[TR] Mt. Stuart - Razorback Ridge 9/8/2012

[OlympicMtnBoy]

Trip: Mt. Stuart - Razorback Ridge - The Night the Fires Came

 

Date: 9/8/2012

 

Trip Report:

For whatever reason, this route has been on my radar for a while and I finally got a chance to go check it out with my friend James. I also wanted to try descending the West Ridge route so we opted to do a loop from the Ingalls side. I’d never gone over Goat Pass before and it took a bit longer than we expected but despite our late start from the TH and several breaks we were climbing before 4 which was our goal. We were glad to have crampons and ice axes to cross the Stuart Glacier and the broken ice bits at the bergschrund but basically had no difficulty getting onto the rock even though James “forgot” that his crampons were full step-in. Razorback isn’t terribly obvious as a ridge from the base but you can find it easily enough by traversing all the way across the glacier until you can see up the Stuart Glacier couloir (almost to the North Ridge gully), then start up the rock right of the couloir.

 

 

 

We scrambled up 4th class ledges for a ways paralleling the couloir until it looked like we should rope up and then we made a rising traverse rightward towards the emerging crest of the ridge. The lichen thickened but the rock quality also improved as we left the bergschrund and ledges behind. I soon spotted the right facing tiered corner described in the Mountaineers Intermediate climbing guide and made my way up it awkwardly with my pack on. It felt 5.9 with the pack (probably 5.8) but there were good small/medium nuts low and soon I could place my #3. I climbed the last bit of corner and decided to stop on top and bring James up on a real belay. If you wanted to avoid this it looked like several fun variations were possible farther right or an easier path left. As I brought James up I watched a VW bus sized chunk of ice collapse on the other side of the couloir and hurtle down the glacier before slamming into a gaping crevasse. It was cool, especially since we weren’t on the glacier.

 

 

 

We swapped gear and James headed up, sticking to the crest and picking the funnest line. He headed for a steeper hand crack that was pretty good except for the dirt clod foothold he blew out and the fact that it was a bit wider than it looked. The rock in here was just as stellar as the North Ridge but of course a tad dirtier with a loose block here and there due to lack of traffic. I took the lead again with a short 5.8 finger crack to some easier terrain and then the short “razorback” traverse.

 

 

 

 

We had been watching a party come up near the north ridge gully, cross the gully, and head up the next gully to the right. Not sure what they were doing but there was a rather large rockfall down there and we paused for a minute ready to start rescue operations until we heard them shouting back and forth that they were both ok. I’d be interested to know if they were off route or trying to do the 1985 route or something?

 

 

James took over again on licheny cracks to the ridge crest that we weren’t sure would continue but did and made for some more great moderate ridge travel. After a shorter than planned pitch he brought me up and we decided I would gun for a bivy site as we were loosing light and the storms were brewing. We must have passed the bivy described after pitch seven somewhere but I ended up just reaching the level of the West Ridge notch and traversing over to it. This was the crappiest rock of the route and I wished we had more light to follow the last bit of ridge to near the West Horn as it looked fun. Instead we used the last light to find a bivy below the notch on the south side and a ~15 lb chunk of ice that was all that remained of the snow at the top of the Stuart Glacier couloir. It was full of dirt and who know what, but it made for a much more pleasant evening with plenty to drink.

 

 

 

The weather I checked in the morning before leaving had said a 20% chance of thunderstorms before 11pm and then nothing. We watched that evening as storms swirled all around us but only had a drop or two of rain during the climb. I snuggled into my Epic shelled half bag and my belay jacket in the surprisingly warm night.

