North Sister route conditions?

[dinomyte]

I told the other guys that I was gonna post a single picture TR, but I gotta say a bit more. Stephen, Jonathan, & Brad - Glad Kevin and I ran into you guys. It was fun. Here's to ya!

 

I'll leave you guys to post all those sweet pics!

 

 

'Nuff Said!

[dinomyte]

By the way, this is what Thayer looks like:

 

 

Have at it!!

[Cobra_Commander]

The moraine in the foreground has better rock than the face in the background. I'm routinely amazed why people flock to this mountain at the end of summer.

[Kevin_Matlock]

Because it was easier to climb than if it were covered in shitty, thin ice and/or varied sluff.

 

If the snow on top were consolidated, then I'd call it a climb reserved only for the those with confidence with some gnar snow exposure. Never been up there in covered conditions, but it looks like it would be intimidating as hell.

 

At least with it dry it's just a scramble with, yes, the odd death missle above that could potentially end things really quick if you are a bumble and not being at least a little carefull.

 

I'll go down on record as saying North Sister is no where near as sketchy as Jefferson in late summer. Period.

Does that mean that I'd climb Jefferson again without snow coverage? Hell no, they both sucked ass.

 

But the hardest part of North was the freaking scree treadmill that you had to fight up which, even in late spring, can still be melted off so no mater what, you still have to deal with it.

 

Spring, summer, fall, winter..... other than simply saying "I did it", there is NO good time or reason to "flock" to this mountain.

[Cobra_Commander]

there is NO good time or reason to "flock" to this mountain

 

Actually I've found it to be a phenomenal early spring climb. The Thayer HW, Early Morning Couloir, and the South Ridge are extremely nice routes that are worth your time. More rewarding than most climbs on Hood for sure. There is also some water ice to be had on the east buttress for the right folks looking for adventure.

 

The snow and ice can be steep, but it puts you in the driver's seat as far as risks you want to take. Everything is frozen together, and there is no rockfall. When you are up there late in August, it doesn't really matter if you are a hotshot climber because you could get it in the neck at any point from a slip on chopped up graham crackers or a boulder cut loose from above. I suppose this exposure to uncontrolled objective hazard is part of the allure of the chossier cascades, so I can understand that.

 

But you should try it sometime in early spring. The snow traverse to the bowling alley or the final run up the NE summit from the Thayer with wild exposure is classic unforgettable Sisters action! I consider it the most underestimated and misunderstood of the oregon cascades.

[Kevin_Matlock]

Any pics Commander? Not looking to climb it again anytime soon, but it'd be cool to see some other pics of what the route looks like covered (already seen some, but not many to be had).

 

And even in spring (at least this year), I heard of at least a couple dudes who tried to climb the bowling alley with a mix of ice, snow, rock, what-have-you, and after the leader peeled and their pro popped they bailed.

 

Really, it's the traverse and the bowling alley that will get you, that last pitch up to summit was amazingly decent quality by comparison; I wasn't the slightest bit worried about it being bare with it's exposure.

 

[Cobra_Commander]

Unfortunately I did a lot of that stuff long before I had a digital camera, but I might have a few. The bowling alley can be a real handful if it is verglas and you don't have much ice experience. The traverse is usually just steep snow, usually with a steep crest to cross halfway across. But it would protect well with pickets.

 

Plus you get to ski out if you ski! And if you are into steep skiing I think the early morning couloir, thayer hw, or west face direct would all be great runs.

[dinomyte]

I'm not into THAT steep of skiing, but I was jealous of letsroll earlier this year when he was blazing outta there on the sticks!

 

Looked like a decently long run even starting from the SE ridge at about 7800 feet.

[SRydin]

I was up there this weekend and have a trip report posted with a lot of good shots of the Bowling Alley and Summit Climb - hope it's helpful.

[Billy]

 

Some pics of North during better condtions than now.

 

 

The ice shot is on the E Butt in the winter. The small shot is the Bowling Alley in May. The main shot of the East side of the mountain is taken in Feb, 2004. This is some of the best climbing south of Mt Hood in the winter.

[Cobra_Commander]

That's what I'm talking about Richard!!!

[dinomyte]

Reading this exchange reminds me that "great conditions" are sort of in the eye of the beholder.

 

Having been up there when the traverse was totally snowcovered and totally bare, I can say that I prefer bare. The snow is so flat and featureless that it made it seem much more exposed, and although a couple of well-placed pickets and the boot track was comforting, it just felt a little more sketchy to someone with my level of experience.

 

Getting to the bowling alley when it was a mix of ice, wet rock, etc. was not too pleasant, particularly when one of the team in front of me came off and ended up pretty banged up quite a few meters down.

 

I have never been when the alley was absolutely covered with snow and ice. I guess that might be different, though I would probably find that pretty intimidating, personally.

 

Though I would not want to infer that this was a walk in the park, I had overestimated it a bit. I had sort of built up expectations based on everything that I had heard before. But, other than a couple short sections of the traverse, the route didn't really give me much pause.

 

Part of it was probably the company - it was great to go up with a few cool folks that were obviously skilled and experienced. It didn't hurt to have to two 60m ropes either!

[Cobra_Commander]

There's certainly nothing wrong with having a good time.

 

Choss-dancing is a skill, one not frequently practiced by a lot of otherwise very good climbers out there.

[dinomyte]

I'm not much of a climber, but I'm pretty damn good at jogging up piles of kitty litter!

 

Although, a pile of graham crackers on top of a pile of kitty litter is kinda of a new one on me!

[Crevasse]

Having been on North Sister five times covering all four seasons, I have to say each involved very different conditions but each was a great experience. What Cascade mountain in Oregon isn’t a choss pile right now? I don’t think that means you can’t go out understanding the conditions, hang out with friends, face different but still technical challenges, and have a good time even while climbing a heap.