Bill8 Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 (edited) Trip: North Early Winter Spire - West Face Date: 7/11/2012 Trip Report: Climbed the West Face of NEWS yesterday. It was my first time on the route and this is now one of my favorite rock climbs in the Cascades. The weather was great and fortunately there were very few mosquitoes. Left the car at 6:30 a.m. There is patchy snow on the trail and in the basin but we were very comfortable in approach shoes. We arrived at the base of the spire at 8:15 a.m. and we were on the summit at 1 p.m. We climbed in the shade until the last pitch and the temperature was nice. The climbing is good the whole way. The pitch 5 finger and hand crack is incredible. The crux crack seems soft for 5.11-, and would probably be no harder than 10b at Index. The lichen on the final slab traverse keeps it interesting. Overall, a really fun and varied route. Slings on all the rappel anchors looked good. The gully before the chockstone has some snow, but a single 60m rope rappel will get you down to the dirt so you can walk to the next anchor. Gear Notes: Brought doubles from blue Master Cam size to #2 BD Camalot, one #3 Camalot, set of nuts with a few extras in the smaller sizes. Can't think of anything I would've left behind, or added. Single 60m gets you down fine. Approach Notes: Patchy snow on the trail and beneath the spires, but approach shoes are fine. Edited July 13, 2012 by Bill8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val Zephyr Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 Thanks for the conditions update. I'm headed out to do this route on Saturday. Sounds like it'll be fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
selkirk Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 Love that climb The finger crack was cool, but I actually had more fun on the undercling traverse on P4 ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sol Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 I call it a 10c. Nice job! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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