TR: Sloan Peak

[Drew_Jones]

Climbed Sloan this weekend. Had to pick our way through a HUGE avalanche debris field. Stay on the left edge of it and you'll come out ok. Bugs were horrible so be prepared.

Glacier is crevassed but the route is clear and doable. Class 3 and 4 scramble to the summit.

Let me know if anyone needs more beta.

 

Drew

[Norman_Clyde]

Overnight or single day? Corkscrew or another route? Which way did you approach?

[lunger]

Not sure which approach Drew took, but can provide info. based on a Corkscrew-esque day-trip Thursday before last. (Don't read the below if you want to avoid approach beta.)

 

We took the Bedal Creek approach, some minor brush to navigate on the trail. Much of the brush we encountered could be avoided by sticking closer to the creek shortly after the trail turns from SE to more Easterly at approx. 3800-4000'. The goal from here is to make the basin to the SE, and hence straightforward vertical dirt to the first of two saddles (vs. our left-ish detour alongside a red herring drainage).

 

Climb in or alongside the creekbed until you tie into a trail (ultimately on the right side, NOT left) that gets you to the basin (some friendly bugs here, and a huge boulder to practice on), then up to the saddle from there. We took a tread on the left side that ended up depositing us a little below the Sloan/Bedal saddle before we could see our mistake--easily remedied by a talus traverse, but an undesirable detour nonetheless.

 

Punch through a little brush on that first saddle, clear sailing from there to the second and a view of the snow/rock route. Using this approach, you'll take the lower shelf (as shown in Beckey) to a steep bit which gets you to the upper shelf. If conditions are wet, the initial moves of this steep bit will likely be the crux (otherwise 3rd or 4th class). The moat from the glacier to the lower shelf was navigable then, no telling now--but an end run around to the upper shelf could maybe go. A rope might be nice as insurance for any problems on the glacier or descent.

 

Generally sound scrambling on the upper mountain, spectacular views, excellent route on a massive mountain. Have fun!

[Drew_Jones]

Norman,

 

We approached via the Sloan Creek Trail 65 as described in Selected Climbs II. Camped at the trailhead Friday night. Left at 5:30AM Staurday and followed the trail through portions of the debris field. Lunger probably planned on ending up further right on the upper ridge than we did. That being so, he is correct in sending you right of the field. We were hoping to find the same spot we bivvied in last year on a weathered-out attempt. This was the Northeast side. We left for the summit at 1:30PM.

 

Lunger, I'm quite sure you took a different glacier route, or conditions have changed drastically . If we weren't roped up I may not be here to write about it. I had to arrest a fall by my partner just above a large crevasse. It was a little sketchy traversing above those long crevasses. I didn't see any moats to speak of though. I'm all for pushing limits, but I would have felt better with a third person on our team.

We were on the Corkscrew route, which is aptly named, winding around and around the summit block, with the scramble to the top. Very fun!

Arrived back at basecamp before it began to get dark.

The descent on Sunday was the most strenuous part of the trip, climbing over and under trees, all the while getting eaten by bugs.

Stop in Granite Falls for and

 

Drew

[Drew_Jones]

Hey Lunger,

 

You and I are both Wankers, so what the hell are we doing giving out route beta??

[lunger]

Drew, the exalted moniker of Wanker is reserved for those souls who dare to post pertinent info. rather than chime in randomly and blather on like splaylords (spaylords?) , chronic bumblies , etc. (i recognize the irony of this paragraph--prob. on my way to HC lover .)

 

back to the matter:

Yes, our route differed substantially from yours, as we approached the mountain from the West and then South, while you came from the North. (So my approach beta above is specifically for those taking Bedal.) As a result, we didn't encounter (though we did view from the summit) the impressive crevasses you did, but did have to negotiate a moat to the lower shelf and somewhat steeper scrambling than that found higher on the Corkscrew proper. Given your avi debris challenges, a Bedal Creek approach might be indicated for others considering this scenic trip.

[Dru]

you guys are gonna be wankin forever you need 50 posts to be a hc lover...

[lunger]

you just made my point, sprayload. i'm a lover not a wanker--now one post closer. just missed the appropriate time for this post.

[Dru]

are you from Old Skool or Nu Skool

[lunger]

olde school imp. lessons in ethics

nu skool, style

school of hard knocks -- humility

[Drew_Jones]

You're right Lunger, Bedal sounds like the way to go.

Thanks for the pertinent info

 

Drew