Matt_Anderson Posted June 16, 2003 Posted June 16, 2003 (or how graemlins can make up for lazy writing) Supposed to leave at 2:30, but got held up at work and didn't get in the car until 3:30. Picked up Todd in Redmond at the MS campus and immediately hit traffic. Talking along the way, we realized that I left the 7 mil (haul line for the small pig) at home. A call to the Leavenworth mountain shop (or something like that) resulted in a very nice dude who worked there leaving a new one hidden for us to pick up since we wouldn't arrive until after the store closed. Drove up to the Colchuck lake trail head and started hiking, it got dark right as we arrived at the lake and bivied on top of a sweet boulder over looking the lake. Light snow added ambiance. Woke up by the sun around 8:00, but it was freaking chilly. Both Todd and I were feeling tentative. But, everything looks better after a morning constitutional, so we started heading up to the route. When the entrance gully split, we took the wrong side (I'm an idiot) so we had some extra hiking. We arrive at the base of the route and started climbing around 11:00. On top of forgetting the haul line, I “accidentally” knocked the tape off the ledge after I finished taping my hands (Todd is strong, I need to handicap him) . Todd got me back by not noticing the cordelette and locker that I left for him at the start of the pitch. We didn’t realize it until about three pitches up. One new Petzl Attache down the tubes. The first pitch is nice, but I got off route and did some kind of variation to the second. First some chimney, then a beautiful vertical straight in crack, then a face traverse over to nice stance (very nice 5.9 climbing – it was to the left of the actual route. Todd lead up the chimney above, which ended us at the ledges beneath the long pitch underneath the chimney (5.8 or 5.9). Aside from rope drag issues, there really is no reason to do the first four pitches in more than two. For these two pitches, little chunks of snow kept coming down on us. It definitely was not snowing. It seemed more like there was some snowfield that was calving really tiny little chunks. I was happy to get back to the route and be protected by the roofs above. Another party came up the gully and set up camp for an attempt the next day. I forgot to leave them my number about the cordelette – if you guys see this, email me and I’ll trade you a beer for stories and the cordelette ). The pitch under the big roof is looong and steeeep. The tag line hung free about 5 - 6 feet from the belay when I was done. Perfect jams and laybacks, but not much in the way of rests. The last 20 feet were wet, but the jams so solid it didn't matter. Altitude and over 100 feet of overhanging jams and laybacks (no matter how positive) made for a beautiful, but pumpy pitch. One of the finest I've been on. We had been thinking of combining the roof pitch with the pitch below, but it was sopping wet and I was pumped. I belayed in the shadow of the roof. That thing is freaking huge! Like twenty feet to its lip and 25 feet wide. Two 5-foot sections of wetness made the climbing less than pleasant. Todd pulled all of the moves, but by the time he was done, I was cold and timid. Yarding on the gear made it doable. Warming up the tips on Todd’s neck was the only way I could lead the next pitch. The next pitch was sweet. Again, a long, right-facing dihedral. Definitely felt stiff for the grade. The hard moves at the end of the pitch were rated appropriately (maybe even a bit soft) and really well protected – after placing a cam, there were two fixed nuts left from previous ascents. The crux was very short, I hung but Todd raced through it. A final 80 – 100 foot 5.9 chimney with good protection spit us out on ledges leading to the summit. We opted out of the summit and shimmied over to the descent (we only had an hour of day light left ). The descent is extremely straight forward, descending gravel and snow to the notch at the top of the approach gully. It was almost entirely snow covered. The snow had softened up considerably from the morning and we made it from the top of the peak to the bivy at the south end of Colchuck in an hour’s time, just as it got dark . Back at the car at 12:30, home by 3:45. Slept in till the dog woke me up at 8:30. My wife informed me that I should deal with the dog, since she was undoubtedly be more tired than me because she had “tossed and turned all night.” Right . . .how selfish of me for not thinking of that my self. matt Quote
erik Posted June 16, 2003 Posted June 16, 2003 nice work mr anderson! i assume free rack to 3" will suffice? and did you really need the pack?? or can i get away with just carrying some crap and tying my shoes to my back?? Quote
layton Posted June 16, 2003 Posted June 16, 2003 Nice one Matt! I got you confused w/the "other" Matt Anderson of Big 4 fame. All the droppin shit and getting lost sounds like him. I wouldn't put up w/someone else being a climber and sharing my name. You guys should fight! Besides that, I'm jealous. Sounds like a good climb! Gear suggestions? Quote
Matt_Anderson Posted June 17, 2003 Author Posted June 17, 2003 Eric - Yes, a rack to three inches is enough. The pack was nice to have, but not necessary, we brought along poles, which helped on the descent (they caught me a few times.) and would have been a pain to bring otherwise. It is a cold face until it gets in the sun, and the pack allows you to bring along some down. Quote
Rodchester Posted June 17, 2003 Posted June 17, 2003 Hey Phatty... Way to be. Did you get boots for the wife? Tell her from me and T. Quote
lunger Posted June 17, 2003 Posted June 17, 2003 good job on that stellar route. E, you can leave the pack (as is your wont). as i recall, while technically harder, it's a less demanding day than you did Sat. plus, you'd have to trail the pack for the chimney anyhoo. descent is pleasant. we went in July and didn't need a lot of layers. have fun Quote
bobbyperu Posted June 17, 2003 Posted June 17, 2003 props doods, on a fun route... i wanna get back on it again real soon thanx for the current info... we went in july and the upper part of the corner was wet then too but no worries as you said sweet jams... again thanx for the tr -wets the appetite, and brings back fond memories. -kevin Quote
Figger_Eight Posted June 17, 2003 Posted June 17, 2003 Those two other guys were probably my buddies who climbed it this last weekend. I'll see if they found your gear. Quote
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