Success Cleaver route -- Which way to turn ?

[crampon_retread]

When you get above the top of the couloirs, you face a long horizontal snow-ice-rock formation that is, methinks, Point Success--and this is my question--does the climber go to the right or to the left of this horizontal formation for the normal, non-crevasse-crossing route to the summit?

 

Thank you.

[Buckaroo]

Angle up and right long before you hit the cliff band. Go through the band at its narrowest point approx 150 to 200 meters from the cleaver.

[mr.radon]

Buckaroo is spot on. We dove far right before the cliff band and didn't hit Point Success, but further to the right.

[crampon_retread]

I think I get that I should angle right well before I get to the cliff band, perhaps what I referred to as a horizontal snow-ice-rock formation.

 

But I don't understand what it means to go though the rock band at its narrowest point.

 

I was up to and on top of the rock band (or horizontal snow-ice-rock formation) a couple weeks ago, and I went right above the couloirs and then up to the top of the rock band where we found crevasses. (And I was under the impression that the Success Cleaver route could be done without encounter crevasses.)

 

I walked almost the full length of the top of the rock band, first to the left where it dropped down to a long (.5 mile or more) snow ramp to the summit and then to the right where crevasses stopped progress.

 

If I understand correctly, I should go over, not around, the rock band. If so, it would seem that I would have to be prepared to deal with crevasses. Am I right about this?

 

I'm trying to figure a way to send you a copy of the topo with waypoints that would show you where I was. Is there a way for me to send you a topo?

 

Thanks for your help.

 

Greg

[Buckaroo]

Load it on google earth, take a screen grab and post the jpg, you're probably not going to be able to tell though, photos of the route would be better.

 

Basically I would go far right around the cliffs, when you do that they become shorter and there's no crevasses, just snowfields. Don't even climb them, go right a couple hundred yards below them.

 

the height of the rockbands/cliffbands is shorter to the right

 

There may be a summit bergshrund though.

[crampon_retread]

This helps.

 

For no known reason I thought the route was to the left of the rockband. Yet when we got to the rockband, the left did not look promising and the wind pushed us to the right--up and to the top, as I wrote earlier.

 

Next time I'll go right and avoid a number of problems.

 

Thanks for sharing your experience and for taking time to write.

 

Greg

[mr.radon]

Does this help?

 

 

Note we didn't go to Success Point but dove off to the right again avoiding the false peak.

[Buckaroo]

This looks like a late summer pic. I went in the late spring, there was a lot more snow

 

I went this way, the cliff bands were about 6' high where I crossed them at the top.

 

 

 

[mr.radon]

Path of least resistance....my partner and I had a few moments to figure it out about every 20 minutes. We did it in late summer, not fun. (rock fall)

 

However, you almost can't go wrong up there unless you end up in fog. Good visibility and you'll see where to go. Traveling on snow will go much faster then following the rock bands, we found the rock is crap up there.