[TR] Icicle High Country - Bong Buttress, Pipe Dreams 7/19/2008

[telemarker]

Trip: Icicle High Country - Bong Buttress, Pipe Dreams

 

Date: 7/19/2008

 

Trip Report:

Kyle Flick and I climbed Pipe Dreams (5.10, 5 pitches) on Bong Buttress. Bong Buttress is essentially the neck, chin to the nose of the Sleeping Lady seen at the entrance of Icicle Canyon. Pipe Dreams is a route Ron Cottman and Bruce Ross climbed on this buttress in August, 2003. Each pitch of this climb is interesting, sustained, steep in a great alpine ambience. An added bonus was this route faces northwest, so we were in the shade throughout the climb. The best approach is up Hook Creek, and across Edward's Mesa to the buttress. You have to rap down to the start of the route. I and a couple friends had climbed Pipe Dreams 4 years ago and thought given the heat it would be a good route to repeat.

 

Earlier this spring Kyle and I tried approaching up the ridge past Pearly Gates and behind Snow Creek Wall. This was brushy and endless with rotten snow, and we stopped exhausted about 500 feet before the buttress. So, Saturday we got a 3.30am start after a baked goods breakfast at Homefires Bakery. The hike up to Yellow Jacket Tower is best done in the dark. Having been up Hook several times, I have my own way of accessing Hook from YJT that seems to keep me up high and has a minimum of schwack. Either way it's still a pain.

 

We made "normal" time up the the Mesa (4.5 hours) and walked the flat terrain over to Bong. From there, two short raps took us to the scrambling section to the start of the route. The pitches are thus:

 

P1: 5.9 double cracks to a pine tree

P2: Traverse straight left to a pedestal and corner, up then more traversing left to a stemming chimney. Belay below a steep, thin crack. 5.9

P3: Clmib the thin crack (5.10) then up some steep, outragesously fun jug hauling below an off-width.

P4: Climb the O/W, up to a notch where the views open up, then cut right up then over to another notch where you are now belaying on a huge ledge facing west. 5.9

P5: Climb a splitter headwall crack up to some overhangs, then cut sharp right around the overhangs and belay on the summit ridge. 5.8

From here, scramble up the ridge around gendarmes up the the "nose" of the Lady, which is the summit.

 

The views from the summit are amazing, all the way down to the road, Toketie Lake/Wall. This is a quality climb with no fluff pitches. One of these days it would be nice to camp in Hook and do this route at a leisurely pace.

 

I didn't have a camera for this one, so all photos are a hodge-podge of several trips up there, and our spring venture of the ridge.

 

BONG BUTTRESS

 

MT. CASHMERE EARLIER THIS SPRING

 

ICICLE CANYON IN SPRING

 

BLOCKHOUSE EAST FACE, HOOK CREEK

 

TOP OF HOOK CREEK

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 21, 2008 by telemarker

[AlpineMonkey]

Do you guys have any distant shots of where Bong Buttress is, I've always kind of wondered but not sure what piece of rock it is. It's not that triangular rock below Toketie Wall is it?

 

-Craig

Edited July 22, 2008 by AlpineMonkey

[bwrts]

not the triangular buttress by toketie....

In this scenic shot(not my photo but off the interwebs),the right skyline of the left mountain:

(more or less the chin of the sleeping lady).

 

FWIW: my pals and I approached from below. not a bad hike, good game trails to follow in the brush. we climbed a lower wall, very mud-laden (much cleaner now) crack system which deposited you after two pitches (?rat) at the base of cotman/ross route. we then climbed two separate pictches on right side before joining pipe dreams stellar p3. we then deveated again to the left for a pitch or two to summit of chin.

to get to the nose, I remember, a short hike towards east (SE?) before gaining the highest rock outcrop.

 

good rock. variation was dubbed shrinkwrap cat;

lower wall crack was dubbed pantera pete.

I don't remember any of the climbing being harder than the stellar p3 of pipe dreams. (?rat)

[telemarker]

Ben, did you guys approach up the ridge past pearly gates, or straight up the gullett to the base? This spring we found that ridge to be VASTLY foreshortened and got spanked.

[AlpineMonkey]

Thanks Ben, We'll I've never been able to make out a sleeping lady eaither.

[rat]

Ben, did you guys approach up the ridge past pearly gates, or straight up the gullett to the base? This spring we found that ridge to be VASTLY foreshortened and got spanked.

 

straight up from the vicinity of dog dome....patches of sea-of-no-fun but not bad. shrink wrap cat is about 5 pitches up to .9+ or .10-. pitch 2 had some rambling. pitches 3-4 were in a right facing corner and pitch 5 was excellent finger/hand cracks. not sure how it compares with pipe dreams.

[G-spotter]

... We'll I've never been able to make out a sleeping lady eaither.

 

The first time I read this sentence it sounded like you were complaining about the potency of the rohypnol you used

 

The route sounds fun.

[clmblikeagirl]

did you bring your bong