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Mount Stuart Beta


jbeissel

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I'm hoping to get a little beta on Mount Stuart's North Ridge. We're looking to climb it in around the second week of July.

 

Which trailhead would you recommend starting at? (Ingalls Lake/Stuart Pass or Mountaineer Creek)

 

What is the best strategy in terms of bivying? Where are potential bivy spots and where can water be found? Would you suggest doing it in a day/push?

 

What type of snow/ice gear would you suggest? Is there likely to be much snow in the Cascadia Couloir? Full on mountaineering boots with crampons and ice axe, approach shoes with instep crampons, or something in between?

 

Thanks!

 

 

 

 

 

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Eastern Central Cascades. North Cascades are North of Highway 2 and are the green and red Beckey. This is in the tan (or brown) below Hwy 2.

 

Start at Ingalls. Bivy at Ingalls. Water at Ingalls. Iceaxe/Crampons/Boots. Plenty of snow in the Couloir and approach.

 

Buy Jim Nelson's 'Select Climbs of the Cascades' and photocopy the pages at 50 percent and laminate.

 

Good luck.

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Whoops, sorry, didn't see the Eastern Central forum. Maybe an admin can move this thread?

 

So one bivy at Ingalls Lake? Leave bivy gear and return after the descent?

 

(We're planning on doing the upper ridge)

 

I have both the Nelson and Becky guides.

 

 

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Car to car or Ingalls to Ingalls sounds good. Might be nice to avoid carrying bivy gear. Bivy gear + boots in the pack (I'm assuming I'm going to want rock shoes for the 5.9 pitches) is going to be a drag.

 

Do alot of people bivy on the ridge?

Edited by jbeissel
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don't put your boots in yer pack, just climb the route in'em!

 

napping at the notch (assuming you do the full ridge) is fun

 

approach from mountie creek (good luck not getting lost) and descend the sherpa (should still be in good shape - bring axe and cramps)

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Upper ridge: Come in via Ingalls and over Goat Pass. Bring approach shoes and aluminum crampons. You may gaiters to descend the Cascadian Couloir. Ice axe if you aren't comfortable on steepish snow

 

Complete ridge: Stuart Lake IF the bergschrund on the Sherpa glacier is "passable". I don't know what passable means for you. After doing the complete N Ridge, I would want it to be pretty casual. Ice axe and crampons to descend.

 

FYI - It can snow up there at any time. I was on the W Ridge in mid-July and encountered a storm that left 1/2 of rime on the rocks. I was on the North Ridge in August and it snowed over night and early morning.

 

Bivy at the notch. It's one of the best bivy sites I've used. There probably won't eb any water.

 

The complete North Ridge in a day is a bit of work. It's not for your average climber, but you don't have to be superman either. Route finding is pretty easy once you find the first pitches.

Edited by fenderfour
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If you can arrage it approach via mountaineers creek and have someone pick you up at ingalls (avoid the bivy if possible). If you're concerned about time I guess the upper ridge only makes sense, but don't skip the lower pitches just because you think they aren't worthwhile. The first few pitches were really quite good.

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How hard it it to find the Sherpa Glacier descent? I've done the upper North Ridge, but I think the chica and I are going to do the Full North Ridge this summer with a planned bivy at the notch. I'm just a little mixed up on the best way to approach/descend the Full North Ridge. We only have one car so the car shuttle thing is not too good. It seems like the approach from Mountaineers Creek is good, but how would you get back to MC if you didn't descend the Sherpa. Seems like it would be a long way. Same thing in coming in from Ingalls and going up and over Longs Pass. Seems like there are no short cuts to this one if you don't go down the Sherpa Glacier.

Edited by TimL
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Firing the complete (or even just the upper) in a day car to car generally requires either approaching or deproaching in the dark... usually some combination of both.

 

Though most people wont admit to it generally their first time coming in mtneers creek they stood around and scratched their heads at least once... if not got lost. Trying to "onsight" the mtneers creek approach in the dark is a great way to frustrate yourself. People will also screw it up on the way out (long day climbing the ridge + dehydration + dark = marco polo)

 

Though slightly easier to do in the dark the Ingalls approach is also easy to screw up... people commonly loose the cairns on the way up to Ingalls lake or drop down too far on the way up to stuart pass.

 

So what to do?

 

As climbing with bivy gear is the suck IMO approach via mtneers creek in the daylight and camp just below the moraine @ the last possible water. A smart climber would get an alpine start on approach day so they would get to the moraine with plenty of time to lounge around, rest up/hydrate and perhaps hike their rack/rope up to the top of the moraine (if not higher?) so they dont have to carry it in the morning and they get a chance to scope out what they will be doing the following morning.

 

On the second day fire the complete or just UNR. Enjoy :) Keep in mind it isnt climbing fast that will get you up the ridge... everyone climbs about the same speed... its the standing around/# of belay change overs/rest breaks/etc that will have a larger impact on the amount of time spent on the ridge. Basically stay on task or plan on an unplanned bivy ;)

 

Descend via the Sherpa back to your kit and either hike out or spend another night. Do your homework before you go and read all the TRs/stuart descent beta threads on this site (you'll have to dig but they are there) so you have an easier time finding and descending the correct couloir.

