[TR] Sloan Peak - West Face Variation 9/8/2013

[JasonG]

Trip: Sloan Peak - West Face Variation

 

Date: 9/8/2013

 

Trip Report:

For those that lack the skills to make the new SW face routes go (folks such as myself), the West Face Variation is a pretty fun outing. Not uber classic of course, but worth doing. Rad and Alex pretty much nailed the beta with their excellent TR, so I won't belabor the details. Suffice to say that for most folks a car to car time of 12-13 hours is probably about right. You may want to wait a couple days after a heavy rain for the face to drain though. We didn't and encountered a good deal of running water and super slippery lichen in the swirling mists. We couldn't go left after the dihedral (too much water), so we went up and right via some pretty fun/solid 5.6-.7 climbing. The top portion of the dihedral was certainly the crux for us though. Slimy wetness, combined with the steep pull over a chockstone made for climbing that felt significantly harder than 5.7. The best pitch of the day (also the driest, coincidence?) was the very last one that dropped us a couple hundred feet below the Corkscrew route.

 

I was really disappointed that we couldn't ever see the SW face on the way out. The photos make it look pretty amazing. Maybe some day when I learn to climb a bit harder....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gear Notes:

Medium rack to 3". Ice axe useful for the descent off the corkscrew. 60m rope works well for the raps off the corkscrew. Crampons may be needed, but weren't for us in the late afternoon.

 

Approach Notes:

Bedal basin trail. If you have a low clearance vehicle, you probably shouldn't care about it.

[Bronco]

Nice job gents -

 

Must add that route to my list.

[Alex]

nice

[OlegV]

Strong work, Jason. Pix look amazing!