telemarker Posted March 21, 2010 Posted March 21, 2010 (edited) Trip: Dragontail Peak TC Ski - Triple Couloirs: Option #3 Date: 3/21/2010 Trip Report: I've had my eye on the N. Face of Dragontail all season as it relates to Triple Couloirs. Not wanting to commit to the three 60m raps down the un-ice runnels between the 2nd and Hidden couloirs, I discovered the following option for the ascent and descent. The north face of Dragontail, a decent looking, steep snowfield capped with a short rock headwall. Unfortunately, on Saturday Kyle Flick, Will Terrano and I weren't the only ones with TC on our agenda. By 8:00am, we joined the conga line up the Hidden Couloir, having been bested by no fewer than 8 other climbers. But whatever, it's not like waiting in line on Outer Space. We passed when we needed to, and everyone was cordial and having a great time. Besides, it was nice to draft for once this season. We climbed to the top of the Hidden Couloir, and broke out onto the North Face. At the headwall, Kyle had to sack up and earn his keep by leading the small rock headwall, a 20 meter pitch protected by one in-situ piton in the first 10'. After that, it was insecure mixed of snow over slab. Kyle was able to get solid sticks in the duff (great lead Kyle!), and the party below us (Geoff Georges and Jeessica Todd) told us later they were able to get a solid ice-screw in the turf. With this out of the way, we sprinted to the top, surprised to find ourselves on the summit after 4 hours, 20 minutes of work. This variation was fast. Kyle turned and beat it down the backside, as Will and I discussed our strategy for the descent. At this time, Dan Helmstadtler popped up on the summit with intentions to ski TC's as well. He was approaching it Teleross style, by hiking up the backside, and planned to do the raps. Will and I convinced him to join us for the Option #3 variation, replacing the three raps with one short one. He was in. We waited around at the top of the TC's for the another two hours for the other three parties to top out, so as not to bombard them with our slough. Incredibly enough, there were yet another two climber/skiers intending to ski the TC's too, but later bailed down the backside. The 3rd couloir was incredible skiing, with the powder compact but soft, and the pitch steep but not extremely so. It inspired confidence all the way down to our North Face topout. From here, we set up our 40m rap onto the north face with a couple pins and a couple cams (booty!). They were my "bail cams" anyway, so no big deal. If you're a dirtbag and need the gear, it's there for ya! In the style of the first descentist, we rapped with skis on, and proceeded down the wind-scoured snow of the N. Face to the top of the Hidden Couloir. The Hidden starts off steep and remains so, all the way to the exit. We all made tentative turns as it was quite icy from the get-go. There is one section that constricts to the length of my skis, and a self-beloay with axe was handy to sideslip this short, steep section of snow over rock. From there, it was more steepness over hardpacked crud. However, we were able to find small pockets of softer stuff. A few hop turns and we were below the entrance cliff to TC's. I finally got this ski off my chest, having thought about it all season. It was strange to see others with the same intent on the same day, conincidentally. Kyle Flick at the entrance. Will at the top of the hidden couloir. Will working his way up the North Face. Kyle leading the short mixed section, looking for that turf! Will at the top of the N. Face. Summit scramble. Climbers 1 & 2 descending. Dan descending the 3rd Couloir. Dan rapping onto the N. Face. Will's turn. Dan tearing up the N. Face. Dan getting ready to drop into the Hidden. Will descending the variable snow of the Hidden. Exiting the stress... Edited March 21, 2010 by telemarker Quote
denalidave Posted March 21, 2010 Posted March 21, 2010 Wow, that looks pretty sketchy on some sections... Nice!!! Quote
keelanmj Posted March 21, 2010 Posted March 21, 2010 Oh yeah! Way to make it happen! It was great watching you guys drop in (and then see you each in one piece coming out of the hidden couloir). Who said skiing is faster than walking?... Way to hit it under perfect conditions. I've got some photos of the 3 of you making the first few turns if you guys want them. Quote
telemarker Posted March 21, 2010 Author Posted March 21, 2010 Thanks! Yes, walking was definitely faster and saner yesterday. We were extra cautious and in no hurry to set a speed descent of TC's. Sure, email them to me: touring29@gmail.com Quote
kevino Posted March 21, 2010 Posted March 21, 2010 Looks like fun. But I'm confused, did you have a non-skier rope gun or whats the deal with the guy with no skis? Quote
telemarker Posted March 21, 2010 Author Posted March 21, 2010 Kyle was our mixed climbing rope gun! He will lead sketchy, runout mixed pitches, but finds steep skiing insane. Weird. Quote
