[TR] Wolf Peak near Vesper - Howling Ridge 8/24/2014

[Cornfed]

Trip: Wolf Peak near Vesper - Howling Ridge

 

Date: 8/24/2014

 

Trip Report:

Earlier this summer, I was climbing with Dan Jaffe, and we talked about his first ascent of Howling Ridge on Wolf Peak (near Vesper). This ridge is prominent when viewed from Vesper. Dan texted asking about climbing that weekend; I was available and planning to climb, though I’d already lined up my friend Gavin for something "big". When Gavin thinks “big”, he is planning of one of his 100 mile races or some other 20+ hour climb, but at 40 with kids, something big to me usually means more than an 8 hour trip. Not one for tackling undocumented climbs, I had suggested Thompson, but always one to be accommodating, I suggested to Dan that we repeat his route as a group of three. What more documentation do we need than the guy who did the first ascent! He agreed, but later admitted on the approach that it had been nearly 30 years, and the route details were a little fuzzy!

 

Some history: Dan “stumbled” upon this route while scouting the north face of Sperry. He had his dog with him 28 years ago, who ran along the base of the route the whole time “howling” at him. Thus the name Howling Ridge. He wrote up some brief details and sent it to the American Alpine Journal. It has since made up one paragraph in Becky’s guidebook. Dan didn’t exactly remember how long it took to approach or climb the route how they got to the base, or the exact rating. So – I’ll share what we did. It is a worthwhile outing, and a great option for a long adventurous alpine day in an incredible setting at a moderate grade.

 

I was excited to check it out what was a new area for me. Wolf Peak is the minor peak (and highest point) on the ridge that connects Vesper and Sperry. This is a popular area, though we only saw 8-10 other people in the high cirque. The trail register noted that 36 people signed that day after us! Most probably turned around because of the weather we encountered high on route so we never had a chance to make their acquaintance!

 

The approach is similar to the approach for the North Face of Vesper. Go through Headlee Pass (2+ hours and 3400 feet of elevation gain) to 4,800 feet. Then follow the rightward traversing trail the drops briefly, but then ascends steadily to the alpine lake that sits in the cirque below Sperry and Vesper. Lots of ice and snow at this lake (for late August) and a few picturesque campsites at the foot of the lake for the camping. We hiked around the right side of the lake. Next time I do it, I’ll go left which is more straight-forward. Gaining the ridge further left looks more challenging, but it is easily managed, however, and probably more efficient.

 

We gained the ridge to the east of Wolf peak and looked down the steep north face to a glacier below. From here one can see the long flat ridge that runs away to the North from the base of Howling Ridge towards Big Four. One could approach the ridge from here by rapping from bushes, then crossing ¼ mile of broken snow and glacier to the base of the ridge. Dan didn’t recall how they did it, but didn’t recall that much snow, so we opted to traverse southwest below Wolf Peak to the col between Wolf and Vesper and left our packs here where we could easily pick them up on the descent from Wolf peak summit, which is a walk off (bonus).

 

 

 

We descended loose rock and scree to the Vesper glacier – be careful! We did NOT bring crampons or ice axe, but would have brought lightweight crampons in retrospect.

There is a snowfield that separates the Howling ridge from the rock adjacent Vesper Glacier, and it is important to climb the lower rock before descending too far on the Vesper Glacier since the ridge gains height as you descend. See route photos. We roped up for this pitch (P1) which was 4th and low 5th class. Then we un-roped to descend slightly and cross the small snow field before roping up again to gain the actual route. The true route starts 200-300’ lower, which is reached by descending more easy snow to the Howling Ridge base. We were 4+ hours to here running short on time and growing concerned about the puffy clouds, so we short-cut the overall climb and headed straight to the ridge crest on more 4th and low 5th class terrain (P2).

 

 

 

The first drop of rain is always a bummer. We felt it near the end of the 3rd pitch – our first on the true ridge crest. The image bellow is from the third pitch. The long flat ridge that runs North from the base of the route is visible.

 

 

I took over pitch four climbing fast and using all the rope. By the time I set an anchor, we were in real rain accompanied by thunder. Bringing up two climbers with significant rope drag and wet ropes is damn hard work! By the time the boys reached the belay, we were all soaked, but the worst of the rain and hail was starting to lesson. Given the route is a walk-off and rapping to the glacier was likely at least two full rope lengths and an unknown, we decided continuing was the best course of action.

 

 

Dan suggested 10-15 minutes might see the rain stop, but I was uncertain of the difficulty and number of pitches remaining, and was worried about the next round of rain and hail, so I opted to get started on Pitch 5 in the wet and rain. I led another full rope length, and then Dan took over for a shorter and easier pitch (P6), from where it looked like we were one short pitch (P7) from the summit. With thunder and occasional lightning to the north and south threatening round two, I sprinted up the final pitch and yelled encouragement to the boys to “move it”. We took a quick summit shot and headed for our packs, which is a short 15 minutes scramble and walk to the col – no raps required.

 

Dan’s recollection of the route was Grade 3 and 5.8. Becky calls is Grade II/II and 5.6/ 5.7. I’d go with Becky. You can make the ridge harder or easier as there are many options, but the best climbing is on the ridge crest. It is busy at times, but the rock is of pretty good quality, and the positioning is spectacular. It is a route that deserves more attention than it gets, but from what we can tell has rarely been climbed other than by those scrambing up from the south side.

 

 

Gear Notes:

Gear: Single set of cams to 3” and a set of nuts. I also used a few hexes, but Dan doesn’t like them. Double 60 meter ropes because we had 3 people. Double would have allowed longer raps down to the Vesper Glacier had that become more critical. Crampons would be nice. Axe is less critical as you have to carry it with you on route. The moat onto the rock was pretty manageable.

 

 

Approach Notes:

See above

[Cornfed]

This prior trip report for Vesper has a great pic of Howling Ridge is you scroll to the bottom and mentions of climbing it.

 

http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1112076

 

[hanman]

Great climb!

[mountainsloth]

Love that area. Nice report and climb. I looked at that ridge last year wondering about its moderate looking, rambly nature. The approach Seems kinda forced though.

[kukuzka1]

its an ok route, i remember short steps with scrambleing inbetween. if have nothing else to do, its worth it