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[TR] Wedge Mountain - NE Arete - 5/4/2015


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Trip: Wedge Mountain - NE Arete -

 

Date: 5/4/2015

 

Trip Report:

With recent snow in the alpine, a group of us decided to bail on Mt Bardean, with a lot of unknowns, and about a 95% chance of an epic. We settled on Wedge Mountain via the NE Arete. With a great forecast, our hopes were high.

 

3 of us lugged our skis up the mountain, and at the treeline were able to hop into them. It saved much postholing, and speeded up our progress considerably. It was a bluebird day with great corn snow. After establishing our camp (one cave and a bivy platform) on the glacier, myself and another went off to scope out a descent. All couloirs were blocked by massive cornices, and the Wedge Couloir descent meant a mandatory hike/skin to get back onto the Wedge Glacier. A few quick turns and we headed back to camp for bed.

 

We woke up at 3am and were off by 4. We approached the arete where we changed into our crampons for the fun part. A year ago I was soiling my pants with the exposure. With a bit of mileage in the alpine recently, I didn't find this section a problem, despite the sugary snow. We dropped our skis at 2600m for the final run to the summit. The snow, while sugary, was never so bad as to turn around, but it was a bit of a slog. We tagged the summit, had a scotch and a couple photos, and then headed back down to make room for the other group.

 

We got back to the skis, and made quick work of the descent, despite the solid crust and my boots not locking in ski mode. By the time we waited for the climbers to get back to the camp and things got packed up, the crust had turned to corn, and we had some amazing turns back down to the treeline.

 

All in all, a great weekend in the alpine, and happy to put this route behind me.

 

 

Follow the link for photos.

Edited by maurop
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