South Pickets? Read this!

[daylward]

Mark Kroese, Sean Courage and I went in to the southern Pickets on Friday and did the East Ridge of Inspiration and McMillan on Saturday. We intended to do the S. Face of Inspiration on Sunday, but right about decision-making time (5:00 am) the sky was afflicted by a brief bout of clouds, wind and sprinkles, which convinced us to retreat to what turned out to be a sunny coastal plain. Although we agreed amongst ourselves that y'all can figure out the details of the routes yourselves (the description of the E. ridge in Nelson is more than adequate), there are a couple important things we'd like to share:

 

1) On the approach, though we did not encounter the route-finding difficulties at ~4300' described by Nelson (the trail seems much more established now), we were lured off-route into virgin heather later on. To preserve this delicate ecosystem, please follow these instructions: When you exit the trees at ~5000', the trail trends to the climbers left, and then crosses one obvious boulder-filled creek, followed in several hundred yards by another. At this SECOND creek, DO NOT CROSS IT THERE, but rather go UP the creek a hundred yards or so. As you ascend the creekbed you will see cairns and trail remnants here and there, and soon the trail exits the creekbed on the left, and you're on your way.

 

2) The descent off Inspiration - We followed what appeared to be the path of least resistance, rappelling (single 60m rope) 4 times down the west ridge, then downclimbing into the Inspiration-Pyramid gully and rappelling 4 more times. The Inspiration-Pyramid gully has plenty of rap stations, but it sucks and is dangerous. It was wet, had lots of loose rock, and we're lucky we didn't chop our rope. There is lots of crappy webbing that should be removed too. The ideal descent should be down the west side of the S. face. Do the first 4 rapps down the W. ridge, then downclimb the ridge overlooking the S. face, until you reach another rapp station right on the ridge from which you can descend the S. face. Others have indicated that there is some webbing along the W. ridge ascent route, but I do not know how established the stations are down the S. face below the station on the ridge. My point is, they should become established, because that's the safest and most direct line down the mountain. So if you go up there bring some webbing & rapp rings, and go down the S. face. Either that or go down the Inspiration-Pyramid gully and yank some of the crappy old webbing, if you feel like subjecting yourself to unplesantness... after all, alpine climbing is about suffering, right?

 

One other note - The glacier below Inspiration is getting pretty broken up; in a couple weeks it may be very difficult to reach the base of any of the routes on the mountain. We went over some sorta sketchy snow bridges on the approach and had to jump a 5-foot crevasse on the descent!

 

Dan

[eric8]

Hey daylward that was me and my friend jule that arrived in the parking lot as you where leaving. Thanks for the approach info. although when we got to the 2nd creek we couldn't remember if you said go up or don't go up the creek. We eventually got back on the trail though.

 

We ended up getting spanked by the the southwest buttress route. Mostly because we tried to climb up to far to the east. Once we figured it out we where out of water and it was getting late so we descended. The southwest buttress descend should work find. Definitly bring two ropes for it though. Theres a gulley near the start of the west ridge that looking up i saw some rapp slings in. Rapping from there should get you to 2nd/3nd class heather (we did a belayed down climb/traverse to reach this point) From here 15ft down a gulley on the west side of the buttress is a horn to rapp off of. Then one more double rope rap gets you to the glacier. I would recommond this descending this way because that crevasse you jumped is probably no long passible considering how hot it was on monday-tuesday.

[Lowell_Skoog]

My brother Carl and I climbed the descent route that Dan describes in 1995. My writeup is in the 1996 AAJ, I think. We called it the SW Buttress, a variation on the west ridge. The route begins with the first two or three pitches of the south face route. Then, where the south face route angles right up the 4th class ramp, we continued straight up toward the crest of the lower west ridge. There's some nice climbing in this section in the 5.7-5.8 range. The route soon joins the normal west ridge, making for an elegant route that avoids the gully entirely.

 

When we did the climb we saw a sling or two suggesting that it had been rappeled before. We didn't rappel the route, but wished we had later. There's a nice ledge at the start of the south face route where you could stash boots and snow gear for a climb of either the south face or SW buttress, returning to your gear. That would make either climb much more enjoyable.

 

[Picketeer]

Great job on E. Ridge!

 

I also have been fouled up at that 2nd stream crossing. It took us a quite a bit of hunting around before we figured out that we needed to head up the creek several hundred feet where we finally found some cairns and tread. I remember that once we exited the creekbed we passed a rocky bench area with some old fire rings and then over a small ridge before heading out on the long heather traverse up to the notch/col heading down into Terror Basin.

