[TR] North Cascades - West Ridge, North Twin 3/6/2010

[austineats]

Trip: North Cascades - West Ridge, North Twin

 

Date: 3/6/2010

 

Trip Report:

I think we thought with the warm weather and all that we would see more rock and less snow. Think again, above 5000' it is full on winter out there. Snow on the route is good for kicking steps on the north side. The south side above 6000' had very poor snow conditions. Enough to hide all rock features but not stable enough for kicking steps in.

 

At the "headwall" near the summit ridge where Beckey says to go out onto S face the snow makes this option unavailable. We roped for two very short pitches to get over the HW. The summit ridge itself was solid and corniced towards the north. Watch your step there are some serious holes in the rocks. Our ascent from the clear cut took 6 hours. Our descent down the north face took a little over 1/2 hour.

 

Note, I would not recommend down climbing this route under winter conditions. There are however several spots where one may bail of the ridge to the north. These chutes may be viewed from the approach.

 

Gear Notes:

We used a 30m, 7mm cord and a few slings for protection. I think taking a few nuts would have been useful. Crampons would have been a time liability, besides the ice was rotten. Skis would have made for an awesome descent. We did pass a 2' crown fracture 1/2 mile long on our descent of the NF.

 

Approach Notes:

The road, as usual, is gated. We didn't have our bikes for technical reasons. I really wish we had. The road is in great shape and except for a few steep gravely sections it should be bikable by most anyone. Once the prairie is gained the route is obvious.

[kinnikinnick]

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