peas Posted August 16, 2004 Share Posted August 16, 2004 I went to do what may have been the South Face of Ashlu this weekend, but I have my doubts. We started at what looked like the start from the McLane guidebook, and climbed the logical line up features somewhat similar to what the guidebook describes, but it didn't quite mesh, and we did far fewer pitches than what the guidebook describes. Two other parties were on the route that day and took the same line as we did and had their doubts too. Does anyone else have any first hand experience with this route and what's described in the guidebook? Also, if you're looking for info, the rock is somewhat loose in sections, but is reasonable if you don't have anyone ahead of you. The rock is pretty compact, so thin pins may be useful, although we (and the parties ahead of us) made it through without placing any pins. The lake is beautiful and offers a great place to bivy and swim (no need to head up onto the ridge). The blueberries and huckleberries are great up there right now. The road is driveable, but there are quite a few cross ditches in the last few km. The bridge over Shortcut creek is not out, but is sketchy. Many of the support beams have cracked/been obliterated. There were tire tracks beyond Shortcut creek, so some brave/stupid souls have been through recently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dru Posted August 16, 2004 Share Posted August 16, 2004 10 pitches on first ascent = usually climbed in 5 or 6 pitches today. there is a recent TR from Dr Hook here: http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/threadz/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/369071/page/2/view/collapsed/sb/5/o/all/fpart/1 If you climbed more or less where the line in the guidebook photo goes you were on route. otherwise there are 2routes to the right of the Serl/McNab, 5.10+ and 5.11 put up by Craig McGee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peas Posted August 16, 2004 Author Share Posted August 16, 2004 Thanks, that TR looks about right. Guess I should have dug around a bit more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don_Serl Posted August 17, 2004 Share Posted August 17, 2004 If you climbed more or less where the line in the guidebook photo goes you were on route. otherwise there are 2routes to the right of the Serl/McNab, 5.10+ and 5.11 put up by Craig McGee earlier, Craig also climbed a line further left, in and near the flaw-zone that you exit through. this line is very loose, which is the reason he shit on the quality of the rock on our original route in his note in the FA book at MEC. he discovered the error later, and "took back" the comments to me personally, altho i guess that doesn't change the public perception. the rock lower down is pretty broken (biggish flakes, as shown in 2 of the photos in the other thread); on the upper part of the main face, before the leftward traverse, it's superb (see page 144 of Alpine Select). i'd fully agree that the route-line is undefined. there are many flake-systems - if you're between the black streak to the right and the loose zone to the left and not trying to pull huge overhangs, you're probably doin' fine... as for the length, i don't like to carry much weight, so i typically travel with a pretty skimpy rack, and belay whenever gear runs short. i don't recall the pitches being especially short, but i guess they must have been. apologies for misleading... cheers, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmace Posted August 17, 2004 Share Posted August 17, 2004 How long from the road did it take you to reach the face? Which side of the river did you go up, did you start across the broken bridge or go up before the broken bridge? 2 parties ahead of you, wow, the place is getting busy!! J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peas Posted August 17, 2004 Author Share Posted August 17, 2004 I didn't really keep track of how long it took from the road to the lake. We left the car at around 7pm and got to the lake at dark. We crossed the bridge and went up the north side of the Shortcut Creek until we hit the creek running out of Rugged Lake. From there we hiked up the near side of that creek in the old forest for a while until it looked easier on the other side of the creek (it opens up). From then on we stuck to that side of the creek up to the lake and it was quite easy. There was flagging on the south side of Shortcut Creek, but there didn't seem to be much of a trail and we doubted that we'd be able to cross the creek when we wanted to since it's quite big at full flow. We left the lake at around 6am and were roped up and climbing by 8:45am. We didn't quite follow the approach in alpine select. We headed straight for the toe of the glacier and then directly up to the route. On the way back down we stuck more to the route described in the guide, which was probably a better option. The two parties ahead of us were together, and may have been guided, but I'm not sure. They generally took the same approach to the lake as us, but they stayed high away from Shortcut Creek and stayed on one side of the creek out of Rugged Lake all the way up to the lake. They said it was ok. They stayed high as described in the guide on the approach to the climb as well. We started climbing perhaps a little to the left of where the description says, mostly so that we could avoid rockfall from the party above and to make a more direct route to the ramp. The climbing was about 5.7 and looked the same to the right. The start required a bit of a jump over the shrund. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmace Posted August 17, 2004 Share Posted August 17, 2004 left car at 7 arived at dark, so 2- 3 hours to lake approx. Then left lake at 6 and were climbing by 8:45, couple of hours from lake to base. so about 4-5 hour approach, seems like thats about right. I think the guide qoutes about an hour from rugged lake to the base of the face which appears to be alittle bit fast for the youngins with the big racks!! Cool to see this route getting done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peas Posted August 17, 2004 Author Share Posted August 17, 2004 Yeah, we brought a big rack, so we're probably a little slower than the old farts. The other 2 parties passed our bivy spot at around 5am, and their two seconds were on the ground when we arrived at the face, so the approach could take a little longer too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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