J BURG.......NE Butt.....beta?

[highclimb]

anyone done this route lately? any good/bad beta

thanks

Aidna

[mattp]

Aidan -

I think its a great route and this would in my opinion not be a bad time to do it. For some prior discussion on this board, check the following:

For a trip report from August, 2001, with a variety of other general commentary:

http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/ubb/Forum2/HTML/000187.html

A few more general comments:

http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/ubb/Forum2/HTML/000187.html

And another:

http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/ubb/Forum2/HTML/000099.html

In this last thread, Wotan suggests considering a descent to the west. Many years ago at this time, I descended to the south, an option that I would NOT recommend, but which got me to the ground without any icy snow and without any rappel.

 

[Jens]

Climb any of the NE face routes instead.

Why the NE butress seems to be so popular in the last several years or so is beyond me-- NE butt has lots of brush, trees, running water etc. Even if you were to climb on or near the NE butt in winter I would imagine that all the big trees would cut way down on the commitment. You could make a bonfire on top of some tin foil and make a shelter, and if you got scared, just start rappin' off big trees.

NE face routes are steeper, cleaner, and devoid of vegetation.

As for descents, I have come down the south face, the east ridge, and part of the west side. The east ridge is the best although right now some of the moats in the Johannesberg/Cascade couloir are prtetty wide. I once started descending to the West but found the rock to be even worse than the stuff around the summit.

J-Berg is an odd mountain. It can let you have quick and easy passage or it can scare the shit out you and throw epic at you big time.

[DPS]

Jens,

You are right about NE Buttress of J Berg in winter, the trees make for nice rap anchors. That said, we did quite a few raps off of bollards and V threads when we descended the route. Reminded me of a big version (and slightly harder) of Synchronicity in Lillooet.