[TR] Goose Egg Mountain - Ride The Lightning 4/22/2007

[AlpineMonkey]

Trip: Goose Egg Mountain - Ride The Lightning

 

Date: 4/22/2007

 

Trip Report:

*A Snow Creek Wall Alternative*

 

With rain in the forecast, my girlfriend and I decided to scratch our Leavenworth climbing plans and head to Tieton. Goose Egg Mountain, a place I have long wanted to explore seemed to seize our imaginations. The few who have found adventure on this wall have told me stories of ok routes on poor rock.

 

 

Route climbs under and around the obvious roof in the lower right corner.

 

 

We ended up climbing “Ride The Lightening,” a grade III, 5.9 route. The approach took approximately 15 minutes from the car to the base of the clib. The Tieton River Rocks guide gives the route a PG-rating, but I didn’t find anything to be extreme. We found excellent climbing and the rock really wasn’t all that bad. Every belay is fixed with “bomber” bolts. The wall is comparable in height to the snow creek wall and the views are definitely better. 8 pitches.

 

Looking down pitch 2. Crimpy face climbing.

 

 

Looking down pitch 3, showing the beautiful and classic dihedral.

 

 

Amazing climbing.

 

 

A happy one.

 

 

Fun exposure.

 

 

A pleasent supprise.

 

 

My eyes kept on eye balling...

 

 

In the end, we had an amazing time and I can’t wait to go back and experience more routes. It is an excellent alternative to the Snow Creek Wall.

 

Gear Notes:

10 quick draws, pro to 4 inches.

 

Approach Notes:

15 minutes car to route.

[high_on_rock]

Absolutly never heard of the climb, thanks for the beta!

[fenderfour]

I've been wanting to check out Goose Egg. Thanks for the pics.

[catbirdseat]

I already have the guidebook, so I definitely will go check it out soon.

[Kat_Roslyn]

Looks cool. Thanks.

[kurthicks]

were the screamers really necessary?

[W]

The thought of crowds heading here demands a friendly heads-up: Ride the Lightning is relatively cleaned up since it's creation, but there are other adjacent routes on the wall that are not as clean. The wall is high enough and the rock loose enough to warrant a high degree of caution if any parties are on the wall above you. Take heed, be observant, and wear a helmet.

[Alex]

Just FYI for anyone heading to the area: the last pic that Craig posted is not actually Goose Egg mnt, but Kloochman Rock, which is what you are looking at as you climb Goose Egg....

[AlpineMonkey]

were the screamers really necessary?

 

I don't trust bolts...

 

I usually bring two with me to areas that I haven't been to before, but they also work nice as draws. The route calls for 15 draws, we had 8 or 9, so I was using whatever I brought.

Edited April 23, 2007 by AlpineMonkey

[sobo]

Just FYI for anyone heading to the area: the last pic that Craig posted is not actually Goose Egg mnt, but Kloochman Rock, which is what you are looking at as you climb Goose Egg....

 

Well, technically, Kloochman Rock is behind you as you ascend Goose Egg's eastern wall, so you wouldn't really see Kloochman's unless you turned to look over your left shoulder.

 

Good on ya for salvaging the weekend, Craig. I've only done the first three pitches, but I enjoyed that much of it.

Nice to see ya topped out. How loose are things after Pitch 3?

[Off_White]

I thought this one:

 

looked more like, "fuck, would you put both hands on the rope?"

 

Thanks for the pics and the report.

[AlpineMonkey]

Sobo,

 

Pitch 5 is the worst, the first bolt being about 20 feet off the belay over crumbly loose rock, but it is short. I think its stupid how a bolt wasen't put down lower. Someone is going to fall someday through no falt of their own when their feet and hand holds crumble away and get completly F-ed up. That pitch I have shown with the caption, "Fun Exposure." Other then that crapy section, all is good. They call the crux being up high, a 5.9 crack, but that is most definatly not the crux. I found the crux being on pitch 1 or 2, and the crack I would rate a 5.8-.

[sobo]

Thanks for the beta, Craig. The guidebook, and talking firsthand with Joe, scared me away from the upper pitches.

[kevino]

Anyone ever climbed Appetite for Destruction on Kloochman rock? Guide book says its 6 pitches, 5.10d and PG rated as well...

[sobo]

Man, if peeps on this board think Vantage is loose and chossy, you ain't seen nuthin' yet! I can't even imagine doing a tech route on Kloochman's (at my age) any more, although I did hike by boy up the trade route on the SW side a couple years ago (in a kid carrier when he was two years old or so). Good thing he couldn't talk very well back then, cuz my wife would've killed me if she knew what I was doing with him that day.

