[TR] North Sister - Act II - West Face/SW Ridge 6/27/2010

[YocumRidge]

Trip: North Sister - Act II - West Face/SW Ridge

 

Date: 6/27/2010

 

Trip Report:

With a high pressure system happily residing in Sisters and low chance of ending up on the wrong mountain, Patrick C. and I head back to attack the North Sister again. Oh boy, we scored it; the right approach and the mountain came together this time.

 

We camp and chillax between the SE Rib of North and the Prouty Point at the 8000’ dry moraine. Next morning we are awaken by somebody emotionally fighting their way up to the top of the rotten vertical headwall over the SE rib in the dark. Later we find out it is a group of 3 from Portland trying to get through to the Collier glacier. The sound of falling television sets (or was it a truck-sized asteroid?) tells us the obvious that we are late and its time to go. Temps are still below freezing which is going to change quickly at sunrise.

 

Sunrise on Sisters:

 

 

We catch up with the group of 3 on Collier and move along the west face of North while scooping multiple lines.

 

West Face of North Sister:

 

Patrick is not hugely impressed with the west face gullies but mostly attracted to the gendarmes on the SW ridge at 9000+’, its mixed climbing potential and panoramas. We gain the ridge via west face while the group of 3 opts for the ridge per se. Icy patches call for kicking steps and front pointing. Not bad given the forecasted 13000’ freezing level.

 

On the west face of North:

 

 

Once we pass the Camel’s hump, we cut across to the east side of the SW ridge and loop around the next unnamed gendarme. It has unusually solid rock and Patrick is thrilled with an idea to climb up and over it to get back to the west side. I am reluctant to do so in anticipation of conserving energy for the Terrible traverse and the Bowling Alley. So, we wade through the waist deep moats of the Thayer glacier on the east side. The group of 3 is gone from our sight – they bailed and for some reason did not share our excitement of getting to the cruxes. Oh well.

 

We reach the start of the icy Terrible traverse that we simul-solo for 250 feet straight below the Prouty Pinnacle to the base of the Bowling Alley. The traverse gets steeper half way through – dear god, don’t let us die. Thank you.

 

Patrick on the Terrible Traverse:

 

The best way to deal with the second thoughts is not to look down. It is amazing how fast human body adjusts. Adjusts to altitude, pain, miserable weather, steepness of rock/ice…so that we can carry on with the never ending survival game.

 

We are at the base of the Bowling Alley. It is all ice and not less than an AI3. The best way to enter the Alley is via the couloir to the climbers right of the standard entrance. Patrick’s knee gets whacked by a giant icicle and that keeps him out of action for a while. We decide to simul solo the 150’ high Bowling Alley as the safest of all options. It works OK if you do it fast.

 

Couloir to the Bowling Alley:

 

 

Soloing the Bowling Alley:

 

 

Reaching the summit block on the Prouty Pinnacle does not look promising. The rock is coated with melting rime and the tools don’t stick.

 

The MEAN SUMMIT BLOCK we pitched:

 

 

Patrick talks about bailing while I want to lead the sick pitch. In the end Patrick leads it himself by slinging horns and plugging cams along the way.

 

 

 

We are finally on the summit - 7 hrs later after leaving our camp:

 

 

PANORAMAS

SW Ridge:

 

NW Ridge:

 

 

 

Now we’ve got to downclimb the same line.

The first rap we rig off some horns on the summit is not bad and landed us on the summit ridge.

 

 

After downclimbing to the bottleneck of the Bowling Alley, we try to get creative on how to get our asses to the old rap slings 40 feet down and don’t come up with anything better but to sling an ice horn with a backup off the harness.

 

 

 

 

I rap down first so that Patrick will live, clip bolts and top-rope in the future. But we both survive and then downclimb some more to the couloir leading to the Terrible traverse.

 

 

 

From this point on, it is all in reverse to get back to the camp.

 

Once at the base, we watch Middle Sister collapse in a snow explosion from avalanche that heavily scars its east face.

 

 

We grieve and go back home.

 

 

 

 

Gear Notes:

Ice horn, ice screws, mastercams, slings, pickets

 

Approach Notes:

Pole Creek TH

[wayne]

Nice, way to preservere

[Pilchuck71]

Nice write up and pics.

 

[zoroastr]

Jeezuz, what a route! Amazing job of photo documentation, too. Thanx for one helluva t.r.!

[TamaraSlade]

Love it.

[YocumRidge]

Thanks guys.

 

We hit the perfect winter-like conditions on the North.

 

 

[daydreamer]

sweet

[LostCamKenny]

gosh, mito, wtf are ya gonna do in august when the snow is gone from the hills? i got an idea for ya...

 

once again the three sister's wilderness decided to provide your camera with some excellent views

 

good on ya!

 

 

[YocumRidge]

Neh, alpine ice is only going to get better in August, like a fine maturing wine.

Also, remember this year is the beginning of a new era of permanent glacier expansion

 

What's the idea you got there, Kenny?

 

[mountainsloth]

woh... that looks intense!

way to get it done!

[ktschmid]

Hey! Glad to see you made it to the summit! We (the party of 3) were so confused when we got to the top of the SE ridge and saw your tracks just DISAPPEAR (when you went into the moat I think). We couldn't see you anywhere. We were very confused. We ended up only doing part of the terrible traverse because we accidentally mistook a random chute for the bowling alley and headed up too early. When we got the summit of that chute and saw that we missed the real summit by a long shot, we decided, due to it already being mid morning and the deteriorating snowpack, to call it. We were so confused by the fact that we couldn't see you anywhere, we thought you two had been abducted. Nice pics! Thanks for the great TR which solved our mystery

[YocumRidge]

ABDUCTED? Oh no.

Luckily or unluckily, we are still alive...

 

Yes, snow and moats are not part of the game where most people tend to climb North in snow-free conditions. We climbed to the top ridge along west face and so we were able to clearly see the line of gendarmes and the three summit pinnacles and then just followed the standard route for summer conditions according to Ore High.

 

Since you approached the gendarmes from the ridge down below, I can see why you had limited visibility of the route to the traverse and the alley.

 

I hope you will pull it out next time

[ktschmid]

Next time is this weekend!

Edited July 14, 2010 by ktschmid

[billcoe]

Holy shit, from here that looks dicey......congrats on surviving it. Wow!

 

Nice work with the photos too!

[YocumRidge]

Thanks Bill!

 

We have just "survived" a sketchier line on Adams - "Stormy Monday couloir"

I'll post a TR shortly.

 

A