[TR] Dragontail - NE Couloir Solo 12/5/2008

[coldiron]

Trip: Dragontail - NE Couloir Solo

 

Date: 12/5/2008

 

Trip Report:

On Friday, I set out to climb the NE Couloir of Dragontail after reading the good TR's recently. I had read that the climb was now out, but guessed that it could be good after a few days of freeze-thaw last week. The bottom part of the climb was firm neve, with solid sticks when I needed them, mostly straightforward snow climbing, with a short, trickier mixed step.

 

I carried 70m double ropes, a rack of 5 cams, 7 nuts, 4 pins, and 3 ice screws, along with a Silent Partner for self belay, biners, and slings. This made for a pretty heavy pack, but I didn't want to epic high up on this thing with only myself to whine to.

As I got into the steeper mixed steps I continued to feel solid. Soon the more difficult part of the climb approached, and I began to see more and more ice. Now I was making good sticks in plastic ice with occasional fun mixed moves.

I was so deep into the groove of climbing, I never felt the need to pull out the rope until I got to a steep rock step at the top with ice too thin to take my picks. I pulled the rope out for 20 feet and placed a thin knifeblade and 1 cam, then realized the climbing was more solid than it looked from below, so I stashed the rope and continued on.

 

 

I rapped off at dark and proceeded to have a slight epic coming down Asgaard Pass. I never realized there are so many opportunities to cliff out on that slope. I wasted lots of energy climbing back up to find a better route again and again.

 

Once I reached the lake I thought my troubles were over. This is when I found out why the standard approach stays high on the boulder field. After an hour or so of wrestling with killer brush in the dark, and gettting turned around by apartment-sized boulders, I finally stumbled on to the trail.

 

The mindless slog back to the car was tempered by the realization that I had just experienced one of those rare days(for me at least) where every stick is good, and you can climb unroped with no fear or hesitation.

 

Gear Notes:

I soloed, so use gear list from last TR. However, now you could use stubby screws in the upper sections.

 

Approach Notes:

No snow on the approach.

Don't stash stuff at the base of the climb. It is a pain in the ass to get back to when descending the pass!

Edited December 8, 2008 by coldiron

[mountainmatt]

Wow! Nice work! Your photos looking down are sweet!

 

 

[Dane]

Nicely done!

[JoshK]

Sweet! Looks like you had a great climb on a great mountain. I can imagine that big face can feel lonely in winter when you're all alone.

[Le Piston]

Nice TR! You've got bigger stones than I to solo that. I had great fun coming down Asgaard last month in daylight where I could see the ice and trail (and still slipping)...let alone in the dark. I haven't done that route yet...it looks sweet. For us older cautious types, was there lots of pro possibilities? Nice work man!

[coldiron]

Nice TR! You've got bigger stones than I to solo that. I had great fun coming down Asgaard last month in daylight where I could see the ice and trail (and still slipping)...let alone in the dark. I haven't done that route yet...it looks sweet. For us older cautious types, was there lots of pro possibilities? Nice work man!

 

Yes, I thought the pro looked pretty decent, particularly with stubby screws for the steep ice. I also saw lots of placements for small cams(esp. C3 or TCU 000-1, and KB's. I don't tend to use pickets, but I think you could use one pretty much anywhere in the snow sections in the current conditions.

[pms]

nice. love the pics

[Panos]

Dude, you are power.

Congratulations for sending this.

What technical difficulties did you encounter?

I know little about this route... F.B. says it

is a 5.7, but this means little in winter...

 

 

Edited December 15, 2008 by Panos

[Ken_p]

way to whip out the balls and giver a go

[Marko]

Very cool!

[coldiron]

Dude, you are power.

Congratulations for sending this.

What technical difficulties did you encounter?

I know little about this route... F.B. says it

is a 5.7, but this means little in winter...

 

 

Panos-

I don't think it is any harder than 5.7. Of course it is winter, so some of the moves may have felt more strenuous. I saw in the other NE Couloir TR, somebody had said it was M5, but I found it to be easier than that. Of course, they had different conditions than when I climbed it.

[Dane]

Nice solo and taking nothing away from Coldirons climb I'll answer for the the M5 comment.

 

Top pic is one taken two days before our climb. The second from Coldirons's, 7 days later after a warm wet week and then a hard freeze. John Frieh mentioned to me from his climb, "The M5 is easy too... more like M4." On our ascent I found two places got my attention while following, the beginning and the end of the upper headwall gully because of the lack of ice. In between those two points something more like WI 2+ or 3 and M3. Mixed grades are suppose to relate to rock. M3 being 5.7, M4 being 5.8 and M5 being 5.9. Obviously top roped, parts of it felt like 5.9 or M5 to me.

