catbirdseat Posted May 30, 2003 Posted May 30, 2003 Does anyone have any beta on these two route on Snow Creek Wall? I heard a report of White Slabs being mossy as though it doesn't get done often. Anything good or bad to say about these easier routes? Quote
Cpt.Caveman Posted May 30, 2003 Posted May 30, 2003 White Slabs is gay. Champagne is not very long but the climbing is way better. You dont need any more beta than that. Quote
fredrogers Posted May 30, 2003 Posted May 30, 2003 here's a TR for the white slabs: http://www.mountainwerks.org/cma/2000/scwall.htm Quote
catbirdseat Posted May 30, 2003 Author Posted May 30, 2003 Interesting to note that a rock route would have a sexual preference, but whatever. Sounds like White Slabs is very dirty and that it is better to rap the route. Quote
Szyjakowski Posted May 30, 2003 Posted May 30, 2003 catbirdseat said: Sounds like White Slabs is very dirty and that it is better to rap the route. man, dont rap the route just walk down the trail...like the goats do! White Slabs is fun but white slabs direct is most fun! Champagne is cool and FUN...two pitches on CH and then two pitches to the top... after the CH pitches climb the 5.6+chimney and then pick one of the 5.7 to 5.9 cracks to the summit/SNCW ridge... FUN traverse along summit to area near topout of outerspace. one 5.9/5.10 section but the rest is easy fifth class along the traverse. HAVE FUN and be careful in the Beckey 4th class approach gully...loose and scary. 60m rope to rapel down the gully if need be... Quote
gregm Posted May 30, 2003 Posted May 30, 2003 white slabs is dirty, reasonably fun, and we didn't see any fun looking ways to top out so we rapped. umbrella tree? Quote
Crackbolter Posted May 30, 2003 Posted May 30, 2003 szybzeshckownjskiis- the chimney wasn't 5.6 if it is the same one I climbed with that other guy. Quote
mattp Posted May 30, 2003 Posted May 30, 2003 I recall White Slabs being more grassy than mossy. I enjoyed the second pitch, though it was a long time ago and I don't remember much else about it. About the same time (3 guidebooks ago), I went looking for Champagne and didn't find it. Quote
Toast Posted May 30, 2003 Posted May 30, 2003 Does anybody know anything about coming off of Champagne to end up on the Pearly Gates? Ben, are you out there? Quote
mvs Posted June 1, 2003 Posted June 1, 2003 Actually we enjoyed White Slabs. (re: the trip report on mountainwerks). We rapped the route because we couldn't find the continuation via Umbrella Tree. The dirty route mentioned in that TR was Satelitte, and that probably because we got off route to the left. Quote
Szyjakowski Posted June 1, 2003 Posted June 1, 2003 mvs said: Actually we enjoyed White Slabs. (re: the trip report on mountainwerks). We rapped the route because we couldn't find the continuation via Umbrella Tree. The dirty route mentioned in that TR was Satelitte, and that probably because we got off route to the left. white slabs is nowhere near satellite CB- Fine, the move in the chimney is 5.6+++! that was confirmed by my dad and wilder; hey and its waay easier than Mandsen's chimney and much easier to protect...lots of gear....ya just gotta crawl in that deep black whole and Jam away...um, yeah Quote
Cpt.Caveman Posted June 2, 2003 Posted June 2, 2003 catbirdseat said: Interesting to note that a rock route would have a sexual preference, but whatever. I gave you the relevant info. Just go have an adventure and find out gaper. Quote
slaphappy Posted June 2, 2003 Posted June 2, 2003 Toast said: Does anybody know anything about coming off of Champagne to end up on the Pearly Gates? Ben, are you out there? I'm not Ben but... Climb to the ridge above SCW. From the ridge we made two short rappels to the West (could be slightly more or less depending on where you gain the ridge; there's plenty of trees) Follow the base of the ridgeline past The Cornerstone (a fine 5.8+ pitch on the N side, see new guide pg 63) Continue down the rib directly west of Snow Creek, this is the same rib the trail to The Gates comes up. 15-20 minutes downhill from The Cornerstone is the top of the Pearly Gates, find anchors and rap or continue down past The Gates to the East. This is a FAST way to get off the ridge of SCW, much faster than following the base of SCW to The Gates. Quote
mvs Posted June 2, 2003 Posted June 2, 2003 Hi Szyjakowski, Where did I say that Satelitte was near White Slabs? <puzzled> Quote
catbirdseat Posted June 2, 2003 Author Posted June 2, 2003 Here's the Champagne TR. This is probably one of the two easies routes on Sno Creek Wall and was chosen because White Slabs was reported to be gay. We climbed the Easter Tower Notch route to get to the start of Champagne. I made the mistake of climbing a finger crack rather than the chimney which put me on slabs with no protection. I scrambled run out up the slabs and found a place for a belay (if you go- just do the chimney- it's fourth class above). Mistake two was bringing two packs up to the notch. Should have just left one or both in the cave. The first pitch of Champagne was easily recognizable. The hardest moves are the first few out of the notch. I did a traverse on a narrow ledge and then continued up a crack to a roof where there was one old 1/4 inch