[TR] That Real Big Fucker in Oregon- Cooper Spur 4/24/2005

[ivan]

Climb: That Real Big Fucker in Oregon-Cooper Spur

 

Date of Climb: 4/24/2005

 

Trip Report:

jlag and i were suffering from a nasty case of SAD (severe alpine deficiency) lately, and even as the weather forecast appeared to blow goats we saddled ourselves with the obligation to go get stormed on somewhere. hood seemed a much shorter drive then anywhere else for hanging out in the rain and snow, so we met at the tilly jane trailhead at saturday at noon - he driving from the desert through the monsoon rains, me along the aquous track from vancouver. appropriately for such a quixotic mission (forecast for rain and clouds all weekend) we both arrived independently in a gibbering, incoherent, thc-inspired narco-frenzy. we did a final pack in the weeping skies, paid yet another homage to bob marley, and set off up the trail.

 

little traffic on the t.j trail, 'cept a few fat families and an even fatter weiner dog (or daschund as at least 5 americans insist on calling them). some folks appeared to in the lodges near t-line. rain continued to the bottom of the elliot moraine, where it began to clear. the rest of the day was amazing - no more rain, breaking clouds, the summit began to appear infrequently. we pushed all the way up to 9k and set up camp. by this time the summit was entirely clear and the winds were calm. wild views of jefferson embattled w/ thick lenticulars streaming east, dyed a deep golden yellow in the late day sun. some food, a few laughs, and off to sleep, though it was hard in my super light-weight bag to stay toasty, and the bright beams of the full moon illuminating the tent and the ocean of clouds just below us outside.

 

overslept sunday - never heard the alarm go off. managed to start climbing by 645 in changing weather - winds on the summit and occasional wisps of clouds became stronger winds, blowing light snow, and complete whiteout an hour later. the footing became more solid at least by 10k, and having climbed the route once before i was able to make out the best way up in the soup. topping out was comical - all of sudden it was flat, but visually nothing looked any different. we chilled at the summit for a few minutes, did some screeching, then headed back down even as we saw 3 ghostly images emerging from the south side.

 

the descent was more enjoyable. walking face-first felt fucking eerie - w/ no perspective on the all-white slope i felt constantly like i was on the verge of tumbling over head-first down into the void and down onto the elliot. at one point we diverged from our earlier tracks to avoid a very icy/rocky patch w/ a lot of exposure, but now in the soup i began to feel ill-at-ease - my brain refused to accept the lack of visual data and began to envision the most inspired hallucinations - the occasional small rock 5 feet away looked like a massive cliff 100 yards off, were we too far right? or shit, did we accidentally cross our erased track and are we on the verge of tumbling down the coconut cookie-crumble? in the end, relying on my altimeter worked like a charm. continued downhill to 9k, then began traversing at the altitude until we stumbled exactly onto the tent (a most excellent shade of white, i might add).

 

the rest of the day was an amazing homage to gonzo-mountaineers everywhere; total reduction to a primitive, paranoid personality - a human trail-eating machine fueled by little more than smoke and mp3s. the clouds broke around timberline but then we were back in the rain - didn't encounter a soul till we hit the cars.

 

fantastic weekend, everything i wanted it to be. not a vaunted route, no doubt, but given the many, many reasons for not even leaving the house, the car, or the tent, it was a distinct mental victory to have nailed it w/o incident. this was my first climb w/ jlag (yet another cc'fuck'n'josh!) and our moral limitations make for a distinct, productive team chemistry (pun accidentally intended).

 

no pictures. if you feel you need one, open powerpoint, make a new slide, change the background to white, hit play, then press your eyeball right up to the screen.

 

Gear Notes:

we both soloed the route. in lieu of rope, harnesses, and pickets we just brought a second tool. if you fail to bring an axe and crampons 'cuz i didn't mention needing them you probably deserve to die.

 

Approach Notes:

the first half of the tj trail is snow-free, the next mile is quite icy. near t-line the snow is deep and soft but a good boot track is in. the elliot moraine is almost entirely bare. the upper spur is deep, but snowshoes made it a breeze.

Edited April 25, 2005 by ivan

[robert]

I heard your summit scream. I was with a group of 5 hunkered down about 50 feet below the summit on the south route. Too bad you over slept; the night was perfect. We never needed our headlamps because the moon was so bright. Good job on the climb. I too felt like it was going to be a futile effort, but the weather cleared just long enough.

[b-rock]

Nice TR.

[jlag]

Well put my NBA 1st-round draft pick center/climbing partner. With the weather forecast I feel pretty lucky to be able to climb that thing. Yeah, the visability basically sucked but still a great route. Thanks Ivan for getting us down without taking the Elliot slide. All in all an excellent adventure, the hike out was fucking comical. Trying to keep up with a 6'7" madman rocking out in the rain. Nukified.

[fifthclass]

Did one of you lost a tent pole on TJ trail Sunday? We found one around 3:00 p.m. Sunday close to the trailhead and left it propped against a sign next to the parking area.

[layton]

"if you fail to bring an axe and crampons 'cuz i didn't mention needing them you probably deserve to die."

 

can we still deserve to die if we did bring em?

[ivan]

"if you fail to bring an axe and crampons 'cuz i didn't mention needing them you probably deserve to die."

 

can we still deserve to die if we did bring em?

of course, there are many paths to mecca....

[OlegV]

Great job Eric and Josh! Did you take a good look at the NF? As you well put it, I am also at the terminal stage of SAD and would climb this sucker as long as there is some ice left.

[ivan]

the north face definitly is still in business, and looks a good deal easier now than in prime fall-conditions. the 'schrund lower down looks passable in 2 spots, and the upper mountain is very well covered in snow. i'd be damn certain the avy conditiosn are good and the weather's not too warm before getting in those tight gullies!

 

also, there's an amazing ice flow currently formed on the cooper spur, well before the upper floes like coconut slurpee, etc. looks like 2-3 pitches of awesome ice.