North Sister South Ridge v. Jefferson West Rib ??

[DogBreath]

I am looking to do either North Sister via the South Ridge, or Jefferson via the West Rib, at the end of the month. Would love to get thoughts on how the two compare in terms of difficulty, exposure, etc.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

--DB

[wayne]

Jeff is way cooler. Lots of steep-dont-bloew-it exposure though.

[Ducknut]

North Sister is a pile on unconsolidated graham crackers. I would only climb it again if it is completed encased in snow and ice.

[jlag]

Done them both, I'd agree that the W. Rib is the better of the two. Mostly due to the sketchyness of the traverse on N. Sister. If it's snow it can get sloppy on the way back and it's a no fall situation. You also spend a bunch of time on ridges(depends on if you come from W side vs E side) on N. sister where as the W. Rib is just up when you get up N. Creek Gulley. If you end up going up W. Rib you basically avoid most of the traverse on Jefferson, cuz you come up it. I carried a board and rode the slop all the way back down to the TH in like 5 minutes.

 

If there's any precip days before you head up Jefferson be careful. We got there on time to find HUGE avy debris at the base of N. Milk Creek gulley. The crown started at the top of the W. Rib.

 

JL