[TR] Stuart- Stuart Glacier Coulir 5/1/2005

[DPS]

Climb: Stuart-Stuart Glacier Coulir

 

Date of Climb: 5/1/2005

 

Trip Report:

After a flurry of emails last week, Juan, Wazzumountaineer, Heinrich and myself planned to climb the Stuart Glacier Couloir this weekend. Saturday morning Heinrich, Juan and I met at the Bellevue park and ride to carpool to the trail head where we were to meet Wazzumountaineer. On the way to Leavenworth we passed a PT Cruiser club with their freak flags a flying. We imagined what the conversations would be like at the coventions: "I had this baby up to 60!"

 

We met at the trailhead and hiked to our camp below the Sherpa Glacier. The camp was deluxe with running water and boulders we could lounge on. The evening's entertainment consisted of watching a pair of climbers descend the Sherpa Glacier. The pair came through our camp where one got water and the other patiently answered our questions. They had climbed the Stuart Glacier Couloir that day and shared some beta with us.

 

We went to bed under cloudy skies and awoke at 3:00 am to a beautiful, clear sky. By 4:00 we were leaving camp. We followed a great set of tracks put in by the climbers the day before which speeded our ascent greatly.

 

In a couple of hours we were roping up below the couloir which looked fantastic. Wazzumountaineer and I climbed as a pair and Juan and Heinrich climbed as a pair. A collegiate atmosphere prevailed as we shared anchors and protection. The couloir was mostly 50 degree snow with one step of 70 degree ice that protected nicely with screws. From the west ridge notch we climbed snowy rock in our crampons for 5-6 pitches. The climbing was always interesting, but never too hard. Wazzumountaineer and I swung leads and I in turned enjoyed following and leading. The last pitch was my lead and what I remember as a casual solo in running shoes was very interesting in crampons with iced up cracks. I resorted to pulling on a fixed pin to get through a tough spot. Juan and Heinrich took an alternate route to the summit and by noon we were all on the summit.

 

We descended the Sherpa Glacier. Juan and Heinrich downclimbed at a fantastic speed leaving Wazzumountaineer and I to methodically plod on. Soon enough we were packing camp and hiking out to a well deserved meal at Gustav's. Thanks to everyone for a fantastic trip!

 

Gear Notes:

2 srews, bugaboo pitons (3), 6 nuts, camalots .75-2.0.

 

Approach Notes:

Snow

[kurthicks]

Twas a good time indeed. My boots didn't fit very well, but at least I got to wear them all day. There's a good bootpack up there now, no snowshoes necessary. Oh, the NW face looked fat with continuous ice/snow.

 

if anyone goes up and finds an ATC at the west ridge notch, it's mine.

[gyselinck]

Post some stinkin' pictures!

 

We were the two you talked to, I was the water boy, had only drunk a liter all day cause I had forgotton my other bottel and was thristy. Nice going guys.

[DPS]

We thanked you guys continuously for the great tracks. You must have worked hard to put them in. Good job!

[MCash]

Nice climbing you guys! Sounds like good West Rib training to me.

[Stephen_Ramsey]

Nice.

[Juan]

My thoughts on this great climb:

 

(1) The steps put in by Gyselinck and Rasta Climber Dude really helped speed things up, but we weren't clear on where they went on the rock climbing portion based on what they told us;

 

(2) The route is in perfect shape now, and should be for several more weeks I would guess;

 

(3) The way that Jason (Heinrich) and I took for the first of the two summit block pitches was an ugly grunt, but at least we made up for it by scratching frantically up the final short crack pitch. Only Kurt made it look pretty with crampons;

 

(4) I may be old, but at least I never stop complaining about it;

 

(5) Please shoot me if I ever join the PT Cruisuer Club of Washington. Remember: Cruiser rhymes with loser.

 

Cheers, all.

 

John Sharp

Edited May 2, 2005 by Juan

[barjor]

For anyone considering membership here is a link

 

http://www.washingtonareacruisers.com/

[Juan]

Too funny. I think all of men driving the cars we passed were wearing bad hair pieces. Go figure.

[Chad_A]

Very nice; I was wondering what John and Dan were up to these days! I might go up there and check things out myself; it's been a year, and I miss the area.

 

As for the Cruisers, well, just remember, they're people that couldn't build a *real* custom rod; they had to buy some piece of shite wannabe that underneath, is nothing more than a Dodge Neon

 

 

Anyway, congrats on the climb, glad you all had a good time, and thanks for the beta.

---Chad---

[mvs]

Great climb guys - do post some kinda pics!

[JasonG]

Thanks for writing this up Dan, and thanks to everyone for taking a gamble on a stranger. It was a fun trip with great company! In the spirit of the weekend, I want to let everyone know that "I may not climb hard, but at least I'm a member of the Mountaineers."

 

And Juan- Cruiser also rhymes with boozer . . .Maybe there's a place for cc.comers after all.

 

Cheers-Jason

[Juan]

Jason:

 

You are right about the rhyme. Maybe a PT Cruiser is not so bad after all!

 

John

[RJB]

I made the summit at 11:10. There where two pairs of climbers just comming up. Might have been you guys?

 

It was a real nice day except for the clouds that blew in for the last 500 feet. The summit was clear by the time I hit the bottom.

[DPS]

That was us.

[RJB]

Right on! Good to hear you guys made it down safe. Sorry I'm bad remembering names. One of you had a "clif" bar helmet sticker and the other took our picture. <--Thanks!

[kurthicks]

yep, I took your picture. Did they turn out okay?

[RJB]

Not sure. I'm waiting for the pics from Gary. I guess I should have handed you my camera too. I'm kind of shy and didn't want to bother you guys. Plus we were past our turn arund time (11:00) and came up with a larger group. Of the eight only three of us made it to the top. We flew back down the mountain hoping to make up time, but passed our group on the way down. Finally everyone made it back and we broke camp and headed for long pass. Alot of post holeing on the way out. We got everyone back to the trailhead around 9:00pm. It made for a long day

[goatboy]

RJB,

 

Did you come up the Cascadian? What were conditions like on it?

[RJB]

yes, I went up the Cascadian. Conditions were not that bad. the snow was pretty soft though even at 4am and made slow going. Was able to glissade down the variation about 2500'. From the north side of Long pass to

the the base of the couloir was the worst part of the trip. Deep snow in the trees and post holing all the way. Would recomend skis or snowshoes for that approach. I'll attach a pic taken near the start of the climb.

Edited May 5, 2005 by RJB

[layton]

Way to get it done Robert! Good luck on the other objectives!!!