Graybeard, N Face

[Colin]

Soloed the North Face of Graybeard today. The log crossing is easy, and obvious to find. There is a bootpack to the base of the face. I descended to the NE, and hiked around the E side of the peak, rather than descend via Easy Pass, which Nelson reccomends. I'm not certain, but I think that my descent route was significantly faster, and I would reccomend it (if you need more details, e-mail me).

 

I had to leave some pins and 60m of 6mm rope!

I self-belayed at one point, but the rope snagged when I tried to retrieve it

 

Overall, a fun route and a good snag by the Skoog brothers. However, unless we get quite a cold snap I think that this was the last weekend to do it.

[bobbyperu]

right, on! was there much ice?

[pope]

quote:

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Originally posted by Colin:

I had to leave some pins and 60m of 6mm rope!

I self-belayed at one point, but the rope snagged when I tried to retrieve it

 

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I'm thinking you'll be leaving equipment on every climb you do from now on just in case somebody decides to question your integrity.

[Colin]

There was a good deal of ice, it just wasn't all very good. The ice was rotten in places, but atleast it seemed to get better whenever you really needed it to. Like the Skoogs, I didn't take the directissima finish, but still had to deal with cornices a little bit.

 

Hehe, I sure hope not, Pope.

[Colin]

Oh yeah, I also think that the Skoog's gave it a very modest rating. You will be very unpleasantly suprised if you only expect ice up to 65 degrees. There were a couple bulges to 80/85 degrees, and several at 70 degrees. The mixed step was quite hard, and the face has a good deal of vertical elevation gain.

 

If Triple Couloirs is given a seriousness rating of III/IV, then I think Graybeard is definitely IV.

[DPS]

Damn it, I knew I should have taken you up on your offer to climb. Nice work! I am guessing that your's is the first solo ascent of the route.

[allthumbs]

Damn, Colin. It looks like you're rapidly heading to fame and a big name. One of the next super-stars of climbing?? Sweet!

[Colin]

Unfortunately, it was quite warm for ice climbing. I climbed as fast as I could and was fine, but by the time I had descended and hiked around to below the face, lots of stuff was falling down. While I was climbing, I think that the temperature was around 33 degrees.

 

On a side note:

I've been using my Cobra's all winter, but yesterday used my straight-shafted Shrikes. Both of my wrists are quite sore today, and I am wondering if it is because of the lack of the lower bend in the shaft. Has this happened to any of you?

[mikeadam]

Yes, the straight shafted tools increase the pronation in your wrists when you swing.

[Juan]

Colin:

 

I seriously doubt you climbed this in a day, and I want pictures.

 

Just kiddin', bud. Great job. What's next?

 

John

[Cpt.Caveman]

Colin what's next ?

 

Northwest Passage in Squish? Never been repeated !heheh

[Lowell_Skoog]

Congratulations. Glad you had a safe trip.

 

I remember being relieved when I heard my brothers had climbed that face successfully. I always thought it looked insecure and their description didn't dispell the notion. My brother Gordy was the driver behind that climb, although a number of people had their eyes on it.

 

Was this the second ascent? I haven't heard of others, but I'm not all that well connected to the grapevine.

[Colin]

Cavey,

 

I don't think so, I'm a weenie sketched-out rock climber.

 

Lowell,

 

I was wondering that myself. Nelson writes, "The record snow year of 1998-99 created perfect conditions: sufficient snow cover, but with most of the loose stuff sluffed off." I'm not sure if this means that someone climbed it and reported good conditions, or if it was merely speculation.

[layton]

What were the temps when you did it?