Raoul Posted July 6, 2003 Share Posted July 6, 2003 We did an Independence Day climb of the NE Ridge of Mt Triumph last Friday. Early season snow made an easy glacier exit onto the rock. We bivied Thursday night one pitch up the ridge to shorten the summit day. It was a cool place with beautiful views into the Southern Pickets. We saw snow on the upper mountain so took ice axes and boots with us to the summit. We didn’t need either. The route is all clear. Met some nice folks from Portland on the route. The summit was in a cloud so we missed those views but had a great time anyway. Along the way up we also had views but they were more dream-like in an alpine foggy sort of way. After many rappels and much downclimbing we packed up our bivy gear, rapped two more times, and moved across the glacier to the standard bivy site. A fast party could walk all the way out but we were running out of both daylight and energy so it seemed nice to stop for the night with all of the technical part behind us. We woke up in a misty rain and walked out early Saturday morning on the brushy wet trail. Later that morning, I ate 2 breakfasts at Howie’s Diner. Although there was more loose rock than I expected on the route and it sometimes didn’t protect very well, it seemed solid when we really needed it. Mt Triumph rocks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pope Posted July 7, 2003 Share Posted July 7, 2003 Nice TR. That's a good climb. I remember going really light (no tent, no stove, no crampons, no head lamp, no bivi sack, no gore-tex....I didn't even pack poly pro) and then a 3-hour electrical/snow storm blew in as we left the summit. After sitting through a white-out on the glacier, we found our sleeping bags floating in a pond and hiked out in the dark. I also remember that getting on to the ridge was unprotected 5.8, but we easily could have been off route (it could have been the wrong mountain for all I know). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvs Posted July 21, 2003 Share Posted July 21, 2003 We had a great time on this over the weekend. Really nice climb, beautiful surrounding valleys, and IMAX Picket scenery with helpful narration by James Earl Jones. Only people we saw were parties leaving Saturday evening. There is a dripping snowbank at the ridge bivy, though it won't last long! --Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimL Posted July 21, 2003 Share Posted July 21, 2003 MVS - Did you do it over 2 or 3 days? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Off_White Posted July 21, 2003 Share Posted July 21, 2003 My stepson Ben and I were in there Fri-Sat, I think that was me you talked to at the edge of the glacier as we were heading out, Michael. We had a totally routine non-chestbeater two day roundtrip, and I thought the summit panorama was the best I've ever seen in the Cascades. Wasn't that ridge bivy sweet? The trio out right behind us were the N Face Central Rib team. I know people have wondered about that route here before, so I'll pass on their review. They did the Burdo variation, team of three, with both followers climbing at the same time on a reverso. The first four piches were the crux, with solid 5.10 climbing on some iffy rock. From there on they proceeded with two of them simul-climbing and the third climbing solo. It was reported to be okay, but they didn't rave about the route. They were so fast they caught up with us towards the end of the descent after our amble up the NE Ridge. On our way in across the glacier we passed another party heading out on a one day ascent. Their secret weapon was riding mountain bikes in the first couple of flat miles. I sure wished I had a bike those last miles out. Too much work in a day for me, but you speed demons around here should be able to make it. The moat and scramble to the NE ridge notch was easy, but the way things are melting suggest that this might change in the next couple weeks. We saw some great rail car sized blocks tobogganing down the slabs at the glacier fringes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshK Posted July 21, 2003 Share Posted July 21, 2003 Off_White said: On our way in across the glacier we passed another party heading out on a one day ascent. Their secret weapon was riding mountain bikes in the first couple of flat miles. Is that first few flat miles outside of the park or would you have to worry about the tool busting you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chucK Posted July 21, 2003 Share Posted July 21, 2003 And would you still get credit for the climb from your CC.com peers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvs Posted July 21, 2003 Share Posted July 21, 2003 Yes, nice talking to you and Ben, Off-White! The bivy was awesome. I had talked my partner into leaving his bivy sack at home ("no way it's gonna rain, man"), but at 4 am what do you know? I covered his down bag with our shell jackets and hoped for the best. Thankfully, the rain stopped, and the clouds stayed high until the descent. We saw the bike tire tracks on the road - that seems a pretty smart way to go. I was surprised at the work the approach required. We also made a mistake on the way in, crossing the outlet stream of the third lake rather than the second. This gave us a great unprotected bit of 5.5 moss climbing above the lake. Should have actually read the route description! Tim, we did it in two days. The bivy on the ridge allowed us to climb quickly and return (1.5 hours to summit, 40 minutes lounging, 2 hours down) . We took it easy on the hike out, reaching the car at 6 pm. Now we get to be like Kearney and say "You haven't done Triumph yet?" There is some memorable climbing on solid rock. The steeper and blanker it looks, the better it is with little solid ledges. That North Rib sounds hardcore! We were looking across at it, impressed by the great length. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Off_White Posted July 21, 2003 Share Posted July 21, 2003 JoshK, the first miles are outside the park, but I don't recall if there are any specific signs at the TH regarding bikes. Chuck, I reckon any kind of crafty bullshit gets credit around here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshK Posted July 21, 2003 Share Posted July 21, 2003 Yeah, who the fuck cares. The point of cilmbing is not walking on an old overgrown road/flat trail. If the bike can be used, I see no reason why not to use it. I also have a personal rule, that while against NFS policy, I frankly don't care: If the trail allows horses, than you can take your bike on it. The fucking horses cause way more damage than a bike ever will, and a person on a bike doesn't piss and shit all over the trail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chucK Posted July 21, 2003 Share Posted July 21, 2003 Hey Josh, You seem to use the phrase "the whole point of climbing is..." and it's converse quite a bit. I am a bit confused. What is the point of climbing? You appear to know. Could you articulate it for us? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fleblebleb Posted July 21, 2003 Share Posted July 21, 2003 Too much coffee today ChucK? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvs Posted July 21, 2003 Share Posted July 21, 2003 tee hee! Well anyway, you don't enter the National Park boundary until at least a mile up the real trail, so the two miles of road walking are outside of the park. There is a little monument on the side of the trail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshK Posted July 22, 2003 Share Posted July 22, 2003 chucK said: Hey Josh, You seem to use the phrase "the whole point of climbing is..." and it's converse quite a bit. I am a bit confused. What is the point of climbing? You appear to know. Could you articulate it for us? whatever Chuck. Sorry, *****MY***** idea of climbing is not hiking on an overgrown and unmaintaine forest logging road. Sorry if yours is or if I caused you any undue agitation with my post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvs Posted July 22, 2003 Share Posted July 22, 2003 A few pics: crossin' the glace: ridge clambering: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshK Posted July 22, 2003 Share Posted July 22, 2003 Oh wow! Beautiful!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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