wayne Posted February 4, 2007 Posted February 4, 2007 Trip: Snow Cr Wall - N.Dih.Direct-Swing and a Prayer Date: 2/3/2007 Trip Report: Saturday Gary Yngve and I,Wayne Wallace, climbed the thin line left of White Slabs route on Snow Creek Wall. It went in 5 long pitches and was extremely difficult.The route got gradually harder as we went, which helped because we were both O-T-Couch. The intital 2 pitches went up fantastic thin ribbons up ramps and micro gulleys. Though thin,hard,and awkward they entertained us for the fist 120 meters emensly. At times the ice was 4 inches wide, half inch thick!They ended up in a wide curtain that felt very thick though an inch and a half deep.I ran this out 100 feet to reach the stance below the overhanging ice crux pillar. The ice pillar was short but extremely strenuous due to the overhanging angle. After that we entered a Scottish style ice gulley, more fun, though Gary had to relieve himself midway with a S3 bowel flush while following. Pitch 4 went up thin ice in the dihedral until the ice ran out then became very difficult dry tooling in a long sketchy lead. Many times I felt I would fall and die on the runout. Pitch 5 was easier though the deep snow and short hard sequences drained any energy we may have had available. Topping out after 8 hard hours we reveled in the glow of our first climb together. Hats off to Peter for dropping the hint of this climb,and Rat and Caps for exploring to make this an enticing prospect and wonderful testpiece. Thanks< Wayne and Gary Gary will follow with the pics, Cheers and hope to see you at the Mongo/Erden show this Thursday Gear Notes: Screws, pins and cams to 3" Quote
catbirdseat Posted February 5, 2007 Posted February 5, 2007 When Wayne makes statements like, "Many times I felt I would fall and die on the runout", I think to myself, "now THAT, is some scary shit!" Quote
DirtyHarry Posted February 5, 2007 Posted February 5, 2007 Very fucking cool. That looks like some classic shit. Great. Quote
Weekend_Climberz Posted February 5, 2007 Posted February 5, 2007 Right ON!! :tup: Keep the stokey coming. Loving it Quote
dbb Posted February 5, 2007 Posted February 5, 2007 Strong work fellas! That looks like some incredible climbing. This shot is saaaawweeeet! Quote
Buckaroo Posted February 5, 2007 Posted February 5, 2007 NICE! NICE! So what kind of grade do you give the pitches? Quote
Gary_Yngve Posted February 5, 2007 Posted February 5, 2007 Wow, I am f'n thrashed. I was getting over a cold, and I think the cold just came back for an encore. But the climb was worth it. I had a great time climbing with Wayne. Even though I've chatted with him at Pub Clubs, read about his exploits, etc., I never really had an idea how tough he is until he ropegunned me up these five pitches. White Slabs on the right, Northern Dihedrals Direct on the left. The inset offers a little better view inside the dihedrals. We couldn't see the wall until we were roughly right across it and we had gotten above the clouds. A party was at the base of White Slabs, which may have made it easier for Wayne to get stoked about the left route. The first pitches consisted of thin runnels with the occasional mixed move. For the most part, the belays were pretty sheltered. (photo by Stoney Richards) Wayne forgot to mention that on the 2nd pitch, he had to downclimb 40 feet to retrieve the first piece he placed (a gold camalot) so he could protect the moves to come. The crux of the 2nd pitch was an off-balance dog-leg runnel of thin ice. The ice got thicker, and Wayne belayed below the base of the pillar. Wayne was happy to sink an 18cm screw to the hilt! The ice steepened considerably, and was thin in spots. Above the ice was short snow slog and then a sweet narrow icy gully. Wayne enjoyed the good ice while it lasted. Then the mixed climbing became delicate, then desperate. (photo by Stoney Richards) I flailed up the mixed moves, slipping a few times and happily hooking a fixed pin, all while wondering how the hell Wayne managed to lead it with the potential consequences of a nasty fall. The mixed moves were full-body workouts. The last pitch certainly wasn't a gimme. Some fun mixed moves, thigh-deep snow groveling, and a little bushwhacking. Capped off with a classic finish through a tunnel. We walked off the backside, scrambling down two short rock steps. Quote
Buckaroo Posted February 5, 2007 Posted February 5, 2007 "I was getting over a cold, and I think the cold just came back for an encore. But the climb was worth it." exact same thing happened to me. and yes it was worth it. Nice report description, thanks. Quote
DirtyHarry Posted February 6, 2007 Posted February 6, 2007 grade-8 mono's are old skool But sweet ice climbing skills never get old. Quote
ken4ord Posted February 6, 2007 Posted February 6, 2007 Nice looking route. I am so bummed I am here when there is such a good PNW ice year happening. It is driving me freaking crazy. I just might have to do sets pull ups on my tools, tonight to work through my frustration. Quote
Jens Posted February 7, 2007 Posted February 7, 2007 Sweetest pictures on this site in ages!!! I must do this route! Eurostyle climbing! Quote
wayne Posted February 8, 2007 Author Posted February 8, 2007 So what kind of grade do you give the pitches? I am reluctant to give it grades as it may be fatter or thinner when another party does it.. but when we did it it went a little like this. P1; m4 wi3 thin connecting ribbons P2: m5 wi3+® Thin! Belay at top is amazing! P3 : wi5- short overhanging pillar followed by scottish gulley P4 : m6 wi4® dissapearing thin ice to hard corner-dry P5: m3 wi3 energy gobbeling friggin around Overall: IV-WI5-M6-R 300m It was just my kind of route with so much variety. A little piece of climbing heaven in a spectacular-historic location. Glad you enjoyed the tr, I enjoyed the other fantastic ones on this site for sure! Quote
Jens Posted February 9, 2007 Posted February 9, 2007 Nicely done. Great pics. Gary is probably one of the best climbing photographers in the PNW! Quote
carversprint Posted February 10, 2007 Posted February 10, 2007 Yet another outstanding climb and report! Looks to be a classic Pacific Northwest style mixed, not that wimpy rock and ice mixed but, rock, ice, and moss! Did you use a pin somewhere along too? Great pics, outstanding climb. good job guys Quote
OlympicMtnBoy Posted February 11, 2007 Posted February 11, 2007 Really nice climb and pics guys, really makes me wish I didn't have to sit at home working on my thesis for most of the this ice season. Quote
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