Calder Posted May 2, 2009 Posted May 2, 2009 (edited) Trip: Dragontail/ Colchuck Glacier - Tripple Couloirs recon Date: 4/31/2009 Trip Report: Thurs evening I skinned and booted up to Colchuck Lake. The road is almost open all the way to the trailhead, you can get to within a couple of hundered yards or so. The lake is still frozen solid and there was a fair amount of new snow. The wind was nuking pretty good in places but it was sunny and beautifull at the col. A bunch of split boarders and skiers showed up. They all asked if I was the crazy bastard who booted it up. It was a pretty busy day up there, but the powder was pretty nice. alt='Dragontail_044.JPG'> One of these pics is a close up of the runnels. No ice! Gear Notes: Pepper Jack and Gallo Italian dry salame Approach Notes: The trail has a lot of bare spots. The guys who came up that morning said they wore tennies all the way to Colchuck Lake. The snow was still pretty firm on the way down in the afternoon. Edited May 2, 2009 by Calder Quote
Calder Posted May 2, 2009 Author Posted May 2, 2009 Yeah thanks for putting the photo up. I went back and edited it. First time screw ups you know how it is. Quote
Dane Posted May 3, 2009 Posted May 3, 2009 A lot more snow now than when the first "winter" ascents of either were done. Quote
Lisa_D Posted May 3, 2009 Posted May 3, 2009 sure looks like it. love those "winter" ascents! (I had a few myself this year, though nothing as impressive as backbone) Quote
Jens Posted May 3, 2009 Posted May 3, 2009 A lot more snow now than when the first "winter" ascents of either were done. Rock shoes get worn a lot more than crampons on most of the Cascades "First Winter Ascents". Gotta love our climate in WA state! - it defies the seasons. Quote
icmtns Posted May 4, 2009 Posted May 4, 2009 (edited) Looks like a little more snow on the runnels then when we were up there on April 26. Attempted the runnel direct route, no ice, just sugar snow and rock. Got 60 meters and bailed on the attempt due to reaching the turn around time. Climbing the runnels without ice is um...hard? My partner was stellar, led the full 60 meters. Pro was mainly pitons. Looking forward to trying it next year, with ice. BTW: I heard cutthroat doesn't have ice (report from last weekend May 3). Edited May 4, 2009 by icmtns Quote
Ade Posted May 7, 2009 Posted May 7, 2009 A lot more snow now than when the first "winter" ascents of either were done. Probably about the same as when we did the Serpentine but less than the freak conditions for the Backbone. I'd been half way up the Backbone in more typical conditions and the actual route stays pretty dry. On that attempt we were shut down by high wind/weather not snowed up rock. http://www.ademiller.com/climbing/gallery/cascades/dragontail_serpentine_ridge_2004/slides/1_North_Face_from_Colchuck_Lake_2.htm Quote
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