[TR] Magic Mountain - SE Couloir 8/6/2006

[altasnob]

Climb: Magic Mountain -SE Couloir

 

Date of Climb: 8/6/2006

 

Trip Report:

Magic Mountain as seen from Cascade Pass (the true summit is the pointy part)

 

On the way out to Cache Col, we decided to head up Gunsight Col to check out the beginning of Mixup. Here's the "U" and the "V" coiloirs

 

Looking up at Cache Col

 

Looking back at Cascade Pass with Sahale and Forbidden

 

Ripsaw ridge and Buckner

 

We found a kick ass bivy site at the top of Cache Col. Room for two tents a bit east of the Col; a one spot site sits just west of the Col. The great part is that since its outside of North Cascades National Park, you don't need a permit to camp here. Most people out this way are doing the Ptarmigan Traverse and crowd around Kool-Aid Lake so you should have the Col to yourselves. Johanesburg and Mixup

 

The views from our campsite were epic, just remember to pack up water or be prepared to melt dirty glacier. Here's Formidable.

 

Formidable a bit closer up

 

and closer

 

Spider Mountain sitting nearby

 

Our route up Magic followed the broken 4th and 5th class to the ridge west of the summit.

 

Our route went straight up to the V just left of the summit.

 

After getting within a pitch of the summit and popping out on the exposed North Face, we decided we were entering terrain where our 8.5 mm, 30 m glacier rope just wasn't meant to be.

 

Gear Notes:

Didn't really need crampons or ice axe to get up Cache Col, but they helped a bit. Full length climbing rope and small rack if you're doing Magic.

[Billygoat]

Good pics, thanks

 

[kenp]

Nice bivy spot! great eye candy too

[ericb]

You mentioned checking out the "U" and "V" notches at Gunsight....how did they look?

[mattp]

What happened to the Kloke route on Spider? It looks like there's no snow in the "ice" couloir!

[Blake]

What happened to the Kloke route on Spider? It looks like there's no snow in the "ice" couloir!

 

It was there until a couple weeks ago, probably about July 30th or so... I can't remember if it melts out/falls down every year or not. For such a "High" snow year this year, the cascades are pretty dry for mid-august IMO.

[mattp]

I climbed it in late September or maybe even early October of a year I do not remember as being an extraordinary snow year and the Kloke route was "in" then.

[altasnob]

You mentioned checking out the "U" and "V" notches at Gunsight....how did they look?

 

We went up the "U". Getting off the glacier was no problem but climbing the the loose top part of coloir wasn't particularly fun. It's only about 100 ft. and 4th class, but there is more dirt than there is rock. There are rap anchors to get back down.

[philfort]

That's by far the most bare I've ever seen Spider look, any time of year.

 

This year perhaps marks the loss of permanent ice on that face?

 

From Lowell's webpage, a picture from September 2003:

http://www.alpenglow.org/climbing/ptarmigan-1953/spider-mtn-1953-2003.html

"The snow gullies of the north face, first climbed in the 1970s, were also in poor condition."

 

Looked a lot better "way back in 2003" than it does now.

 

Here's what it looked like August 18 2002:

Edited August 17, 2006 by philfort

[altasnob]

Here's the pic I took zoomed in