NE ridge of triumph

[JoshK]

I'd like to get some educated guesses from people who have climbed this route before. What nature is the "construction" of the NE ridge. Does it tend to melt out quickly? It's not a terribly high peak so I'm wondering if it's climbable on mostly rock now. It also looks like most of the climbing is pretty low grade, so I'm assuming snow, if it was there, would not be a huge obstacle.

 

thanks,

josh

[Alpinfox]

You're right. It is pretty low angle and in most spots I don't think snow would be a big deal. There are a couple of 5.6 spots, but they are steeper and will melt/dry out faster than the rest. I climbed it much later season than this, so I don't really know what it will be like now. Pretty area

 

If you go up there, please take a knife and bring home some ratty rap slings. The anchors up there are some of the worst I've seen anywhere. I carried out about 10 old slings!

[Off_White]

If you go up there, please take a knife and bring home some ratty rap slings. The anchors up there are some of the worst I've seen anywhere. I carried out about 10 old slings!

 

That would be an excellent service! Yeah, those anchors are rats nests built by the "I'll just add another sling" mindset.

 

Josh, I'm pretty sure the route hasn't been skied yet if that's what you have in mind.

[Skeezix]

The ridge should be melted out. Snow on the approach should be an advantage. If you get up there, check out the overhanging S face. Major pucker factor!

[JoshK]

Josh, I'm pretty sure the route hasn't been skied yet if that's what you have in mind.

 

 

 

Now *that* would be some sort of descent!

[Lowell_Skoog]

The more difficult pitches are on the north side of the crest. They might be wet or snowy. My recommendation would be to go a bit later in the season. It's probably doable though.

[klenke]

Like Lowell said, most of the difficult stuff is on the north side of the NE Ridge. The easier stuff down low is on the crest or maybe left of it. At this time of year I am almost certain you'll encounter snow on the north side of the ridge. It's not that it would be impossible, just that you will be using your ice axe more. The steepest pitches are probably snowfree but there is other intermediate terrain that will be holding snow. I've seen a picture where someone is climbing past a big snow block on the crest. An old cornice maybe?

 

All in all, I'd wait to do this climb later in the summer when you can enjoy the aesthetics of doing it with rock shoes as a rock climb where you will not be encumbered by snow whales on ledges, etc.

[Sol]

I'd also recommend going later as well. we climbed it in early august last year, and it seemed to be a good time for the ascent. we were able to traverse below the glacier on dirty slabs that actually went much quicker than working your way through the receding glacier. but honestly I wouldn't really recommend the route at all. way too much easy, dirty, bushy climbing for the super-manky rap anchors your going to use to descend. I don't know, there's lots of routes that I would climb more than once but the NE ridge is not one of them. what about that central pillar on the N face??? i'm sure it's not in shape yet, but what a line.

[Mike]

Most of the route follows the crest and would probably go fine - much easy terrain. But the route we took for the last pitch started from a gully slightly below the crest on the north side; heather benches above would hold melting snow, so you'd probably get to climb it wet and there wasn't much gear. But everybody (me included in early August) does it later in the season, so where's the challenge in that? It will probably still have great approach conditions and be more fun in another six weeks.

[JoshK]

Cool, thanks for the advice, all. It's one of those climbs that looks cool mainly for the setting and views. Obviously I would agree there are certainly better looking and more challenging alpine rock climbs out there...

[johndavidjr]

I did it in mid-aug. 2001 & obviously have no info or knowledge relevant to current snow conditions. But I think it really rates highly among the dozen+ climbs I've done in N. Cascades.

[Off_White]

If you're not a one day ascent speed demon obsessive, I highly recommend the bivy on the ridge about a pitch and a half up. Spacious and scenic.

[Redoubt]

Cool, thanks for the advice, all. It's one of those climbs that looks cool mainly for the setting and views. Obviously I would agree there are certainly better looking and more challenging alpine rock climbs out there...

I'd say you've got it exactly right. But because of the setting, if you like alpine bivies, spending a night on the ledge Off_White mentions really elevates the climb's appeal. Highly recommended.

[mvs]

Off White is right, that bivy looking at the Southern Pickets was a favorite experience last summer. Go before the handy fin of snow melts for maximum luxury.