anyone is on route above you.

 

I'm planning a trip via the "Great Basin" route in June with a summit bivy. If anyone has any info on the westward bushwhack from Lena Forks, I'd appreciate seeing it here.

 

Thanks.

[Norman_Clyde]

The snowline as of one week ago is in the woods just short of the first clearing. There was a little snow on the forested slope between the meadow and the upper creek bed, which made travel a little slippery. You could dig out a nice snow camp up high. The meadow has a very deep layer thanks to winter avalanches. It was convenient to hike to about the first clearing in trail shoes, then switch to boots.

 

I don't really know what part of the couloir is called the Hourglass. Probably it should be the whole thing, because with a real hourglass that's what you call the whole item. When I climbed it first in Sept. 1994, I never even knew there was a narrow part, because the boot path went so far to the east of it.

[lemon]

Hey, I just got back from there over the weekend. Really good trip. A few minutes of rain in camp on Saturday, but a really nice night. Something kind of freaked us out, though. We were standing around talking, when I spotted a big white thing walking down the trial on the other side of Lena Creek. I thought, "what the hell is a dog doing way out here?" Then I saw the horns. It was one big-ass mountain goat. I was very surprised to see it so low. But it wandered over to our side of the creek and headed on up the mountain. During the climb the next day, I saw hoof prints almost the whole way to the top. Apparently this route is known to other species, too.

The next morning was really nice until we got up to the first chute above the blowdown. Then the entire upper mountain was socked in and stayed that way. The snow was still good, though, and I'm not too proud to use someone else's steps, either. Thanks, whosever those were

On the way down it began to sleet a bit, so as soon as we traversed around the hourglass we glissaded as far as we could. The snow was still hard, though, so the boys got a bit roughed up. Nothing bad, though. At the blowdown it began raining again, and it pretty much pissed on us off and on the rest of the way back to the car.

A really fun trip, despite the dearth of views.

[erik]

WE DID THE S BROTHER ON SAT. LEFT THE CAR AT 6AM AND GOT BACK TO IT ABOUT 6PM. NICE LITTLE MTN. PULLED THE ICE AXE OUT FOR NOVELTY NEAR THE TOP. USED TREKKING POLES THE ENTIRE TIME. INTEDED TO DO THE TRAVERSE, BUT THE RAIN CHANGED OUT MINDS.

 

NICE LITTLE WARM UP FOR THE SEASON.

[JoshK]

erik, I thought you just stayed on rock!?!?

 

[erik]

I DO IT ALL!

 

WANTED TO GO HIKING, SO I WENT HIKING.

 

IT WAS NICE.

 

THOUGH WAY MORE BORING THEN ANY LECTURE I HAD IN COLLEGE. GREEN IN THE FORREST WAS SO NICE IN TECHNICOLOR! IT MADE THE DAY.

 

 

[AndyL]

We were up there as well on Sunday, used the same steps, saw the same goat, and the same, uh, views. We skipped the glissade, though - we were worried about sliding down into terrain relatively unknown to us in poor visibility.

 

It was too bad about the view, though - it's probably amazing from there today.

[Flying_Ned]

erik said:

NICE LITTLE MTN. PULLED THE ICE AXE OUT FOR NOVELTY NEAR THE TOP. USED TREKKING POLES THE ENTIRE TIME.

 

Yawn...I raise my glass to you, Rheinhold.

[erik]

Flying_Ned said:

erik said:

NICE LITTLE MTN. PULLED THE ICE AXE OUT FOR NOVELTY NEAR THE TOP. USED TREKKING POLES THE ENTIRE TIME.

 

Yawn...I raise my glass to you, Rheinhold.

 

ha!

 

those are my thoughts, you dont like them oh well!?

 

can you tell me that climbing in the oly brings technical challenge? if so please share.

 

 

[Fairweather]

Herr Erich,

 

...zen perhaps du should climb zeeees, my Tyrolean friend....

 

[erik]

ya, das looks sher gut, mein brudda Gunter und I habe klimt das norde face.

 

danke for zee beeautiful photo, to inspire mein memory!

 

 

[Flying_Ned]

erik said:

Flying_Ned said:

erik said:

NICE LITTLE MTN. PULLED THE ICE AXE OUT FOR NOVELTY NEAR THE TOP. USED TREKKING POLES THE ENTIRE TIME.

 

Yawn...I raise my glass to you, Rheinhold.

 

ha!

 

those are my thoughts, you dont like them oh well!?

 

can you tell me that climbing in the oly brings technical challenge? if so please share.

 

 

The point, my friend, is to enjoy the route you picked, not to see how unimpressed you can be for the rest of us. People who "get" the Olympics are there for the unique experience, rugged and remote terrain, and quality mountaineering. It's not beneath us because we have to leave our camelots in the car. It simply is what it is--an interesting and beautiful crown of chossy, jagged, snowy, icey, steep and tangled peaks. Only here do people feel the need to elevate themselves above that.

 

Comparing your trip to a boring college lecture says more about your self-absorbtion than your hike up the south coulior. You should try it backwards and blindfolded next time.