 

About a half hour after we lay down the sky lit up. The thunder shook the mountain beneath us and the lightening was almost enough the read by. Soon the rain came. We each huddled in our survivable but less than pleasant shelter systems. As the rain grew harder I pulled my wind jacket over my head to keep the rain off my face. As this became a saturated wad of tissue paper I struggled to keep it from sagging onto my mouth, trying in vain to get the brim of my belay jacket hood to prop it up. The temperature dropped. The wind came up. The lightening continued, lighting the fires that still burn today. I no longer had to worry about my jacket in my face as the wind kept blowing it off. The rain would stop for ten minutes only to resume again as hail and push me back into my fragile fabric shell. I tried to sleep on my side for more hood coverage but this only led to tossing and turning. James was silent in his own struggle with his mylar emergency bivy sack and I silently hoped my foam pad would provide some insulation were he struck by lightning in it. We hoped the people bivied on the summit had had the sense to move and that we were far enough down from the ridge to not be struck. The beating continued until the sky grew light but there was no sleep to be found.

 

 

 

With the rain still passing on and off (after more than 8 hours of storming) James suggested we bag our plans to summit and start heading down. I suggested I stay in my little half bag/jacket cocoon longer and just try to will the clouds to move on. Fortunately my will is strong and in another hour the sky was a beautiful blue and the wind had nearly dried the mountain. We packed up in the frigid but beautiful morning (hail still on the ground)and decided to tag the summit after all leaving most of our gear at the notch and simuling to the top.

 

 

 

 

 

We hung out for a bit enjoying the view and rewarming in the sun before making one rappel and soloing back to our bivy site. Despite a little bit of off route scrambling we managed a fairly quick descent of the west ridge with endless downclimbing, one short handline, and one rappel below Long John Tower. It may not have been much faster than scree skiing the Cascadian, but it was a heck of a lot more fun. My girlfriend met us at Ingalls Lake with cookies and the rest of the hike out was pleasant.

 

 

 

 

The pictures we took before and after cannot even remotely capture that epic night and it won’t be one soon forgotten. The mountain howled and growled but then kindly let these travelers pass by once more.

 

More pics here: https://picasaweb.google.com/104708573545176184583/RazorbackRidgeWithJames#

 

Gear Notes:

Standard alpine rack to #3 camalot. Crampons and ice axe were only used for about 20 minutes but they were neccesary.

 

Approach Notes:

Approach as for the Stuart Glacier Couloir, start up the rock right of the couloir and then head up and right to the emerging crest.

[telemarker]

Wow, you guys were front row and center to the shit show that followed. It's weird how we are still paying for that storm.

Way to knock off a Stuart obscurity!

[wayne]

Love the dirt mantle in pic3! and the smuggieness photo later.

[OlympicMtnBoy]

Hehe, don't confuse that for being smug, that's pure bliss from a fresh baked and hand delivered cookie in the wilderness.

[mountainmatt]

Nice Stewball and James!

 

I can't say that I am sorry that I skipped that bivy during the storm. Glad you guys are ok though. The question is of course, is the route worth doing? Scale of 1 to 10?

[stevetimetravlr]

Wow, good send and what a night that must have been! Nice one Stewart.

[Sol]

Sounds like a good adventure! Though mildly epic, that bivy looks sweet. TICK!

[Eric T]

Hell yes, getting it. Way to stick it out!

[OlympicMtnBoy]

Thanks guys, I actually really liked the route. The "dirt mantle" was just debris on rock that is covered by snow much of the year right near the glacier. The upper part had some really fun climbing and solid rock with an easier crux than the north ridge but an overall more sustained feeling (although shorter of course). If the North Ridge weren't right next door this would be a classic.

 

That bivy site is actually on the standard West Ridge route, right near the notch. I'm sure glad we weren't any higher for the light show.

 

Next time I'll probably go up Mountaineers Creek and try the NW Buttress descent if the Sherpa is too far gone, it was a long way around up and over Goat Pass (since I hadn't done it before). I'd kind of like to try the right hand side instead of the offwidth and take it to the top of the West Horn.

 

Winter climb?

[mountainsloth]

i too have been eyeing this route for a couple years. Thanks for giving some insight. Sounds like one to add to the list.

PS

Lightning is bad for you