[TR] Chair Peak - NE Buttress 12/13/2009

[bonathanjarrett]

Trip: Chair Peak - NE Buttress

 

Date: 12/13/2009

 

Trip Report:

Myself and two others climbed the NE Buttress of Chair today. This was my first climb in a year and half after recovering from shoulder surgery. We found conditions to be good with ice up to the first belay and firm snow above to the second overlap. Screws over 13cm were useless though, except in the waterfall section at the top of snowfield. We climbed the route in four pitches with significant amounts of simul-climbing during pitch two and four. Our route is marked in red below. The first pitch S-couloir as described in Washington Ice is not in (at least in my judgement). Exiting it would require significant dry-tooling.

The rap stations are all in good condition. Although it is worth noting that pulling the ropes for the first rap is a pain in the butt, and there is ALOT of friction across the buttress. I had to climb back up the couloir to pull them from a better angle.

 

Gear Notes:

Used: 4-5 screws 10cm,13cm, and 16cm, small rock rack including nuts, and selection of cams.

 

Brought but didn't need: one picket

 

 

 

Approach Notes:

The boot track is well trodden, and flotation was unnecessary.

[cbcbd]

Congrats on getting that shoulder working and useful again!

[goatboy]

How steep was the route in these conditions?

[unklehuck]

Climbed the left-hand start on Saturday, after climbing the right-hand one the week before. My opinion is that the right side is in better shape, protects well with a few small pieces of rock gear and only required 2 easy mixed moves to pull out of. Not that it really matters as the weather is changing everything as we speak.

[bonathanjarrett]

Down low, left side start is probably 60 degrees. Maybe a touch more. You can't fall off it if you can keep you feet under you which is why it was the first climb since rehabing the shoulder. The tools are really just for balance. WI 2ish. unklehuck is probably right in that the right side start protects better. I was able to clip a fixed pin, place a #1 camalot, and two more screws to protect the first pitch. I found that I could scamper up the ramp to the rib and have a look at the quality of the ice and be able to back off very easily before scooting across the rib and onto the face.

[goatboy]

Is the image you posted above considered to be the "left hand start" or the "right hand start"?

 

Seems to me like it starts in the "s couloir" (which I understand to be the right hand start) but then veers off to the left?

[bonathanjarrett]

Our route line is the left start. The S-shaped couloir is the right start which I believe is the "standard" start.