[TR] Eldorado - NE Face - N Ridge Var. 10/27/2007

[TrogdortheBurninator]

Trip: Eldorado - NE Face - N Ridge Var.

 

Date: 10/27/2007

 

Trip Report:

Mike (colt45) and I headed up to Eldorado Friday intent on checking out the nw couloir. This was our 2nd time to eldorado, but our first time up eldo creek. The log crossing was a bit icy, and closer to the parking lot than we had inferred from the directions. The approach itself is mostly dry still, with snow starting just below treeline (mostly continuous above 6000'). My bonehead moment for the day came when I left my sunglasses in the 2nd boulder field at lunch. I realized this about 700ft too late, but not wanting to be without sunglasses on such a sunny day, and given that mike had marked our lunch spot on his gps, I jogged back down to find them. Needless to say, even with gps, everything looked exactly the same and I didnt have any luck. By chance I brought the case to my glasses with me, and it happened to have extra orange lenses in it, so I resolved to fashion some stylish new glasses out of ductape. The glasses worked well enough and we eventually gained camp at around 7500' just as the sun was setting.

 

 

It was a spectacular evening with sunset and sunrise coinciding perfectly. The next two photos are taken 40 seconds apart, in opposite direction.

 

 

 

One more with the moon a little higher:

 

 

The evening was spent melting snow and staring at the beautifully illuminated mountainscape.

 

We woke up around 5AM and were moving around 6:00. Moving on to the inspiration glacier we found that wednesdays squalls had brought considerably more snow to the region than we had anticipated (8-12").

 

 

Navigating through the inspiration was mostly straightforward, however the recent snow still kept us on our toes. We gained the dean spire - eldo col (relying on the beta from Dave B's site) shortly after another beautiful sunrise.

 

 

 

we scoped the couloir and comparable aspects as best we could, but the combination of unconsolidated snow and moderate winds ultimately led us to change our plans. As a consolation we decided to climb the "north ridge". Although more of a variation to the NE face than an independent line, the views in to marble creek and the aesthetic line make for a very striking, although technically easy, route. We climbed one 60m fixed pitch so we could discuss conditions, then proceeded to simul climb the rest of the route, finishing up the classic snow arete. The route was mostly power snow punctuated by one or two slightly steeper steps of more interesting climbing.

 

This looked cool:

 

Alpine ridge:

 

"crux" step:

 

Mike belaying up and over the summit:

 

Camp and Glacier Peak:

 

Descent:

 

3rd class gully connect eldo drainage to roush drainage:

 

Overall, this was an exceptionally enjoyable route in the current conditions and I would highly recommend it as an alternative to the oft traveled east ridge or as a backup for more technical marble creek objectives. With the current snowpack, the route protects very well and feels quite safe.

 

Gear Notes:

With intent of climbing NW couloir, we had and used:

2 tools each

cams from blue TCU to gold camalot

set of nuts

2 pickets

 

We had, but didnt use:

2 screws

5 assorted pins

 

Approach Notes:

Snow starts around 5000' and is mostly continuous above 6000'. Traversing in to roush creek, the boulder field provides quite a bit of postholing, however once in the roush drainage the going becomes easier. The 3rd class gully is a combination of dirt, snow, rock and grass. It is fine, but requires some attention. Inspiration glacier is in good shape.

[Alex]

Hey guys, boy you got the weather! You passed us on the way down as we were going up. Nice pics

[TrogdortheBurninator]

Mike and I thought we heard voices, but never actually saw you guys, seemed like mutual hallucination. Did the weather crap out for you guys?

[magellan]

What am I looking at here?

 

 

[layton]

primus?

[colt45]

That's the west face of Klawatti.

 

Here are some other photos from the trip:

 

Improvising sunglasses from spare lenses, duct tape and a stuff sack draw cord...

 

Nice steeper section of frozen snow:

 

Higher on the ridge:

[Animal]

Great pictures, lookes like a great trip!

 

 

[rob]

My bonehead moment for the day came when I left my sunglasses in the 2nd boulder field at lunch.

 

I found your glasses. It's funny, we stopped for lunch at exactly the same place. What are the odds?

 

Sent you a PM.

[letsroll]

ncie trip. way to get out and get some. Thanks for posting those pics.

 

Those sunglasses are so "Hot"

[Toast]

Those kick ass!

 

 

[chucK]

Argreed!

 

Looks like a great trip too. Getting an extra pair of glasses. Bonus!

[AllYouCanEat]

Nice trip! I had such an amazing time there a few weekends ago, no more fun than it looks like you all had though. The weather and scenery have colluded with a few weekends this month rather perfectly. As a weekend warrior, I couldn't be more happy. I'm sure you guys couldn't either.

 

Thanks for the photos.

Edited October 29, 2007 by AllYouCanEat

[JoshK]

Hey Trog, how do you think the skiing would be up there the next couple of days?

[TrogdortheBurninator]

The snow was nice and fluffy on protected and loaded aspects above maybe 7000'. You could definitely get some really nice turns in, but it would be quite a bit of hiking before you started skinning (probably not until you get in roush drainage).

[wayne]

Those advanced glasses are the lightest pair on the market!

[Rad]

Nice outing and pics Trog.

[DanielHarro]

Looking at getting up to eldorado maybe tomorrow, just curious which approch you did, how may miles it is and about how long it takes. Thanks for the help, I am at work and I dont have my nelson book... thanks!!

 

Daniel Harro

[TrogdortheBurninator]

We used the eldo creek approach. The rd to sibley is closed, and besides, eldo creek is much much easier. Not sure on mileage, but it was 5300 ft from car to camp, with only mayb 200 ft lost on the whole approach. Inlcuding the time spent looking for my sunglasses (~1hr), I think we spent a bit over 7 hrs on the approach. There is a log crossing for the cascade river maybe 50 ft downstream from the parking area.