Sleeper Routes

[curtveld]

Plenty’s been said and written about the classics. Anyone care to offer up some unheralded Cascade routes that gave more value than expected. Just to get the ball rolling:

 

White Chuck – NE ridge: Varied climbing (lots of 3rd class, a glacier crossing and a bit of steep 5th class), solid rock and good access (via USFS #2436) make this a relatively painless alpine outing. Not a beginner’s route as protection is spotty.

 

Robinson Mtn. – North or “Crusoe” Couloir: An aesthetic couloir on the quiet side of a big mountain. Probably best in spring or early summer.

[wayne]

Illumination Rock has the best mixed climbing I have done in usa

[ivan]

reid headwall on hood - most sexcellent on hood for the short approach and eerie ice-world-gone-mad-goodness. a wild fun solo.

[dberdinka]

North Rib of Slesse is incredible.

 

I second the NE Ridge of White Chuck.

 

The Houston-Cosley Route on the N Face of Colfax Peak has to be one of the more reliable water-ice routes around and has easy access to boot. It should be mobbed.

[Off_White]

The 1971 Gerber-Sink route on N. Face Dragontail is really fun, and you have a number of finishes to choose from. I'm thinking the Backbone Fin completion will be the way I go next time.

 

Also on Dragontail, the NE Buttress doesn't see much attention. Be forewarned that much of the information in the guidebook is flat out wrong. Good adventure to be had with likely no one else on that side of the peak.

 

East Buttress on Thunder Peak is good, and probably hasn't seen an ascent since Lowell Skoog did the FA. I did the lower portion a couple years before that, but we bailed after the second segment, fearing choss above. Faint hearts n'er win the prize, and Lowell assured me the upper part was just fine. Decent climbing, good rock, remote location. Guidebook is useless, but I recollect a decent account in the AAJ.

 

There's also Stellar Eclipse on the Whine Spire on Silver Star, still awaiting a second ascent lo these last 14 years.

[mattp]

Darin - have you been up Mt. Pugh? That looks like a very worthy neighbor of Whitechuck.

[mtn_mouse]

If you are in the Olympics, remote Mt. Meany is fun and worth the bit of work to get up it.

[MCash]

The East Face of Corteo is pretty dang fun for a class 3+ route. The rock is good after the traverse. Might be a good April climb, I think it averages around 55 to 60 degrees.

[tyree]

I will second the N rib of Slesse. It deserves to be a classic!

[curtveld]

have you been up Mt. Pugh?

Pugh has a very airy trail to the top – built back in the 20’s to access the fire lookout. Haven’t heard of any technical routes, but it does appear to have potential.

[Dru]

No one really thinks of the Chilliwack Valley as a destination for alpine snow and ice routes, but the Priest/Coupe on Rexford, and the north couloirs on the Pleiades, seem like good climbs. I haven't climbed them myself though so I can't proclaim them to be sleeper classics or chestbeat about being the only cascadeclimber to have done them. They might suck. Getting to the start of the Pleiades routes would certainly be a major thrash unless Red Mountain Mine Trail has been freshly brushed out (last pruned in 1999 that I know of)

[EWolfe]

I slept on the 4th pitch of Liberty Crack - does that count?

[tomtom]

Not if you're belaying.

[Canyoneer]

super easy but Guye Peak has nice views of the peaks surrounding snoqualmie pass

[StreetBoss]

have you been up Mt. Pugh?

Pugh has a very airy trail to the top – built back in the 20’s to access the fire lookout. Haven’t heard of any technical routes, but it does appear to have potential.

Mt Pugh is a fun winter route.

 

One of the unhearlded routes - Traverse Denny Mountain to Chair Peak. Good cracker!

[curtveld]

That Dragontail North Face route looks intriguing, Off-white. Looks like it follows a small rib, which would keep it pretty safe from rockfall, yes? Is there much 5th class climbing prior to the Fin?

[Off_White]

It involves some ledgy wandering on solid rock, it's been a long time since I've been on it, so I don't recall just how much is 5th, I think it's a number of bits scattered all along the route. I do remember a tidy little chimney about halfway up to the fin. There's nothing as individually stellar as say the finger crack on Serpentine, but nothing as ho-hum as the long choss slog higher on that route. It's actually a perfect sleeper, moderate, solid, accessible, enjoyable, and not in fashion. Oh, and long enough that you'll know you've been out for a day.

[curtveld]

Sounds pretty cool, but now that the word's out, I might have to have to take a spot in line once I get there. But I kind of doubt it.

[Off_White]

Doubt it, that route has been mentioned before, but it just doesn't have the cachet to become a line-up. As on any of those Dragontail routes, I wouldn't really want to have a party above me.

[eric8]

how about climbing Chablis and the south face of Pernod in the winespires.

 

Edited November 11, 2005 by eric8

[shapp]

anything by D. Tower and C. Greyell