[TR] Uto, Sir Donald, and Young's- S.W. Ridge, N.W. Ridge, and N.W. Face 7/24/2004

[Juan]

Climb: Uto, Sir Donald, and Young's-S.W. Ridge, N.W. Ridge, and N.W. Face

 

Date of Climb: 7/24/2004

 

Trip Report:

My longtime great friend and climbing partner, Brad "Alex" Platt of Boulder, CO, and I climbed Uto S.W. Ridge, Sir Donald N.W. Ridge, and Young's Peak N.W. Face on July 24, 25, and 26, 2004, respectively. This is an annual (almost) trip for us -- our sixth in nine years. In 1996, our first year, we dubbed it the "Tour of the Ancients." We have since shortened it to simply "The Tour," and renamed ourselves "Team W.A.R.T.," an acronym for the "Wannabe Alpine Racing Team." The ever-so-versatile "W," however, can also be used to mean "weary," "whimpy," "whipped," "wasted," "woozy," etc. It's a perfect fit for us. At 41, we are getting on in years, but we are not so sure we are ancient. Yet.

 

In the past, we have toured the E. Ridge of Forbidden and Sahale Quien Sabe, Lone Eagle Peak, Crestone Needle, Rainier, and Fury. This year, in the face of the predicted N.W. heat wave during our chosen weekend, we blew off the Pickets (the stated objective being Mt. Terror's N. Face) and headed north.

 

Boy, are we smart.

 

Parks Canada has really got things figured out. Once at Roger's Pass, everything from acquiring the needed park passes to discussing the new rappel route on Sir Donald was handled with the precision of a Swiss watch. And the red-headed girl who helped with the process kept us going all tour. We dubbed her "Red Hot."

 

The Roger's Pass campgrounds are pristine, and the cafe at the hotel serves a mean burger. All in all, Roger's Pass makes a great basecamp for these Selkirk routes.

 

Uto (PD 5.1) is a fun warm up for the classic Sir Donald, but for the fact that you have to stare at Sir Donald and wonder how you will ever get down alive. After schlepping our gear from the car to a point below the Uto-Cir Donald Col, Uto itself took us 1:45 from the col to the top and about same to get back down to the col. Good bivi sites are available below the W. Face of Sir Donald (provided no more rock slides come down -- we didn't have any). A rock "food kivi" is recommended as the area hosts aggressive rodents.

 

Sir Donald itself, our second objective, is amazing. The N.W. Ridge (D- 5.4), made famous by Roper and Steck in the 50 Classic Climbs in N.A., is everything you'd expect. Kind of like the upper N. Ridge of Stuart but with a greater ability to psyche one out due to the unrelenting exposure. The rock is superb, the holds plentiful, and the raps are well designed. Sir Donald took us 4:30 to the top from the col, and 5:20 from the top down to camp. After climbing Sir Donald, we took more Advil, whiskey, and tobacco, and hiked back down to the road, armed with a recommendation to climb Young's Peak from a guy named Lee.

 

We inhaled double burgers and beers at the hotel cafeteria, headed for the campground, nabbed the last available campsite right next to the outhouse, stole kindling from the ranger's fire circle, and finished our whiskey fireside. The Tour was in full swing, and we slept like logs.

 

With an alpine start of 8:30 a.m., we spent climbing day three (Monday) hiking up Young's Peak (F 40 degrees). Young's reminded me of Chiwawa's Lyman Glacier. Fun and easy with killer views from the top. Hanging out at the Asulkan Hut on the way down was blissful. Only Red Hot and beer could have improved the situation.

 

We then headed back to Seattle, with a night spent at a groovy hostel ("Some Sun") in Revelstoke, where a spider chewed on my arms and feet. You get what you pay for.

 

All in all, this was a fabulous five-day road trip for a pair of old marrieds with kids, seeking to once again feel the bliss of true freedom that only comes with a flexible schedule. We highly recommend this outing to anyone looking for great moderate routes in British Columbia.

 

Gear Notes:

Rock rack including nuts to 1" and cams to Camelot #2 and eight over-the-shoulder slings (could have used four more to extend simul-climb leads). Ice axe and aluminum crampons for Young's.

 

Approach Notes:

See Selkirks South by David P. Jones

Edited July 30, 2004 by Juan

[dbb]

sounds like a fun time

[iain]

Gotta love Roger's Pass. The vertical relief is amazing! I still can't believe they squeezed a road through there.

[Freeman]

[quote

discussing the new rappel route on Sir Donald

 

When we did Sir Donald last year the new rap stations were a little difficult to locate. Has that been improved? We felt they would be almost impossible to find in a storm or dark when you might really need them.

 

btw - it took us 19 hrs car to car - and I'm 59. I might be old but I make up for it by being slow.

[Juan]

Freeman: Were you with Craig Mckibben when you went up there? 19 hrs. car-to-car is quite respectable. We were 10.5 camp-to-camp, and had we hiked in and out the same day, the total would have been about 15. Most parties we saw on Sunday left the car at about 4:00 a.m. carrying almost no weight.

 

Regarding the rap anchors, the rangers encourage people to walk down the S. side to the big ledge system that then wraps around the W. face, as you know. There would then be a fair amount of downclimbing and raps to the start of the W. face rappel, which consists of six rappels. Below that is 3rd/4th class terrain to the slope above the bivis.

 

None of the five parties who climbed Sunday did the S. side/W. face ledge thing. We all downclimbed the ridge and/or rapped to the yellow tape. We made six raps to that point, three of which were from bolted anchors put in by Jordi the Ranger two years ago. They are pretty easy to see when it is still light out. From the yellow tape, we made the six raps down to the lower slabs.

 

I think if you stay on the ridge, it would be quite possible to find the raps in inclement weather. Doing it in the dark would be tough and maybe terrifying. The whole experience would be really scary if you were on top and the skies broke loose. More so than many other peaks. It is the most intimidating III 5.4 we have been on, but we are pussies.

 

John

[Freeman]

John, no I was with a friend who lives in Revelstoke and had the local knowledge of the new rap line. We debated doing it in two days and adding Uto, but our weather window opened for one so we went for it. Pretty hard on an old man's knees...

 

Downclimbed the upper ridge for a while until a little notch - then went straight down the face for 5 or 6 30 meter raps. There was one other party with us and we felt it faster for the first person to rap with the second rope and start rigging the next one while everyone else rapped and pulled - the stations were just 30 meters apart. They were great but very hard to see - no webbing or color and several times the first person had to swing back and forth until he found the anchor. We were going to suggest that the bolts be painted or some color added somehow. From the last rap we had a couple hundred feet of loose ledges and snow back to the trail.

 

Great climb - moderate but exposed on really great rock. I had wanted that one for many years and it was great to get up it finally.

 

When we got back to Revelstoke it started raining and that evening my friend passed a kidney stone so our decision to do it in a day was the right one.

[jmace]

"We were going to suggest that the bolts be painted or some color added somehow"

 

I think you need to re-think your backcountry ethics, its called leave no trace not spray paint the rock bright red so you know how to get down, its only 5.4 and the natural anchors were fine when I dit it.

[jordop]

"We were going to suggest that the bolts be painted or some color added somehow"

 

I think you need to re-think your backcountry ethics, its called leave no trace not spray paint the rock bright red so you know how to get down, its only 5.4 and the natural anchors were fine when I dit it.

[mvs]

Awesome trip John!