[TR] Bonanza - Mary Green Glacier 7/3/2011

[sash]

Trip: Bonanza - Mary Green Glacier

 

Date: 7/3/2011

 

Trip Report:

Conditions summary:

- Snow consistent above Holden Lake

- Wet slabs (waterfalls) not an issue at the moment, but snow is melting out fast.

- Glacier is in good condition

- Bergschrund not a problem when we crossed it (got around it easily to climber's right July 4)

- It took us almost twice as long to descend back to Holden Pass as it did for us to get to the summit from Holden Pass; because of soft snow and loose rock during our descent (which started around 11 a.m.), we ended up rappeling/belaying many pitches (~8). 1-2 feet of loose snow over steep rock with an unpleasant runout can be a bit unsettling, to say the least.

 

All in all, though, a very satisfying trip!

 

Pictures here:

 

Gear Notes:

Used:

- 60 m double rope

- a couple of cams, slings

- Pickets (3)

- Webbing for rappels

- Ice axe, whippet

 

Brought, but not worth the extra weight:

- skis, snowshoes

 

Approach Notes:

Trail not fully melted out to the lake, but it's pretty easy to get there (just try not to lose your climbing partners in there... but if you do, the lake it a pretty place to wait for them!). Getting around the east side of the lake involved a bit of slide alder/wet feet, but went pretty quickly.

Edited July 6, 2011 by sash

[mountainsloth]

that looks like a good time. Nice work.

[LukeShy]

Wow there's so much snow still up there! Nice work for sure.

How did the upper part of the mountain go with so much snow?

 

This is what it looked like exactly 3 years ago

[Gerhard Schneide]

The summit snow patch was still pretty solid and easy climbing. We climbed the second snow field from the top to almost the horizon into an obvious gully (class 3-4ish). Once up the gully (10ft-ish) there is a small traverse over loose rock and then onto the summit snow patch.

 

The biggest challenge was switching between rock and snow and vice versa. The snow got pretty soft later in the day and the thinly covered rock made the transitions tricky.

 

For me the trickiest spot was the transition from the rock onto the second snow field from the top. The hand holds right at the transition were not the best, though not terrible either. On the way down we rapped to that spot and then stepped onto the rock while being on rappel (the ropes just reached). Two half ropes would have made this and other spots much easier since you could have done full 60m raps past many challenging areas (and it would have been faster).

 

Let me know if you would like more detail or if anything is unclear.

[franklinb]

Congratulations. I was wondering how your trip went. I thought it was going to be pretty hot with your carrying skis up in the hot open hillside from town.

I booted up on the 2nd, not sure if the tracks were still up there. Was fresh snow that melted off quick. Route finding was an issue. Luckily, I found slings I unburied on my way up. I dug out a bit of the summit down to some rocks, but didn’t find a cairn or reg. Was it more melted out when you got there? I heard Sunday’s group of three turned around near the first rap. It was definitely more a challenge than when the route is melted out.

Did you see more wolverine tracks? Had a fresh set 50’ from my bivy on the bump east and 400’ up from Holden Pass.

I’ll try to get to posting a tr (gear used… crampons, 50m rope and a few slings for rap stations).

 

Edited July 7, 2011 by franklinb

[LukeShy]

Cool Gerhard, that sounds much more challenging than when I was up there 3 years ago, we had no snow on route. I was just interested to hear what it was like when there was still snow on route. It makes sense what you described. I agree with you about the two half ropes we brought two ropes for the double rope raps and it worked well going down. Congrats on the summit!