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[TR] Mox Peak SE Spire (Hard Mox) - West Face (Beckey) 8/6/2013


KaskadskyjKozak

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Trip: Mox Peaks SE Spire (Hard Mox) - West Face (Beckey)

 

Date: 8/6/2013

 

Trip Report:

I had planned to climb Goode this Sat to Tue but my plans fell through. I had previously corresponded with my friend Andy B who was one summit short of completing the Bulger List about climbing Hard Mox, so I pinged him and he was available to climb Mon-Wed. I got the time off from work - game on!

 

We approached on Monday per the usual and camped at the Depot-Redoubt Creek divide. Depot Creek Falls were flowing fast and furious, with lots of spray. Lake Ouzel is completely melted out and the outlet was a bit tricky to cross. Andy donned some rubber shoes he brought for camp and I chose to wade across barefoot.

 

Drying off feet after crossing the outlet:

Hard_Mox_-_Aug_2013_076.JPG

 

Ascending slabs above Lake Ouzel:

Hard_Mox_-_Aug_2013_078.JPG

 

We started out from camp around 4 am on Tuesday. The first part of the traverse was entirely melted out and the talus was tedious to negotiate. Once we hit snow, it was a lot easier. The snow stopped short of the Col of the Wild by a few hundred feet, and more tedious talus and scree was in order.

 

Looking back at the traverse from camp:

Hard_Mox_-_Aug_2013_093.JPG

 

The Col of the Wild in August conditions:

Hard_Mox_-_Aug_2013_095.JPG

 

Route-finding to the base of the final gully leading to the start of the route was straight-forward and pretty much exactly as Beckey describes. The snow finger was quite melted out and undercut so we rappelled it (60m). We were not sure how we'd get back up, but figured we'd do what we had to when the time came.

 

We started up the rightmost gully around the rib below the snow finger and hit the class 4 terrain. Since we were not sure if we were on route or what was above we set up a belay. 20 feet higher, we knew all was well, and so we shortened the rope and simulsolo'd up the class 3 gully (loose) to the base of the route.

 

 

The 10-foot step:

Hard_Mox_-_Aug_2013_100.JPG

 

Man what a place!

Hard_Mox_-_Aug_2013_106.JPG

 

Andy traverses the crumbly ledge:

Hard_Mox_-_Aug_2013_108.JPG

 

Checking out the snow finger:

Hard_Mox_-_Aug_2013_110.JPG

 

I led the first two pitches. You can't exactly zip up the route, but there is pro where you need it. I then gave Andy the honor of leading the third pitch to complete his final Bulger summit. As for rock quality: "doveryaj, no proveryaj" ("trust but verify").

 

We did 3 rappels back to the start of the route, downclimbed the top of the gully and then did 2 rappels to get past the class 4 section. Everything else went smoothly with one bit of trickiness at the snow finger. We camped a second night and hiked out early Wednesday.

 

Andy prepares to rappel from the summit:

Hard_Mox_-_Aug_2013_121.JPG

 

Some shenanigans at the snow finger:

Hard_Mox_-_Aug_2013_138.JPG

 

We were the only souls on Hard Mox or at Lake Ouzel as far as we could tell, with the exception of a party of two that we spied ascending Easy Mox while we were summitting the SE Spire.

 

View towards NW Spire from the summit of Hard Mox:

Hard_Mox_-_Aug_2013_144.JPG

 

Congratulations to Andy on this notable summit! And thanks for such a great trip!

 

KK summit stoke:

Hard_Mox_-_Aug_2013_118.JPG

 

Andy celebrates on the summit:

Hard_Mox_-_Aug_2013_117.JPG

 

Gear Notes:

4-5 C4's .5 to #3, a few nuts, #1-2 Master Cams, pink and red tri-cams.

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What did I write? I can never remember. One guy sent me a summit register instagram for another peak I'd completely forgotten I'd climbed....

 

Talk to Mr. Brooks. You can go from 24 to 100 pretty quickly! 45 in one year, as I recall. I'm tired just thinking about it.

Edited by tvashtarkatena
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no border probs, da, i grant ye - my wife, on the other hand.... :)

 

where is that old girl n' oleg, anyhow? been more than a week since them fools went off to dragontail...

 

Did Young Warriors on Sunday - a very cool route, but for some bizzare reason managed to get too far left on P3 too soon and ended in the vertical J-burg-like jungle. Anyhow, got back on route higher up. WTF I got the ticket for having a brand new annual Discover pass, so trying to fight it now which is not easy :poke:

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