ckouba Posted May 19, 2003 Share Posted May 19, 2003 The skinny: A fantastic route that was still in really enjoyable shape, although the ice sections seem to be getting a little thin these days. The snow is soft and at some points only mildly consolidated but you can kick in steps fairly well. Getting into the third couloir was rather thin as well. Take pickets, not so many screws. Rock gear might be useful as well, we took some but didn't take a lot of time to seek out placements far from teh beaten route. All this said, the route was incredibly enjoyable. Great day, probably best route done to date. The Long Story: After scoping all the TR's lately and getting thwarted by crappy weather in the OR Cascades, my friend Pete and I decided to take a stab at Triple Couloirs as it seems as though everyone is doing it lately. We left PDX @8 PM, found a place to sack out in the 11worth vicinity, picked up some foodstuff and hiked in to Colchuck Lake for Saturday afternoon. We found the remnants of someone's killer tent site, re-set the walls and had a great view from the foot of the face. We set the alarm for 4a and sacked out. We woke randomly at 4:30 and tried to get our act in gear. Apparently I am NOT the only one who reads the posts on this site. There were a number of other parties aimed at 3C's- 2 two-fers and a trio. With all the posts about how stellar this route has been lately I can't say I blame any one of them. The party of three got in ahead of us, then Pete and me, then the other 2 parties of 2. Snow in the first couloir was a little soft and we were slow as we ran a running belay with a picket between us and then swapped lead when we ran out. The first trio was soloing their way up and pulled into the first crux pitch well ahead of us. They stitched it up while we took cover beneath the large rock below the first belay stance. The party of two following us (Scott and Jeff- if I can remember) caught up to us there. When the trio started their last climber, Pete moved up and set up the belay for the first ice pitch. Once set, I moved up onto the first pitch to see what I had in store for me. It seemed less scary than I thought it would be (I haven't lead very much AI or WI). The exposure felt impressive and I enjoyed the climbing. I ran out our ~55 meters and found a place to set up a belay, ending up just below the true crux pitch. Pete followed me up and set another anchor just below me, with our companions climbing up below him. I heard Jeff saying something about wishing he had another screw, so we lent him one. When Pete was set, I left a screw from my anchor as another point of attachment and went up. The crux pitch was really fun and had nice positive placements as well. There were a number of times where my picks punched through but I was able to find deep enough ice to stick confidently. I don't have a well developed sense of grading but I would guess WI2+, but probably not big enough or bad enough to warrant more. We topped out the crux and started up the second couloir just as Jeff and Scott threw a rope down to TR the party behind them. It was quite nice kharma all around... Pete and I headed up the second couloir, kicking steps into somewhat sugary, inconsistently consolidated snow. It seemed to hold well enough though. We continued our running belays and ended up simul-climbing to the bottom of the third couloir once we exhausted our picket supply. The exit was thin and the snow soft, but once out on that perch below the third couloir, it was like heaven. The steps from the trio (now LONG gone ahead of us) were appreciated and we made ok time to the top. The two parties following us caught up to us as we started #3, and we all paraded up the last pitches all together. As the group we hadn't met topped out behind us, it turns out ShredMaximus was on the rope as well. A quick break for the fat and slow people let the quick ones get ahead, we made our traverse and headed down the backside. Weather was perfect- clouds blowing occasionally through the area but high above the summit. It was cold overnight and cold enough during the day that even when the sun hit the route directly (albeit not too directly due to the aspect), I didn't have a big fear of sloppy, heavy stuff to slide in. The views were awesome, it was nice to hang out and be social with the other parties on route, and the route itself I found incredibly enjoyable. Drop me a line if you have any questions and I'll do my best to answer. I intend to post a pic or two and hope others do as well (Shredder, Jeff, Scott??) Chris ckouba@hotmail.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dberdinka Posted May 19, 2003 Share Posted May 19, 2003 I'm feeling like the only climber (if I can still call myself that) who hasn't climbed Triple Couliors this winter/spring/summer? Any feeling on how much longer it's going to last? One more weekend? Or melted out today? Thanks. Darin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dungan Posted May 19, 2003 Share Posted May 19, 2003 Great photos and trip report. Sounds fun. