[TR] Southern Pickets, Inspiration Peak - East Ridge

[Crackman]

Trip: Southern Pickets, Inspiration Peak - East Ridge

 

Date: 8/22/2007

 

Trip Report:

Four of us (Todd, Fred, Tommy, and myself) joined up for a weeklong trip to the Southern Pickets, with plans to climb the E ridge of Inspiration and the N buttress of Terror. The last weather forecast showed it clearing by mid day on Monday. So we decided to be optimistic and hope that we would only get rain on the approach.

 

Sun: Headed up the Goodell Creek trail at noon under a steady rain. Bivied part way up.

 

Mon: Awoke to more rain. Finished the approach to the beautiful campsite below the notch. Set-up camp and hoped it would clear soon. Never did.

 

Tue: Rained all day with limited visbility. While we stuck to the tents, another group of 4 made an attempt on West side of W McMillian Spire, making it all the way to the base of the route before turning back.

 

A peak at the Pickets between showers

 

 

Wed: Finally clear skies. Headed out from camp ~7:30.

 

Glacier crossing involved some crevasse navigation with a couple steeper sections to access the base of the route.

 

Pitch 1: fun clean granite ~ 5.4

 

Pitch 2,3: Chossy & mossy

 

Pitch 4: Clean, blocky climbing up to the E ridge proper

 

Pitch 5,6: Broke into 2 short pitches to avoid rope drag and confirm route direction. Easily combined into a single pitch

 

Pitch 7: The crux and highlight of the climb. We stuck to the perfect left handcrack only

 

Pitch 8,9 Up to and around the East summit

 

Pitch 10: Downclimb and traverse to the notch between the 2 summits

 

Pitch 11: 4th class to the true summit

 

 

The sun was setting as we topped out. The view of the N Pickets was spectacular.

We began rapping down the W ridge with double 60m ropes. Things were going smoothly until the end of the 3rd rap, just above the exit gully, where we could not locate the next rap station. After all four of us had given up searching across loose slabs in the dark, we set up our own anchor and rapped off into the nastiest gully I've been in for years. Despite our best efforts, the darkness made it difficult to avoid launching unstable rocks and dodge them when we did. A couple of near misses convinced us to hunker down on a small ledge until the sun came up.

 

Thur:

We passed a few cold hours telling stories and watching for shooting stars. At dawn, a couple more raps took us down to the glacier. We climbed out of the moat and made a took a new path down through the crevasses to the slabs below.

 

Spent the rest of the chillin at camp, catching up on sleep and food.

 

Friday:

A beautiful last day. We packed up, hiked out, and gorged ourselves on Buffalo steaks and beers :brew:in Marblemount.

 

 

Gear Notes:

We did the 4 man circus act with 3 ropes and 1 medium rack

 

Approach Notes:

Trail is well established all the way

[TrogdortheBurninator]

Nice work. So there were no problems exiting the hand crack at its very top? Looked from below like it trended way left.

[Crackman]

Thin face moves up and right will get you to the belay.

[goatboy]

Nice work. So there were no problems exiting the hand crack at its very top? Looked from below like it trended way left.

 

From where the climber is pictured, you go just up and right to the obvious notch by the tower on the right side. Easy from there. A strenuous, steep pitch of sustained 5.9, with a thin rightward traverse at the top....I remember gasping for air, carrying a pack full of boots, ax, crampons, water....but it's an exhilarating pitch! And you know that the hard part is over at this point....until the rappels down the bowling alley gully!

[TrogdortheBurninator]

cool. we moved right a bit earlier in the crack.

[rmncwrtr]

Great TR, Tim! I was wondering how it was going up there and hoping you'd gotten a break with the weather.

[Rad]

Way to persevere and good call waiting for daylight. That gully is bad news!

[Chriznitch]

schweet

[DRep]

that looks awesome, definitely on the updated tic list!!!! good job guys.

[esteban]

Hot damn Tim!

 

It's been about 10 years since I was on Terror & Degenhardt, but I can recall looking East at Inspiration and ....well, feeling Inspired. You are still the man. I'm still jonesing to go in from the Canadian side some day.....maybe climb Phantom?

 

Great TR.

Esteban

[billcoe]

Nice stuff as always Tim! Thanks for sharing.....good one!

[goatboy]

I'm still jonesing to go in from the Canadian side some day.....maybe climb Phantom?

 

Not sure I entirely get this -- approaching Phantom would entail coming in via Big Beaver or Whatcom Pass, but neither requires starting on the Canadian side....what am I missing here?

[esteban]

I'll drill it down for you goaty.

Been into the Pickets many times, but never entered from Canada via Lil' Chilli (bordering Manning Park, that's the Canada part) and never topped out on Phantom Pk - always wanted to do both....cross W-pass, up and over the N ridge (very fun), cross C-glacier (slog), down into Luna Crk basin (majorly sucks) and up Phantom's E face. Thing that sticks, and is always the case w/ the P's, is you are stuck securing a shuttle or haulin' it back the way you came.

 

An addendum would be to by-pass W-com and up Easy Rg.

 

Is it crystal?

[goatboy]

Ahh, this reminds me of a scene from a Few Good Men:

 

Jessup: We follow orders, we follow orders or people die, it's that simple. Are we clear?

Kaffee: Yes, Sir.

Jessup: Are we clear!

Kaffee: Crystal.

 

Esteban, I too am now clear.

[esteban]

Eggcellent. Looks like you've possibly seen that movie a few times?

 

Cracker,

Question about the route. I know you've not been there before, but did it seem weak on snow? This may have been made obvious by things such as odd rap anchors or big calving scars?