jdog Posted September 3, 2002 Share Posted September 3, 2002 saturday and sunday this weekend tried the full north ridge of stuart. we ended up descending after we reached the notch for the standard nr route as we had had enough of the wind, rain, and all around crap weather. tr: the weather was great all day saturday. had no problems reaching the base of the north ridge. there were a few sketchy spots below the stuart glacier where it was calving, but we managed to get through without crampons. if you are planning on doing the entire ridge i would recommend not taking crampons as they are not necessary since you can traverse below the glacier. took us about 5.5 hours to reach the base from the parking lot. started up the route about 3 pm. planned on getting as far as possible. we wanted to do the eastside variation, but i don't think we were on route for the first couple of pitches. nothing looked familiar with respect to the beckey guide. the first hard pitch seemed alot harder than a 5.7 layback. actually was a layback with a overhanging bulge. ended up setting a belay off a fixed piton. i hauled my backpack through this section and it was a bitch. i don't ever recall the squeeze slot unless this first pitch was it. didn't seem right though. i think we were too far to the east. i think we ended up back on route a pitch later after a long righthand traverse. from here we had 2-3 good mid fifth class pitches. passed a couple of fixed cams so i am assuming this was on route. ended up bivying where the west side variation ties in with the east side. cool bivy spot. not the most comfortable but great exposure. i have to say that the ice cliff glacier is the most active glacier i have ever heard. it was calving all day and night and it made for some wild noise. watched the weather move in all night. in the morning we decided to keep going up as we were still below the fog. first pitch was nice lead and after that it was scrambling with short sections of 5th class. took a leader fall on a #4 tcu due to wet lichen and rock. scary crap with the exposure. tried to follow gullies whenever possible, but had to do some leading in between and these were sketchy due to the wet rock. visibility was low due to the fog and this complicated route finding as we could not see very far. made it to the notch at about 11 am. took a little break out of the wind and then started the descent. wind was ripping up the notch. pretty straight forward down the gully and the wind let up the lower you got. after that it was just a long slog back to the car. the glacier crossing was pretty easy, but i was glad i had crampons and a small tool. would have been alot dicier without. the wind was strong on all exposed ridges for entire descent all the way down to ingalls pass. all in all it was a great route. i wish the weather would have held and we could have finished the whole ridge. but good learning experience none the less. if anyone has any pictures of the 5.7 layback or 5.8 squeeze slot i would be interested in seeing them to see if they look familiar at all. seems to be alot of variations on the start of the ridge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Off_White Posted September 3, 2002 Share Posted September 3, 2002 From my miserable forced bivy on Dragontail it sure looked worse over on Stuart. I figured someone must be on the N Ridge and would have a story to tell. Sounds like you were on the route I recall: First pitch involves a 5.9ish lieback on a 2" crack, up and over a bulge to a corner, then up the corner and traverse right (around the prow of a butttress maybe?), then more climbing up and right across some grooves, and easing some after that. I've been up there twice (first time was in the rain with Mtn Boots, bailed from the notch like you did) and everyone involved concluded that the Beckey info just didn't reflect what we encountered. Still and all, the line makes sense once you throw yourself into it. Pulling yourself out of a grim situation is so much more educational than just skating through in the sun, good job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fleblebleb Posted September 4, 2002 Share Posted September 4, 2002 If it's a 2" crack, why a lieback? Wouldn't jamming be much less strenuous and safer while fiddling with pro? I'm just asking out of ignorance, not to be a smartass or anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr.radon Posted September 4, 2002 Share Posted September 4, 2002 quote: I hauled my backpack through this section and it was a bitch. A bitch for WHO??? I was with jdog. Now get this. From below we can both see the over hang and HE decides to take off his pack for the lead. No problem. Well the pack does this: (pack stuck in overhanging crack) Well now I have a pack too. I have to follow, jam the left hand, lean over and push the friggin pack over the bulge all the time wondering how jdog is keeping me on belay while he hauls his damn pack up. I was pumped on the first pitch. To his credit he didn't stick me again and led all the really hard pitches, esp. the wet ones. good times jdog, next time we do it all the way. [ 09-03-2002, 10:36 PM: Message edited by: mr.radon ] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russ Posted September 4, 2002 Share Posted September 4, 2002 quote: Originally posted by jdog: the first hard pitch seemed alot harder than a 5.7 layback. actually was a layback with a overhanging bulge. ended up setting a belay off a fixed piton. i hauled my backpack through this section and it was a bitch. i don't ever recall the squeeze slot unless this first pitch was it. didn't seem right though. i think we were too far to the east. I've got a jpeg of the first pitch (which shows the 5.7 layback with tie off bush and entering the 5.8 slot), but I don't have a website to link to. If anyone is interested I would e-mail the jpeg and someone