[TR] Twin Sister Range - North Twin Sister, West Ridge 7/1/2007

[Lisa_D]

Trip: Twin Sister Range - North Twin Sister, West Ridge

 

Date: 7/1/2007

 

Trip Report:

Sunday, five of us climbed the North Twin Sister, and thoroughly enjoyed the day. This was my second ascent of the peak. The first, exactly 13 months earlier, was actually my first-ever climb. It was fun to compare my two experiences, and see how much more I enjoyed the exposure and challenges of the climb!

 

Starting at 8:30, we biked up the logging roads, which are nicely graded but then turn to single track. Rumor has it that the gates are open during the week from 8-5. We saw someone's SUV parked up there, and are not sure which route they took to get in.

 

At 10:30 we locked our bikes, then spent an hour accidentally scouting out the approach for the South Twin. The map we had showed several trails, but is outdated. I felt kind of silly for not remembering the turn from my climb the year before, but I guess I wasn't paying attention! Look for the log and the cairn. THIS, my friends, is the correct turn for the North Twin:

 

By 11:30 we were back on route, hiking up a steep and slightly overgrown trail. At 1:00 we were scrambling the delightful west ridge. The rock is wonderfully solid, abounding in good holds and fun, challenging variations. For the best exposure and fun "class 4.5" moves, stick to the crest rather than the lower climber's path.

 

 

 

At 2:30, we reached the summit. Glorious views abounded, and we relaxed there for an hour.

 

 

 

Two of the guys are Swiss engineering interns--they brought amazing chocolate to share and claimed to be the first Swiss party to summit the mighty North Twin!

 

 

 

At 3:30 we began our descent, downclimbing the ridge for 100 feet or so, then plunge-stepping and glissading down the north face. The snow is still in decent shape, although some wet slides happened, revealing harder snow underneath. Definitely bring an axe, especially as the melting continues this week. We got to the bikes and flew down the hill, arriving at the car by 5:30.

 

We all had a great time. Highly recommended for a quick, enjoyable day trip. Great variety, scenery, scrambling, and an exhilarating bike ride down! Sometime soon, I'll be back for the South Twin!

 

Gear Notes:

bikes, ice axes, Swiss Chocolate.

 

Approach Notes:

good beta here, on my cousin's webpage:

http://sabegg.googlepages.com/northtwinsistertripreport

[MountaingirlBC]

Beautiful colors in your pics... thx much for the S Twin turnoff shot. I can use that in a couple of weeks. That bike ride down is SO much fun!!!

[ira]

I did this on saturday with a group of 5 (3 students from a basic climbing class). It's a very fun trip, particularly the scramble which is why you go in the first place. i could skip the first 2.5 miles of biking as i had to push my bike most of the way up those hills.

 

btw: we stopped at the other entrance where the gate was open and pondered driving up there. while discussing this someone came down and said if we went up we'd probably get locked in and possibly fined.

[Off_White]

Does anyone make a cordless angle grinder?

[Lisa_D]

The turn off in the picture is for the NORTH twin. To access the South Twin, keep going straight past this turnoff, left at the road intersection, then to the end of the road where they've blocked it off and you must continue on a trail.

[Lisa_D]

btw: we stopped at the other entrance where the gate was open and pondered driving up there. while discussing this someone came down and said if we went up we'd probably get locked in and possibly fined.

 

yeah, I'm not sure what the policy is.. but it sure is tempting to drive up there, isn't it?! The bike ride down is super fun, though.

[G-spotter]

Does anyone make a cordless angle grinder?

 

You can pop many locks with application of a simple crowbar and/or Z-angle pin stack. Makes getting locked in or out a non-issue unless you get caught in the act.

[NorthStr99]

Does anyone make a cordless angle grinder?

 

You can pop many locks with application of a simple crowbar and/or Z-angle pin stack. Makes getting locked in or out a non-issue unless you get caught in the act.

 

Actually, not to harsh yer lock-poppin' buzz G, but most of those gates are locked with not one, not two, but 4 or 5 locks, and moreover are encased in these little fortified enclosures that Norman Schwartzkopf would have trouble penetrating. As would even John Holmes. but that's a different story. It would be VERY difficult to get on them with a crowbar or any other implements of real destruction (which is exactly why they're in steel enclosures). Forget about cordless angle grinders and crowbars - ain't gonna get 'er done. I just went up both to the end of Saxon Road and to the Blue Mountain Road turn-off from MLR, and both are HEAVILY locked with nearly impregnateable multilocks. I should know; I tried impregnating them, but to no avail. But besides all THAT, even if you COULD get at the locks (nearly impossible) and you COULD break them (highly unlikely), you would just be exacerbating and reinforcing the reason that people PUT the locked gates there in the first place It's just not propah beHAVyuh! Bustin' open locked gates makes everyone who wants to get into those places look guilty, and eventually leads to complete area closures. It only furthers tensions between loggers/miners/land-owners and us rugged outdorss types.

 

HOWEVER, that being said, the PROPER way to bust a lock is to take an aerosol can of compressed air, like you'd clean your computer keyboard with, and holding it upside down, spray the entire thing into the keyhole in the lock. The propellant is usually something like argon or nitrogen or whatever, and liquifies as you spray the can upside down. The liquid gas is extremely cold and will make the metal brittle for a short time before it thaws, and THAT'S when you employ the implements of destruction, ie hammer, crowbar, chisel, etc.

 

NOTE: I AM NOT ADVOCTATING THE VANDALISM OR PRIVATE OR PUBLIC PROPERTY. I'm simply telling you the best way to break a lock. :[]

[woodchips]

Does anyone make a cordless angle grinder?

 

You can pop many locks with application of a simple crowbar and/or Z-angle pin stack. Makes getting locked in or out a non-issue unless you get caught in the act.

 

Actually, not to harsh yer lock-poppin' buzz G, but most of those gates are locked with not one, not two, but 4 or 5 locks, and moreover are encased in these little fortified enclosures that Norman Schwartzkopf would have trouble penetrating.

 

What he said about not busting locks... It's not going to help the situation in the long run. A slight tangent, but those multi-lock gates, in my experience, will open by unlocking ONE of the locks; there are multiple locks there for multiple users. That way if one user changes locks, not every user group has to change locks.

[woodchips]

Z-angle pin stack.

 

huh?