TeleRoss Posted January 27, 2004 Share Posted January 27, 2004 (edited) Climb: Colchuck Peak-North Buttress Couloir Date of Climb: 1/24/2004 Trip Report: Went to climb and ski the North Buttress Couloir of Colchuck Peak last weekend. After getting a late start out of town we finally made it to the plowed end of Icicle Creek Road. We left icicle creek road for the four mile skin up to the Stuart Lake TH. The four miles took about 1:45 of skinning, and upon arriving at the TH, we decided to stop there for the night. Saturday we skinned up the Stuart Lake trail and made the junction in about 2 hrs. The skinning was pretty easy over firm snow. There was a track to follow from some skiers who were up at the lake a few days before. The morning was beautiful blue skies and we were hoping that the weather was going to turn out better than had been forecast. That quickly changed at the junction with Colchuck Lake trail. The wind kicked up and a steady driving snow would be our constant companion for the rest of the day. After the junction the trail ascends the steep slope leading to Colchuck lake. Skinning up through the three rock outcrop sections near the top of that hill made for some interesting situations but eventually we finally made the lake, in about 2 hours from the junction. Conditions at the lake were pretty nasty, and soon it was a near whiteout, with wind gusts that were threatening to blow us over. But the clouds would break and give us awesome views up to Colchuck Peak and Dragontail. Huge plumes were streaming off of Colchuck Peak making it almost appear like an erupting volcano. We continued across the frozen lake to the south shore and made camp among some trees and large boulders where there was some protection from the wind. We were hoping to be able to ski the glacier that afternoon, but after making camp, the snow had really picked up and visibility was near nil, so we were pretty much pinned down at camp. We ended up spending the rest of the day in the tent. Woke up 6:30 on Sunday morning and set out for the NBC. Skinned for about 1/2 hour up to the glacier moraine where we swapped skins for crampons and made our way to the bottom of the couloir. The couloir is really spectacular, coming right off of the N Buttress at a consistent 40-45 with some sections of near 50 deg. It is bordered by rock spires and walls directly opposite the couloir is the impressive face of Dragontail. A truely awesome setting. Climbing the couloir was straightforeward, however, although conditions were good for climbing, very hard snow and ice, I kept thinking that the ski down was going to be interesting. There were some nice soft sections though which, while I was thinking they were going to be great skiing, postholing through knee to waist deep snow up a 40-50 degree slope was less than fun. We made it nearly to the top of the couloir where it tops out on the N. Buttress, when we encountered a 1-2' deep windslab. With my partner safely behind a large rock outcrop off to the side of the couloir, I slowly made my way up along the rock wall bordering the couloir, waiting for the slab to fail. After about 5 feet a large fracture went all the way across the couloir and the entire slab went. Following that excitement it was a few steps to the top of the couloir. Took ~2 hours to climb the couloir. We decided to pass on finishing the climb to the summit on the NW face due to the avy conditions, and settled on just skiing the couloir from the top of the N Buttress. The descent alternated between really nice turns on the soft layer that the slab had exposed, to the most heinous icy boilerplate imaginable. One major crux section provided an interesting bit of billygoating over rocks and ice, but for the most part the ski was pretty sweet, with a few nerve wracking sections. Back to camp and a quick pack of the gear and we were off. Skinned back across the lake and began the descent to the car. The slope down to the junction went well, but the trail back to the TH was like some kind of crazy bobsled run through an obstacle course of trees, which always were just too close together to make it through cleanly. The frozen crusty snow and the packed out trail made for much flailing and cursing as we made our way our of the forest to the road. The great thing about this trip was that it is nearly downhill the entire way from camp, and the entire ski out from the lake down to the car was less than 3 hrs. Exhausted, we high tailed it to Leavenworth for much needed burgers and beer. Pics should be up in the gallery shortly. (there is a pic of Colchuck Peak, taken as we were crossing the lake on Saturday as an attachment on this post) Edited January 27, 2004 by TeleRoss Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeleRoss Posted January 27, 2004 Author Share Posted January 27, 2004 Here's another pic... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DPS Posted January 27, 2004 Share Posted January 27, 2004 Nice trip report. I wonder when Triple Couloirs will be skied, assuming it has not already been skiied. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highclimb Posted January 27, 2004 Share Posted January 27, 2004 Dan, i have also thought about the same thing a couple times this winter. Could triple couloirs be skied? i think it would be pretty impressive/sweet. the snow in those couloirs arnt so condusive to icing up, i know when i did it the snow would have been prefect for skiing. ski the third couloir, rappell into second or maybe you could manage getting into the second couloir without to much difficulty. then ski the second and rappel into the first. oh man....i would be very interested to know if it has in fact been skied.....gets you thinking Aidan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slothrop Posted January 28, 2004 Share Posted January 28, 2004 Sounds like fun. That snow plume coming off Colchuck is quite a sight! Did your partner belay you as you tried to set off the slab? Your TR could benefit from a few paragraph breaks, but it's a good read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billygoat Posted January 28, 2004 Share Posted January 28, 2004 Climb: Colchuck Peak-North Buttress Couloir Date of Climb: 1/24/2004 Trip Report: One major crux section provided an interesting bit of billygoating over rocks and ice, but for the most part the ski was pretty sweet, with a few nerve wracking sections. The trail made for much flailing and cursing as we made our way out of the forest to the road. Exhausted, we high tailed it to Leavenworth for much needed burgers and beer. Glad to see my stylie manoeuverings are starting to gain popularity... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeleRoss Posted January 28, 2004 Author Share Posted January 28, 2004 I'm not positive but I think that the Triple Couloirs have been skied....? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllYouCanEat Posted January 28, 2004 Share Posted January 28, 2004 Everything was skied in the 70's, so trust me, there is no need to go out there and do what has already been done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeleRoss Posted January 28, 2004 Author Share Posted January 28, 2004 Unless you want to do it because it's fun to do it....what does it matter if its "already been done"? Plus, there's plenty of firsts left in the Cascades. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllYouCanEat Posted January 28, 2004 Share Posted January 28, 2004 Plus, there's plenty of firsts left in the Cascades. Really, my understanding was that extremoMtDude http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/threadz/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/261373/page/2/view/collapsed/sb/5/o/all/fpart/1 skied everything up. Ask him, he may even post a pic of himself airing the 2nd couloir on 3C's Unless you want to do it because it's fun to do it....what does it matter if its "already been done"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
savaiusini Posted January 29, 2004 Share Posted January 29, 2004 Everything was skied in the 70's, so trust me, there is no need to go out there and do what has already been done. werd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.