[TR] The Corner Route - 1/9/2010

[AlpineMonkey]

Trip: Madsen's Buttress - The Corner Route

 

This is not Pivotal Moment*

 

Date: 1/9/2010

 

Trip Report:

 

WI3, 5.7

 

Route begins in a corner just left of the massive "Visor Roof" near the SCW parking lot.

 

Started off with a pitch of full on mixed climbing, to thin delicate ice on slabs, to a wonderful pitch of solid WI. Great Route.

 

This one goes on my list of favorites! One of WA's best of the best for sport ice climbing.

 

Pitch 1:

 

 

Pitch 2:

 

 

Pitch 3:

 

 

Gear Notes:

-single set of camalots up to 3

-set of nuts

-pins (we had 2 angles, 2 blades)

-screws

-long slings

 

Approach Notes:

Belay from the car?

 

Walk off Notes:

 

From the top at a large tree, walk climbers right and go down how you would if you climbed Rainbow Left. Quick and easy.

Edited January 12, 2010 by AlpineMonkey

[Jens]

That looks really fun! Especially Pitch 1.

[AlpineMonkey]

Forgot to mention. Used all rock gear until the last pitch, where we used a combo of rock gear and screws.

 

...and I got a charlie horse on route that hurt like hell, now my leg still hurts like hell whenever I put weight on it.

[lancegranite]

Hey Craig,

I shot some HD video of your second on the first pitch.

The footage looks pretty cool.

[AlpineMonkey]

Awsome, I was wondering who was down there taking pics...do I have anyway to see it!

[rat]

so, i'm confused....no suprise there. isn't the route you climbed left of "the visor" roof. "air roof", the rock climb, is far left of this. is "pivotal point" the same as "pivotal moment" discussed here http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/931196/TR_entiat_valley_and_leavenwor#Post931196 ?

 

regardless, both routes are quite fun but whoever gave that route left of the visor a wi4 rating was high.

[AlpineMonkey]

I don't know...I always thought "Air Roof" was the big roof right off the road, next to SCW parking lot. Am I wrong?

 

As for the grade, Conor and I said it was a 3 on the hike out, but looked up the climb Pivotal Moment, which we thought is what we were on...and they called it a 4,so I left it at that.

 

Anyways, it appears I'm mistaken and that we were not on Pivotal Moment? I'm confused too now.

Edited January 10, 2010 by AlpineMonkey

[wayne]

Nice Job Craig!

[Alex]

The Air Roof/Pivotal Moment beta was supplied to myself and Jason by Mitch. I have never done those personally, Summer or Winter, so can't actually tell you first hand one way or the other.

 

But in reasonably long hindsight now, there are a number of mistakes I made rating and describing things in the guidebook that I am slowly correcting over time as I and my friends get out and do alot more routes too, and appreciate the comments, etc... another example like this is that CYA at 38, when formed, is not "WI4" either, so yeah you live and learn and take ratings with a grain of salt....

 

Thanks, Alex

[spionin]

nice job! we stared up for a while last weekend, deciding whether/how to approach it.

this route is barely discernible from the road, it's nice to get a visual of the falls.

[montypiton]

Craig-

 

the Pivotal Moment and Air Roof climbs are actually a couple of hundred yards upstream from the crag in your photos. I can't honestly say I've heard a name for the big roof left of the Visor. year before last, John Tarver and I climbed the second pitch of the route you show, but scrambled around the first pitch you did to get to it. Rapping off, we uncovered the corner (it was full of snow), and realized that this would make a much better start. Nice going! The route as you did it makes a far superior climb. I'm not aware of any other ascents, but that doesn't mean anything...

There is some ice that forms on the Pivotal Moment climb, but it rarely gets into climbable shape, although it may, this year. I know that Bob VanDiggelen and Joe Schultz climbed it once back in the eighties... I haven't seen it come in for several years...

 

-Haireball

 

Edited January 11, 2010 by montypiton

[AlpineMonkey]

On the last pitch (our ice pitch) I found an old rusty really good bashed in angel pin. It was one of the older kind with the big rings on it to clip. It was probably from a rock climb of the same route, I would think.

 

I think Rat has climbed it before and Jens H has I think told me he climbed it as an ice route.

 

Regardless, it should get climbed a ton more because it was fun, now one of my favorites in the area.

[rat]

yeah, it's been climbed a bunch. i also have never heard a name for it (ditto for the various routes climbed on icicle butt). think one up for the masses.

 

i don't recall seeing "pivotal moment" fully formed since the winter of '96-97.

[AlpineMonkey]

Final Sumary, less confused:

 

Evidently this route has been climbed by few over the years as both a rock and winter route. I think climbing it as a mixed snow, rock, and ice route was classic. The climbing difficulties are low enough that the climb is within many of our abilities. The routes protects extremely well. We placed all rock gear on the first two pitches and climbed the last with a mix of rock and ice gear.

 

I propose referring to this route as the “The Corner Route” as it shares the first pitch of the rock climb, Corner Route. The Leavenworth guide describes the rock climbing as “A nondescript corner/crack that sees occasional traffic, 5.9 Gear to 3 in.” There is a great picture on page 40 in the Leavenworth guide showing Madsen’s Buttress and the route.

 

Climb the first pitch of “The Corner,” a 3 inch crack filled with ice to a belay ledge (5.7). Veer left on an easy snow ramp to another corner. Climb up the ice filled corner to a belay ledge (WI2, possibly mixed). Finally, climb a 70 meter pitch, WI2 & 3 to a large tree. From the tree, walk right and descend as you would the Rainbow Routes.

 

[montypiton]

nice follow-through, Craig! I'll vote for "corner route". Have I talked with you about the rescue school that is starting up in Wenatchee? Your demonstrated ability to follow through on projects suggests you might be a good resource...

[lancegranite]

Craig,

Got the footage on DVD, let me know when you roll through town.

[JoshK]

That looks pretty cool, nice job.

 

How cold has it been recently in the Icicle valley? It's warm as hell on the west side, but the passes are cold, so maybe the east slopes still have reasonably cold temps?

[cappellini]

cant wait till someone knocks shit down on a deiseling truck. id hate to answer to someone like d.r. 5.stupid

[montypiton]

c'mon, Dan, we both know that's more likely to happen at Icicle Buttrest -- I watched Dave Rayfield get his truck nailed while plowing the road by the buttrest a couple years ago Now THAT was good for a laugh! o, and what hit him released naturally -- there was no one on the buttrest at the time...