[TR] Graybeard- North Face [attempt] 5/6/2006

[dbconlin]

Climb: Graybeard-North Face [attempt]

 

Date of Climb: 5/6/2006

 

Trip Report:

Tyler Thirloway and I started up the north face of Graybeard on Saturday early in the morning. After the first pitch of ice (kind of an approach pitch below the face proper), we abandoned the climb due to warm temperatures and falling rocks and ice. The overnight low at our camp below the face had been a balmy 34 deg F and it was looking like a sunny and warm day. With rock- and ice-fall pelting us already by 5:30 am, we decided it would be wise to bail. We traversed off the face to the left and spent the remainder of the morning soloing along the NE ridge, which afforded some spectacular views onto the face. From what we saw the face looks quite thin, but probably climbable (with colder temps), and would likely involve a substantial amount of mixed and thin-ice climbing. Here are some photos:

 

From the road:

 

From the bowl below the face:

 

Tyler topping out the first pitch:

 

Tyler soloing along the NE ridge:

[layton]

Nice try! Same thing happened to me on a solo attempt a few years back. Got a ways up and started getting hammered with 9000' freezin levels. Bail today, climb tomorrow!

[MCash]

Thanks for the report and nice go at it. It looks thinner than last year already (which was too thin to climb).

[mountainmatt]

Nice shot, hopefully it will be in next season

[scottgg]

Kurt Hicks reported for work today with AAI, so we decided to squeeze in a trip up Graybeard yesterday. I got to the trailhead around 10:30 monday night, woke Kurt up, and we reviewed the photos he had taken ealier that evening of the face.

I said something about how the face didnt look as bad as I had imagined, Kurt just smiled and said: "just wait until your standing underneath it!"

 

4:45am We ditched the snowshoes and poles among the last sapling below the face, and yes, we both felt quite small and insignificant below the intimidating wall.

 

5:00 saw us kicking steps up to the 45degree slope. I should mention here that I had initially been hesitant to bring a back up rope (we climbed on a skinny single) but Kurt insisted so I lugged up a 60m half rope.

 

We soloed up the initial waterfall ice, and I led up the 300' snowfield to the "ice gully". Nelsons book suggest taking a full ice pitch angling left, then back right over the rock band. We decided to just head straight up, as the ice looked ok, and it looked more asthetic.

Kurt took out the rope, and I got the first lead. Snow over rock, thin ice, and a few 70degree steps led up 60m.

I saw some thick ice about 15 feet above me, but I knew that I was running out of rope. I decided to go for it, when a huge avalanche ripped down the gully to our right. Kurt yelled up asking how I was (ie "I'm freezing my butt off, worried about avalanches, and wondering whats taking so long!")

 

I decided to go for the thick ice(armed with my only remaining screw) and just as I sunk my tools high, a spindrift avalanche came right down the gully, filling my jacket with snow. It finally let up, and I built the belay with my stubby screw, and two tools equalized on a screamer. While Kurt climbed up two more spindrift avalanches blasted us, compeling me to pray for the holding power of my anchor. Upon arrival, Kurt gave me another screw to add to the belay, and we decided to bail.

15 feet to my right was a rock outcrop, where Kurt headed to build a rappel anchor. I pulled out our backup/rappel rope, and kept an eye out for more spindrift.

 

Every five minutes I'd yell at Kurt, then we'd both brace ourselves for the impact as the snow(with thankfully small chunks of ice) swept over us. Once the rappel was ready, I downclimbed and lowered off the stacked knifblades and nut, down to the relative safety of the snowfield.

We avoided the initial ice pitch by traversing off the snowfield through trees to skier left. A collective sigh of relief was breathed back at the snowshoes, while we drank and ate and psyched up for the hour long hike out.

 

Kurt was a great partner on this climb, his cool head made the experience fun and safe.

 

A few thing I learned on this adventure: Start the climb early. Despite being a "north face", the upper face (big cornice) gets sun early in the morning. We climbed through bulges to 75degrees, and our direct route looked like it got steeper above. We'll be back next spring to do the direct route

[DirtyHarry]

Spindrift? You bailed because of spindrift and some small chunks of ice?

 

Then wrote a TR about it?

 

Weeksauce.

[goatboy]

Way to go do your best up there, despite disparaging comments from the internet peanut gallery!

 

Rapping off stacked nuts and knifeblades sounds "compelling."

 

Here's Graybeard as of yesterday:

 

 

Full-size image available in my gallery: LINK

[dbconlin]

...the elusive graybeard...

[goatboy]

Did any of you folks summit (via the NE Ridge or otherwise)?

 

If so, how did you descend?

[tthirloway]

We got near the summit via the NE ridge, then traversed left (to the south) and found some pretty easy slopes with just a little downclimbing on the east side of the mountain that led to a ridge above the basin. It looked like that would be the quickest way to get off the summit, though there were some steeper bits.

It was too cloudy to be sure, but if you could get off the summit on the east side, there are good slopes to descend the rest of the way.

[mountainmatt]

Spindrift? You bailed because of spindrift and some small chunks of ice?

Then wrote a TR about it?

Weeksauce.

 

At least they got out and gave it a shot. I say kudos to all that gave the route a good shot

[DirtyHarry]

Post deleted by mattp

[Off_White]

Reading between the lines, I'd say that "spindrift" was a misnomer. Usually, that's the light sluffs that happen during snow storms. Sounds to me like you got the spring surface sluffs that happen during warming conditions, a rather heavier and more worrisome event than poofy (poufy? pofy?) lightweight spindrift. Sounds like a good call to me.

[DirtyHarry]

Yeah. You guys really need to work on your excuses. I've got mine dialed, since I need to use them so often.

[layton]

This is probably a silly question, but how did Colonial Look? The reason i ask, is that i was pretty shocked that Greybeard wasn't bone dry after all the heat.