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McNerthney Pillar - Waddington - 2nd ascent?


Don_Serl

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I'm wondering if anyone has any info about a possible 2nd ascent of the McNerthney Pillar on Waddington. Kevin McLane thought Colin Haley might have done it, or at least knew something about it, but (a) he hasn't and (b) he thought he'd heard that from ME! Most curious...

(p.s. I'll duplicate this posting in the Climber Board, cuz not everyone visits the BC section, if that's OK with you mods...)

Cheers,

 

 

p.p.s. As a reward for reading this posting, here's a photo to stoke you thru the rest of the winter. The route takes the obvious 3-stepped rock pillar..

 

Wadd-1104-IMG0028.jpg

Edited by Don_Serl
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p 236 of the waddington guide.

 

pat and dan mcnerthney july 86

 

it would be a amazing if "someone" hadn't done the second ascent yet. I would imagine at least some crazy slavics did it in the last 24 years. It seems reasonable for the very strong types and also being right at the col.

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Don would you mind giving us the history of the 1st ascent and who exactly was involved? Or an AAJ CAJ reference would be good as well.

 

hey Dane, would an excerpt from the guide do?

 

 

The McNerthney Pillar

ED1/2 5.10 mixed 980m to Northwest Peak

Pat and Dan McNerthney; July 24, 1986

[AAJ’87 p185; CAJ’87 p82]

This tremendous 700m rock pillar soars directly from the flat snow of the Col to the Terrace. Despite providing far and away the most powerful climbing line on this face of Waddington, it remains unrepeated.

Cross the schrund (can be vertical) [~3100m] and gain the lowest rocks on their right flank. Angle up and left to the first prominent, snowy ledge on the pillar. Head directly up past another major ledge to the lower angled section at half height. Move left to attack the wall above, then drift slowly right as altitude is gained. A bivy can be made on the snow crest above the main body of the pillar [~3650m], then a final groove is climbed to gain the upper snows. 16 pitches, much of it on sound flakes, lead to the bivy site; 5 more pitches lead to the Terrace [~3800m]. The Northwest Peak lies just above, or the route can be finished to the Main Summit, as on the first ascent.

 

 

Enjoy...

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  • 1 month later...

It was a great climb. Thanks for stirring up interest in it. A couple of years ago, fheimerd and I were going to attempt a second accent but that never happened.

I recall the schrund crossing give us problems, mainly because my belay failed, resulting in a very lucky jump over the schrund onto some very soft snow.

 

Don, any chance I can get a large print of that photo?

 

Thanks, Dan McNerthney

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  • 2 years later...

Lindsey and Arundhati posted today that their husbands report an ascent to the NW summit. Lindsey writes:

 

"A huge congrats to my husband, Ben Kunz, and his partners and our friends, Tim Halder and Joe Sambataro, for completing the 2nd ascent of the McNerthney Pillar route (ED 1/2, 5.10 mixed) on Mt. Waddington! ‪#‎OutdoorResearch‬ ‪#‎AAC‬

 

This route first completed by the McNerthney brothers, Pat and Dan McNerthney, back in July 24th of 1986 climbs a 700m rock pillar and continues on to the main summit at 13,185ft. Despite the appeal of this beautiful rock tower, it had yet to see a repeat ascent.

 

This dream has been in the works for our boys for over a year and has finally come to fruition. Thanks to the American Alpine Club for your support (https://www.americanalpineclub.org/p/2013-live-your-dream-award-winners-announced), in addition to all the support from Outdoor Research ‪#‎OutdoorReserach‬, Cascade Designs ‪#‎CascadeDesigns‬, and Feathered Friends ‪#‎FeatheredFriends‬.

 

The boys bivvied near the summit and are making their descent today, so help me send good vibes their way and stay tuned!"

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9386570883_ee3065d5e5_c.jpg

 

 

Definitely couldn't have done it without chocolate Peter Rabbit! Huge thanks Jason!

 

Talked to Colin - he's pretty sure no one else has done repeat ascent of McNerthney(he solo'd the Flavelle-Lane last season).

 

Ben

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