Chair Peak North Face direct - A new route?

[martin]

A few days ago, Kurt Buchwald and I (Martin) climbed a route on the North Face of Chair Peak that I have not been able to find any beta on. It is basically a direct line from the summit proper to the base of the North Face. It is a 5 pitch route, goes at 5.9 and has surprisingly good rock quality. It is in parts the same rock (Snoqualmie Batholith) that you see in the standard descent rap couloir (not to be confused with the loose surface garbage that is laying around in the couloir).

We felt it was a good line, worth the trouble and could up the appeal of Chair Peak. A more indepth trip report of the route can be viewed at http://www.proguiding.com/tripreport/view/chair-peak-north-face-direct

We are looking for input from y'all to see if this route had been done before. At any rate, we can recommend it. Certainly harder than the NE Buttress, but also way higher quality. The fact that it basically goes straight to the top is nice.

Cheers. M

[Bug]

Its been skied.

[martin]

Nope...

[hefeweizen]

Check this out.

 

Not sure if that's the same line, if you guys climbed straight to the top you probably were lookers right of the line in Sky's TR.

 

In fact, now that I looked at your topo it is definetly not the same line. Nice job!!

Edited September 24, 2007 by hefeweizen

[TrogdortheBurninator]

Looks like an enjoyable route.

 

Martin's TR spells out where their route is relative to the classic NF route:

 

"So we hiked up into the Chair Peak basin, switched over onto the North side, walked passed the classic North Face route for maybe 200 meters to the intended route entrance"

[martin]

Yes, it is about 200 meters to the west of the classic North Face route and maybe maybe 100 meters or so to the east of a very distinct gully that leads to the West Ridge Route entrance. Good rock there too, btw.

[Bug]

Looks really nice!

Thanks for the TR.

[scottgg]

Looks good! Is this near Kit Lewis's "North Grove" route? From your topo, it appears your route is just to the left of the gully defining the North Grove's start?

[martin]

Hmmm... not sure, I did see an old pin a couple of pitches up in a groove. We were to the right of that.

[glassgowkiss]

looks almost the same as the route Steve Swenson and I did about 10 years ago. it was winter, but it pretty much was exactly the same. I remember a quite steep (vertical) buttress, just to the right of us. Can't comment on crack- since most of the stuff was snowed up, however Steve placed a fair number of cams on pitch 1 for protection. I am quite sure we had our second belay on the same tree (the pitches we did were quite long- as I remember). Steve was quite sure this line was climbed before. anyway- imo i would not claim any "new" lines on this peak

[Bug]

... anyway- imo i would not claim any "new" lines on this peak

 

I would agree.

I have found gear at the base all the way around it. The north face especially. I got several old soft iron pitons there from different places along the base.

[DirtyHarry]

I soloed a route about there a couple winters ago.

[glassgowkiss]

Martin, The route Steve Swenson and I did about 10 years ago is almost identical to your line. We did it after a cold snap as a mix line. I just look closer at the topo and your pictures. We started almost the same place as you guys, however higher, since there was a snow cone at the base. We climbed just to the left of the corner visible above the climber on pitch 1. I think the 5.7 pitch (#2 on the topo), we climbed an ice bulge to the left, but we ended up belaying on the same tree as you guys higher up.The very top looks pretty much the same as what we did. Of course almost 10 years passed since we did this route, so some of the details are hazy. Also some of the detail on the face might look a bit different, when covered by ice and neve.

I asked Steve if this line was climbed. He thought most of the lines were done in the past, because of the proximity to Seattle.

A lot of climbers, like Kit Lewis used this peak as training ground, however their ascents went unrecorded. This situation was reflected in Jason's and Alex's work on the guidebook, where it was almost impossible to trace all the details at this point.

ciao- Robert

[Alpine_Tom]

This is one of those "if a tree falls in the forest" questions -- if you don't have any beta, and are routefinding as you go, is it qualitatively different than a first ascent?

It does seem hard to believe that there are any genuine first ascents left in such an accessible area, but aside from bragging rights, I don't really see that it matters. Unless, of course, they had to bail partway up, and then claimed that no one else could touch their project for the next six months.

 

Good job finding a fun, worthwhile line, and sharing the information with others.

[Bug]

While your point is noted, the original poster did say;"We are looking for input from y'all to see if this route had been done before."