North Rib Slesse c

[JanD]

Hey,

 

does anyone have an idea of what condistions the North Rib Slesse approach is in?

I saw the pic of NE buttress by g-spotter. Looks like in a couple weeks the snow on the route might be gone.

I have climbed the NE-B in approach shoes which was great. But was wondering about Slesse glacier on the North Rib approach. Does anyone have some idea of what that looks like right now? Full crampons and axe needed I am guessing.

I am thinking about a trip in 2 weeks or so.

 

Cheers, Jan

[G-spotter]

Um... in another post you just said you went up the road.

We should be asking you, not you us.

[tyree]

Depending on how you approach it you will be OK. If you are crossing under the hanging glacier I would be VERY wary. This is the way that we went, very fast but the glacier was gone. If you are approaching on the other side of the valley it will take longer but have less objective danger. Good luck and have fun- super classic line!

[genepires]

you must be asking about the north slesse glacier as the slesse glacier is farther to the left.

 

When Darin dragged my ass up n rib a couple years back we approached from the valley directly below the n rib. At the memorial we descended down brush hell into the basin and travelled across the basin to a wooded hillside to get above the cliffs and brush. above it opens out to easy going to the n rib. I don't remember any snow but it was august. I would think that this was the best approach to the rib any time of year, short of a helicopter.

[Off_White]

brush hell ... best approach

 

It's funny that these two phrases are not mutually exclusive when discussing approaches in the Cascades.

 

Gene, I hazily recall that TR, would you recommend the route? Seems like I've heard the rock is significantly better than that on the NE Buttress.

[dberdinka]

Hello Friends!!

 

The N Slesse Glaicer is definitely a bit mellower to cross than the Bypass Glacier of the std route. Tyree's crazy ass direct aspproach would be pretty nutty in early summer.

 

Gene and I had to crawl up some steep forest but crossing the glacier was chill. It's not particularly crevassed or partcularly steep. We had little bitty instep crampons (Gene's were made by prisoners at the Monroe State Pen!) and sharp sticks.

 

Oh and Off-White it is one of the best Alpine rock route in the Cascades.

Edited July 5, 2007 by dberdinka

[G-spotter]

FWIW the "bush hell" mentioned, descending below the Memorial to the basin, is all of like 5 minutes and 100m horizontal distance long until you break out on the talus

[JanD]

Hey,

 

thanks everyone for the info. Yeah, I was mostly wondering about the glacier approach, not so much the road.

I think we might give it a try this weekend if the weather holds.

I have the Alpine Select. Are there other recommended guides/topos that make the routefinding easier (I have heard it is a little bit of a challenge).

 

Thanks, Jan

[jmace]

Keep in mind conditions in the hills are more like early June than July and the Northern aspects are generally worse. May want a couple more weeks of warm weather as this is the first of any good warm weather we have had

 

cheers

J

[tyree]

As far as the route finding goes there are some very long runouts b/t gear placements. The crux pich we missed and climbed a 5.10 finger crack. Instead of going left around the corner to the flakes we went right into a right facing corner (200'+) before meeting up at the same belay.

It is pretty adventerous up there so bring your thinking cap and have fun!

[Zoran]

Be careful and do the climb.

Please read this:

http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/pstory.html?id=7ea1da08-2378-4e36-9aff-f66086b27632&k=54004

 

It's one of the greatest climbing areas in SW BC.

Good luck!

And post the short note when you are back.

Regards,

Zoran

 

[Sol]

too early

[Sol]

too early

[JanD]

Thanks everyone. I am not too worried about run out slab and the general character of the climb...

We'll se what the snow looks like. Jmace has a good point. We might push it back a couple more weeks. I believe that this weather will do a lot of damage to snow on the wall.

Approach: I will do the dberdinkan (great TR btw) thing which I think is the same as described in KMs Alpine Select. Gain the right side of the cirque, then steep up into the alpine and cross the glacier high up.

 

I will decide on Thurs. Who knows, we might end up on Colonel Foster instead.

 

Cheers, Jan

[jshamster]

Great route!

 

I'd go for it in August at this point.

Dru (g-spot) is right, bushwack takes all of one minute.

I thought the approach that tyree & I did was pretty chill.

 

What a cool position for most of the route!

Down on a rib, looking up at ridges and walls towering above,

then the final headwall.

 

Love it!

 

Cheers.

Jimbo

[Rad]

I am planning to head up there later this summer. Is this a better route to do than than the NE buttress? We haven't been back in the area before but have a decent amount of alpine rock experience.

Thanks,

Rad

[jmace]

The weather is deterioarting rapidly here for the weekend...you can see EC has already changed the forecast for some places on the outer coast...if these trends continue in the models we will see the forecasts change for the mainland soon

 

http://www.weatheroffice.gc.ca/city/pages/bc-17_metric_e.html

 

Cheers

Jesse

[jshamster]

I have done both the NE Butt & N. Rib, and enjoyed both.

N. Rib is better IMO, but took much longer due to it being way more sustained.

NE Butt is great for position. N. Rib is great for the climbing itself.

Either way, the area is a must visit for any alpine climber.

 

Have fun.

Cheers.

Jimbo