 

Pro wasn't that easy to attain on our ascent and most that lead at a 5.7 level would have had their hands full in the upper gully.

 

Note the pic of the the Patagonia DAS parka being climbed in? I also climbed the last bit in by Puff belay parka. Not something I generally do even in Canada. Alpine is all about getting the "right" conditions.

 

In the right conditions this thing was skied on tele boards.

 

 

 

 

These are from the upper gully two days apart.

 

starting..

 

 

Middle..

 

 

From the previous post..

 

http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/853017/1

 

"If you read Becky's guide this climb is rated a II 5.7 and 40 degrees. A 5.7 leader would be well out of his element on this one in similar late fall conditions. M4 or M5? The climbing was pretty sustained and poorly protected in the last, long, two pitches and harder than any M5 I have done at Hafner. Not all that much for pro, which most will want. Bring some thin pins. And a good bit steeper over all than the 40 degrees Becky has listed. It is a great climb however and more like something from Chamonix than what you'd expect to find in the NW. To be fair any mixed alpine route will change almost daily depending on conditions."

[DirtyHarry]

I believe you're thinking of Triple Couliors that has been skied.

[TrogdortheBurninator]

nope, ross skied this one too.

[DirtyHarry]

Correct you are.

 

http://www.alpenglow.org/ski-history/chronology/snoqualmie.html

 

April '04

[TrogdortheBurninator]

http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/331789/Searchpage/2/Main/22971/Words/dragontail/Search/true/TR_Dragontail_NE_Couloir_4_3_2#Post331789

 

stopped at the rock

[AlpineMonkey]

I can't imagine that being in skiing condition ever, that couloir must sure fill up with snow. There were parts that my fat ass barely squeezed through. Crazy for sure.

[DirtyHarry]

Crazy what a lot of snow will do. Similar to the NE Coulior on Colchuck?

 

http://www.skisickness.com/StuartRange/ColchuckNEC/

 

 

[Dane]

Climbing conditions late Nov

 

Skiing conditions late May

 

A lot of rock on the entrance in Nov.

 

I'm with Craig, it is pretty narrow. Ross still skied the entire gully. Places I couldn't get two feet side by side on ice while climbing it.

 

Be more interetsing to hear Craig's and Daniel's take on the lead.

[coldiron]

Nice solo and taking nothing away from Coldirons climb I'll answer for the the M5 comment.

 

Top pic is one taken two days before our climb. The second from Coldirons's, 7 days later after a warm wet week and then a hard freeze. John Frieh mentioned to me from his climb, "The M5 is easy too... more like M4." On our ascent I found two places got my attention while following, the beginning and the end of the upper headwall gully because of the lack of ice. In between those two points something more like WI 2+ or 3 and M3. Mixed grades are suppose to relate to rock. M3 being 5.7, M4 being 5.8 and M5 being 5.9. Obviously top roped, parts of it felt like 5.9 or M5 to me.

 

Pro wasn't that easy to attain on our ascent and most that lead at a 5.7 level would have had their hands full in the upper gully.

b]"

 

Of course my comment about it not being M5 for me says nothing of the conditions others found on the NEC. I should also mention that when commenting that none of the moves are harder than 5.7, I was using the Eldo classic Rewritten as the standard. Rewritten is definitely old school Eldo grade, and would not be a climb for a lot of 5.7 leaders, much less in gloves, crampons, heavy pack, etc... I don't want to be a part of grade creep on an old route. I guess if I had to nail down a grade that I think I encountered, it would probably be AI2+, M3.

 

I think the ice was much better the day I hit it than when Dane was on it. The pitch in the couloir was more like 50-55, as Ross called it (with some lower angle on the bottom half of the route). The last rock pitches were pretty steep, had little ice, and definitely felt commiting. I just don't think the climbing was any harder than Eldo 5.7.

 

Edited December 18, 2008 by coldiron

[Dane]

After seeing John Frieh's great TR and reading Becky's route description I figured "just how hard could it be @ 40 degrees and 5.7?" Like most of us here I would suspect.

 

Ross sez of his ski decent in May....

Beckey says the couloir steepens to 40 deg. but it is definitely much steeper than that. Having just been on the NF of Maude (55/60 on the upper section per Nelson's guide) and the NE Couloir on Maude, the upper section of the NE Couloir on Dragontail was steeper that any portion of those other routes.

 

Expect some 55+ degree snow climbing early in the season, short bits of WI2+/3 and finaly 2 pitches, with not a lot of pro, of solid 5.7 rock at the top of the route, in the best conditions, and you'll be better prepared for what you actually find.