Sinister, N. Face ice?

[Courtenay]

Hey all,

 

Anyone have beta on the 4 pitches of ice on the N. Face of Sinister? Planning on a combo Dome/Sinister climb and interested in conditions.

[Mike_Collins]

Do you specifically want to climb Sinister the hard way? Stefan lead a group of which I was a member up Sinister in July. There is a writeup in WTA.com for both Sinister and Dome. There is essentially a walkup route from the south.

[mattp]

Mike -

He asked about the ice conditions. I bet he wants to climb the N. Face because it is one of very few climbs that may offer actual ice climbing in Washington and it has an attractive picture in the guidebook. In other words: yes, he probably DOES want to go that way rather than the non-technical route on the other side.

[Courtenay]

Thanks, Forrest_m--

 

and yes, we DO want to attempt the N. Face/ice climb, in conjunction with Dome, up the Chickamin Glacier, rather than the walk-up route. We'll be sure to take several pickets as well as ice screws given that we don't have a current trip report to go on. I'll check the Dome/Gunsight reports. Thanks!

[forrest_m]

Courtenay – We were in there over fourth of july, so obviously I have no idea about currrent conditions, but we spent some time studying the route and it looks to be very straightforward routefinding. You get plenty of time to study the face while descending from the Dome/Chickamin col. A few thoughts: 1) you should be prepared for it to be a hard snow climb of the same length and angle instead of an ice climb. We did the N. Face of Buckner (about the same elevation) in October a few years ago and were only able to place one ice screw into solid ice, everything else was kind of slushy. If all you have are ice screws, then you may not be able to protect much of the route; on the other hand it may be all solid ice and you can sew it up. No way to tell without going there, but just a thought. 2) be prepared to spend a fair amount of time getting down the upper chickamin glacier, it’s not really extreme, but it is steepish and broken up and since you are descending it without benefit of a view from below, it can be tricky to figure out how to avoid the holes 3) there were several trip reports around the end of june/start of july (look for Dome & Gunsight) dealing with the huge avalanche debris/tree blowdowns that took out a good portion of the trail below itswoot peak, maybe worth looking up. 4) nelson suggests camping up basically on the summit of dome peak. These are really spectacular, but if the weather looks sketchy or you feel lazy, you can also camp down on the Dome Glacier, about 40 minutes before the dome-chickimin col. Doesn’t add too much to the morning before the climb, and it’s that much less far that you have to carry your big pack. 5) check out the huge natural arch/window on the west ridge of dome peak (right above you as you approach the D-C col) wow!

 

Have a great time, it’s a neat area.