Swedeclimber Posted July 29, 2008 Share Posted July 29, 2008 (edited) With a team of 4 we successfully climbed the original Coleman Headwall route on July 18-20. Climbers where Cri Boratenski, Matt Shaheen, Oscar and Charlotte Fors. Friday: Car-to-camp 7 hours Saturday: Camp-to-summit 11 hours, Summit-to-camp 3 hours Sunday: Camp-to-car 4 hours Equipment: 4 pickets, 12 screws, Ice tools, Single boots The weather was perfect but warm, making for soft snow. The path up to the snow line was straight forward. There where some passages with fallen trees, but nothing that impacted the progress. We shared the approach with several other teams, all who planned the standard Coleman-Deaming route. The routefinding over the Coleman Glaceier was not too bad, bridges where decent and the snow felt solid. We made camp at about 7500ft below the Headwall but out of reach for the constant rock- and ice fall. We started climbing as a 4-rope at 05.00 Saturday morning, knowing well that roping up as a 4 would make us slowet then 2 2-ropes. We made good progress over the initial bergschrund and up the icefall mostly on running belay with pickets and screws (team had 12 in total, 1 personal + 8 for climbing). We found 2 cruxes on the route, the first relatively simple but the other more complex. Cri lead the first without problem but Oscar took a fall on the overhanging ice on the second crux and ended up aiding up 20 feet. Matt had some problems with his crampons which came off at a total of 4 occations during the climb. Much appreciated by Matt and the team alike. (Matt has hence replaced these :-) ) Cri leading Crux 1, near vertical glacier ice. The conditions where great and all enjoyed the excellent climbing. After the first crux, we could not find a way up the lower of the two upper glacier walls and had to traverse climber's left over fairly steep terrain. The front pointing took its toll on the calfs. At the start of the treverse we found good blue-ice and put a 6" screw in, making for a safe passage. Oscar leading the treverse and putting a picket in. Charlotte following the treverse, enjoying the views and the dramatic scenery below the overhanging seracs. The trevese ended in the overhanging passage constituting the second crux where Oscar fell. Oscar leading Crux 2 by aiding on screws after a fall. Matt also logged a fall on the 2:nd crux, ending up hanging in his harness upside-down for a while, enjoying the view all the way down to camp. The exposure is total and one almost have to bend under the overhanging wall. After the second crux we had to continue traverse climbers left to find a weakness in the last overhaning glacier wall. We continued up through a band of crevasses and joined the North Ridge Route as it reaches the summit plateau. From there we had a 10 minutes walk to the true summit. Cri on Summit writing in the summit log. Oscar on summit with Shuksan in the background. We decended the normal route through softer snow, glissaded for sections, still roped in. We found a short-cut back to camp just below the Roman Nose and where back at camp 7 pm. The team back at camp. We where all tired after the longer then expected summit push. We had made good progress up to the 2:nd crux, where we spent about 1 hour. We melted water and had dinner before a very good night's sleep. We left from camp at 10am Sunday to reach the car at 2pm. On our way down we passed teams of rangers/volunteers who where cleaning up the route, much appreciated by our tired legs. We met several teams on the mountain who where planning on doing the North Ridge, but didn't come across anyone else who had done or planned on doing the Headwall. We had great conditions and evern though the upper overhanging glacier faces proved difficult to get through, we had a great climb. The passaged we found will be worse as the snow/ice melts and it is my assessment that the route is closing for the season. Please feel free to reach out to me if you have questions on the route. /Oscar Edited July 29, 2008 by Swedeclimber Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllYouCanEat Posted July 29, 2008 Share Posted July 29, 2008 Picture number 6 is awesome. Thanks for the report... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
esugi Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 That's a great TR and pics. I've been wanting to do the route for some time. Thanks for great beta. Do you have any pics looking across the Coleman? Interested in looking at the glacier conditions. For NR, do you recommend crossing lower or higher on the Coleman? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swedeclimber Posted July 30, 2008 Author Share Posted July 30, 2008 Yes, I actually had 2 pretty decent pics over the Coleman glacier. Taken by Matt and/or Cri... We found good bridges across the Coleman high. Since we didn't traverse over to the start of the NR route, I don't know about the bergschrund, but several teams did it that weekend and the following week, so I assume it's ok. Coleman Glacier from below, pic from July 19, 2008. Glacier was in "what you see is what you get" shape and we had no problem finding decent bridges. Coleman Glacier from above, 1/4 up the Coleman Headwall. July 20, 2008. Mail me at oscar_fors at hotmail.com if you want better resolution pics in a .zip file ~2.5 MB... /Oscar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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