[TR] table mountain - death picnic 1/13/2012

[spionin]

Trip: table mountain - death picnic

 

Date: 1/13/2012

 

Trip Report:

on friday we caught the last of the high pressure and climbed death picnic (2p, wi5) on the north end of table mountain.

my partner, jody, had spent the past few years living and climbing in jasper before recently relocating to squamish. he turned out to be a totally chill, nice dude, and a super solid climber.

 

 

the weather was very nice, snow was rather powdery and light (it had been consistently cold and clear).

 

shuksan:

 

at the saddle:

 

death banquet (left) and death picnic (right):

jody approaches through steep snow:

 

the start of the route was very blobby. these are probably the size of my head, and it felt like i was trying to clear ice roofs. i took a breather, almost gave up on the lead, but jody convinced me to look around and see whether i could find an alternative way up. i moved right to a thinner, but blob-less ice, and passed the section. thanks for the encouragement, man!

 

the route felt pretty strenuous and consistently steep. a lot of the ice was chandeliered or thin. but overall, was mostly protectable and fun!

 

jody follows p1:

 

leads p2:

 

p2 was relentlessly steep, but the ice was more consistent, and even offered some hooks. it finished with some loose, overhanging snow. we established an anchor at small trees on the summit, and were able to get down with a single rap using two 70m ropes (had about 1/2 m to spare!). unfortunately, the ropes got badly stuck, and no amount of jumping, flicking, and changing directions helped pull them. it got pitch black, the weather started to worsen, and we had to abandon the ropes.

 

so... i'm now looking to get back up there in the next few days to try to retrieve them. this will either entail climbing the route again, or trying to get them by descending toward the trees from the summit plateau. please let me know if you are interested in braving the weather and want to carpool.

 

 

Gear Notes:

70m ropes good for raps (if they don't get stuck).

 

Approach Notes:

the approach to the route is straight-forward: start from the heather meadows parking lot and follow the valley (and the well-beaten snowshoe and ski track) toward table's north end. as the valley tapers, go up the herman saddle and turn table's northern point toward the west face.

the approach took us a leisurely 90 minutes car to base of route.

 

[wayne]

Great report! I like how you captured the blobs, with pics + words too.

Hope you get your ropes back. Wish I had the time to go, maybe next weekend?

 

Now, to distract: Has Death BANQUET been climbed? anyone know?

[sobo]

Verrrrrrrrrrry nice, Veronika! Now that's what I'm talking about! Sorry about your ropes...

[ryanl]

Glad you found someone V!! Way to get 'er! Extra style points for teaming up with a Canuck, and great pictures.

 

Worth the ropes in my opinion, although that's coming from someone with a full time job who's perpetually broke.

[spionin]

thanks for the kind words, guys!

thanks to sepultura for early beta, to wayne for the previous report, and again - jody, for risking getting out with someone he hasn't climbed with before.

 

Now, to distract: Has Death BANQUET been climbed? anyone know?

 

you probably took some photos of your own, but i snapped a few extra in case people were interested:

[AnastasiaG]

sweet trip report. gnarly ice.

[Friedrich]

Sweet TR Vro! That looked pretty sustained, well done! Too bad about the ropes, hope you get them back.

 

[jstreet]

Love the photos!

 

PS/ there's a snow gulley you can scramble to get to the top of table... red circle on map indicates it's approximate location

 

[JasonG]

There are much easier ways further south, especially if you have skis

[spionin]

thanks, guys. i'm planning to take the difficult way up

[Jason4]

Did you get your ropes yet?

[spionin]

i plan to go up this saturday, since the weather is finally looking good.