Jump to content

[TR] Nesawkwatch Spires and Mt Rexford- Ensawkwatc


curtveld

Recommended Posts

Climb: Nesawkwatch Spires and Mt Rexford-Ensawkwatch Enchainment

 

Date of Climb: 8/13/2006

 

Trip Report:

Yup, this TR is a little slow out of the chute, but figured MCash’s fine photos will open a few eyes to some nice alpine granite outside the Stuart Range and Washington Pass areas. The Enchainment is a nice longish outing on clean granite that gives great views of Slesse’s eastern walls, the Cheam Range and many border area peaks.

 

Though recent enchainers have done this route car-to-car, we went for a more relaxed overnight plan. The approach is a serious quad-burner in both directions, so maybe the fast light plan is the way to go. Won’t load you down with much beta because McLane’s Alpine Select gives you all the info you need.

 

Camp below the N. Nesakwatch Spire. If we hadn’t brought the tent, the bugs would have been much worse.

216268.jpg

 

South Illusion Spire – anybody know if the wall on the left has been climbed?

217833.jpg

 

Fun climbing on clean blocks.

216273.jpg

 

From the North Spire, the route follows the ridge crest (right edge of sunlight) to the South Spire and Rexford behind.

217841.jpg

 

The South Spire has the most sustained class 5 climbing of the route.

217844.jpg

 

A short 5.7 off-width is required to reach the South Spire’s summit. Bring a 6” cam or be ready to chicken wing or power layback it. Getting down requires a bit of ingenuity, too.

217846.jpg

 

A bit more exposed mid-fifth reaches Rexford’s summit pinnacle.

226593.jpg

 

Martin and the mighty “fang” of the Chilliwack.

215803.jpg

 

The descent is fairly easy - arrived back in camp after about 8 hours. And yes, Martin did cruise his share of the leads!

 

Gear Notes:

A 60 m half rope worked well, as advertised

Edited by curtveld
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 15
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

Nice TR. I second the car-to-car option. When I did it we sacked out at the trailhead (at the end of the logging road) but then easily approached climbed, descended, and made it back to the cars with lots of daylight. Wouldn't be too tough to just fire it in a day.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wouldn't be too tough to just fire it in a day.

Ah yes, if I’d known then what I know now… We were going on McLane’s time estimate of 10-14 hours from camp, which turns out to be quite conservative for experienced climbers. Martin and I had not climbed together before so there was some uncertainty about how fast we’d move.

 

But I have no regrets – the sunset from camp was gorgeous. And we had plenty of daylight for the border and drive home.

215807.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.




×
×
  • Create New...