 

I guess if you're gonna go, bring a helmet. As a matter of fact, bring two helmets, cuz you're gonna need to shit in one of them. That entire place is a freaking bowling alley, all of it.

 

DANGER!!!1 WARNING, WILL ROBINSON!!!1

[Toast]

No lie about loose rock. Fun route well worth it though.

 

Also, smart to photopy the route description and topo including the rap route. I'd hate to top out and have to figure out how to get down as the sun goes down.

Edited April 25, 2007 by Toast

[andyf]

In the late 80s, I climbed 4 or 5 crack routes on the big column wall on the northwest side of Kloochman. The last one was three pitches, I think. We all swore we'd never go back after that route. I never have. The place is a deathtrap. Different rock from most Tieton crags--incredibly chossy and weak.

[Already_on_Top]

Appetite for Destruction is different from other features on Kloochman. It's more slab and face climbing. When I climbed it the upper pitchs had lots of dirt on ledges and holds. It is all bolts and well protected but there is some loose rock. It's no sport route.

[kevino]

Appetite for Destruction is different from other features on Kloochman. It's more slab and face climbing. When I climbed it the upper pitchs had lots of dirt on ledges and holds. It is all bolts and well protected but there is some loose rock. It's no sport route.

That doesn't make any sense...

[layton]

The thought of crowds heading here demands a friendly heads-up: Ride the Lightning is relatively cleaned up since it's creation, but there are other adjacent routes on the wall that are not as clean. The wall is high enough and the rock loose enough to warrant a high degree of caution if any parties are on the wall above you. Take heed, be observant, and wear a helmet.

 

Marcus and I were on "Dirty Sanchez" Today. 2 parties were on Ride the lightning ... obeviously not heeding the above advice. Hope it was safe for the lower team. We rolled outta Portland at 8am, dicked around watching the 1st party atop P4, climbed our route, and were off and out before the 1st party topped out, home before 9. So, basically, everyone in a Tri-State area should mob the shit out of this place thanks to Craig's recent TR. Bring your bolt-putter-inners, cuz there's a lot of potential.

 

Dirty Sanchez was a fun 1/8 of a day in the hills! Pretty solid rock all in all.

[catbirdseat]

Sobo,

 

Pitch 5 is the worst, the first bolt being about 20 feet off the belay over crumbly loose rock, but it is short. I think its stupid how a bolt wasen't put down lower. Someone is going to fall someday through no falt of their own when their feet and hand holds crumble away and get completly F-ed up. That pitch I have shown with the caption, "Fun Exposure." Other then that crapy section, all is good. They call the crux being up high, a 5.9 crack, but that is most definatly not the crux. I found the crux being on pitch 1 or 2, and the crack I would rate a 5.8-.

I guess everyone has their own point of view. The bolts were so obviously placed while on rappel, all in a nice neat line. Their locations often didn't make any sense. Hard moves frequently came just before the next bolt was reached.

 

In the case of pitch five, while I would have preferred to see the first bolt come earlier, I felt that a reasonably careful climber could avoid loose rock getting up to it. There was one 5.8 move before it could be clipped. Three feet lower and it could have been reached to protect that move.

 

I felt that the 5.9 crack on P5 was most definitely the crux and goes at 5.9, but it' a short crux and the rest of the pitch goes at 5.8. Be sure to double up, using a red and green Camalot before pulling the move, if it looks like it's going to be hard for you.

 

The topo gives the first pitch as 5.8+ and the second as 5.8. It should be the other way around. Overall, I'd say the first pitch was the hardest of the route.

 

Not sure Craig how you got by with 9 draws. You must have skipped some bolts. I used all 15 draws on the second pitch, and 14 on the fifth pitch.

[tvashtarkatena]

 

A pleasent supprise.

 

 

Our party left an unpleasant surprise here at belay # 4, probably due to some ill advised Taco Bell cuisine the night before. The impending 5.9 crux may have had something to do with the urgency of the incident. Suffice to say that future White Lightning Riders may want to wait until after a good rain before attempting the route.

[jhamaker]

. . .everyone in a Tri-State area should mob the shit out of this place . . .

 

Done ; )

[AlpineMonkey]

Well said catbirdseat.

 

Yeah, I skipped a few here and there. We were short some, by mistake.

 

I can't tell from what you said if you liked the route or no? I had lots of fun on it.

[catbirdseat]

I liked the route a lot, actually. For some reason I was worrying about this and that early on and that cut into the enjoyment factor, but all turned out well in the end. I just left all my troubles behind at fourth belay station.

 

I was wondering if anyone could vouch for the 4th Class Descent Gully. There was so much potential for rope snagage and rock fallage on Gangsta Rap, that I'd be willing to try something else next time.