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[TR] Dragontail Peak- Serpentine Arete 7/27/2005


Juan

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Climb: Dragontail Peak-Serpentine Arete

 

Date of Climb: 7/27/2005

 

Trip Report:

Kevin from Bellingham (Quazimoto) and I were rained out of Buckner last Friday, and had one day to make good this week. A very recent TR on Buckner caused us to look for something with more climbing and less walking. Buckner's N. Face looks a bit past its prime this year, though I am sure it is a great route. Neither of us had done Serpentine, so we decided to give it a go as a day climb. I'm out of practice on rock and 17 years his senior, so I made Kevin promise to lead the crux pitches. He led them, with style. I killed the 3rd and 4th class, as always, and cheated through a few mid-fifth class moves for good measure.

 

We left the parking lot at 6:15 a.m. and topped out at 3:15. We spent an hour on top (15 minutes of which was spent futzing around looking for the quickest way off the peak), and arrived back at the car at 8:00 p.m. On the second crux pitch, we caught, and later passed, one other pair that slept at the lake and left their bivi at 6:00. They were kind to let us pass.

 

Nothing special to report except that: (1) TeleRoss and Sky are really fast and must run a lot or use jet packs (see their Complete NR of Stuart Report); and (2) you don't need crampons to get to, or off of, the Serpentine Arete for the rest of the year. Beyond that, it is a super fun route by any measure, and I am sick of almost falling asleep while driving home after a long day in the hills. Fucking dangerous.

 

 

 

Gear Notes:

Std. rack of cams and nuts to 3";

50 meter rope;

Ice axe optional for snow on descent;

Helmet (for sure); and

Bug Spray recommended.

 

Approach Notes:

Trail to Colchuck Lake

Edited by Juan
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Hey lawgoddess: Say "hi" to Jeff Minzel (your boss, right?) for me.

 

Re: the long drive home -- we stopped for a bit too -- Kevin was snoring in the fetal position and I dozed for about 30 minutes. Not enough, but better than nothing.

 

Re: crampons: Even on the snow descent from the big saddle, it was just plunge stepping. We had axes out, but it wasn't slippery and it's not very steep.

 

G'nick: Did you do the balanced rock route???

 

John

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John was absolutely right about no 'poons or ax. Thanks for the word, bird.

 

Sweet climb, especially the pitch in the awesome right-facing dihedral with fingers, hands, and then chickenheads everywhere.

 

We had serious home-driving issues, too. F'n dangerous no doubt.

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So how was the routefinding? Any tips/major problem areas? gonna do this in mid-august.

 

obviously would rather drop the weight of ice axes (esp as we'll be in enchantments basin 4 days so we'll have plenty to carry) the back side gets plenty soft by afternoon so that we won't need em? but there's enuf snow that we can stash a couple of cold pbrs on our way down in the morning? sweeet!

 

Thanks,

 

JimmyO

 

ps will we f'ing die if we wear cotton but have helmets? just wondering...

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Dont take an axe. If you cant go down the glacier safely because it it icy (which does happen later in the year), you can continue along the ridge and descend from the notch next to Little Annapurnna. It adds a mile or so to the hike, but it is not that bad.

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