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jja Posted May 20, 2003 Share Posted May 20, 2003 nice tr chris. ckouba said: The exit was thin and the snow soft, but once out on that perch below the third couloir, it was like heaven. The steps from the trio (now LONG gone ahead of us) were appreciated and we made ok time to the top. Can't take credit for the steps in the 3rd C, just as we got to the top of the 2nd there was a party of 3 that topped out on the n. face route ... they kicked the steps up the 3rd for us. Thanks guys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allthumbs Posted May 20, 2003 Share Posted May 20, 2003 damn cool photos, thanks for sharin (in the other thread too). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crackman Posted May 20, 2003 Share Posted May 20, 2003 Shred, Nice work! Glad to hear you went for it. Sounds like you enjoyed the route. I'll have to check out the rest of your picks sometime. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dalius Posted May 20, 2003 Share Posted May 20, 2003 Damn, sounds like there was a convention up there this weekend! Mt. Stuart definitely has some solitude if you're looking to get away from the crowds. We saw one other party all weekend, and they were on a different route. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iain Posted May 26, 2003 Share Posted May 26, 2003 In case it was not obvious w/ the weather we have been having, this route is decidedly out of shape now. A friend and I got a ways up the runnels out of hidden couloir and encountered slush snow on granite and thin ice. The runnels were periodically being bombarded w/ rock and ice as well. We should have known better when we were postholing up the first section but we had to check it out firsthand. We did not enter the runnels directly at the bottom for fear of being nailed, but we had great difficulty getting back in there after we skirted on the right. There wasn't much in the way of rock climbing possibilities since it was all wet and snowy still, but worthless for ice tools. We rapped out of there and went up asgaard pass instead. It probably could be forced, but this route is obviously nice enough that it deserves good conditions. Damn I don't get my cc.com 3couloirs merit badge. Spent the following day at Tieton, chill as always. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Courtenay Posted May 28, 2003 Share Posted May 28, 2003 (edited) Hey Iain, we saw you guys back down, sorry it didn't work for you. We'd (4 of us) also intended to try it but after hearing and seeing a few avalanches coming down couloirs we opted to do Colchuck via the Col and then the Basic Alpine route up the backside of Dragontail. Great views, lots of pictures. For anyone who might be considering one of the harder routes on Colchuck such as N. Buttress Couloir, that route avalanched as we were directly opposite it, scouting it out for a possible Sunday attempt. Great day nonetheless, up the Col and down Aasgard... Edited May 28, 2003 by Courtenay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slothrop Posted May 28, 2003 Share Posted May 28, 2003 Hi Courtenay, that must have been you that I mistook for my friends. I saw you coming down Aasgard Pass and walked over to meet you by the lakeshore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckouba Posted June 6, 2003 Author Share Posted June 6, 2003 (edited) Scanned some of my pics, see attachments. If someone could explain how to attach in the body of the post that would be cool. Thanks, Chris Scott/Jeff,Pat/?- I have 2M scans of you guys on the traverse. I can send them your way when I get back to work Sunday if you'd like. Edited June 6, 2003 by ckouba Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr._Natural Posted June 6, 2003 Share Posted June 6, 2003 upload to the photo gallery and hook up an image link. attachment didn't work Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckouba Posted June 6, 2003 Author Share Posted June 6, 2003 Yeah, I am flailing through some sort of base_dir error when I try to post. I will see what I can do about posting in the gallery. CK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckouba Posted June 6, 2003 Author Share Posted June 6, 2003 (edited) Here goes: First pic posted in gallery, of Pete just above the ice between C1 and C2, C2 is the background. http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/plab/showphoto.php?photo=983 I will see if this works and try another one. Chris Edited June 6, 2003 by ckouba Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckouba Posted June 6, 2003 Author Share Posted June 6, 2003 (edited) More in the gallery: http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/plab/showphoto.php?photo=987 http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/plab/showphoto.php?photo=986&papass=&sort=1&size=medium&thecat= http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/plab/showphoto.php?photo=985&size=big&papass=&sort=1&thecat= http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/plab/showphoto.php?photo=984&papass=&sort=1&size=big&thecat= http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/plab/showphoto.php?photo=983&papass=&sort=1&size=big&thecat= The easy way to see all the ones I posted: http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/plab/showgallery.php?thumb=1&stype=2&si=ckouba&cat=500&sort=1&ppuser=339 Chris Edited June 6, 2003 by ckouba Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iain Posted June 6, 2003 Share Posted June 6, 2003 you lucky bastards! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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