TeleRoss Posted April 5, 2004 Share Posted April 5, 2004 Climb: Dragontail-NE Couloir Date of Climb: 4/3/2004 Trip Report: Climb and ski of NE Couloir on Dragontail Peak on Sat. 4/3. This trip began with the objective of the TCs. We left the car on Mountaineer Creek Rd at ~2:15am. Skinned up the road and trail to reach Colchuck Lake just after 6. This is where the Tom Foolery began. We were leisurely hanging around eating snacks, looking up the route and watching a party of three just beginning the ascent of the hidden couloir. Everything was perfect. So we were ready to head down and across the lake to the route. We were on a small little knoll and coming off of it my climbing partner biffed it good and one of his skis sliced a nice fat gash across the bridge of his nose, and gave himself a mild concussion to boot. Complaining of a raging throbbing in his head and dealing with his bloodied nose and severely bruised ego, we attended to stopping the bleeding and figuring out what these antics had done to our plan for the day. My partner informed me he was done for the day, but that he was willing to hang out by the lake for a few hours if I wanted to climb something. I made sure that he was ok with that, before turning my attention to what it was that I would do. I settled on the NE Couloir on Dragontail, not exactly what we had come for, but at least it was something. So I set off across the lake. And skinned up the slopes below Asgaard Pass, past the hidden couloir, and up to the NE Couloir. There I put on crampons and strapped skis to the pack and began up the couloir. The climbing was straightforeward. Steep snow with the occassional icy section. One short mixed step provided some entertaining stemming and hooking moves, and then on to the upper sections of the couloir which became quite steep. Beckey says the couloir steepens to 40 deg. but it is definitely much steeper than that. Having just been on the NF of Maude and the NE Couloir on Maude, the upper section of the NE Couloir on Dragontail was steeper that any portion of those other routes. Anyway, I climbed to the end of the snowfilled couloir, and stopped there as there was no more skiing to be had on the rock pitches above. Some precarious balancing was needed to remove crampons and put on the skis, and then it was time to ski. The ski was a mixed bag of nice somewhat firm snow, loose sluffy stuff and pretty solid ice. The couloir is steep and winds quite a bit as it descends the face. It was a cool descent in somewhat difficult conditions. Skied out back across the lake to my partner who was now not only sporting his nice gash, but a pretty killer sunburn from the nap he took out in the sun. The mountains sure had their way with him today. I'm sure he'll be eager to get back up there for another round....hopefully with a much better outcome. ~Ross Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeleRoss Posted April 5, 2004 Author Share Posted April 5, 2004 should have some pics up sometime soon... ~Ross Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ade Posted April 5, 2004 Share Posted April 5, 2004 Nice job... Hope your buddy is OK. What were the snow conditions like in general. With the freezing level at 10k I was expecting things to be pretty soft this w/e. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bug Posted April 5, 2004 Share Posted April 5, 2004 Nice TR. Sounds like fun. I talked to one of the 3 guys who did the route ahead of you. They crashed in a VW van by wehre my daughters and I camped. They made it out about evening thirty. They seemed to have had a good time. He said everything was still pretty frozen up there and there was a boot track up to the lake. I may have to get up there soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
savaiusini Posted April 5, 2004 Share Posted April 5, 2004 Glad to hear you salvaged a ski of something, Ross. That's too bad to hear about your partner, though. It's actually been a couple years since I've been on Dragontail...how wide was the couloir you skied? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stanley Posted April 5, 2004 Share Posted April 5, 2004 "Nice TR. Sounds like fun. I talked to one of the 3 guys who did the route ahead of you. They crashed in a VW van by wehre my daughters and I camped. They made it out about evening thirty. They seemed to have had a good time. He said everything was still pretty frozen up there and there was a boot track up to the lake. I may have to get up there soon." We actually climbed the N-Face route, not the NE Couloir; Different side of the mountain Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeleRoss Posted April 5, 2004 Author Share Posted April 5, 2004 Sam, the couloir is super narrow at the top, enough so that putting my skis on was a sketchy endeavor. My tips and tails were skittering on the granite on the sides of the couloir..interesting position for sure. On the descent the couloir is variable with some really narrow spots and some where it widens a bit. A really nice line, and with the conditions, I really had to be on top of things....super fun.. So how was the traverse you guys did this weekend? ~Ross Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bug Posted April 7, 2004 Share Posted April 7, 2004 Oops. Sorry. How about a TR with pics? Hope we didn't disturb your sleep too much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stanley Posted April 7, 2004 Share Posted April 7, 2004 Oops. Sorry. How about a TR with pics? Hope we didn't disturb your sleep too much. Sorry, no time for that. And we prefer to keep to ourselves about the things we climb. Take Care, and no worries about waking us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bug Posted April 7, 2004 Share Posted April 7, 2004 Cheers! It was fun talking to you. Always feel free to drop by my camp for a free coffee or beer. My girls now want a VW camper van. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Off_White Posted April 7, 2004 Share Posted April 7, 2004 we prefer to keep to ourselves about the things we climb. Yeah, you wouldn't want to "spray mud about it on some website" for a bunch of wankers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goatboy Posted April 9, 2004 Share Posted April 9, 2004 Going to a website to state that you don't have time to post about your trip is like taking out an ad stating that you don't have time for ads and prefer to keep to yourself. I find that to be pretty funny. As for the NE Couloir route, I have looked at it and wondered about it in the past. Sounds like you encountered quite different challenges than Beckey mentions -- was it more than 50 degrees? What did the rock sections look like above -- 5th class, or easier? Thanks for the info! I love using this website to supplement what the guidebooks say. Thanks a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeleRoss Posted April 12, 2004 Author Share Posted April 12, 2004 The steepest sections of the couloir were probably 50-55 with some sections 55+. Near the top, I was loosing lots of ground with each turn. As far as the rock, I'm not too sure. It didn't look difficult. I'll try to get some pics up tonight hopefully. ~Ross Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goatboy Posted April 19, 2004 Share Posted April 19, 2004 Any pictures yet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeleRoss Posted April 20, 2004 Author Share Posted April 20, 2004 Here's a link to a few of my pics... They really don't show much but oh well. I would imagine that someone who has climbed up around Colchuck Balanced Rock would have a great view of the whole couloir? ~Ross http://www.villagephotos.com/pubbrowse.asp?selected=857500 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dane Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 Climbing conditions late Nov Sskiing conditions late May I'm with Craig, it is pretty narrow. Ross still skied the entire gully. Places I couldn't get two feet side by side on ice while climbing it. Be more interetsing to hear Craig's and Daniel's take on the lead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyHarry Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 I guess thats why Ross uses short skis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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