goatboy Posted July 23, 2004 Share Posted July 23, 2004 Climb: Triumph-NE Ridge Date of Climb: 7/22/2004 Trip Report: I am tired. Wednesday, Joe and I hiked up to the nunatak camp on the Triumph Glacier in about 5 hours of uphill fun with some token downhill sections (drop down about 500 feet to get the Thornton Lake, then drop down a few hundred from the little notch to get to the nunatak campsite). Black beans and cheese for dinner, yum. Thursday morning: 5 AM wakeup 6:15 On the glacier heading for the ridge We took grassy ramps from the glacier to the ridge crest, avoiding any of the "hard to protect mid-fifth class climbing" mentioned in Nelson's guide. 7:15 We started off soloing the route, with the intention of roping up if necessary. The Skagit Gneiss on this route was un-believably pleasant to climb on, solid rock with lots of incut edges and handholds right where you need them. What a pleasure to move freely over so much terrain, and feel so secure. The exposure was unrelenting, especially off to the climber's left, the overhanging East Face, which drops straight down to the crevasses far, far below. We ended up at the 5.7 crack, eventually, and roped up for that. I never placed anything bigger than a blue tri-cam, so no #3 camalot needed (all we had was 4 stoppers and 3 tri-cams anyway). Moving through the steep heather at the top was fine, but would be DESPERATE in wet conditions, as the ledges are all sloping down into the exposed East Face. We summitted at 9:50. The descent was straightforward, though rappelling (8 times) and soloing down took longer than the ascent did. 3:30 Packed up camp and slogged all the way back to the car at the trailhead. Note: We used bikes on the 2 miles of flat trail (an old road) out of the parking lot, which I have since learned is illegal -- but it sure did speed things up!!!! I was back home in Mazama by 9:30 PM. Summary: An absolutely extraordinary climb, with spectacular views (of the Pickets, Mt Baker, Eldorado, and on and on) and incredibly aesthetic rock to climb on. The approach is longer and harder than it appears to be, and I could have happily made this a 3 day trip rather than a "climb it and de-proach" the same day. Having said that, I'm glad we did it in a two-day push. I am so glad I made the effort to get up there and climb it. Gear Notes: Crampons useful for glacier. Ice ax for a few steep sections 1 60 M rope adequate to descend NE Ridge. Very light rack Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lambone Posted July 23, 2004 Share Posted July 23, 2004 nice TR Goatboy! that's next on my list, sounds like I'll want a dry weekend! pics? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klenke Posted July 23, 2004 Share Posted July 23, 2004 Any snow whales on the ridge itself? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goatboy Posted July 23, 2004 Author Share Posted July 23, 2004 Lambone, I shot 100 slides, but alas, no digital. Will try to scan some slides once they get developed. klenke, I was HOPING to see some snow on the ridge (as pictured in Nelson's guidebook) but it was long since gone. There is a lovely bivy site on the ridge about 1 pitch up, but it would be dumb to stay there this time of year (no snow for water). It would be glorious if you were more of a man than me, and willing to carry all your gear up there. Have a blast! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timcb Posted July 24, 2004 Share Posted July 24, 2004 Any snow whales on the ridge itself? Thanks. No snow at all on the ridge as of last weekend Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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