gapertimmy Posted June 17, 2004 Share Posted June 17, 2004 Climb: Middle Sister-North Ridge Date of Climb: 6/16/2004 Trip Report: What would you do if you had a million dollars? "Two chicks at once" The checklist was complete - high pressure - beyatchin corn - okay from special lady friend - car shuttle It was time to get on two of the sisters in one day, two chicks at once, what more could a dude ask for? Pole Creek TH at 3:30am was a magical place. As I stepped out of the truck i was greeted to a dark sky littered with stars and the sounds of the coyotes howling in the pre-dawn darkness... the wild dogs felt the stoke, they were telling me the day was going to be good. It amazes me how trails transform under night... a trail that i have traveled many times before was suddenly a new place, with different sites, and sounds... i was in a trance until daybreak at timberline: The alpenglow was amazing, and the pink mountains pushed the needle to the top of the stoke-o-meter... i was making good time, and really thought I was actually gonna get to ski a shizzy load of corn! The magic continues when i arrived at the hayden moraine, and discovered cc.com's own 'boonecounty' slumbering away in his bivvy. After some quick chat i continued on towards the north ridge of middle sister. The snow on the hayden was beautiful... perfectly laid in, optimally setup from a few days of freeze/thaw... stoke continues to get higher as i drop in the iPod tunes, and rock up to the saddle. I arrived at the base of the north ridge just prior to 7am, just about the same time the winds started to kick up. Still riding high on the stoke, i took a break and waited for the winds to let up a bit... but after about 15 minutes i got impatient and started up the north ridge. There was a nice boot pack going up so i strapped the skis on the pack and moved up higher thinking "well maybe it isn't as windy higher up the ridge". After getting blown over a couple of times i decided to put on the 'pons and get 'serious' about this endeavor ... moving higher up the ridge, the gusts continued, and the sustained winds had me crawling on hands/knees/pon points up the north ridge.... around this time, just shy of 10k, i was full on humping the ridge, watching chunks of rime whizz by my head, i realized that this was kind of sucking.. the stoke was wearing off, and i didn't want to become a gaper kite anymore. waiting for the winds to calm down so i ducked behind a rock outcrop and waited some more. time was passed by throwing chunks of rhime ice above the ridge, and watching the winds cary it 100+ yards through the air before dumping it down onto the renfrew glacier. I love times like this in the mountains where i really just don't give a shit about anything else in the world... i know i'm not going to be uber core and do my big trip, but i'm having fun throwing chunks of ice into the wind. after fahking around on the ridge for 2 hours, i decided to just call it a day and go ski the hayden, cuz it did look really tasty. the turns were fantastic from top to bottom... even the dirty snow down low made for some fun corn turns. brokentops north side looking sick got back to the car around 12:30, not a single regret in my head, only a smile on my face. The 'sisters' are primo right now, wax your boards and go get it. Snow level on the west side approach was solid snow above 6300', plenty of love above! Gear Notes: kite Approach Notes: lots of gapers on trail during hike out, favorite comment was a lady who asked "Did you ski up there?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winter Posted June 17, 2004 Share Posted June 17, 2004 :envy: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan_Harris Posted June 17, 2004 Share Posted June 17, 2004 Must get back up to the Cascades!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bdog Posted June 18, 2004 Share Posted June 18, 2004 Nice TR Tim. Was out on the South about a week and a half ago. Chased home by thunder storms. No pics, ughhh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tobytortorelli Posted June 18, 2004 Share Posted June 18, 2004 Nice report and pics. My wife and I summited Middle Sas the first week of June, and from the saddle up, (the north ridge),it was really firm and wind blown, while the Hayden and Prouty Point were perfect corn. I think it would be one or the other as far as that goes, but decending the South face of North sister, and onto the Hayden could be perfect all the way down.....If anyone cares. Beautious sun ra-ise Timmy. Here is a sun set from Pilot Butte one night.(attachment)Oh, it's too big file size. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gapertimmy Posted June 18, 2004 Author Share Posted June 18, 2004 south face of n sister was already pretty burnt out, but last i was up there it looked damn good! i still think SE ridge on middle is one of the best descents in the sisters! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlag Posted June 18, 2004 Share Posted June 18, 2004 Good to see your still CORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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