TrogdortheBurninator Posted August 22, 2005 Share Posted August 22, 2005 Climb: Mt Stuart-Descent of Cascadian Couloir via NR Date of Climb: 8/20/2005 Trip Report: After reading so many posts about the great lengths people go to to try and descend the Cascadian Couloir on Mt Stuart, Wazzumountaineer and I decided to see what it was all about. We decided to approach the couloir via the North Ridge. We timed our departure from the car so that we reached Ingall's lake just as natural light became abundant. Mt Stuart from Ingall's Lake We continued up and down over stuart pass and goat pass until our approach route to the summit of stuart was in sight. View of North Ridge from Goat Pass We crossed the stuart glacier which was icy with steep and exposed portions. Anyone who doesn't bring an ice axe AND crampons on this is far braver than I ever hope to be. Kurt crossing the stuart glacier. I took a slightly higher line. The steep snow/ice matched with low top shoes was not particulary comfortable. Apparently this ridge is a popular approach to the Cascadian, and all I can say is that the climbing, views, position, etc are all spectacular. We reached the gendarme in 2.5 simul pitches and took a break to wait for the party ahead of us to move on. These next pitches are awesome. The first would be a four star single pitch anywhere in the country IMO. The position only makes it that much better. We hauled the relatively light leader's packs while the second carried their pack. Kurt following the first gendarme pitch Kurt leading on the 2nd Gendarme Pitch After that, 2 more simul pitches and one belayed pitch lead us to the summit. Here I enjoyed my hard earned pre-made burrito that I carried up. Unfortuneately, the summit shot did not come out. We began to build up anticipation for our objective, the descent of the cascadian. The first thousand feet of the descent were not too bad as we still felt pretty good at this point. The next thousand feet of first rate scree surfing were also quite a treat. The next thousand feet were surpisingly equally exciting. Amazingly, this sustained descent stayed awesome for the entirety of its 4200 vertical feet. The 1500 foot climb back to Long's pass only served to sweeten this superbly radical descent. At least the views were nice... We made it back to the car just after dark and I decided to drive home while Kurt opted to save his 4+ hour drive till the morning. What an awesome day in the mountains! Gear Notes: 60m 8.6mm half rope single cams green alien to 3.5 camalot, extra hand size DMM (could have easily left 3.5 in the car) 8 medium nuts (BD 4-11) Ice Axe - necessary in morning Crampons - necessary in morning Lowtop hiking shoes - nice in the pack, rough on the glacier/descent Approach Notes: Liquid water at ingall's lake and stuart glacier. Snow patches in approach gully and on cascadian. Trail to stuart pass might be hard to see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshK Posted August 22, 2005 Share Posted August 22, 2005 HAHAH! Awesome! If you want a *real* treat, try the Ulrich's coulior descent. We hoped to go down the Cascadian and also used the NR for our approach. Unfortnately in the fading light (we weren't particularly fast) we went down the wrong coulior... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjwages Posted August 22, 2005 Share Posted August 22, 2005 Scree in fine style. Nice job Trog. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurthicks Posted August 22, 2005 Share Posted August 22, 2005 (edited) Last I checked Stuart is in the Alpine Lakes.... someone want to move it? Thanks Jason for the great day in the hillz! My legs are still feeling the love from the Cascadian. I think a 3.5 is totally overkill for the offwidth, it's easily protected with a 3--if you bump it up once. Edited August 22, 2005 by wazzumountaineer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juan Posted August 22, 2005 Share Posted August 22, 2005 Way to go Kurt and Jason -- gotta love that descent. You guys made great time. Would aluminum crampons be O.K. for that glacier business? I've never crossed it so late on such a low snow year. John Sharp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurthicks Posted August 22, 2005 Share Posted August 22, 2005 Yes, aluminum pons were fine. There is still some seasonal snow on the upper part of the glacier, but ice down low where steel pons would be nice (if you go low like I did). Take an axe or 3rd tool. John, we smoked the Cascadian in less than 3 hours! (the NR in 5:20 and the car-to-car was 17:45) with a fair amount of rest breaks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NYC007 Posted August 22, 2005 Share Posted August 22, 2005 Nice work guys. Cascadian sounds like a blast... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrogdortheBurninator Posted August 23, 2005 Author Share Posted August 23, 2005 Oops, should be in alpine lakes. Got so used to posting in N. Cascades, I didn't pay attention. Soon I will have to try some of the other approaches to the Cascadian. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olyclimber Posted August 23, 2005 Share Posted August 23, 2005 Beautiful descent you guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glm Posted August 29, 2005 Share Posted August 29, 2005 Excellent job and great description. You really capture the grandeur of the Cascadian. Are there any scree surfing action shots to share? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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