 

I saw it mentioned to camp near ingalls lake and then do the ridge the next day... this doesnt really help you IMO as camping @ Ingalls really only saves you an hour or two on the approach but it adds an hour or two on the way out as instead of going straight up to Longs pass you have to hike all the way to your kit and then over ingalls pass then back to the car. No real advantage to it beyond being a great camping spot

 

If you must/want to do the route C2C in a day I think the ingalls/longs pass combo is the better option. I was on Ingalls this last weekend and there is still a ton of snow for this time of year so if you are thinking about stuie in a day Id wait at least a few weekends... having to deal with snow on the approach will only slow you down.

 

Lastly check the sunrise/sunset times on the web. Try to be @ the start of the technical climbing (either the first pitch of the CNR or the couloir for the UNR) @ first light (dawn).

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John and all....

I too am thinking of doing the N. Ridge of Stuart this weekend... one day car to car via Ingalls Way # 1390.

I have two questions... First how much snow is on the route? Is it doable one day yet?

Secondly, i've done the route before and I recall that shortly after leaving the trailhead on #1309 there was a fork in the trail that we got confused on... I am concerned that doing it in the dark I'll get confused again... could somebody remind me which way to bear at this first trail crossing... literally less than a mile from the car.

 

Thanks!!!

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I hit snow before ingalls pass and was on snow all the way over to ingalls... no idea how much snow is on the actual ridge but the snow on the approach is going to seriously slow you down and result in a potential +24 hour day c2c. I'd say wait if you can and do it in July. Timing it just right during the summer and you can actually do the CNR with out setting foot on snow the entire way (so no pons or axe!) if you pick a smart line from goat pass down to the toe of the NR.

 

Your memory serves you well :) the turn off to ingalls pass comes very very quickly out of the parking lot... the sign is currently falling over but is kind of propped up with a pile of rocks. Basically @ the very first trail split out of the parking lot you need to take a right. This will take you up to Ingalls pass. If you hike more than 5 minutes out of the parking lot and dont see anything you likely missed the turn! Later in the season after all the snow is gone at some point on the way up to Ingalls pass the trail will split again... stay to the left... going to the right will take you up to longs pass.

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Thanks for all of the beta! I just tapped into the Trip Reports archive and I have to say that is a fantastic feature of this site and thanks to all of those who have shared their experiences there! I still haven't settled on a strategy, but I am getting a better idea of what to expect.

 

The Mountaineers Creek approach/Sherpa Glacier descent sounds like the more direct path, but introduces alot of variables that make me wonder if the Ingalls Pass approach / Cascade Couloir descent might be a safer bet for someone who is "onsighting".

 

A couple more questions - is "The Notch" bivy the saddle in the ridge just below the Great Gendarme?

 

Also, what is the best map for this area? Trails Illustrated?

 

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The ridge has a few "notches" in it... the most referred to one that I believe people are referring to in this thread is the one that is more or less 1/2 up the ridge... the access couloir from the stuart glacier will deposit you here. Reaching this notch is basically either half way (if you are doing the CNR) or the start of the actual rock climbing (if you came up the access couloir). When you buy Nelson's Selected it will make more sense :)

 

There are a few bivy sites along the upper portion (i.e. above the notch) of the ridge including one below the great gendarme. But why bivy when you can climb in day :)

 

Maps: USGS is what I use but I dont have a strong opinion on this one...

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I hit snow before ingalls pass and was on snow all the way over to ingalls... no idea how much snow is on the actual ridge but the snow on the approach is going to seriously slow you down and result in a potential +24 hour day c2c...

 

Did you climb it this past weekend?

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I wouldn't try climbing it in a day the first time. It's a big mountain and you are probably going to want some extra time to find your way around.

 

The best way to do the complete North Ridge in a day is to hike in via Mountaineer Creek/Stuart Lake and descend via the West Ridge and NW Buttress but not without some knowledge of the mountain first.

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C2C from Ingalls would be a hump.

The snow will be very soft all the way.

The ridge is long and you have to cruise.

The descent just keeps going down and going down. Remember the right turn down the gulley at the the black tower (7K?). It will point you straight at the Longs pass trail and save some time. The main trail continues down left and drops you about 1/2 mile downstream of the Longs pass trail.

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Looking for advice on a descent of the north ridge back the mountaineers creek way. It looks like in early season the sherpa glacier in the preferred descent. And some parties did so a couple weeks ago - but its been pretty warm since then, and expected to get hot as hell this weekend (we'll be up there likely monday and/or tuesday). Wondering what another alternative is? I read something about continuing on the ridge to a notch by Sherpa peak and rapping from there? Any alternatives or details would be appreciated. Thanks

 

donnie

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