[TR] Mount Constance- West Arete 9/26/2004

[mvs]

Climb: Mount Constance-West Arete

 

Date of Climb: 9/26/2004

 

Trip Report:

Three of us biked up from the washout on the Dosewallips Road Saturday early afternoon, then made the steep hike up to Lake Constance. Hung out and skipped rocks until dark, then started hiking up to Crystal Pass at 6:30 am. Made the pass at 8:15. I foolishly tried to climb a steep scree cone to reach the pass rather than walking in the basin another 200 yards to an easier way up. It's really wierd to place your foot and cause rocks to move 30 feet above you!

 

One long simul-climbing pitch (200 meters?) led up gullies and short faces right of the crest to the base of an imposing wall. A 20-foot ramp led up and right, then we went straight up then left to a belay ledge with a chimney (50 meters, 5.6). Another 100 meters of simul-climbing led up and slightly left to a low-angle slope and the ridge crest (5.5). Great views all around!

 

Walking and scrambling led to the summit ridge crest, then a short descent (100 feet) met the normal route where it traversed across the east side of cliffs. We dropped gear and hiked to the summit. Seattle was under a cloud sea, but it was warm and windless on the summit.

 

The descent was long but scenic in the upper regions. The "Finger Traverse" was fun, a few moves of exposed 4th class. A few hundred feet of primo scree skiing, then a few thousand feet of scree slogging. We were back at camp before 4 pm, and out to the cars at 6:30.

 

This was a fun climb, pictures don't seem to do it justice. They look all dirty and scree-filled, which is kinda true, but then again the rock is pretty solid (for a typical mountain), sometimes steep and exposed. Constance in general is impressive for it's steep walls and bubbly-looking rock.

 

Warrior looks like a great climb. It was great to see this area, new to the three of us. Thanks to RobertM and Steve Nesland!

 

 

 

Gear Notes:

Used: 1 50 meter rope, rock shoes, medium rack.

 

Didn't need (and didn't bring): ice ax and crampons.

 

Shoulda had: extra set of knees.

 

 

Approach Notes:

The road seemed more like 5 miles of riding (much fun going down!). Hiking in the stream to the lake (for a brief period), it is icily slick.

[klenke]

Thanks, Michael. That's the route I'll probably do when I commit to Constance, so I appreciate the report.

[snclimber]

Hey, MVS, thanks much for putting up a TR. That was a great adventure. Thanks to you and RobertM for a heckuva lot of fun. Mountain bikes are definitely the way to go until the Dosewallips River road is repaired. My pictures also don't seem to do the mountain justice. I have some good pictures of the peak above the lake and of the lake itself, but I think it is probably tough to get good pictures of Mt Constance itself since it is not visible from the lake and on this route you can't see the summit until you are fairly close.

 

For anyone planning to climb the route, the steep wall 2/3 of the way up is interesting. You get a good view of it as you start traversing a couple of hundred feet of flat ridgeline. From the first place you see this wall it looks improbable for the grade, appearing nearly vertical for about 250 feet. We spent some time at that first viewpoint trying to determine the route. None of our theories were correct. The wall turned out not to be nearly as steep as it appeared and the route is pretty obvious from right at the base of the wall.

 

I highly recommend this route over the standard route. The vast majority of the elevation gain on the standard route is on scree and talus of various sizes. Would be very tedious unless covered by snow, but then the narrow ridges you have to traverse could be interesting. (But maybe that's just my aching knees talking.)

[AJScott]

The Constance Range is a special place, that route sounds like a great way up the mountain. I too enjoyed the finger traverse, its a pretty wild position. Constance was my first solo climb, and it left a very memorable impression on me. Thanks for the tr, might find me up there next year!

[wayne]

The things in Kearny Classics for a good reason, but its a fairly serious route despite its easy

rating.

Good to see people getting after it.

I and especially my knees, really enjoyed it with snow !around

[dlofgren]

Good on ya.

 

Scree is also a major memory of my trips up Constance. Swimming, floating, sinking, sweating are words that come to mind.

 

Nevertheless, the terrain and the views are impressive.

 

Thanks for the TR.

[mvs]

Thanks for the response guys! Here are some pics:

 

Looking down on the steep wall:

 

Easy terrain leading to the summit ridge:

 

A typical view of Avalance Canyon on the ridge:

 

Ah, but there is a price :

 

Hope to get back in there soon!

[bremerton_john]

Cool pics. I'm looking forward to spicing that description up for the guidebook, and your assistance on that is most appreciated. Wayne, you and David tackled this one a while back, didn't you? Perhaps you guys could review a new write-up for the route sometime in the near future. There are a couple others I know who have done it, including some in the committee, though it's been a few years since they've done it and the details are fuzzy.

 

-John

[David_Parker]

John, I'm happy to review any new description for the W. Arret for the new guidebook.

 

For those people considering Mt. Constance and might be put off by all the reports of scree.....Constance (and most other Olympic climbs) are best done when there is more snow! You can cut times in those areas in 1/2 when you are going up or down snow rather than scree and it's a lot more "fun". Avalanche Canyon bottom is easy filled with snow, sucks when it's all boulders and scree. I soloed Constance in 9.5 hrs once with good snow conditions and I'm a nobody! Think May to July.

[mvs]

good thinkin' David...

[bremerton_john]

Speaking of scree, we had plenty of it this past weekend up in Royal Basin. I'm going to post a TR when I get my pictures - Fred Meyer's scanner was busted yesterday.