Eliot Glacier Headwall

[B Deleted_Beck]

Howdy

 

So below the final few pitches of the route, what's there? From what I've beta'd from the Cathedral Spire col, it just looks like a lotta bergschrund to steep snow until a little above the col, where it finally nears vertical..

 

What if a guy scooted up right gully, cut across the col, and then just did the upper section of the headwall?

 

-Ben

[ScaredSilly]

From the col one would need to drop down a bit to get around the upper buttress across from the col and then traverse right. That would put one approximately 2/5 up the headwall The original finish to the headwall would then be up and further right. There are other variations.

[B Deleted_Beck]

So is there anything fun below the col? Would this be a more pleasurable variation? I don't seem to despise traversing as much as some guys.. little awkwardness can be totally worth it to increase route quality

[ScaredSilly]

IMHO if one wants to avoid the lower part of the glacier and get directly to the business of the headwall with out a lot of traversing I would suggest doing a route that deposits you at the Queen's Chair. Which is pretty much includes almost every route from Leuthold's Couloir over to Cathedral Ridge with Leuthold's Couloir being the most direct. From the Queen's Chair you can access the headwall pretty easily with some very straight forward traversing. Some folks did that last year to do both the original headwall finish as well as the variation which oddly enough does the opposite of what you are thinking. In that they gained the col from the Elliot Glacier and then continued up the North Face. From the glacier to col is about 100 meters of climbing.

[B Deleted_Beck]

The line I've planned to do is the wide, steep couloir (if it can be called that) that runs straight up the inside of the cleaver on the west side... just on the other side of the cleaver from Right Gully, in other words. Is this not the common route?

 

Looking at it again today, it would be about 50' of traversing/climbing straight out from the col... not hard at all, just steep and exposed

[YocumRidge]

I second what SS said.

 

You have probably also read this: "Despite the beautiful line, the rock on the lower Cleaver is dangerous. One climber described it as a slimy sludge. Another climber said the rock [on the Cleaver] looked like it was squeezed out of a giant toothpaste tube". You might get lucky as it is now frozen and try to swing your tools into that compound .

 

Re: approaching the headwall. Traversing above the shrund is an easier option later in the season, although right now the shrund seems to be easily crossable if you gain the headwall from the lower Eliot between Snow Dome and the Cleaver as a couple of friends just did 2 weeks ago.

 

Eliot Headwall as of 01/20/2013:

 

From my personal communication with Jeff Thomas: first ascentionists in May 1958 approached the headwall via the summit, Cathedral Ridge and traversing above the shrund.