pzack Posted July 30, 2004 Share Posted July 30, 2004 Climb: Dragontail -Serpentine Arete Date of Climb: 7/28/2004 Trip Report: This Wednesday, climbed Dragontail Peak in one long day. We were in sneakers, and the snow pushed us West of the standard start up the class 3 ledges. We saw some interesting climbing above us and decided to climb straight up rather than traverse East to the standard start. Looking in the Beckey guide I see that this is one of the lower variations to the West of the standard route. This supplied some fun climbing from 5.5 to maybe 5.7-5.8 with some slabby cracks, a dihedral and a gruntable chimney. We linked up with the standard class 3 ledges just below the 5.7 pitch that takes you to the pillar. The pitches at the pillar are really outstanding. Jerry led the first pitch to the top of the pillar, and then I linked up the second and third pitches. From there, it's 1300' of brutish, power scrambling. We ran a series of endless running belays. We stayed on the ridge as much as possible, until we approached the summit, then we popped out to the ledges on the right, climbed a couple 100 feet, and then got back on the ridge and traversed left around the summit to the S. Route. Times: 2 hours to the lake 1.5 hours to the base of the route .5 hours to eat, relax and gear up 2.5 hours to the base of the pillar 4 hours from the base of the pillar to the summit .5 hours enjoying summit views and eating lunch. 4.5 hours to the car We were passed at the pillar by some guy soloing the route. His partner bailed so he decided to go anyways. He started 3 hours after we did. We saw his tracks heading out towards the enchantments as we headed to Aasgard pass. WR of Prusik? Yep! We saw him hiking up the Icicle on our way out. We picked him up and drove him to mile-8. He seemed bummed, because he was too gassed to RUN back to the Stuart lake trailhead. Gear Notes: Rack to 2 inches. Cams were more useful than chocks on this route. Instep Crampons (didn't use) Ice Axe (very useful on the descent) Approach Notes: You can stay off the snow all the way to the base of the route (except for 20' of flat snow) Lots of bugs from the lake up to 7000' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted July 30, 2004 Share Posted July 30, 2004 Colchuck Gl already looking pretty lean in the background there, and its not even August Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pzack Posted July 30, 2004 Author Share Posted July 30, 2004 Colchuck Gl already looking pretty lean in the background there, and its not even August Yep. Our Back up plan was to climb the NE Buttress on Colchuck (in the unlikely event that there were people in front of us on the route) but I don't think I'd want to descend Colchuck glacier right now in instep crampons. Also, on the dragontail descent there is already a lot of water ice on that mini-glacier off south shoulder. You might need crampons really soon for that too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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