[TR] Colchuck- North Buttress Couloir 5/15/2004

[goatboy]

Climb: Colchuck-North Buttress Couloir

 

Date of Climb: 5/15/2004

 

Trip Report:

I have little to add to other trip reports other than my photos. This is a great, moderate route, made even better by the views and the exposure that one encounters in places.

 

Kat and I left the trailhead at 4 AM and chased our headlamp beams over the little bridges and windy turns of the lower Stuart Lake trail, which was dry. Soon, it was light enough to see and we were past the bridge at Mountaineer Creek, where we began to encounter the first sustained bits of snow. To our pleasant surprise, it was firm snow, great for fast travel.

 

6:30 saw us at the lake.

 

Here we encountered a soloist (Alasdair?) who went on up the moraine ahead of us while we ate some meat and bread.

 

The couloir looked continuous and fun:

 

 

It was mostly firm snow, with some patches of less consolidated in places. The couloir is about 40-45 degrees for the great majority, I would say -- perfect for two-tool dagger climbing and crampons. Kat used one tool most of the day, however, while I enjoyed the use of two.

 

 

 

We descended the Colchuck Glacier, which had softened up enough to afford great plunge steps.

 

I really recommend this route. We carried a rope and pickets and some rock pro and honestly didn't use or need any of it -- the conditions were very secure and straightforward, though fun!

 

There was some minor rockfall that took place while we were in the couloir, so there's a potential argument against soloing, I suppose. But on the other hand, one can move faster unroped, often, which minimizes your time of exposure to rockfall ... anyway, there you have it.

 

Gear Notes:

No need for snowshoes due to early start. Some folks were in running shoes.

 

Two tools and crampons were nice

 

Rope optional, pickets would have worked nicely in firm snow. Rock gear seemed to be available for much of the route, should one want it.

 

 

Approach Notes:

See report

[Alasdair]

Yep that was me.

[jja]

yeah - way fun route. nice pics

 

Did either of you guys happen to notice what D-tail looked like - thinking of serpentine and backbone, dry, wet, snow ? thanks.

[Alasdair]

I had a pretty good look at Dragontail. Serpentine would go no problem, buy there is snow getting up to the 5.8 section. The backbone looked wet, and would probably be quite hard right now.

[goatboy]

Here's a picture of Serpentine and Backbone from that same day

 

 

Also, a shot of us high on the NW Face (near the top of the route)

 

[jja]

Thanks

[JonMW]

Any place where carrying skis or a board might be a problem?

[goatboy]

No problem at all!

[Alex]

Wow, there is very little snow on DTail already!

[mattp]

jja-

I've climbed Backbone when it had more snow on it than it does now, and I didn't think the snow added any significant difficulties - at least on that occasion. It gave us a chance to refill our water bottles en route, though.

[goatboy]

NBC is interesting because you climb the couloir for awhile before shifting gears and traversing out onto the NW Face for the finish . . . It is a good climb because it is sustained at the "rating" -- moderate the whole way, in other words.

 

There's definitely exposure involved, but depending on conditions, it's very reasonable and secure, I would say.

 

Curious what other people think of the route?

[JoshK]

I was just comparing your pics here with some pics I have from almost this exact same time, 2 years ago. It's night and day. Most obvious, the lake is still frozen! The snowpack is obviously much different too. If I didn't know I would say my pics look at least a month, if not 2 months earlier in the season.

[Alasdair]

 

Curious what other people think of the route?

 

Well you would not want to fall over backwards, because you would probalby slide a long way. It is a pretty good route, I enjoyed it.

[erez]

Great route-Moderate to steep snow with good exposure and great views. The traverse around the corner is fun and up through some rock bands to the top...I really enjoyed it and felt pretty secure. You could protect it with rock gear if you wanted.

[Jens]

Any place where carrying skis or a board might be a problem?

 

Has anyone ever skiied this route from the summit area? Did Ben and crew ski from the notch?

I jogged in for a short evening solo Saturday and couldn't help but notice that the their was enough snow above the notch to be skiied.

Anyone have any idea?

[cracked]

They skied from the summit, according to their TR.