[Jens]

I'm glad the trail is getting pretty well established up there. Did you guys see any black bear sign? A couple of weeks ago there was evidence the place was crawling with em'.

 

__

As for the descent gully off inspiration, somebody's rope got eaten and is still hanging up there.

[Cpt.Caveman]

There is lots of crappy webbing that should be removed too. The ideal descent should be down the west side of the S. face. Do the first 4 rapps down the W. ridge, then downclimb the ridge overlooking the S. face, until you reach another rapp station right on the ridge from which you can descend the S. face. Others have indicated that there is some webbing along the W. ridge ascent route, but I do not know how established the stations are down the S. face below the station on the ridge. My point is, they should become established, because that's the safest and most direct line down the mountain

 

How is that ideal and why? I see the comments about rope chopping but no real comment of truth trying another option- skeptic.

 

You mention lots of details about a descent route you did not descend??. I am not being a jerk just curious that you are not giving the info people might be seeking. I see you note taking slings... I interpret that as discover your own descent based upon Daylward experiences. Not being arrogant but what's the deal>>?

 

The only thing I can gather is bring lots of slings if you want to descend and dont rely on others. That's a norm for some and me...

 

-RB

[onetoole]

Eric gave a really good description of where to find the rap stations for the S face. If I'm not completely dumb (aah! lurking doubt) we rapped down about forty yards west of where the route goes. The mountain really doesn't feature a lot of anchors, and the only rock horn we ever saw all day was the first rap anchor. The second one was made up of an old tricam, an old nut, and a little sling all attached to one flake which looks solid now but might fall off some day. Just bolt the danged thing, someone please. And can we also have a cable car.

[Cpt.Caveman]

onetoole said:

Eric gave a really good description of where to find the rap stations for the S face. If I'm not completely dumb (aah! lurking doubt) we rapped down about forty yards west of where the route goes. The mountain really doesn't feature a lot of anchors, and the only rock horn we ever saw all day was the first rap anchor. The second one was made up of an old tricam, an old nut, and a little sling all attached to one flake which looks solid now but might fall off some day. Just bolt the danged thing, someone please. And can we also have a cable car.

 

I bolted a rap station 2 years ago- I dont understand

 

I guess I'll put in some more bolts when I get there...

 

If you're fat and climb slow there is no discussion of words in the speed climbing community it seems. It's a word of theirs or it's a word of theirs. Last time I met one of the said party he was more interested in being a self loather. That's not Colin or Sean-not mentioning names. Bummer people are like that.

 

I expect more hate mail and dis.

[daylward]

How is that ideal and why? I see the comments about rope chopping but no real comment of truth trying another option- skeptic.

 

You mention lots of details about a descent route you did not descend??. I am not being a jerk just curious that you are not giving the info people might be seeking. I see you note taking slings... I interpret that as discover your own descent based upon Daylward experiences. Not being arrogant but what's the deal>>?

 

The only thing I can gather is bring lots of slings if you want to descend and dont rely on others. That's a norm for some and me...

 

-RB

 

 

Valid questions. Of course I have no direct evidence that it is an ideal descent, because I didn't do it. However, looking at it from below, it is clear that it's a more direct route that would likely have fewer and cleaner rappells than the gully, and it would reach the glacier not far from where at least 3 routes up the mountain begin (facilitating leaving gear such as boots & packs at the base, which is a huge plus in my book). Also, I haven't heard anything that indicates to me that the south face descent is bad in the comments of those who have been on it. And also, I do know from first hand experience that the gully descent is very unpleasant; in my reckoning, it's unlikely that the south face descent could possibly be less pleasant.

 

So I think that paints a pretty good case. Perhaps I should have tried not to sound so authoritarian in my original post... is that what bothers you? I think there is value in having only one established descent off a mountain and it should be the best descent (though that rarely happens), rather than having slings spread all over the place. I think that with this web site, for the first time, we actually have the ability to reach a large portion of the climbing community through technology, and using that to decrease impact and increase safety by giving specific information based on experience is not a bad thing. Maybe that goes against some peoples' ideas of solitude and self-sufficiency in the mountains, but we have to face the fact that more people are going there and if everyone does as they please, everyone will suffer.

 

Ok, that's getting a little soapboxy. I'll stop now.

 

 

[erik]

daylward said:

I think there is value in having only one established descent off a mountain and it should be the best descent (though that rarely happens), rather than having slings spread all over the place.

 

[daylward]

Jens said:

I'm glad the trail is getting pretty well established up there. Did you guys see any black bear sign? A couple of weeks ago there was evidence the place was crawling with em'.

