[TR] Baker- North Ridge 5/13/2004

[obsydian]

Climb: Baker-North Ridge

 

Date of Climb: 5/13/2004

 

Trip Report:

May 12 - 13.We camped at 6,000 feet as it was protected and flat, you could camp a few hundred feet higher where you traverse left. We had no problems traversing, crossed a couple of crevasses, but straightforward. We took the lower route left around the rock nose but ended up climbing right and through the rocks and actually did about half of the upper shortcut route, steep but good snow, used pickets. The approach to the ice section at 9,600 was straightforward. The ice there is very hard and brittle, harder then we were expecting. Very exposed. Take as many ice screws as you have unless you are comfortable climbing ice with long distances between protection and no runout. We had 8 or 9 screws per team. The first pitch is straight up to the ridge and then a bit right, about 60 degrees, quite airy. We did a left traverse underneath the overhand on the second pitch, there may be an option to climb a chimney which you will see, believe a shorter route, the first few feet are vertical. Our third pitch went a bit more left, and then straight up, near the top about 20 feet of 70++ degree (seemed vertical!) ice to just below the ridge proper, better ice in here. The 4th pitch was short, 45 degrees, tops out on the ridge. Climbed the ridge with pickets, some might do without, but very exposed. We had whiteout conditions on the ridge (perfect day until then, the low clouds just gathered around), fortunately we did get a look on the left fall line, no cornices, so we followed that line to the schrund. Pretty much went straight up and through the schrund up as we couldn't make out any other path, it topped out on the first summit. Two of us stepped in a crevasse near the schrund. It took us 14.5 hours from tent to summit. We didn't think we were that slow, but the technical ice climbing was harder then we expected, and the whiteout didn't help with routefinding. I'm sure folks could do it faster if your team are very strong ice climbers, we were a bit new. We took 2 pickets per person, seemed about right, but we protected everything above 9,200 feet. And you will want two tools (at least I was glad I had two tools). The climb is very committing, not many options if someone has trouble on the ice section. Great outing though, learned lots, got back to tents at 10:30pm, hiked out the next morning. I'll try and post a couple of pictures.

 

Gear Notes:

2 pickets per team, 8/9 screws per team (more the better), 2 ice tools

 

Approach Notes:

Road open to about 1/2 mile from trailhead

[CascadeClimber]

This is the second TR this year detailing steep, multipitch ice on this route. Has it changed in character? A few years ago the shortest route through the cliff was 1/2 pitch of AI2+, or you could traverse further left for a couple pitches of AI2/2-.

 

Anyway, good job! It sounds stout.

 

???

 

-L

[obsydian]

Here's the first pitch:

 

Here's the second pitch traverse:

 

Hmm, not working out like I thought, how do I get pictures from my gallery in here?

Edited May 19, 2004 by obsydian

[DPS]

Obsydian's description matches my memory of the route. We only had three screws though.

[Stephen_Ramsey]

Thanks for the Trip Report and route info.

 

I'm curious as to why you felt the route was really committing... do you feel it would simply not be possible to retreat from the ice cliff using a V-thread and some double-rope rappels? Would appreciate hearing your thoughts, as I'm contemplating heading up there. I had naively assumed the level of commitment was not too high.

 

Also, do you feel it can be done with fewer screws? We were thinking about bringing 5-6 screws, and hoping to simul-climb through the ice cliff section using a reverso on a screw, in lieu of a belay. Is this a bad idea?

 

Thanks.

Edited May 19, 2004 by Stephen_Ramsey

[CascadeClimber]

Where were you guys relative to this pic:

 

 

??

[obsydian]

On this approach picture, we were further left trying to go around the lower approach route, but ended up joining this direct route about half way up, staying left in the rocks.

 

How do you post those pictures, I have two in the gallery I'd like to get on this page?

Edited May 19, 2004 by obsydian

[CascadeClimber]

Dunno how to post from the gallery. That one is from my site.

 

We passed the ice cliff at the top of the rounded rock heap in 2001. Of course, I was later chided for climbing the "Cheater Route":

 

 

-L

Edited May 19, 2004 by CascadeClimber

[jja]

navigate to the pic you want in the gallery, right click it, properties, then copy out the url of the picture in the properties tab (not the url of the web page you are in).

 

then make your post, click on the image tag in the post page and paste in the url you copied from the pic.

[obsydian]

I'm curious as to why you felt the route was really committing... do you feel it would simply not be possible to retreat from the ice cliff using a V-thread and some double-rope rappels? Would appreciate hearing your thoughts, as I'm contemplating heading up there. I had naively assumed the level of commitment was not too high.

 

 

Also, do you feel it can be done with fewer screws? We were thinking about bringing 5-6 screws, and hoping to simul-climb through the ice cliff section. Is this a bad idea?

 

If someone got hurt, would be a real chore to get them off the cliff, particulary the traverse. Also, the seracs were ominous, several gave way across the valley, we didn't like climbing underneath those. It all comes down to experience, we were under the assumption the commitment wasn't too high, but felt it was certainly at our level of experience. I'm sure some folks can bust right through without a thought, for us, it was a good go but near our limit, wanted others to be aware.

 

As for srews, again, depends on your experience and skills and comfort with exposure. If you do this all the time, I guess hardly any screws are needed, I'm glad I had 9.

[obsydian]

Dunno how to post from the gallery. That one is from my site.

 

We passed the ice cliff at the top of the rounded rock heap in 2001. Of course, I was later chided for climbing the "Cheater Route":

 

 

-L

 

Hmm, this looks easier, we went left and up the nose as described in Nelson's book, looks like this is right, cheater for sure!

[Alex_Mineev]

Good job

 

How long you think this route will be in shape?

 

Yeah, I remember glacier ice on Kautz cliff was not of a very high quality as well. Every first couple hits did not stick at all.

 

How much time did it take you to approach the camp site at 6k?

[obsydian]

Good job

 

How long you think this route will be in shape?

 

How much time did it take you to approach the camp site at 6k?

 

The route should be fine all summer, I hear folks climb in August, the ice might be softer then, but the approach to the base of the climb would have more open crevasses.

 

The approach to camp is pretty short, about 3 or 4 hours.