North Ridge of Stuart

[jrb]

Ran up the Complete North Ridge of Mt. Stuart on Saturday and figured I offer a little condition report. There is still a fair amount of snow around Ingells Lake, so we had to crampon up there. We then took them off getting up to Stuart Pass, but had to put them on to get over to Goat Pass. We took them off again to get up the top of the pass, and then put them back on to descend to the base of the route. If we would have had boots we might not needed crampons to get to the base. The route is what it is, so I'll spare you the spray. The route is rather dry, but looking down the rappel and at the "slabs" that area is still covered with a lot of snow and looks like it would be a rather nightmarish experience right now. There was lots of snow falling down on the area late in the day, too. The hell that is the descent down the Cascadian was the pain in the ass the way it always is. Since we topped out late we had to crampon up twice going down, and then once going over Longs. Yes, that's right we took are effing crampons on and off six times, SUPER FUN. I took an axe which was nice to have, but my partner did fine with ski poles.

[kevbone]

Nice Jaime.....did you did not mention you did it car to car in under 20 hours.....or you that you soloed from the notch to the base of the garndarme......you rock....

 

PS...thanks for the beer last night.