[TR] Spearhead Traverse- std in a day 4/24/2004

[snoboy]

Climb: Spearhead Traverse-std in a day

 

Date of Climb: 4/24/2004

 

Trip Report:

Third time lucky... or not.

 

Fern, stinkyclimber, some of his friends, and me set off on the Spearhead on Saturday morning.

 

For fern and I it was our third attempt, the first being foiled by my forgetting the map , and the second by whiteout conditions. So at this point we had been part way in on both ends of the traverse, and decided that it was a good time to try it as a one day trip.

 

The weatherman was calling for cloudy periods -> sunny over the day so we figured that was a good omen.

 

8AM at Whistler base, and we find out that the ticket office doesn't open 'til 830, then we get our tickets after having to show the person at the counter that we did indeed have skins in our packs.

 

Off the top of 7th Heaven lift at about 9AM, and a short bootpack put us at the Blowhole on Blackcomb Glacier. Here stinkyclimber and his tribe caught up to us... and quickly passed us.

 

 

The first attrition was just below Decker, where one of the party decided that she was not as over her cough as she thought she was, and so decided to turn back.

 

 

We kept going up, and then down through the cliffs on the NE ridge of Decker. There are, I think, three skiable ways down to the Trorey Glacier here. The easiest one is the lowest one, at about 7100' (according to the guidebook.)

 

 

The climb up Pattison (we went South of the summit) was a very mellow grade, with lots of opportunity for appreciating the views. It's been a while since I've been out touring in big mountains, and it felt really good, even if I was feeling a little tired.

 

Lunch on Tremor Glacier after a nice ski down from Pattison was a welcome break...

 

 

 

All too soon though, we were headed up the longest climb of the day, up to the Tremor-Shudder col.

 

Going through the col brings you onto the Platform Glacier, and unfortunately it also brought us into this:

 

 

The GPS was consulted, the compass was followed, as were the tracks of a party ahead of us who had camped the night before, and we were now almost caught up to. We managed to get ourselves to the head of the Ripsaw Glacier. The weather was not improving though, and most of the group felt that a retreat was in order. Fern and I almost concurred, but then I had the inspiration to wait it out for 1/2 an hour and see what the weather was going to do, since we had the time to spare at this point.

 

Well, the weather broke, for about 2 minutes...

 

We turned around, and then as fern has alluded to... "disaster STRUCK!!!!!!!!!"

 

I heard a yell, and turned to see what was up? As I turned my head I saw a ski whizzing by me! I set out to chase it down, but soon saw some shapes in the fog ahead of me. A small serac field was in the way, so I put the brakes on.

 

So there we were, at the back of the Spearhead traverse, in a whiteout, just the two of us, with the lightest of bivy gear (SilTarp, shovel, and candle) and only three skis... :gulp:

 

Well, they say a picture is worth a 1000 words, so here's a few thou for you...

 

 

 

 

Heading back up the Platform Glacier was a bit tedious for fern, but she kept going, and I kept thinking about a more solid fix for her busted binding.

 

By the time we got back to the Tremor-Shudder col, I had an idea, and we set out to make it happen. As I was just about to tighten up the new system, a party showed up and they just happened to have the critical piece in their repair kit. They gave it up very generously, and we were soon on our way again. BIG THANKS TO YOU GUYS IF YOU ARE READING THIS. on us if we ever meet again.

 

On the way out we followed the tracks of the party ahead of us, and this lead us up and over the N side of Pattison this time. A very steep climb that ended in a bootpack, when the snow was obviously a bit too slabby for comfort. Luckily it did not take too long to get out of there, and we then got to make a nice descent on the other side.

 

 

Soon we were bootpacking back up to the NE ridge of Decker, and then harvesting the spoils of the plabness that had been schralped in our absence by the day trippers from the ski area.

 

 

Exit out Body Bag Bowl, and down to the base just in time to see the final four jumps of the BigAIr Contest.

 

Home, pizza,

 

Conclusion: I am going to buy bindings that have brakes. I don't use leashes in the b/c because I would prefer to have at least a chance of losing my ski in an avalanche. If fern had a binding like the 7TM, she would have been fine. As it is we were very lucky that the seracs were there to stop the ski, and that they were negotiable.

 

Gear Notes:

Light bivy gear, and lots of food make this an enjoyable (if hard) day trip. Brakes on skis are a really good idea...

 

Approach Notes:

Good travelling in the alpine, Blackcomb lifts now closed.

[philfort]

Classic!

 

[cracked]

Runaway skis suck. Remember that straps aren't a panacea, either, I nearly lost a ski when my Fritschi strap let go of my leg after a huge digger.

 

Nice TR.