could put up a link. Russ (rschwartz45@attbi.com) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cpt.Caveman Posted September 4, 2002 Share Posted September 4, 2002 Double or twin ropes work great in these situations as Dru and I found on Slesse this weekend. Follower just gets annoyed by pack and pushes it where necessary when climbing. Not fun but easy enough. Follower just unties from a rope and secures it to pack. [ 09-03-2002, 10:54 PM: Message edited by: Cpt.Caveman ] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdog Posted September 4, 2002 Author Share Posted September 4, 2002 fleblebleb my explanation for lie backing that crack is that i am a hack crack climber and did not feel comfortable jamming through the bulge. i found it much easier just to commit to the move as a layback. yeah it is pretty difficult to set pro in a lieback, but i knew once i got over the bulge i was money. the steepness eased off immediately and there was plenty of good pro. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dru Posted September 4, 2002 Share Posted September 4, 2002 quote: Originally posted by russ: quote:Originally posted by jdog: the first hard pitch seemed alot harder than a 5.7 layback. actually was a layback with a overhanging bulge. ended up setting a belay off a fixed piton. i hauled my backpack through this section and it was a bitch. i don't ever recall the squeeze slot unless this first pitch was it. didn't seem right though. i think we were too far to the east. I've got a jpeg of the first pitch (which shows the 5.7 layback with tie off bush and entering the 5.8 slot), but I don't have a website to link to. If anyone is interested I would e-mail the jpeg and someone could put up a link. Russ (rschwartz45@attbi.com) use the uploadable photo album on this site! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dru Posted September 4, 2002 Share Posted September 4, 2002 quote: Originally posted by Cpt.Caveman: Double or twin ropes work great in these situations as Dru and I found on Slesse this weekend. Follower just gets annoyed by pack and pushes it where necessary when climbing. Not fun but easy enough. Follower just unties from a rope and secures it to pack. its better when the pitch is not a horizontal traverse... if i led that pitch again i would not z-clip my 3rd piece and then, without drag, climb with the pack on...net time savings of 1/2 hour or more... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chucK Posted September 4, 2002 Share Posted September 4, 2002 quote: Originally posted by mr.radon: (pack stuck in overhanging crack) That crack looks sweet! That big pack does not! quote: I've got a jpeg of the first pitch (which shows the 5.7 layback with tie off bush and entering the 5.8 slot), but I don't have a website to link to. If anyone is interested I would e-mail the jpeg and someone could put up a link. Russ (rschwartz45@attbi.com) You should have webspace with an attbi account. Check it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Off_White Posted September 4, 2002 Share Posted September 4, 2002 The picture says it all: if you wanted to straight in jam it, you'd have an overhanging hand crack. If you layback it, its a simple undercling to lieback with a solid piece of pro right there. Also, the first time I was there, the old mountain boots just wouldn't jam all that well in the crack, though they might have been great if we found the reputed 4" crack. Russ, yes, the people want to see, pictures are good! [ 09-04-2002, 10:32 AM: Message edited by: Off White ] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fleblebleb Posted September 4, 2002 Share Posted September 4, 2002 That's a great picture, and a great answer to my question. I can see why you'd rather simply lieback it - bomber pro just below and a short step with really good hands *and* feet. Pack looks like misery though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cpt.Caveman Posted September 4, 2002 Share Posted September 4, 2002 I would lie back right off the cams Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dru Posted September 4, 2002 Share Posted September 4, 2002 Take that Pulsar off the pack and drytool up No leashes though, leashes are aid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russ Posted September 5, 2002 Share Posted September 5, 2002 ok, I created a basic website with a couple of photos of stuart - let's see if it works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russ Posted September 5, 2002 Share Posted September 5, 2002 guess I'm to web illiterate to figure it out. mr. radon offered to post the photo, so I sent a couple to him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenfork Posted September 5, 2002 Share Posted September 5, 2002 Try this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr.radon Posted September 5, 2002 Share Posted September 5, 2002 quote: Originally posted by Cpt.Caveman: I would lie back right off the cams To tell the truth, after the third push I hung off the cam. I had removed it but replaced it higher up to allow me lean over further. The damn pack weighed a ton. (two 6-packs w/ dry ice) On another note: Weather report I heard before leaving was way off, sunny till Monday; WTF. The dozens of small lenticulars I saw from my bivy that Sat evening didn't harbor good news. We didn't' bring any rain gear and were thoroughly wet and cold by the time we got to the Notch. The PNW sucks when it schools you like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr.radon Posted September 7, 2002 Share Posted September 7, 2002 For russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bug Posted September 8, 2002 Share Posted September 8, 2002 Lieback? Jam? Why not stem? It's like going up stairs. Effortless 5.7. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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