[TR] Snoqualimie peak: - N.Y. gully 12/14/2011

[Taluscat]

Trip: Snoqualimie peak: - N.Y. gully

 

Date: 12/14/2011

 

Trip Report:

Inspired by our friends Forrest and Kurt having good times and conditions on this climb we gave er'a go too- yesterday Dan Hilden and I managed this exciting climb in 7 hrs car>car and found it in similar conditions though I think that recent invert may have affected it some- We climbed together through the traverse pitches and from the snag tree I climbed the long corner pitch belaying on the left just past the narrow groove,Dan finished up the corner to the base of the aid pitch were we opted for the left variation(which was fun) and leaving something for round two,any takers?

 

Gear Notes:

single 60m 8.5mm

pins

stoppers

cams

alpine runners

-no screws-

 

Approach Notes:

Up the Phantom slide-awesome snowpack(super crunchy!)

[bonathanjarrett]

Forgive the question, but I am not sure I understand where the Phantom Slide is relative to the upper parking lot. I have read some conflicting descriptions: some saying it is right out of the lot while others saying to hike a half mile up the trail before cutting up hill. Can anyone help an Oregonian out?

[counterfeitfake]

After you pass the first, biggest lot, you go around a bend and there's a wide spot where the resort keeps various heavy equipment. People park here, it's not a great spot to access the resort but it makes perfect sense if you're climbing Snoqualmie Peak.

 

The Phantom is the slope that leads up Snoqualmie from here. It's distinguished by a lack of trees (it is a slide path) and a rock band near the bottom of the slope, with waterfalls, that are only buried when snow levels are high. You can head straight up toward the waterfalls and bypass them by moving left into the trees.

[downey]

send train!

[Dannible]

Fun route. I think that the left side finish is pretty neat. Almost makes the hard crack seem contrived.

 

Approach, more or less: from that little parking lot head up the slide towards the waterfall covered cliffs, follow a wide snowshoe track (for now) traversing to the left through some trees to the left side of the slide. Branch off, heading uphill towards the cliff near the edge of the forest, go into the forest to get around the cliff, there are a couple of steep steps, above the cliff head back into the open (depending on avy conditions!) and jest head up keeping the forest close on your left. Eventually trend left through the forest. When the angle starts to decrease head up a bit more and start a hard NW (left) traverse when you think you are a few hundred feet below the ridge crest to eventually hit a lower point in the ridge line where you can downclimb 50 degree snow into the basin below the face. Seems like this slope could be a dangerous place on a sunny afternoon after some snow.

 

Hope this info helps some people; I didn't know how to get in there before I went. This time we benefited greatly from a solid boot pack (much of which I put in last week though). On the way down clouds and cold temps kept us from wallowing and we were down in under half an hour.

 

Last week some friends and I climbed another route which follows the first 100 or so feet of traversing to NY Gully, cuts off up and right on an obvious snow/mixed ramp, rounds a corner on a ledge then heads up on steeper mixed choss to the base of a weakness just below a chockstone roof. We avoided the roof via a face to the right (5.7 or 5.8?), and traversed into the weakness which we followed to the base of the hard crack on NY gully encountering two or three more big chockstones. 6 pitches to the top of the crack, and a bit harder than NYG. I know that there is some route called LA Express somewhere on that side of the face, but I don't know the details of that route.

 

 

 

[bonathanjarrett]

Thanks for the clear approach descriptions!

[Tom_Sjolseth]

Nice work, thanks for the reports.

 

Wayne posted a topo showing LA Express and others here.

[Dannible]

That topo shows LA Express in a different place than the one on the bottom of the page here: http://www.mountaineers.org/nwmj/05/051_Shorts3.html We climbed the yellow line on this topo. Seemed like an obvious line so it defiantly could have been done at some point. If anyone goes back and climbs it know that the scary, seemingly precarious chockstone on pitch 5 seems to be solid when frozen.

[wayne]

Yep. My topo is flawed, thanks.

[Dane]

Wayne I think your topo for the start of Pineapple and BM is wrong as well by the look of it. Looks to me that you can see the first corner pitch of Pineapple in your photo. Straight up from the "E" in "around the corner" I think. Lower lines of Pineapple and BM need to come right as well.

 

Pleanty of guys have done these now, so may be they will jump in with their own thoughts.

 

Good first effort So I aint bitchin.