Stuart/Ingalls area

[MATT_B]

I have never been in this area and was thinking about making the trip out for the weekend. Reading trip reports from this area and this time of year, it sounds like there will likely be a decent amount of snow still around. I will probably do the south ridge of ingles, maybe an easy to moderate route on stuart, or maybe something else. Not really sure yet. This leads me to two questions. First should I bring an axe and crampons or leave them at home. Anyone bee up there lately? Second, what routes would you recomend that would give me a good intro to the area. I have a good amount of experience but I have not been climbing much lately so I'm not up for anything too hard. Thanx in advance.

[BigLegs]

I climbed the south ridge of Ingalls on Saturday - there was virtually no snow up to Ingalls Pass, then mostly snow from there to the base of the route (the route is snow free). I'd guess the snow will be around for another couple weeks. An axe and gaiters are useful but I'd leave the crampons at home for the approaches to Ingalls as the snow was generally very soft.

 

If you have the time, a nice easy trip would be to climb the East Ridge of N. Ingalls (mostly 4th-5.0 with one move of 5.7), with a possible side trip to East Ingalls from the notch, then rappel and climb the south face/ridge (2 pitches, 5.4 to 5.6 depending on which crack you take). Supposedly the west ridge of Stuart is nice too, but I haven't done that.

[Chopi]

I "climbed" Stuart this past weekend via the Cascadian. No snow, except a steepish snow field below the false summit (crampons not necessary, ice axe would be nice but is not required). It's just a steep walk-up, but the summit of Stuart is well worth a trip.

[haireball]

You should be ok without crampons as long as your boots are stiff enough to kick through a hard crust if it turns cool. Trekking poles may be more comfortable than an ice axe for most of the terrain you'll be on... take what you're most at ease with. West Ridge of Stuart is roughly same technical difficulty as Ingalls, but much longer, and with some real puckery exposure around the notch. good photo-ops!