 

__

As for the descent gully off inspiration, somebody's rope got eaten and is still hanging up there.

 

No evidence of bears or any other mammals, even snafflehounds! No, wait... I did see a goat track in the snow. But not its creator.

 

Huh, stuck rope in the gully? We did not see it, and we pretty much explored every crevice of the gully...

 

Dan

[Cpt.Caveman]

I didnt see any bears since last month.

 

I can't argue with those comments daylward- just wanted someone to clarify things. Don't feel the need to go to the soapbox or watch soap operas. I'm just lookin fer facts.

 

Erik's just putting in comments to try and act as if he is a dominant climber since he has a grudge- he's lame.

 

Thanks for the real replies Dan.

[erik]

UH SURE RAY.

YOU KNOW ME AND MY GRUDGES?

 

what dan sez makes sense. one established and maintained descent. even over time it will become realativly clean and free of debris.

 

only makes sense imho

 

 

[Cpt.Caveman]

erik said:

UH SURE RAY.

YOU KNOW ME AND MY GRUDGES?

 

what dan sez makes sense. one established and maintained descent. even over time it will become realativly clean and free of debris.

 

only makes sense imho

 

 

Is this some sort of spray? Get lost. You are polluting the good info. If you were a real moderator you would erase this comment and yours.

[Lowell_Skoog]

Here's a photo showing the south face of Inspiration (yellow line) and the route my brother and I climbed in 1995 ("SW buttress", blue line). The west ridge gully is shown by the pink arrow. The gully route reaches the west ridge about half way from the glacier to the summit.

 

 

 

A friend told me he descended the west side of the south face last weekend and it went well--but required two ropes. He thought they were a little to the lookers' right of our 1995 ascent route.

 

[wayne]

Wow Lowell, Your route up, looks like near where my friend and I rapped down in the fog. It looked like good rock. Whats the rating/quality? As a rap route, It is good for getting around the monster shrund across the top of Terror Glacier.

[eric8]

Thanks for post that Lowell

Our descent was just to the left of your line and our attempted ascent was just to the right. We were all over the place.

[Lowell_Skoog]

wayne1112 said:

Wow Lowell, Your route up, looks like near where my friend and I rapped down in the fog. It looked like good rock. Whats the rating/quality? As a rap route, It is good for getting around the monster shrund across the top of Terror Glacier.

 

Here's my writeup from the 1996 AAJ (p. 149):

 

On July 16 [1995], my brother Carl and I climbed the Southwest Buttress of Inspiration Peak. This buttress starts at the foot of the south face and sweeps up to join the standard West Ridge route. We started on the South Face route, which begins with a 5.7 pitch after bypassing the toe of the buttress on the right side. Above, where the South Face route angles right, we continued straight up, staying just left of a prominent scooped-out area of light gray rock. Two pitches of excellent rock led to the ridge crest. The second of these was the crux, a right-facing corner crack visible from below. A pitch or two along the crest led to the West Ridge route, which we followed to the summit. Besides being an enjoyable climb, the buttress offers a good rappel route off the peak, since it avoids the loose rock and snow of the West Ridge gully. Grade II or III 5.8, excellent views.

 

I thought the route was excellent. 5.8 at most. It's a nice way to enjoy the west ridge without climbing the gully and with somewhat more challenging climbing. You can leave boots and ice tools at the base and climb light. I climbed the south face, which is also fun, a couple years earlier and noticed this line during that climb. I'd say the SW buttress is as good as the south face, but they have different attractions. The south face is an amazingly improbable zig-zag line up a vertical face. The SW buttress is less steep in profile, but more consistent in difficulty, and probably has the better rock.

 

[curtveld]

Did the SW buttress route (blue above) last weekend and it’s a good option. The upper West ridge is just outstanding – clean slabby face climbing with great exposure and views. Lowell’s description above pretty much sets you straight. The only minor difference is that the connecting pitches up to the ridge don’t quite follow the main rap route, which is actually about 50’ west of the 'obvious right-facing corner' you climb.

 

Easily up and down the route with a single 60m rope. I know that fact’s been beaten into the ground, but I’d hate to see anyone hump more gear up there than absolutely necessary.

 

And if you get back to the glacier with a couple of hours of daylight, it’s pretty easy to cruise over and scramble up W. MacMillan. Just follow the upper glacier all the way right and keep going across the ramps. They’re loose and exposed, but they get you to the Inspiration/Mac col in short order. The descent is easier from there too.

[Toast]

nice one from the archives