[TR] Mount Triumph - NE Ridge 7/8/2014

[mthorman]

Trip: Mount Triumph - NE Ridge

 

Date: 7/8/2014

 

Trip Report:

With a week off I was in search for partners for the North Cascades. Ryan contacted me about climbing Mount Triumph, and I was stoked. Monday I drove over from Spokane and we met up at the trailhead to sort gear. We really wanted to climb it car to car in one day but most guidebooks and TRs talked of 2 or even 3 days. In the end we decided to take a stove, supper, and down jacket so we could spend the night if we had to.

 

We left the Thornton Lake trailhead at 4:50am just as it got light enough to move without a headlamp. The trail went by quickly and was snow free almost all the way up to the ridge top overlooking the lakes. Made the decent to the lake and found a way across the outlet. The cross country along the lake was easy on snow and we stopped for some water at the middle lake. The gully was also snow covered making for a quick and easy ascent compared to wet heather and scree. Reached the col about 9:30am and got our first good look at Mount Triumph and our route. Hiked across the bowl and scrambled up the rock to the notch.

 

We racked up and decided to simul-climb as much as possible. I led out and we simuled all the way to the top of the 2nd step before the knife edge ridge in one block. By then I had run out of slings (we had 14) so I belayed Ryan up. The climbing was mostly 4th class with some low 5th class moves. The view of the Pickets was amazing, and the exposure was nice too. Ryan led out across the knife edge ridge and we simuled until the base of the crux offwidth. We switched again and I led out up the offwidth. It wasn’t too loose, took pro easily and was actually pretty enjoyable. Above it I put a tibloc on the rope to protect the 2nd and we simul-climbed all the way up to the summit. On the final class 4 heather slopes there was quite a bit of loose rock. Even with being very careful I somehow dislodged a big one that core shot our rope and Ryan took a small piece to the hip. Thankfully he was uninjured but it just reminded us to be extra careful. We made the summit just after 1pm in about 2 hours of climbing from the notch. We took a few minutes to take in the spectacular view and sign the summit registry. Then we started the descent.

 

We only had 1 60m rope (now with a knot in it isolating the core shot) so we decided to do as few rappels as possible. We soloed all the way down to the rap anchor above the offwidth crux. From there we did 3 rappels and then Ryan led as we simul-climbed back across the knife edge section. We did 1 more rappel down the next step and then solo downclimbed for awhile. Finally near the notch we did 1 more rappel to bring us back to our packs. It took us 15 minutes longer to descend than to climb the route.

 

We took a long break to rest, hydrate, and eat. There was still quite a bit of snow on the north side of the notch and I was able to refill my water bottle with snow melt. We left about 4:30pm and did another rappel to get to the top of a ramp. The ramp deposited us back on the snow slopes and then it was just a matter of reversing our tracks. The gully was just soft enough to get a good plunge step. Even the dreaded 500 foot uphill hike out of Thornton lakes went by quickly. Soon we were heading back down dry trail pounding out the steps back to the car. Just as the light was starting to fade we made it back at 8:50pm, 16 hours after we had left that morning.

 

We found all the rap stations in good condition. According to the summit registry there aren’t very many people who climb Triumph. That is unfortunate because it is worth the effort. The climbing is technically easy but the exposure is good, and the views looking north into the Southern Pickets are outstanding.

 

 

Looking down on Thornton Lakes with Mt. Triumph barely visible in the background. The route goes around the lake to the left and then up the obvious gully that is directly below Triumph.

 

At the top of the gully with Triumph in the background. Excited about the short distance left before the climb.

 

Ryan doing some scrambling on the way up to the notch in the NE Ridge.

 

Looking up the NE Ridge of Triumph with Ryan on lead somewhere in the middle.

 

A panorama of the North Cascades looking north from the summit of Triumph.

 

Me at our first rap station with the southern Pickets in the background. The views were just incredible.

 

Looking back across the basin below Triumph to the col at the top of the gully.

 

Ryan starting to descend the gully on the way down to Thornton Lakes.

 

 

Gear Notes:

We took one 60m rope (8.4) and doubled it in half for simul-climbing. Took 14 slings, 1 set of nuts, and 7 cams (BD #.3 - #2 plus 1 smaller C3). Had to switch leads every time because we ran out of slings.

 

Approach Notes:

Snow on most of the approach after the trail which made for an easy walk. No bushwhacking right now. Nice to have crampons for the gully in the early morning.

[genepires]

sweet! am I wrong in that it seems strange that the lake still has iced over? is that normal for this time of year?

 

BTW. pretty cool to do it car to car. that is a lot of miles.

 

 

Edited July 16, 2014 by genepires

[ivan]

wow, way more snow than either time i've been up there 'round this time of year - makes the traverse seem more savory

[SoundSummiter]

That's a lot more snow than when I did this route, interesting. Nice work on the C2C push. We did it in two days because we heard that the bivy on the ridge was spectacular - confirmed! Great pictures.

[mthorman]

I was a little surprised the lakes still were frozen over. But not having been up there in years past I didn't have anything to compare it to. Interesting to know there was more snow. I guess I didn't think we had a big snow year, although we did had a mild spring and cool start to the summer.

[JoshK]

Wow, that is crazy the lake is still mostly frozen... They aren't particularly high elevation and I would never expect that.

 

If you happen to do that climb again, definitely do the 2-day option. That bivy is one of my favorites.