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[TR] Dragontail Peak/Colchuck Lake - Triple Culoir 2/5/2011


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Trip: Dragontail Peak/Colchuck Lake - Triple Culoir

 

Date: 2/5/2011

 

Trip Report:

Saw some good TRs from last weekend so my buddy(Vernman23) and I thought it would be a good time to attempt the triple culoir route on dragontail peak. Our idea was to try and car to car the route with light alpine gear, which turned out to be rather ambitious.

 

We started out at the trailhead at 6am. The kicker was that the road to the actual trailhead is closed during the winter and is only open to snowmobiles. This added another 4 miles to our trip. The snow was fairly hard which made the traveling fast. We ended up reaching the lake around 11 and started up the route about 12.

 

Looking directly north, opposite of Dragontail peak. I am eying that bowl when we get more snow.

DragonTail5.jpg

 

DragonTail2.jpg

 

DragonTail3.jpg

 

We started the route to the right(the steps we saw were to the left). After getting past the first steep part into the culoir, we realized that we would be finishing the route in the dark. We both decided to down climb and headed over to some ice we had eyed below Aasgard Pass. Snow conditions looked good on the culoir and weather was looking good, we just didn't bring enough gear for a comfortable overnight trip.

 

Me downclimbing the culoir.

DragonTail11.jpg

 

We met another guy over at the ice who had setup a TR. Ice was very hard and brittle but was fun considering there hasn't been much ice this winter.

 

Vern climbing some ice.

DragonTail6.jpg

 

After doing a little ice climbing we slogged back to the car. We did the whole trip in our ice climbing boots which was rather miserable but if you can cut off the first 4 miles would be more enjoyable. Round trip we ended up doing 21.75 miles, 13hrs. Alot of work for a little ice but considering this la nina winter, it's better than sitting on the couch.

 

Approach Notes:

First 4 miles of road is closed. Highly recommend snowmobile or skins. Trail to lake is icy so mountaineering boots or some kind of traction device would be ideal. Would not recommend skinning from the road to the lake until they get alot more snow, unless you like torturing yourself.

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Nice effort.

 

The road is closed all winter and will be until the road completely melts out and dries, to prevent the rutting that would otherwise occur if you let a bunch of yahoos four-wheel it up there; it's always been like this. To allow enough time for the route, you should probably plan on leaving the car at 2am or so, which puts you at the lake or (if you are fit) at the base of the route at sunup.

 

TCs gets done car-to-car alot, but I think you were wise not starting up with only half the day left. It will be in shape a while longer, go back in the next weather window.

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Nice effort.

 

The road is closed all winter and will be until the road completely melts out and dries, to prevent the rutting that would otherwise occur if you let a bunch of yahoos four-wheel it up there; it's always been like this. To allow enough time for the route, you should probably plan on leaving the car at 2am or so, which puts you at the lake or (if you are fit) at the base of the route at sunup.

 

TCs gets done car-to-car alot, but I think you were wise not starting up with only half the day left. It will be in shape a while longer, go back in the next weather window.

 

Wow, walking conditions must have been good!

When Wayne Wallace and I went in there mid 90's, we had to snow shoe from the Snow Creek parking lot through deep snow.

It took us a day and a half just to get to the lake, and we were fit.

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Would snowshoes have been any help or just more hassle?

I've always found snowshoes to be a hassle, but I think they helped out a bit on that approach, even though I spent hours cursing the little devils.

Wayne & I came about 6 feet from being killed in an avalanche the night after the climb. It buried most of the tent, but Wayne was able to wiggle out from underneath the mess, and pull me out.

We gathered all out stuff and high-tailed it for the car at about 2AM. The snowshoes definately helped on the descent, but I still hate them.

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Leaving the car at 2am would be the key to getting the peak done in one day. We didn't realize that the road is 4 miles to the actual trail head(according to the gps). Just wanted to let people know if they didn't already.

 

I am not sure how much snowshoes would have helped. Definitely not considering the snow conditions we ran into, but it really depends on the conditions. Personally, I dont use snowshoes but rather skins if there is enough snow to make it worthwhile. On the trip report, I was just commenting on what we experienced at the time. The conditions will probably be different this weekend considering that there has been precipitation lately.

 

@Dave A. Thanks for the site, I will definitely have to check out Cashmere. The bowl on the west shoulder looks pretty sweet.

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