[TR] North Early Winter Spire- NW Corner 7/9/2005

[Alpine_Dreamer]

Climb: North Early Winter Spire-NW Corner

 

Date of Climb: 7/9/2005

 

Trip Report:

WARNING!! WARNING!! Long-winded, gumby TR with no pictures (partner had camera) ahead! Continue at your own risk!! (I'll add pictures later if/when I get them).

 

Dan and I had planned for a weekend of climbing on the beautiful granite of WA pass. Because I’d actually planned in advance for this trip, the weather forecast began to look bleak as the weekend approached – 20-50% chance of measurable showers . But I had a signed permission slip, so I couldn’t let reason get in my way.

 

Since the weather didn’t sound promising, we opted for a slacker start from Seattle. As we drove, the scattered clouds along I-5 turned to constant drizzle around Newhalem. Ugh! But the rain shadow effect finally kicked in about 10 miles before WA Pass, so it was dry and partly cloudy when we finally pulled into the Blue Lake trailhead a bit before 11. Right on!

 

For day 1 we decided to go for the NW Corner of N. Early Winter Spire. A couple years earlier, after my first multi-pitch climb (N. Face of Concord), I watched climbers on the route and dreamed (nightmared?) of climbing the 80’ off-width crack that runs up to and under a huge roof. Dan was appalled by the big wall/aid-style rack I assembled for the climb, so we pared it down a bit. I begged to bring 3 large (3-4”) pieces and, sick of my whining, Dan agreed.

 

The approach was a piece of cake (even lugging boat anchors), and the view of the spires is amazing. We saw a large guided group starting up the Liberty Bell – Beckey route, some folks on SEWS, but no one on NEWS. Sweet.

 

I drew the first pitch, a nice meandering warm-up. Good thing, cause my fingers were freakin’ cold. Between the wind and overcast, it was a lot cooler than we’d expected. The third pitch was when the fun began. I thrutched up a short, but very wide and questionably protected off-width, followed by nice cracks, then an exceptional exposed (but with good pro) undercling/lieback flake traverse, finishing with cracks to a small belay ledge at the base of the off-width to roof pitch. This pitch made the climb for me!

 

Dan groveled up the fourth pitch. I think he was glad to have brought the big gear. It was secure climbing (just shove a foot, calf, or knee in to rest), but upward progress was slow. Dan couldn’t find a good belay under the roof, and it was a bit wet there anyway, so he continued around the roof until he ran out of gear. He wasn’t thrilled with his anchor, but lacking quality went for quantity – lots of marginal nuts. I chose not to look at it.

 

The fifth pitch, which goes over a small “roof”, was short but fun. Dan finished up the route w/ the long moderate jog to the summit.

 

One rope was fine for the descent. There’s a lot of loose rock, so keeping the raps to <30m probably helps dislodge less anyhow. The giant chockstone rap made for some great glamour shots. I'll bring a boa next time . . .

 

In hindsight I was bummed that we hadn’t rushed up to start climbing sooner; we almost had enough time for another quick moderate route, but opted to head for beers in the car instead.

 

We had ambitious (for me) plans of attempting the E. Buttress of SEWS on Sunday, but on the hike out we got a weather update from a Mountain Madness guide – 70% chance of rain. We drove down to Lone Fir Campground to consider our options. The E. Buttress would be a long day for us, and getting caught on the route in rain seemed like epic-o-rama.

 

So instead we opted for more beers, sleeping in, and a recon of Mazama climbing. I’d brought a topo of a long bolted route on Goat Wall (Sisyphus), but we ended up bungling the approach and climbing a fun 4-pitch route (Methow Buttress). We got a bit of rain, but it was warm and the views from the wall were beautiful. The wine spires and WA Pass were completely socked in, so we were definitely glad we’d bailed on the E. Buttress. We finished up w/ a quick trip to the nearby Fun Rock area. It was nothing spectacular (a bit chossy for my taste), but a great place to try if you’re rained off the Pass. Dan then met his family for a few more days of camping, and I hit Hwy 20 for the ride home.

 

 

Gear Notes:

Our gear list for NW Corner:

-1 60m rope

-1 set of nuts

-Lots of cams: doubles from tips to 4”

-Cordelette (didn’t use – rescue/bail material) and webolette (used but could do without)

-4 draws, 8 single runners and 1 double

 

 

Approach Notes:

Easy, lots of goat guano.

[goatboy]

is "Methow Buttress" the same as the Methow Inspiration Route?

[Alpine_Dreamer]

is "Methow Buttress" the same as the Methow Inspiration Route?

 

Not sure - we thought we were racking up to start Sisyphus when a couple very nice locals (Rick and Missy) showed up and said the route was "Methow Buttress" and rated .9 or so. Doh! It started on a buttress w/ a old dead snag and a live somewhat large pine. We later found the start of Sisyphus, and the route we did was maybe 300-500 yards to the lookers right.

[goatboy]

Yeah, sounds like the Methow Inspiration Route to me . . . . Thanks for the report, nice job on NEWS. I think the undercling/flake pitch is the real crux of the route -- the wide crack pitch looks a lot harder than it turns out to be...