bolt. According to some reports, a few belay here, but it looked sucky and we had a 60 m rope, so I continued on up the knobs with a crack for pro to a nice belay spot by some bushes (probably not reachable with a 50 m rope). The climbing was very enjoyable and protection was easily available. My partner, Toast, continued on the next pitch of what seemed to be 5.4 climbing and ended up in an easy gully. He thinks he was off route and that he should have been off to the right on knobs and chickenheads. It would have been more challenging. The belay was on a large ledge with big trees off to the left. For the third pitch, I headed right along the ledge for about 30 ft and then found the 5.6 chimney mentioned in Kramer as a note on the topo "Chim. 5.6" (arrow pointing to right). That was really neat and it would be shame for anyone to leave that out of the climb. It protected more easily than I was led to believe. There is a chock stone to get you started and you can use a variety of nuts on the right side. Fun, fun, fun. Toast had to hang his pack from a sling to get up the narrow part, ha ha. (Hint: If you take a pack, convince your partner that the chimney is hard to protect, so he'll let YOU lead it) Toast led the fourth and last pitch up low 5th and 4th class. The crack was too wide for the pro we had so Toast had to sling a chicken head 20 ft up to get some pro. The pitch finishes on another big ledge. Moving right takes you to the ridge top with big trees and a rappel station. We had the choice of two raps down the backside and hiking up to the top of SCW with the long scramble down, or going down the ridge. We chose the latter. After 4 single raps we were just below the notch with April Fool's Tower (Note: the first rap requires a 60 m rope). After the 3rd rap we were standing under a burnt tree which seemed to be raining ticks. In five minutes, I had two on my left arm and Toast had one on his ear. Scrambled up into the AFT notch and did a short optional rap down the dirty gully on the S side of the notch. From here it was easy traverse back to our packs in the Easter Tower notch. Finally two single raps down the Notch Route took us back to the cave. If you go, bring some leaver slings and rings for the raps, almost every one we went on was a single sling. It was hard to pull the rope sometimes, hence the rings would help. Toast was pining for a 3.5 inch cam (our largest ws 3"). I told him, "what are you whining about? I didn't need one on any of MY pitches". Also, he thought a couple of larger hexes would be good, if cowbells float your boat. BTW, Caveman, thanks for the advice. We had a good time. Quote
Cpt.Caveman Posted June 2, 2003 Posted June 2, 2003 Cool climb. What were the packs for? Shoulda tagged that piece of dung called Easter Tower too. The Notch pitch is short but the best way to go. Quote
catbirdseat Posted June 2, 2003 Author Posted June 2, 2003 We had some food, water and wind jackets in the packs. It is so much more enjoyable climbing without a pack, but then if shit happens, it's also nice to have a few articles of clothing. The way I figure it, if the climbing is easy, it is good training to get used to wearing a pack so you can do those future hard alpine routes where you have less idea of how long it will take and whether you'll get caught out. Quote
Toast Posted June 2, 2003 Posted June 2, 2003 Champagne did rock! Aside from the ticks, that was a lot of fun. Nerdy Question of the Day: What other not-so-trafficked, moderate, multi-pitch adventures can you think of? I wanna do more shit like Champagne. Quote
slaphappy Posted June 2, 2003 Posted June 2, 2003 Toast said: Champagne did rock! Aside from the ticks, that was a lot of fun. Nerdy Question of the Day: What other not-so-trafficked, moderate, multi-pitch adventures can you think of? I wanna do more shit like Champagne. Head w/supplies toward any large hunk of stone along the Tumwater or Icicle, find "easy" looking way up, tie in and go. Expect dirt, ticks, loose blocks, and general funk. An occasional stellar pitch and the memories make it well worth the effort. Quote
ScottP Posted June 2, 2003 Posted June 2, 2003 Toast said: Champagne did rock! Aside from the ticks, that was a lot of fun. Nerdy Question of the Day: What other not-so-trafficked, moderate, multi-pitch adventures can you think of? I wanna do more shit like Champagne. White Slabs/Umbrella Tree Linkup of the moderates on Careno Crag. The path of least resistance on Bathtub Dome. Quote
catbirdseat Posted June 2, 2003 Author Posted June 2, 2003 I've led everything on Bathtub dome already. Toast, I'll let you lead all three pitches, if you want. How's that? More than one party has claimed they couldn't find Umbrella Tree. According to the topo, you just have to down climb a ledge to the right to find it. What's so hard about that? Quote
Szyjakowski Posted June 2, 2003 Posted June 2, 2003 Toast said: Champagne did rock! Aside from the ticks, that was a lot of fun. Nerdy Question of the Day: What other not-so-trafficked, moderate, multi-pitch adventures can you think of? I wanna do more shit like Champagne. SATELLITE (5.7 adventure) on snowtickcrag is i knew that chimney was 5.6 and not 5.6++! Quote
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