TR - Colchuck Balanced Rock, W. Face

[lunger]

sweet TR! that is one fine route; sustained fun. When we went last summer, I drew your pitches--similarly enjoyed the surprise slime, and chimney w/ backpack challenges.

 

did you guys fire the 'boulder problem' on the rock perched up top? we had driven from seattle that day, and were feeling crunched for time, but would have been cool to get on top of that thing. I wonder how difficult that move is?

[Dru]

the summit rock move is rated V420

[lunger]

 

wish i'd known it was that easy, sparky.

[daylward]

Naw, we were too busy eating and drinking.

[forrest_m]

For once, I was actually ready to go when Dan pulled into the driveway on Saturday afternoon. I’d been only too glad of the excuse to quit scraping loose paint off the guest room ceiling to clean up and pack. We made good time to Leavenworth, and were sacked out in the parking lot by 10. We got up at 4:30, and were actually moving by 5:30; by 7:20, we had rounded Colchuck Lake, passing by elaborate campsites that smelled enticingly like breakfast. I’d forgotten how spectacular the lake is, glowing turquoise as if illuminated from within. We rounded the lake and hiked a few hundred feet up the Asgaard Pass trail, then cut left across the slope, aiming for the gaps in the slide alder. We managed a pretty efficient route and broke out of the brush to scramble up the gully behind Jaberwocky Tower. At the top, we crossed a small col and dropped 100 feet into a lovely little basin. The west face rises sheer above, and the crux free climbing on the fifth pitch leading up to the huge roof looks quite close. We joked about whether it was foreshortening or just four short pitches. We finished scrambling up the gully of large blocks and sat down to gear up at 9:20.

 

I led off the first pitch, which started with a few difficult moves off a ledge, then a ramble up a narrow ramp to a sandy ledge. The 10+ section was obvious, with a super-clean face rising off the ledge. Rattly off-fingers, the hardest moves were the first 10 feet off the ledge. Because you traverse quite a ways to the ledge, I put long slings on the first two pieces of gear. This was not very confidence inspiring – the pro was great, but I’d still hit the ground. I grunted up to a stance and finally got some ankle-saving gear in, uneasy about the flash-pump I was feeling halfway up the first pitch. Another 15 feet and it eased off; I traversed back left and ran the second pitch together with the first (only possible with our 70 meter rope). The 5.7 second pitch felt burly and sustained for the grade, something that would emerge as a pattern for the day, but I was soon at the spacious and comfortable belay on top of the pedestal.

 

On the third pitch, we were fooled by an old piece of fixed gear; there are two possible ways to “step across” from the pedestal. The correct way is on the (climber’s) right hand side of the tower; we went left, which led to a beautiful, clean 5.8 crack up the face that reminded me of the route Bussonier at J-Tree. Unfortunately, it ended at a loose piton with an RP crack angling rightwards. Dan downclimbed 25 feet, instead, and made a delicate traverse right to the corner, then went straight up about 60 feet to a roof, running it out a long ways to prevent a follower’s nightmare. About now we realized that we were still off route, and that we needed to be in the next corner system rightwards to get up to the base of the big dihedral, so Dan did another delicate traverse out to the arete, but was stopped by rope drag before he could get into the corner; he set up a hanging belay right on the nose. Following with the pack, I was more worried about shock loading Dan’s tiny gear belay, and took tension on both traverses rather than risk a hard pendulum fall. From the belay, I climbed over Dan and set out with the gear I’d cleaned. Still another delicate traverse finally led back into the corner system we should have followed in the first place, and I quickly led up the ledges and slabs towards the corner above. I thought about belaying from lower down at a tree, but the risk of going higher paid off with an excellent flat stance right at the base of the dihedral.

 

The 5.11 corner was my lead as well; the description states that it is straightforward but long and strenuous, so energy conservation was my mantra. The rock was flawless, white granite stained with orange and yellow lichens as if tagged by a particularly ambition urban gang. As promised, the going was reasonable but relentless. The back face of the corner was a constant taunt, since despite increasingly desperate scrutiny, it refused to yield even a single stem. There were good jams, but separated by stretches of narrow crack where laybacking was the only real option. Once past the halfway point, I knew it was a race. At each piece of gear, I’d have a brief argument with myself, “No, I won’t hang yet.” Finally, though, about 20 feet below the anchor, my willpower ran out. My hand emerged from the crack damp with some slime dripping down the back, and that, combined with a glance down at the huge exposure, was the end of my clean ascent. I slapped in a big cam and whimpered “Take!”

 

The belay at the top of the pitch is an intimidating place. Fifteen feet below a mammoth 20 foot roof, it is a small ledge that undercuts a smooth granite bulge, making it impossible to stand without weighting the anchors. You belay with your ass hanging directly over the route, the north side of Mt. Stuart perfectly framed under the granite eyebrow beyond. I dinked around with gear, ending up with basically two complete anchors, and hauled up the packs. The bulge from the anchors to the roof goes at 5.12, but a fixed aider hangs down from the seam at the junction, and it didn’t seriously occur to us to attempt it free. After climbing the ladder, Dan was able to head across by hanging on large pieces placed under the roof. Only the first step was tenuous, and he quickly got the rhythm and disappeared leftwards into the sun, where another 15 feet of free climbing led up to a sloping stance. I followed in the same way, and Dan then headed up the clean 5.9 corner above, like the fifth pitch but with good footholds. It ends in an awkward roof that we also used a few moves of aid to move through to reach a comfortable ledge. The last serious pitch was the 5.8 chimney; the first part, a gap behind a flaring ear, was at my limit with the backpack on. I finally managed to escape to the outside arete, then up a slab above to the base of yet another flaring slot. This one was simply too narrow for me and the pack, so I left it sitting on the ledge tied to one end of my cordalette. I danced a tenuous ballet with the pack on the small ledge; pushed out by the overhang above, it was quite difficult to maneuver the pack off my back (the rack was of course over the pack straps), across my body and onto a stable stance. Once freed of the beast, with all gear transferred to my right side, I was amazed at how easily I was able to wriggle up the chimney. Maybe the pitch is 5.8 after all - without a pack. I had one final crux as I balanced on the arete above and hauled the pack up with the 6 mil cord, then it was off to the races. Above, two easy pitches of blocks and slabs led to the summit.

 

We didn’t spend much time enjoying the view, but started the scramble down. After less than a hundred feet, we were able to change into tennis shoes. We could scree surf most of the slopes down to the basin below the route, then we picked our way more painstakingly down the approach gully. The alder slides and boulderfield seemed much longer than on the way in. We started jogging down the hills, speed walking on the flats. By the end of the trail, we were walking almost blind – good thing for us the rocks sticking up in the trail are white. It’s the roots you have to watch out for. When we stepped out into the parking lot, we estimated that ten more minutes and we would have had to break out the headlamps.

[erik]

forrest you always bring a tear to my eye when i read your fine reports...

cheers on another excellent route..

 

[bobbyperu]

forrest, right on! nice job, thanx for the tr, it was around this time of year last year that lula and i did it and its nice to hear of others scoring on one of the best lines out... i led the dihederal as well, and crazy about that slimy part near the top... but really, that climb brings the exposure, and you cant really top the quality, well thanx again, we were thinking about headin back there soon, sooo much gooods. bp