[TR] Sumallo Cirque - Zero Gully to Mt Payne 10/14/2013

[G-spotter]

Trip: Sumallo Cirque - Zero Gully to Mt Payne

 

Date: 10/14/2013

 

Trip Report:

Graham Rowbotham and I got in some tool swinging and early season winter conditions climbing on Mt Payne yesterday.

 

Zero Gully is the most reliably filled-in early season line in the Sumallo Cirque and a nice objective whenever conditions permit.

 

We had both climbed Zero before separately but neither of us had summitted Payne so that was the objective this time.

 

Gates are all open. We drove to where the old bridge was removed and hiked the old road that now sees regular use as a quad trail to the back of the cirque.

 

Zero Gully was in harder condition than I have previously climbed it in with a mix of deep well-bonded powdery snow, last year's frozen mud, and fresh water ice. There were several body-length or two crux sections with steep climbing. It took us about two and a bit hours up to the notch.

 

From here we traversed to Payne and climbed snow in a vague gully on the east ridge to reach the summit pinnacles. There are three false summits before the highest one. Conditions were great, clear above visibility unlimited.

 

We descended the SE ridge until and obvious downclimb took us back to the Payne-Rideout's Pup cirque and back to the notch at the top of Zero. Downclimbing Zero was a good exercise in mindfullness and my toe is still sore from where I enthusiastically kicked steps in a rock while reversing the moves down one of the bulges. About two hours back down. The lowest third of the gully had firm and deep enough snow to face out and plungestep down, which certainly helped.

 

Total time car to car was 9.5 hours. Conditions are very good in Sumallo right now and should be all week. Lots of ice forming but only Zero and the North Couloir on Rideout (Minus Five) looked continuous enough yet for guaranteed ascents. Most of the other routes had some sections of either verglas, or bare chockstones, that might foil attempts.

 

 

Gear Notes:

Two tools and two crampons.

 

Approach Notes:

Sumallo River FSR is 2wd for most of the way and the last 2 km or so to the pulled bridge is 4wd hc. Then it's an hour's walk up the quad track to the back of the cirque and another 30 minutes traversing to the base of Zero Gully.

[John Frieh]

Nice