[TR] Old Home Week in the Bugs

[mattp]

Climb: Old Home Week in the Bugs-Surf's Up; McTech Arete

 

Date of Climb: 8/14/2006

 

Trip Report:

I just returned from six days in the Bugaboos, and it was great. I drove up with Jhamaker, and climbed with my brother, my nephew, and an old friend from High School; also in there were Armin, Claire, Tansnffl, CrazyJZ, and EdHobbik. Lurker Jeff and Crack were rumored on their way, but apparently got distracted elsewhere.

 

I know it has been said before, but the Bugaboos offer some of the best granite climbing anywhere – though a relatively small cluster of peaks, they’re better than Darrington, Washington Pass, and the Stuart Range combined. Steal a car, hitchhike, do whatever it takes to go. You won’t be disappointed. I was last there in 1981; I can't believe I waited 25 years to go back!

 

We had four and a half days of good weather, but wasted one hiking up to the hut and on another we took a rest day with a forecasted 90% chance of rain but it didn’t even sprinkle until 7:00 pm (then thunderstormed).

 

The approach to the Bugaboo-Snowpatch col is getting a bit icy, but everything is in good shape.

 

Here is the "top-out" of Surf’s Up:

 

 

 

Gear Notes:

The hut is fantastic.

 

Approach Notes:

2 to 3 hours hike from the car to the hut; 1-2 hours from there to most of the routes.

[Weekend_Climberz]

 

Missing the pictures. Let's see them. Sounds like the weather wasn't too bad and Seirge was keeping the forecasts updated, finally.

[DirtyHarry]

Nice. Good to hear a classy group of Washington-based individuals were in attendance.

[mattp]

Here's a composite shot of the South Face of Snowpatch; Surf's Up climbs the face out of view around the left skyline for four pitches and then finishes with three spectacular crack pitches up the top center of the face shown here.

 

 

(From the bottom, routes on this face are about fifteen pitches long. A report of a new route done last year, and a bunch of pictures, is here.

[Weekend_Climberz]

I love that aspect of Snowpatch. From camp it looks like a big lump, but then moving around it you can tell it's really a thin piece of granite with wide east and west faces. It couldn't be more than a few hundred feet thick at the bottom.

[mattp]

Pitch 6 of Surf's Up, high on the S. Face of Snowpatch Spire:

 

 

Summit of Snowpatch; Bugaboo Spire in background:

[TrogdortheBurninator]

Looks great Matt. That picture of snowpatch is really purty. Defnitely makes me jealous:(

[Winter]

Woot! Surf's Up is fun fun fun. Way better than then Krause-McCarthy looks from the rap.

[mattp]

I've done both. Surf's Up is in my opinion a far better climb than the Kraus-McCarthy. The route description in the Atkinson guide is a little vague, though, and many parties miss the classic upper pitches. On pitch 4, we got off route briefly but found a bunch of retreat slings and got back on course; on pitch 5, we took the exit ramp to Surf's Up Ledge and the rest of the climb, but there was a party behind us that didn't notice where we did this and they climbed Surf's Up Direct.

[Winter]

Yeah we almost missed the exit ramp to the ledge and had to rap in from approx 40ft above before getting committed to the direct finish. I thought the routefinding through the first several pitches added to the attraction of the climb.

[mattp]

I thought the somewhat contrived nature of Surf's Up detracted from it slightly as the first two pitches avoid obviously easier ground to the right, the line then heads off right, and the ledges around the corner actually involve down-climbing. However, what you get is kind of like three climbs in one: interesting corner and flake pitches, followed by some fantastic crack climbing on a clean and exposed face, and then a few hundred feet of scrambling on top of the world.

 

Anyone know about the "Super Direct?"

[mattp]

I think the Bugaboo Glacier has retreated dramatically since I was last there, in 1981. Here's a picture of the outfall area, August 2006:

 

 

and here is a picture of the snout, shot in about 1972 ()I can't place it in the current picture, but I believe it is near the left edge of the relatively unvegetated portion of the outfall area):

 

 

 

 

Finally, here is a picture of the glacier as viewed from the lodge in about 1973. Does anybody have a similar shot from a current trip?

 

[Weekend_Climberz]

Colt45 had a few on his site, linked from his trip report:

 

 

 

 

Not quite the same positions, but easily comparable.