[TR] denman - north face lines 12/10/2011

[spionin]

Trip: denman - north face lines

 

Date: 12/10/2011

 

Trip Report:

snapped some pics of denman on 12/03 en route to climbing lane, and decided to come back the following weekend:

 

this saturday, Friedrich and i did the 3p "middle" line, and attempted the mixed first step on the "right".

 

the gate was open by 8 am, the total approach took about 90 min.

 

we had very firm snow for most of the hike, but saw some really impressive hoar frost in the open areas (thanks, clear, cold nights!)

 

p1 was about 40m, sticky, with better ice on the left and a thin, powdery topout.

 

p2: 35 m with dinnerplating, bulletproof ice on the left side. felt sustained probably b/c the ice was so hard. very nice! F put up a fast, solid lead.

 

p3 was another ~30m starting with a short curtain and going up a few blue ice steps. finished with some delaminating ice and moss sticking to an exit gully.

 

looking down p3:

 

 

we did two quick raps to get down and F treated us to raspberry snow cones! awesome!

super fun climb that we both loved

 

 

 

we wanted to scout the start to line on the right, and i attempted the mixed bottom pitch from the right side of the rock buttress. while it looks mellow, unfortunately the snow was quite loose, the ice was thin and delaminating, and there were actually some pools of water. too exciting for me at the moment, and i downclimbed to my last solid piece of pro to lower. if it firms up and thickens, i think it would be a great first pitch to get to the nice, steep ice line!

 

wet verglas

 

if anyone gets on this, i'd love to get my #3 KB back

 

Gear Notes:

screws, a few pins

 

Approach Notes:

narada falls parking lot, drop down into the basin and head toward lane peak. denman is just east.

[Alex]

Those are neat!

[pac man]

Funny, we almost crossed paths both days; we ended up trying Denman's middle line on Friday.

 

How was the third pitch? Unfortunately I wasted way too much time trying to exit pitch 2 too far to the right in an attempt to get a bush/tree anchor. We ended up bailing after that.

[spionin]

pac man - my partner made a solid screw anchor right above the exit from the 2nd pitch. directly above that was a narrow snow chute. i chose to go climber's left and up a thin, but solid ice curtain (looking toward rainier).

i found good placements for 2 screws, but the vertical steps were short and it felt good (at least until the very top, when it got exciting for a minute).

the top of p3 again goes into a narrow snow gully towards to summit - looked very straight-forward. i left a black sling around a tree just to the left as you exit p3. from there, a single 70m rap took us to the start of p2.

[Friedrich]

Yes, The third pitch was good too. We saw the screw hole you'd left the day before at the top of p2. I set up my anchor just a tiny bit higher. From there, traversing left onto the near-vertical curtain is the way to go.

 

We were kinda bummed to see your tracks leading up to the base, but I suppose something this visible must have attracted others over the years as well.

 

This is a great little route, 3 short pitches of good ice and very accessible. The foreshortening effect makes it look pretty low angled, but as you noted, it is not!

 

Each pitch had an exciting near-vertical finish that was very sporting.

 

A nice classic feel in a small package, recommended for anyone comfortable leading in the solid WI3 range.

 

Thanks for a great trip, Spionin, and the Nice TR & pics! Kudos on your strong leads as well.

 

Friedrich

[Gaucho Argentino]

Cool trip and cool TR!

V, pardon the ice-norance, but where is "denman" at?

Cheers and thanks,

G.A.

[spionin]

where is "denman" at?

 

it's a peak just east of Lane peak (in the Tatoosh range).

 

[Fireball]

Thanks for the post, I had never even heard of these formations, so with a little doubt and trepidation, my brother and I headed out into the FOG and found our way to the middle line on thurs 12/15. It had fattened up a little compared to your pics, and we had a great time. Besides forgetting the camera, I let my harness in the car. Cordelette swammy not comfortable.

[KaskadskyjKozak]

Thanks for the post, I had never even heard of these formations, so with a little doubt and trepidation, my brother and I headed out into the FOG and found our way to the middle line on thurs 12/15. It had fattened up a little compared to your pics, and we had a great time. Besides forgetting the camera, I let my harness in the car. Cordelette swammy not comfortable.

 

Yesterday, I spotted some folks up at the base of the route too, as we walked down from Lane. Word sure gets around quickly! :-)

[treknclime]

Very nice, very nice! Thanks for sharing! What an awesome backdrop!