TeleRoss Posted April 12, 2004 Posted April 12, 2004 Climb: Dragontail-TC Date of Climb: 4/9/2004 Trip Report: Well, Jason and I decided to return to Dragontail this week, again hoping to climb and ski the TC. We left Seattle at what is becoming the accustomed time of 11:30, and after stops for coffee and goodies, found ourselves parked on Mountaineer Creek Rd. very near the Lake Caroline TH. Quickly skinned up the 1 mi. of road to the end, and by 6:30 we were lounging at Colchuck Lake. We hung out at the lake for a good while, at this time we figured time was not going to be an issue... All the while at the lake the ice was busy popping and creaking and generally sounding very sketchy, so we opted to ski around the lake to access the route. We arrived at the bottom of the hidden couloir, put skis on the packs, geared up and finally started climbing shortly after 9. We climbed the hidden couloir in about half an hour to the base of the runnels where we began belayed climbing. I led the first pitch and stayed to the far climbers right up the runnels. There was some very thin ice encountered on this pitch. Climbed a full 60m pitch to make a belay just beyond the crux section. Jason followed and led the second 60m pitch up a steep snow patch and through a narrow constriction, which with skis on the packs made for some interesting maneuvering, as we had to climb straight up while leaning to the left so our skis would clear a rock. These two pitches put us at the base of the second couloir. Looking back now, we should have either simuled the couloir or just both soloed, but we continued climbing on belay. This is where we began to really eat away at our time. It took us what seemed like forever to get to the rock step separating the second and third couloirs. This section provided some nice mixed moves and put us at the base of the third couloir. A couple more pitches put us at the top, and a quick traverse and 50' or so of climbing put us on the summit...but holy crap is was like 5:30....man we took our sweet ass time. We bailed on the idea of skiing the couloirs, as we did not want to be skiing out in the dark, and decided instead to ski out via Asgaard Pass. We hauled ass out to the car and made it from the summit to the car in less than 2.5 hours. But alas, our two trips to Dragontail TC has resulted in a no climb-no ski trip and now a climb but no-ski trip. Maybe with the TC the third time's a charm? ~Ross Here's a link to some pics: http://www.villagephotos.com/pubbrowse.asp?selected=849073 Gear Notes: 2 60m ropes pitons, pickets, and 1 microcam Approach Notes: trail is melting out fast, road should be drivable to the end shortly Quote
MysticNacho Posted April 12, 2004 Posted April 12, 2004 Think it will still be in shape this weekend? Quote
Ade Posted April 12, 2004 Posted April 12, 2004 Hey, you did the route. So were you planning to rap the steep sections on the decent or can you actually ski or jump them? Probably a dumb question but then my idea of great skiing is the frozen lake - flat and no objects to hit. Quote
TeleRoss Posted April 12, 2004 Author Posted April 12, 2004 In it's current condition, we would have been doing 2 raps through the runnels. That section has really gone fast. As I was skinning towards the NE Couloir the previous week, it sure looked like there was a lot more snow and ice in the runnels. Quote
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