[TR] Thomson (Thompson) - West Ridge 8/1/2009

[KaskadskyjKozak]

Trip: Thomson (Thompson) - West Ridge

 

Date: 8/1/2009

 

Trip Report:

 

Three climbing partners and I were originally planning on climbing Magic and Mixup this weekend but got scared off our plans due to Beta from a friend of a very close call with rockfall rappelling off of Mixup. So, we opted for an overnight of Thomson instead.

 

We hit the TH at 7 am on Sat - it was already warm. The approach via the PCT was the shortest 6 miles I can remember and mostly pleasant. We arrived at Ridge Lake just before 10.

 

After setting up camp and dropping some weight we proceeded to find Bumblebee Pass, which turned out to not be difficult at all. We then saw our objective clearly:

 

Mount Thomson (sometimes spelled Thompson). W ridge is on the left skyline; east ridge is on the right skyline and through an obvious wide notch not visible from this photo (offscreen to the right):

 

 

I had hoped to be at the base of the route by noon, but the going was slow up the blocky Talus. You drop around 300 feet from Bumblebee Pass, traverse flat ground, then ascend 900 feet of Talus, finishing off with some exciting, but solid, class 4 scrambling to get over the dog's teeth to the notch.

 

I was the first to the notch, so I started to get my rack out and look for an anchor. There appears to have been a stout tree anchor here in the past, but it looked pretty dry and dead now, so I set up a gear anchor. By this time my partners arrived. We started up around 1:30 (I think).

 

The first pitch (30m) is mostly low class 5 with a few 5.6 moves. It has the most loose rock of any pitch (excluding maybe the scrambling near the end). Pro is ample and the climbing is fun.

 

When I pulled the rope to put my partner on belay I noticed the rope was about to knock a football-sized rock loose. I tried gingerly whipping the rope away, but it was no good. I warned my partners that a rock was going to come down, and, based on the way the gully angled didn't foresee an issue. When the rock came loose it took a bad hop and shot left and almost hit one of our party. Very scary start. Nobody was hurt, and the rope was not hit. So much for avoiding rockfall on Mixup, eh?

 

The second pitch was much more solid and had much more sustained mid class 5 climbing with some 5.6 tops. A great pitch with great exposure. This pitch is about 40m.

 

I stopped at a great belay ledge for pitch 2, but once I started up pitch 3 realized it would have been better to go up 10 feet more. Oh well. I continued up a few more feet, and pitch 3 turned into an easy scramble across an exposed slab. I used up the full rope length to set up my belay.

 

I yelled "on belay". I yelled it again. I did rope tugs. Repeat for 30 minutes or so. Maybe 45. In the meantime the bugs that lived in the belay tree were eating me alive, and the sun was beating down on me. Whiskey. Tango. Foxtrot! Finally after one of my most vociferous bouts of screaming, filled with profanity my follower started up. I had thought my follower just could not clean some pro and had yelled "leave the f***** piece for the next team to clean". Actually, she was helping try to pull rope up for the 2nd follower. The 2nd lead had only brought 2 double slings, and with zig-zagging zippered placements with single slings had totally locked the rope. I brought in my second, got my pro back, and quickly scrambled over to check out the situation.

 

Looking back up to the belayer while investigating the cluster:

 

I yelled down and found out the cluster had been resolved, I scrambled back to my belayer and continued on to the 4th pitch:

 

 

This pitch was short and easier than the first 2+. It still had some mid-class moves and great exposure. I put in 3, maybe 4 pieces. Again, doubles are useful (I put a triple sling in with my omni-anchor).

 

Looking down from the 4th pitch:

 

Next "pitch" was a full-rope-length scramble ending in a trail headed down to a belay anchor.

 

Pitch 6 was like pitch 4 but shorter, easier, and with only a couple mid-class 5 moves.

 

Enjoying the summit:

 

My partner and I summitted at around 6:45. The second team followed 30 minutes later. Time was short on the summit and we started down.

 

We opted for 3 single rope rappels and leapfrogged with the ropes to speed things up. After the 3rd rappel, the trail down the east ridge was visible immediately to skiers left. There were no routefinding issues back to Bumblebee Pass. I found the trail across the talus and scree hard to follow in some places, but it was dusk. It was not very pleasant downclimbing/hiking. I was glad to have trekking poles.

 

We got back to camp after 10 pm and were quite glad we were overnighting and not hiking 6 more miles back to the car. Bugs were only just then started to die down. I enjoyed the stars while I downed my flask of scotch.

 

Gear Notes:

Small alpine rack, lots of double runners, maybe even a triple.

60m rope, or running belay. Helmet.

 

Approach Notes:

Snow free. Buggy.

[Rad]

Thanks for the TR. Great peak and setting. Too bad the rock is so crappy.

[KaskadskyjKozak]

Thanks for the TR. Great peak and setting. Too bad the rock is so crappy.

 

Only in the first pitch. If I did this climb again, I would try to place the pro outside the crack and do it in a way to keep the rope out of the middle.

 

Edited August 3, 2009 by KaskadskyjKozak

[mountainmatt]

Nice work!

 

We did the line earlier in the day and saw you top out. We had communication problems as well, for whatever reasons, we could not hear each other at all on the first three pitches. Oh well, it all worked itself out. For us, the descent took longer than the ascent (partly due to the thunderstorms last week creating a bunch of new landslides and loose rock). Glad you made it down before dark.

 

 

 

[KaskadskyjKozak]

Nice work!

 

We did the line earlier in the day and saw you top out. We had communication problems as well, for whatever reasons, we could not hear each other at all on the first three pitches. Oh well, it all worked itself out. For us, the descent took longer than the ascent (partly due to the thunderstorms last week creating a bunch of new landslides and loose rock). Glad you made it down before dark.

 

 

 

Hey, cool. We saw you guys simulclimbing just above us, I think. We had two leaders ropegunning two newbie climbers so we had to go slower and less efficiently.

 

[mkporwit]

Nice... I have two unsuccessful one-day attempts at this. Ran out of time both times. Next time I go it will be for a two-day...

[AlpineMonkey]

One of my all time favorite routes.

[zoroastr]

Nice one! S'funny...the last time I did that route my partner, a careful by-the-book belayer, kicked a load of bowling balls down on my head when some of Thommie's rotten upper portions gave way. Very fun, mellow route, but choose your anchor points with care...

 

thx for the gr8 pix and memories!

[goatboy]

Here's a look at what I believe to be the W Ridge as seen from Red Mountain Saddle yesterday:

 

[img:left]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/500/medium/DSC_00011.JPG[/img]

[jbclimber]

Hi, I am thinking about going up there next week. Is there a creek or water source near the base of Mt. Thompson? I seem to remember one when I came down the East ridge several years ago.

 

Thanks!

[Off_White]

Nice TR, and very thoughtful to include both spellings in the title, helpful to anyone in the future searching the TR index for TR's from this peak.

[mountainmatt]

Is there a creek or water source near the base of Mt. Thompson? I seem to remember one when I came down the East ridge several years ago.

 

As of a few weeks ago there was still a nice stream running in the valley below Thomson, after you cross Bumblebee pass. Its probably still going, but the snow was definitely melting out fast. If that doesn't work, you can also fill up at the small lake about 5 minutes away from Bumblebee as well.