[TR] Colchuck Peak - North Face 6/9/2011

[sdizzle25]

Trip: Colchuck Peak - North Face

 

Date: 6/9/2011

 

Trip Report:

Didnt plan on posting a TR, but there are now incentives? Will TR for $ (or the chance of to win money). Camped on Colchuck Lake with the intention of warming up on Colchuck NE Buttress Couloir, then hopping on Triple Couloirs. Too warm for Triple Couloirs for our tastes, as the ice we found in the area was all delaminated, and the hidden couloir looked like the garbage dump for the entire north face.

Instead we did the proper North Face of Colchuck as well as the NEB Couloir. North Face was spectacular, with completely sustained snow around 50 degrees. Mixed in some real easy mixed climbing as to spice things up a bit. Gained the face by running up a couloir down the ridge from the NEB Couloir and then traversed to the bottom of the face, and ran straight up.

Found awesome Neve-ish on the NEB Couloir, on frontpoints the entire time, real steep at points (round 65 degrees? . Funny to look in the guide book and see a picture of the route in proper summer conditions being climbed with a piolet and no crampons

NEB Couloir,fog over the lake

 

Ascend the obvious gully

 

Fantastic Glissade

 

Tom Loving some delaminated ice

 

Roughing it in the super-alpine

 

Colchuck N Face

 

Wishing I was bouldering at the gym

[Le Piston]

I hope you get some coin for that. Thanks for the update...been wondering about conditions on the NEB couloir. Thanks for the great pictures too!

[Kyle_Flick]

I just got back from the North Face route and found that even in the warmish conditions today (morning drizzle, 41 degrees, mushy snow) that it's relatively free of rockfall due to the excellent rock quality on the margins of the face. I agree with you: It's a fun route that feels more remote and varied than the North Buttress Couloir.

[JasonG]

So I guess I'm a little confused. I thought most folks finished the NBC by climbing the upper 700' of the North face of Colchuck (the only straightforward way to get to the summit it seems). So you guys are talking about intersecting the north face lower? Based on the map and my recollection, it didn't seem that the lower portion of the face (below where the NBC intersects it) would be steep enough to be interesting. But it is worth climbing that thousand feet or so?

[sdizzle25]

based on my limited experience: absolutely. I was just looking at a geographical topo with a buddy of mine, and it does seem kind of hard to pinpoint the N Face route on Colchuck, but yes, we intersected it much lower (at the obvious bottom of the face), and based on the climb we did, found it at least as fun as the NBC, perhaps not quite as steep at points, but definitely more of a big mountain feel. havent climbed this mountain enough to make definitive statements, but in the conditions we had found the north face more enjoyable. As I mentioned however, we found the NBC in fantastically different shape than the guidebook said (as mountains are want to do) so I couldnt say if the climb would be worth it in more legitimate winter or summer conditions

[JasonG]

There is the NEBC (NE Buttress Couloir) and NBC (North Buttress Couloir). The NE is the one that drops right down below the summit and has a 'schrund at its base. Typically parties veer left near the top and walk a short bit to the true summit (though some have completed it directly). The NBC is the obvious one in your photo, on the right, and it intersects the north face about 700 vf below the top.

 

So, in your post above you are comparing the NEBC to the north face, correct? Or, did you climb two routes that shared the top bit of terrain? If so, you climbed the NBC.

 

Sorry to makes things confusing, just trying to figure out what you climbed.

[sdizzle25]

Definitely climbed the NBC then- the one in the photo. sorry for the confusion, not super familiar with the area, which was refreshing in and of itself

[DPS]

Thanks for clearing that up, I had the same questions as Jason. I believe the Beckey guide names the couloirs the Northeast Couloir and the North Buttress Couloir, but folks began referring to the Northeast Couloir as the Northeast Buttress Couloir in some trip reports. Can anyone confirm this, I don't have my Beckey guides at the moment.

[JasonG]

Dan is correct on this, went back and checked the Beckey guide. I was perpetuating a cc.com terminology mistake that originated years ago. Sorry! NEC and NBC from now on!

 

Both are fun routes. I highly recommend the NEC for the next step up in difficulty. . . .just make sure you rope up crossing the 'schrund. I fell into it unroped years ago (a very large bridge collapsed underneath me), and am lucky to be typing right now.

[DPS]

I find the abundance of Northeast Couloirs in the Stuart Range to be confusing (Dragontail, Colchuck, Argonaut, and Sherpa all have routes of that name).

 

[sdizzle25]

JasonG- I was looking at the face and thinking exactly that, NEC it looks fun as hell. like the rest of the range, is it mainly "in" in proper winter conditions?

[JasonG]

It may be in OK shape right now, given the cool spring. But yes, it is mainly a route that is best in the winter/early spring. You certainly want cold temps and consolidated snow- similar to the conditions that are best for triple C's.

[Alex]

I'll echo what I think a few folks have said: you climbed the North Buttress Couloir, which ends at a small rest on the ridge crest but still hundreds of feet below the summit, then you traverse a bit right and up, and finish on the North Face of Colchuck. This is the traditional route for the "North Buttress Couloir" route in it's entirety.

 

The NEBC is one very major couloir system to the left. I climbed it with DPS and mattp one winter seems like long ago, and it's got a very different character, starting with a very narrow (6 feet wide) constriction above the 'schrund, a hard left half way up, and steep ground with few rests and little pro. Still, highly recommended!