[Billygoat]

Great try! Let's try it again soon. Fourth time is the charm I want to go...

 

Forget the 7TM, too heavy and expensive. Get some Voile three pins to go with the Voile releasable plate.

 

Cheers

[AlpineK]

Way to crank through the freshiez!

 

All I have to say is that safety straps rule and brakes suck. (A controversial oppinion no doubt )

[philfort]

All I have to say is that safety straps rule and brakes suck. (A controversial oppinion no doubt )

 

I've been meaning to remove the straps on my skis due to the whole avalanche issue, but haven't gotten around to it. If I had, my ski would have taken a 2000ft ride last wknd... thank god for safety straps.

[stinkyclimber]

Fourth time is the charm

Alas, that is what Andrew and I thought...three failures prior to this trip for me (first two times only a short way around due to huge storms, and the third time all the way to the Macbeth (60% around?), then whiteout/storm the next day followed by escape down the Fitzsimmons). Andrew had 4 prior failures to his credit, including twice to the Macbeth! Now we are each at our 4th and 5th failures - pretty pathetic for such a gumby route!

 

Anyway, we are so pissed off about it that we are going to do it hell or highwater in early May, from the Whistler side, with light overnight packs. I will let everyone know when we are going so you can avoid the area...I am sure the weather will crap out on us again, no matter what the forecast! (I think it is paypack for a half dozenor more Rockies trips we've done in perfect weather!)

 

Good to meet you, snoboy, and nice seeing you again after so long, Fern. Next time we'll have to do a more social trip that involves less non-stop skiing and more resting and breaks!

[PaulB]

There are, I think, three skiable ways down to the Trorey Glacier here. The easiest one is the lowest one, at about 7100' (according to the guidebook.)

Technically, the route you took is the shortest, but you lose a lot of elevation between Decker and Pattison. Going high over Decker and traversing below Trorey is longer, but sets you up nicely to cross south of Pattison with minimal elevation loss.

 

By the time we got back to the Tremor-Shudder col, I had an idea, and we set out to make it happen. As I was just about to tighten up the new system, a party showed up and they just happened to have the critical piece in their repair kit

What was the critical part, and what was your proposed fix? Just curious, 'cause I use Riva Z's on my touring setup.

 

Soon we were bootpacking back up to the NE ridge of Decker, and then harvesting the spoils of the plabness that had been schralped in our absence by the day trippers from the ski area.

I think we left plenty plab for you guys!

 

 

Sounds like you had a good adventure. A fine example of self sufficiency in the backcountry, with a little help from like minded souls.

[snoboy]

Paul,

 

I was looking at that route around Decker, especially on the way back, as we had traversed high around the bowl from Pattison, sacrificing turn opprtunities to conserve energy, and it felt like the ridge was just above us... Next time I will try it out.

 

The piece that broke was the heel throw. The bit that fits into the groove on the boot snapped right off. I have had this happen to my G3 bindings as well, but not in the b/c.

 

My improved fix was going to be:

-remove broken heel throw

-put remaining wire into the notch on the boot

-fasten a hose clamp to the front of the Voile release housing and loop it through the front of the cable.

-tighten it all up from the front.

 

I'm confident it would have worked well, just been a bit slow to take on or off. The gift of the right part was icing on the cake really, but still highly appreciated.

[fern]

What was the critical part, and what was your proposed fix? Just curious, 'cause I use Riva Z's on my touring setup.

 

The part of the plastic heel clip that seats in the boot groove broke off. We were going to use a hose clamp around the release plate spring housing to tighten the cable forward directly into the boot groove.

 

Technically, the route you took is the shortest, but you lose a lot of elevation between Decker and Pattison. Going high over Decker and traversing below Trorey is longer, but sets you up nicely to cross south of Pattison with minimal elevation loss.

 

we didn't lose too much elevation because we cut hard right right from the bottom of that gully and contoured around.

[Ziff]

I have to disagree with Paul B regarding the route over Decker saving time. Traversing low and cutting hard right at the bottom of the gulley (as Fern mentions) has always worked best for me. I have done both routes at least three times each and I have always found the low route faster by about 30 minutes (even faster if you leave your skins on). Depending on conditions (wind scouring, cornices), the ridge leading off of Decker's summit can prove to be awful and very time consuming. Going over Decker is more aesthetic, however.

[PaulB]

I have to disagree with Paul B regarding the route over Decker saving time.

I didn't say it saves time, I said it prevents elevation loss. I totally agree that going low is faster, especially if you cross Pattison to the north as well. I've had good conditions going over Decker in both directions, but I can imagine that if things were bad, that it could be nasty.

[Ziff]

sorry Paul. I misread your original post. my mistake.