bstach Posted July 5, 2006 Posted July 5, 2006 (edited) Climb: Mt. Athelstan-Moonraker 5.7 12p Date of Climb: 7/2/2006 Trip Report: My wife and I headed out from Vancouver Saturday at the crack of noon. We made good time to Pemberton (3h)considering the long-weekend traffic and construction on Hwy. 99 (all those 50km/hr zones). Thanks to all who contributed road approach beta (see previous thread). When it all came down, all the "left, right, left" advice just ended up being confusing (e.g. does that overgrown, pathetic excuse for a road count as a left? This looks like a new road, it must not be the left etc.). Then I remembered the advice of the Jedi Master Don Serl: "Just follow your nose". And Dru: "Its not rocket science". It was like that moment in Star Wars when Luke Skywalker turns off his targeting computer. Everything just fell into place after that. See approach notes for more info. The climb was perfect for me, being relatively new to alpine climbing, easy route finding and short cruxes. It even rated 5.fun on the wife-o-meter. Top 2 pitches (5.7) were my favorites, being a bit cleaner than the rest. The view of Athelstan from the top was fan-f'n-tastic. The descent was easy plunge-stepping in ideal snow conditions. We spent about 7 hours on the climb and less than an hour on the descent back to our bivy site. I'll post some pics when i get around to it. Gear Notes: Took too much gear: set of cams to 3", set of nuts, #8,9 and 10 hexcentrics, 8 draws and a bunch 'o slings. The climbing was mostly easy with short cruxes. That combined with the fact that the protection options weren't that great, I only placed 3-4 pieces per pitch. Approach Notes: Road is in excellent shape - 2wd all the way to the trailhead described in Alpine Select. I went about 1km past that on what appears to be new logging road (4wd recommended). This road continues N and then heads E steeply uphill - so I think we saved a bit of hiking compared to the AS approach. Parked at a small pullout just before the road heads north again. We headed south into the forest until we could see the clearcut (few hundred feet max)and then headed uphill, handrailing the clearcut. Eventually we cut into the alder and after a short section of thrashing we met up with the avy chute described in AS. Retrospectively, we could have stayed in the forest as long as possible (fairly easy going) and then easily into a gulley (different one than AS)where the alders end and the forest steepens (we came down this way). Minimal snow down low (won't last long). Above the knoll the travel was fairly easy on snow. We bivied near the base of the climb on a flat bolder (well, flat is a relative thing ;-) 3h to base of climb. Edited July 5, 2006 by bstach Quote
G-spotter Posted July 5, 2006 Posted July 5, 2006 See anybody else up there? I bet it was a good place to get some solitude this w/e. Is the mid section still rubbly or is it cleaning up with traffic? Jordop's jokes are not so much private as wilfully obscure. Jordan, don't you wish now, with hindsight, that you had named Back of Beyond Buttress something more like "Amazingly Accessible Buttress"? Quote
bstach Posted July 5, 2006 Author Posted July 5, 2006 (edited) It was perfect for avoiding long weekend crowds at the huts...didn't see anybody else the whole time (well, from about Meager Creek on). Drove through the Lilloet campground on the way up...lots of empty spots, while every campground on 99 had the "full" sign out. The rubbly mid-section rated "nasty and unpleasant" on the wife-o-meter. It even elicited a few expletives on the descent. So I guess the answer to your question is 'No'. Edited July 5, 2006 by bstach Quote
G-spotter Posted July 5, 2006 Posted July 5, 2006 Now I'm confused. I mean p5-p10 approximately where the climbing is mostly class 4 and there is a lot of junk on the ledges. But if your wife was complaining about it on descent, maybe by "rubbly midsection" you mean the scree chutes between the alder and the bivi site? Quote
layton Posted July 5, 2006 Posted July 5, 2006 face it dru, your route is a piece of shit. B.O.B. all the way baby Quote
bstach Posted July 5, 2006 Author Posted July 5, 2006 Yeah, I thought you meant the steep approach section below the knoll. Probably because I didn't notice the mid-section of the climb any more rubbly than the first 4 pitches. We kinda smoked through it unroped though. Top two pitches are pretty clean. Quote
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