Jump to content

Cooper Spur?


Ytrip

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 22
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

perfect conditions on that thare route and you can drive to cloud cap - get'er done!

 

Sure hope conditions hold and a weather window appears one weekend next month...

 

I'd like to get an up close and personal look at that thar spur...

 

d

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just a quick comment about the Spur based on a solo trip up it about this time of year but many years ago. As some have noted the Spur is nice firm snow and with some ice. I too found similar conditions which I was not expecting. Further, there had been a recent storm so there was a few inches of snow on top of everything. In places this new snow hid the hard snow/ice nicely. What one thought was firm bonded snow was not - in many places it slid off when punched through. Near the top, the snow was quite unstable and was at the perfect angle to avalanche. The ice was hard enough that in a few places I wished I had a second tool. Not because of the slope steepness, but because of how hard the ice was. All of which had the promise to send one skating down to the Elliot if they were not being heads up.

 

Also I declined not to down climb the route and instead walked back around via the Newton Clark - which was great especially as one can scope lines out on the spider.

Edited by ScaredSilly
Link to comment
Share on other sites

if the northish routes are anything like the south side, wait till there's some decent fresh snowfall. everything above 9,000' was clear crusty ice 1-3" thick and gigantic chicken-heads today- two climbers ahead of us fell on ice, one arresting by Crater Rock and bailing, one on the Old Chute zinging "all the way down" to Hotrocks... he walked off, somehow, but not without shredded pants, a mashed up eye, and, i'm guessing, some reevaluation of life priorities.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

two climbers ahead of us fell on ice, one arresting by Crater Rock and bailing, one on the Old Chute zinging "all the way down" to Hotrocks... he walked off, somehow, but not without shredded pants, a mashed up eye, and, i'm guessing, some reevaluation of life priorities.

 

LOL, well spoken Ben! Glad they walked off on their own power! Given that there was a heavy snowpack last year, the North Face, the gullies in particular, might be prime to fly up. 2 tools, ice screws, settled but cold weather and Bob's yer Uncle!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A couple buddies and I ran up the Spur to tie-in-rock late yesterday into the night for a quick scouting mission - did a little bouldering here and there on the side - and noted the snow icing over real quick upon nightfall. Getting excited about climbing that side finally! Just not yet for me.

 

On a side note [posting this in the lost in found forum too] I did by a huge chance come across a pair of prescription glasses at about 7,500ft along the climber's trail heading down the spur after dark. No insignia is present, but a photo description will hopefully do the job.

 

mthood-694.jpg

 

mthood-717.jpg

 

mthood-723.jpg

 

mthood-724.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dan and I made plans for a night ascent of the NF gullies. We made it all the way tot he snow/perfect neve and turned around due to rocks whizzing past us and the sand blast effect. The wind was pretty strong with gust greater than 30mph. Looked perfect up there though, so maybe next week we will get some more high pressure after the snow this weekend. Wasn't very cold, we talked to a couple guys who did the timberline trail yesterday and it didn't get above freezing for them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Powder-How far did you get into the NF gully? Did you get a good look at the big bergie? In a recent picture someone posted it looked to be maybe be the crux of the climb.

i was there 2 weeks ago, looking down from the top of the snowdome - was pouring spindrift down the center of the bergie on the right gully, but didn't look unusually hard to get on route via the right side.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.




×
×
  • Create New...