[TR] Colchuck Balanced Rock - West Face - first tapeless one shoe Tuesday dads doggin ascent 8/12/2008

[Rad]

Trip: Colchuck Balanced Rock - West Face - first tapeless one shoe Tuesday dads doggin ascent

 

Date: 8/12/2008

 

Trip Report:

Parenthood requires more balance than a Darrington slab, but the rewards are tremendous and I have no regrets. In June we had our third child, a sweet baby boy, and the sleepless cycle has started anew. I love the mountains, but it’s hard to justify leaving my wife to handle all three kids while I traipse around the hills. This unsupported hip belay is probably harder than CBR!

 

So this year I’ve turned into a skinny sport climber, spending more time in the gym than on real rock, and more time clipping bolts than placing gear.

 

Still, I do have modest alpine dreams to pursue, and as I turned 40 in March I know I’d better not let them sit on the shelf too long. Thankfully, my wife understands that my spirits are lifted by climbing in ways that I don’t find in other activities, and she is very supportive. So when Brandan called and offered a chance to camp at Colchuck Lake and climb CBR, which has long been on my list, I asked for and was granted a highly prized overnight pass. Brandon is a new father himself, so he understands the balancing act of fatherhood.

 

Car-to-car pushes in recent years have been great, but I find their hurried pace makes it more difficult to tune in to the natural world. I was really looking forward to spending the time in the mountains hiking, swimming, and camping on this trip.

 

Our permit was for August 10th, 11th, and 12th, but I could only go for night of the 11th. Poor Brandon had to go to Ltown on the morning of the 10th to get our permit, even though we wouldn’t set foot on the trail until the following afternoon. For that, and for applying and getting the permits in the first place, I let him have his pick of pitches. We decided to lead in blocks: he would lead everything up to and including the enduro corner, and I would lead everything above that.

 

We met up on Monday, packed more gear than I’ve taken on any route, heeding advice from Layton and others.

 

We hiked up to Colchuck Lake on a perfect afternoon and found the water irresistable.

 

The diving judges were not kind: legs apart (-0.5), feet not pointed (-0.5), not vertical (-1.0), large splash (-1.0), and terrible suit (-1.5). Too bad they don't grade satisfaction.

 

Perhaps the best campsite in the cascades.

 

Kaleidoscope reflections at sunset.

 

 

It was a perfect temperature and there were almost no bugs. I saw one shooting star but opted to sleep instead of staying up to watch the Leonid meteor shower. This would be my first night of uninterrupted sleep since June 4th.

 

The next morning we hiked around the lake and made our way up the gully to the base of the route. There is water in the lower gully but only hard snow after that. The bush whacking was really quite minimal.

 

We both decided to go tapeless, which went fine except I got just enough small scrapes to make co-workers think I’d been in a cat fight. After a scramble and short mid-fifth pitch we started up the business. The 10+ crack is short and sweet.

 

The 5.9 step across and double cracks were sweet. Here is an obligatory shot of the classic enduro corner. It is certainly spectacular and sustained. Sadly, we both hung at one wet spot. Stronger climbers will jam harder and go right past without blinking. The rest of the route was dry.

 

The roof was a delight, though I was unable to free the middle section. I’ll place some of the blame on my shoe, which had a blowout on the 10+ pitch. I'd been putting off doing a resole and would now pay dearly for it. The rubber would stick on the rock but my shoe would roll off of it, making smearing impossible. Thankfully, the gear is good all the way.

 

Some call this 5.9 the best pitch on the route. It was fun, but too short and too sharp for me to rate it at the top. It does have a decent rest mid-pitch to break out the camera and snap a picture.

 

 

The dreaded chimney is really not as heinous as many would have you believe. In fact, I thought it was definitely the best pitch on the entire route. Maybe I was just stoked to get this clean onsight after dogging on the harder pitches down low.

 

It is fabulously exposed, has challenging moves that require some creativity and technique, and it is highly varied, going from crack to face to blocks to chimney to face to crack to blocks to chimney to face all in about 100ft. Where else will you do a semi-inverted knee-jam above solid gear while pulling on a juggy flake? Make sure to save one large piece (#3 or #4 camalot or a #2 (not as good)) for the upper chimney.

 

We had the entire formation to ourselves, so I took the opportunity to trundle two death blocks at the start of the chimney.

 

The alpine flowers were in fine form on the upper reaches of the formation.

 

I switched to tennis shoes for the last lead and got one last exposed face move onto this block, protected by a tied off chickenhead. It was a perfect ending to an excellent day.

 

The rap and descent at sunset were very straightforward.

 

We managed to get a little deeper into the greenery on the hike out. It’s not a true adventure until you’re thrashing through the brush in the dark.

 

Still, we were never lost and never felt too hurried or desperate. We got back to the car too late for Heidel Burgers, too late for gas, and too late to score grub at Safeway.

 

We even decided to forgo the celebratory beers for fear of falling asleep on the drive home.

 

I thought I might run out of gas heading West, but managed to avoid a total epic by driving 55mph and shifting to neutral on all the downhills. Tragedy narrowly averted.

 

Home again at 3:30am. Off to work at 7am for an important meeting, but not before holding my son (and changing his diaper).

 

MANY THANKS TO BRANDON for being great company, a great partner, providing the permits, and patiently waiting for my slow ass on the approach. Don't underestimate the cardio components of this trip when you train for it.

 

I look forward to doing this route again at some point, preferably with two intact shoes!

 

Meanwhile, I'll enjoy more of this:

 

Gear Notes:

We took doubles to #3 camalot, one #4 camalot, and triples of #1 and #2 camalots. We used it all, but it sure seemed like a lot of crap to carry.

 

Many thanks to numerous cc.com posters for providing a plethora of useful beta. This site does have some good material if you're willing to wade through the muck.

 

Approach Notes:

Book and Cc.com descriptions are good. Follow your nose. It always knows.

 

Go late in the year to maximize your chances of finding the enduro corner and huge roof dry enough for free climbing.

 

 

 

 

Edited August 18, 2008 by Rad

[olyclimber]

Great pictures, nice jorb on the climb.

 

without the muck this place would be pretty sterile!

[Alpinfox]

Nice!

[TrogdortheBurninator]

Great TR Rad.

[Winter]

Cool TR and cute baby! Looks like he would work well to protect that chimney pitch.

[Blake]

Great TR rad.

 

You and Brandon had the right idea about waiting until the afternoon to climb this thing. It is cold up there an doesn't get much sun at all, especially not until late afternoon.

[Wakaranai]

Thanks for the TR daddy! It was a very enjoyable climb indeed. Please thank the family for me. Its always a little sweeter seeing the kids after a trip isnt it. Have a good time in Pesatin, and thanks again for the great pics. Looking forward to future adventures.

-Brandon

[Sol]

RAD TRAD DAD'S!

 

Congratulations you guys.

[Rad]

Great pic Brandon!

 

without the muck this place would be pretty sterile!

 

I agree 100%.

 

Cool TR and cute baby! Looks like he would work well to protect that chimney pitch.

 

Actually, the chimney has a crack in the back that takes #2 camalots down low and 0.5 camalots up high.

 

You and Brandon had the right idea about waiting until the afternoon to climb this thing. It is cold up there an doesn't get much sun at all, especially not until late afternoon.

 

Sounds good, though we actually started up around 9:30am. We were just slow. Anyway, we didn't find it cold at all up there.