[TR] chillawack - direct NE buttress, slesse 8/31/2007

[jwrockport]

Trip: chillawack - direct NE buttress, slesse

 

Date: 8/31/2007

 

Trip Report:

this is my first posting. I use this site alot and have not seen much on slesse this summer, so I thought the info might be appreciated. We did the direct NE buttres on slesse yesterday. We climbed as 3-some (me, my wife, and a friend)My friend , Dave Oleske was filming for the "Direct Becky Project" which will be a documentary on Fred's life. Check it out by googling "through a childs eyes productions" (he needs funding)

anyway, the route went slower as a filming threesome , but we still made back to the car at the base (car shuttle) in a day (23 hours) . The route was great, kind of non-descript and dirty in places on the lower 3rd with lots of variations possible, and then great finishing pitches. All the crashing icefalls in the area add alot of alpine feel and noise to the climb. The descent was ...well..just like all the books say, long and steep but with a pretty good trail.

Everyone can read the books, the real reason I am writing this is to comment on the approach.

 

Gear Notes:

Medium rack to 3

we used twin ropes for 3 people, and they were nice but not totally needed for the descent raps

no ice axe, no crampons

dont forget the headlamp

 

Approach Notes:

We took the standard approach in the book, except we missed the lower cut-off trail to the by-pass glacier abd found ourselves at the propeller carin in 2 hours from the car. We hiked up and down looking for the lower tral and finally just ended up traversing at about 450 meters, through the trees, arround to the bypass glacier. THE BYPASS GLACIER HAS SLID, yeeeehaw. There are still a few big ice cubes, but you can basically cruise accross the slabs in your sneakers.

Edited September 1, 2007 by jwrockport

[Zoran]

Thank you for this info about fred (and your climb).

I didn't know about this documentary.

Pictures are fantastic. Can't wait to see the final product.

 

 

[bigeo]

Planning on doing this route on the weekend of Sept. 15/16. Wondering if anyone else had the same thing in mind and we could work something out with cars. Are the roads to the approach and descent in reasonable shape?

[Alpinfox]

Who is this Fred Becky person?

[G-spotter]

where is this chillawack?

[michaeljosephnozel]

Just out of curiosity, was there any snow remaining on the route? Was thinking about bringing a light stove, and the timeliness of your ascent would assist me in that decision. Thanks in advance.

[jwrockport]

the road used for the descent is fine until the last 2k where it gets a little rough for a 2wheel drive (easy 4 wheel)

 

the drive for the approach is fine all the way for 2 wheel drive.

there is a small sign and flagging for the start

[jwrockport]

yes there is still a few chunks of snow/ice you could melt off of at the second/higher 4th class section, near the bivi ledges

[Brutus of Wyde]

Bed Freckey? isn't he a goalie for the Alberta Agros?

[clintcummins]

jwrockport,

 

Thanks for posting the conditions update on the bypass glacier. That was just the news we had been hoping to hear, so after your report we made plans and climbed it on September 14th (trip report by Steph on this forum).