[TR] Lundin - West Ridge 8/3/2008

[Noodle]

Trip: Lundin - West Ridge

 

Date: 8/3/2008

 

Trip Report:

Mike and I were snowed off of Lundin in late May of last year and had been waiting for another chance for a while now. In the absence of a snow filled Commonwealth Basin and what looked to be a guaranteed car wash on the old Commonwealth Basin trail, we opted to take the PCT up to the Red/Lundin saddle and traverse over to the west ridge.

 

[Flowers on Red Mountain]

 

From what I can tell we followed the East Ridge route to the base of the east ridge of the main peak. It's trail/climbers path to the top of the left peak.

 

[Our approx route. Red = ascent, Yellow = descent]

 

[Views of Mt. Thompson and beyond from the east peak.]

 

 

From there the sketchy fun begins. You drop off the south side down a steep loose slope maybe 30 feet then traverse slightly west to a minor gully.

 

[Mike somewhere on the middle peak looking for the best flight path down]

 

Mike gave me a belayed downclimb on this short 3 or 4th class gulley to a heather ledge. From the notch between the east and middle peaks we followed a climbers path around the north side to just short of the top and then got back on the south side (don't remember the details here), angling down and back on sloping ledges to get into the big gulley between the middle and main (west) peaks.

 

[East Ridge from the main/middle peak saddle]

 

 

From here we descended loose crap and some snow low enough to get into the talus field below the south face of the main peak where we traversed up to the base of the west ridge.

 

 

From here it's a straightforward bit of 3rd class climbing to what looks like the first pitch, about 30 feet. Mike thoroughly enjoyed it but was dismayed to find a 10' leap on the far side so he retreated and we took the well worn climbers track around the north side for a bit, then up and slightly back to regain the ridge for the real first and only pitch.

 

 

In the end, we tagged all three summits of Lundin. We chose to descend into Commonwealth Basin and pick up the trail on the lower part of the ridge that it follows up to the slopes of Red. It was a bit of a schwak, but we got some route advice from a party of three we met on the summit who had approached from the basin that morning that made it a little less painful.

 

[Red Mountain from Lundin]

 

[The hazardous enigma]

 

 

 

Gear Notes:

60 meter rope will get you off the summit in one rappel

 

Approach Notes:

Bugs, snow patches

[mtgurus]

What would you rate the East Ridge 3/4 class? I climbed the West Ridge this past June. I thought its was exposed 3rd class at best. Looks like you had a good time...

 

mtgurus

[EJF]

Very nice trip report.

 

I'm a newbie and I climbed the east ridge - probably in May of 2006. There was one slabby part near the top where I was very glad that we used a rope. I was especially glad that I was roped up when I saw a plaque there for someone who had died slipping off the part that gave me pause.

[Noodle]

East Ridge - Didn't really take a good look at it. The approach is 3/4 class. I'd guess that from the notch to the summit is 4th class.

 

West Ridge - There are places where a fall left or right off the ridge would be bad, so I'd call it 4th class. We used a rope for that one section near the top, but it was really easy climbing.

[belayerslayer]

great tr! love to get up that one sometime! what exactly is the 'hazardous enigma'?

[Noodle]

great tr! love to get up that one sometime! what exactly is the 'hazardous enigma'?

 

Mt. Garfield. It's referred to as "a hazardous enigma" in the CAG.