[TR] Sherpa Peak - NorthRidge 9/14/2008

[Know_Fear]

Trip: Sherpa Peak - NorthRidge

 

Date: 9/14/2008

 

Trip Report:

Sorry for the long TR, but I think this route is worth it. And the beta that I could find for it is poor. Some rainy day in the near future and/or before the next alpine rock season I will post more details about the approach, etc. at www.summitpost.com. Send me a PM if you need it sooner.

 

Background:

 

By Northwest (OR/WA) standards Sherpa North Ridge is an excellent alpine rock route. The rock is solid, the setting/exposure are great and most importantly the ratio of good climbing to hiking is high. Protection, jamming and friction are excellent. Having climbed extensively in the West for 20+ years (10 in the NW) – I’m sort of an alpine rock junkie. I think this route is more interesting than other, more popular rock routes in the region, e.g. Dragontail Serpentine Ridge, Mt. Stuart Upper N. Ridge, Prusik W. Ridge, Forbidden W. Ridge, or Triumph N.E. Ridge. It lies just outside the Alpine Lakes permit zone, so no permit or visit to der F.S. station is needed.

 

Approach:

 

The approach is long but total elevation gain is reasonable. More than half of the approach is off trail and unmarked which makes it difficult (Nelson/Petterfield III+). You loose references on the forested approach and random cairns lead toward routes on Stuart, etc. It’s easy to get side tracked. When in doubt – err toward the east. There is a descent climbers trail along Mountaineer’s Creek. Beyond that, there are a lot of downed trees, and extensive talus hopping. Aspiring climbers should scout the approach before you commit your precious vacation time. After several attempts we managed to hike from the Stuart T.H. to the bivi in under four hours. It’s another 1.5 to 2 hours of talus hopping to the toe of the ridge. Plan on 1.5X to 2X this time on your first try. We added some cairns/colored tape which I wouldn’t normally do because this route deserves more ascents.

 

Route:

 

We climbed the entire N. Ridge. There are roughly three sections. The lower ridge is easy 4th/5th class. We tied in, but didn’t place gear and climbed in our approach shoes. The first section ends with a 25m rap to a notch from slings. The second section is steeper and has many options. We climbed several good 5.7 to 5.8 pitches just left/east of the ridge. We passed several, fun looking 5.8 to 5.9 options. The objective is the top of the large tower which sits two-thirds of the way up the ridge. From that tower - rap 25m from slings to a notch and the “knife edge ridge” mentioned elsewhere. This is more like a knife edge bridge (4th class). The final section has two short, but steep 5.8 pitches followed by several blocky steps. Some steps are 5.8+ but short, and bouldery. The “marginal rock” mentioned by Nelson/Potterfield is actually quite good and only marginal relative to the rest of the rock which is very good. It’s not possible to give the number of pitches because we simul-climbed some, many were short to reduce rope drag and there are variations. We spent about 10 hours on the route. You could bypass the first section. The photos I found online appear to be bypassing the second section as well.

 

Descent:

 

Now the not-so-good news. The descent sucks. In our haste we went right for the descent. I had read to “make two short raps to the S.W., then traverse toward the east…” We saw slings and started down. After a short rap, then a long one. We down climbed then rapped again. Crossing to the east seemed improbably. So, we continued down. Long story here… In retrospect we should have scouted from the summit. Maybe rap’ed toward the S.E.? Somebody needs to post a photo w/ the descent route clearly marked. Crampons/axe are not needed to descend from Sherpa-Argonaut Col in late season (mid Sep).

 

Gear/logistics:

 

I used one each cams: .5 to 3.5, the red and yellow Aliens, a couple of stoppers and 6 shoulder length slings. Anchors were rocks or trees on the lower two sections. A single 50m rope is fine. A TR that I read said that it’s do-able car to car in a day. Given the length of the route, the complicated approach and descent, and the lack of beta - I suggest three days. I enjoy a good sandbag now and then, but if you do the math you can see this is a long one. Besides, you might as well savor this one. There’s lots of water on the north side, but there was none on the route and none above tree line on the south side. Returning via Sherpa Col to a bivi is probably the best bet. There are plenty places at the base of the ridge to bivi if you prefer to carry over. Rap’ing straight down the upper section and second gully is conceivable.

 

 

[davidjo]

Great trip report, even with no photos. We did this on 9/6 and spent an unplanned second night at the bivy. On the descent we traversed east staying between 7,700 and 7,800 ala Nelson, but ran into a large dark rib that looked improbable. After going down quite a ways, we went back up over the top of the rib at ~7900, which worked well. Once the snow melts in the gullies to the north it looks like you pretty much have to go all the way to Sherpa Pass.

[Know_Fear]

 

 

[Know_Fear]

I uploaded several pics to my gallery - search for "sherpa peak." I added a link to one of several photos above. This shows the entire route. This was taken near the bivi site. The other pics show details of the route from below and above and a long shot taken from Colchuck Peak last July.