111 Posted May 10, 2012 Posted May 10, 2012 (edited) Trip: 3 Finger Jack - standard south ridge Date: 5/6/2012 Trip Report: Some buddies were going to climb 3 Finger Jack and Mt Washington in a weekend and I signed on last minute to climb 3FJ with them. I'd done it in summer once and hated it, but was willing to give it another go with snow cover. I must say, it was much more pleasurable to climb this mountain on snow rather than scree... I volunteered for the crawl, and was rather pleased with myself at the end of the lead. That was a new level of focus and consequence in climbing for me. I have only dabbled briefly (and on toprope) with climbing on rock/mixed terrain in crampons before this and was nervous but pulled through just fine. Having climbed the crawl before, it was helpful to know the holds were there, and large, I just had to find them under the snow and ice. The approach and descent were pleasant too- it is much nicer skiing/skinning through that burn when it is snow covered than hiking it in the summer heat. Photos are taken by myself and two others, and edited by myself. Edited May 10, 2012 by 111 Quote
111 Posted May 10, 2012 Author Posted May 10, 2012 agreed. The snow sitting on the ledges of the main summit group gives it a much less chossy/junkpile look. Quote
mountainmatt Posted May 10, 2012 Posted May 10, 2012 Very nice! The snow conditions must have made the traverse and final pitch fun! . Quote
corvallisclimb Posted May 10, 2012 Posted May 10, 2012 :tup: good stuff Ian! Wish I coulda been ther! Quote
111 Posted May 10, 2012 Author Posted May 10, 2012 the traverse wasn't too bad. I think before this last storm it was bare rock because I was just scraping unconsolidated snow off the usual holds. only needed the ice tool a couple times. It just took a lot of focus to keep digging until a real hold presented itself. Tyler, it was last minute planned, but I kept thinking how it woulda been nice to have a flyover at the right time... Quote
Water Posted May 11, 2012 Posted May 11, 2012 very cool! thanks for sharing.. i have camped atop maxwell butte in winter and looked at the wonder west side of 3fj..with lots of avalanches fields at the bottom. congrats on the success! Quote
corvallisclimb Posted May 11, 2012 Posted May 11, 2012 the traverse wasn't too bad. I think before this last storm it was bare rock because I was just scraping unconsolidated snow off the usual holds. only needed the ice tool a couple times. It just took a lot of focus to keep digging until a real hold presented itself. Tyler, it was last minute planned, but I kept thinking how it woulda been nice to have a flyover at the right time... Bummer, yeah we where up soaking up sun on Rooster Rock. I flew by the next afternoon but no one was out climbing TFJ that day. Really nice job stepping it up dude, major stoke! :tup: :tup: :tup: :tup: Quote
wayne Posted May 12, 2012 Posted May 12, 2012 Very nice trip report, thanks for putting that together! Quote
111 Posted May 12, 2012 Author Posted May 12, 2012 very cool! thanks for sharing.. i have camped atop maxwell butte in winter and looked at the wonder west side of 3fj..with lots of avalanches fields at the bottom. congrats on the success! Steve heard one peel off around 9 or 10am but we couldn't figure out where it went. Quote
ScaredSilly Posted May 17, 2012 Posted May 17, 2012 Nice shots, the rime looks fun. Probably much of it is gone with the nice weather this week. Quote
Xerinae Posted May 17, 2012 Posted May 17, 2012 Great photos! 3FJ in the snow/winter/early season has been on my list for a while...mainly for the unique photo ops, nicely done! Quote
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