shannonpahl Posted March 21, 2010 Posted March 21, 2010 Snap! Your pic titled 'Climbers 1 & 2 descending' is of us going down, and we took a pic of you at the same time ... Quote
telemarker Posted March 21, 2010 Author Posted March 21, 2010 Holy crap, nice res on your camera! That's too funny. Thanks for busting trail! Quote
ryanl Posted March 21, 2010 Posted March 21, 2010 with all respect to Ross (and Dan), climbing and skiing the TC is THE aesthetic choice in my eyes. Nice route guys....I'm envious as all hell Quote
AllYouCanEat Posted March 21, 2010 Posted March 21, 2010 Like I said before, way to get up in there. You guys are killing it in the Stuart Range! Quote
JasonG Posted March 21, 2010 Posted March 21, 2010 (edited) Tim and I were actually #1 and 2 ahead of Shannon and Yuri- they broke trail up to the TCs and up Couloir #1, then Tim and I took over from the bottom of #2 to the summit. Great day and perfect conditions- sounds like ~10 people climbed it and three skied it? Got to be some sort of record. Here are a few photos from yesterday: The beauty herself: Tim and I took a variation at the start to bypass some congestion. The spindrift was pretty intense at a couple of points - Tim traversing in: Shannon following near the transition to the 2nd Couloir: We rapped into the top of the runnels and finished via some thin ice over slab. Tim bringing the rope up after rappel: Shannon and Yuri at the bottom of the 2nd: Tim transitioning into the 3rd Couloir: Tim midway up the 3rd, beautiful! Rime near the summit: The happy duo on the summit: Of course the views weren't bad either: Shannon and Yuri traversing to the summit: Tim descending Aasgard: Dragontail is impressive: The pain of not bringing skis: Edited March 21, 2010 by Heinrich Quote
Buckaroo Posted March 22, 2010 Posted March 22, 2010 Hey hey hey hey hey!! NO skeerrrs on climerrzz rootz!!! (jOkE!) gud job, at leest Yu gav the rope gunnr kredit! Quote
telemarker Posted March 22, 2010 Author Posted March 22, 2010 with all respect to Ross (and Dan), climbing and skiing the TC is THE aesthetic choice in my eyes. Nice route guys....I'm envious as all hell I'm too wussy to drop in blind, especially on a route like TC's. Just seems more committing. Quote
telemarker Posted March 22, 2010 Author Posted March 22, 2010 Like I said before, way to get up in there. You guys are killing it in the Stuart Range! Thanks! The Stuart range sure holds a lot of fun for such a compact area. Quote
ryanl Posted March 22, 2010 Posted March 22, 2010 with all respect to Ross (and Dan), climbing and skiing the TC is THE aesthetic choice in my eyes. Nice route guys....I'm envious as all hell I'm too wussy to drop in blind, especially on a route like TC's. Just seems more committing. I don't know if it takes bigger cajones to drop a route like that blind. I just think being able to climb a classic and then ski one makes for one great day in the mountains. And besides, I call "bullshit". You dropped in blind on Colchuck and that's got some commitment to it :-) Quote
telemarker Posted March 22, 2010 Author Posted March 22, 2010 with all respect to Ross (and Dan), climbing and skiing the TC is THE aesthetic choice in my eyes. Nice route guys....I'm envious as all hell I'm too wussy to drop in blind, especially on a route like TC's. Just seems more committing. I don't know if it takes bigger cajones to drop a route like that blind. I just think being able to climb a classic and then ski one makes for one great day in the mountains. And besides, I call "bullshit". You dropped in blind on Colchuck and that's got some commitment to it :-) Oh yeah, forgot about that one... Quote
alps Posted March 22, 2010 Posted March 22, 2010 Awesome! Sounds like lots of people up there this weekend... Quote
shannonpahl Posted March 22, 2010 Posted March 22, 2010 Thanks for the pix guys. Here is (Tim?) coming up the runnel: What you cant see in this resized pic directly below this climber, is the head and skis of another climber well below him, possibly climbing the right most side of the runnels instead of the traditional left side? Quote
alecapone Posted March 22, 2010 Posted March 22, 2010 SICK!!! Congrats on getting that done guys! Quote
Le Piston Posted March 22, 2010 Posted March 22, 2010 As I've said before...you guys are animals! Sweet pictures and great TR. Some of us had to work this weekend, so thanks for the vicarious dose of alpine life. I'm hoping to get back out there again in the next couple weekends (weather permitting) and I'll PM you to make good on the beer offer. Cheers! Quote
TeleRoss Posted March 22, 2010 Posted March 22, 2010 Sweet! Nice ski guys good to see more skiers being drawn to that classic route. Hopefully one day someone will be able to ski continuously through the runnels section that would fuk'n one note: You guys missed the best, and most exhilarating skiing of the route however, which the transition between the third and middle couloirs, and the middle couloir itself! yeeeehaawwwww ....although, that bit out on the north face looks pretty cool too Quote
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