[TR] Chair Peak - NE Buttress 3/19/2016

[Alisse]

Trip: Chair Peak - NE Buttress

 

Date: 3/19/2016

 

Trip Report:

One of my partners described it thus: "Conditions are fat and relatively mellow (watch out for the cornices)."

There was a lot of snow up there and the ice bit was short and chill -- "10 feet of 80-degree max. ice"

 

We left Seattle at 2:30 AM, left the parking lot at 3:50 AM, and had a quick and easy approach on a stomped-out snow trail in balmy conditions (above freezing at that point -- a little disconcerting). We put on snowshoes about a half-hour in and followed snowshoe tracks and tried to stay off the skin tracks.

 

We got up to the basin below the East Face of Chair and after about a half-hour of fighting/fiddling with my crampons (allowing the sun to come up) and then trying to fight through thigh-deep snow in crampons, we re-donned the snowshoes and traversed high below the East Face to reach the base of the first pitch, which we belayed. Snow was good, not super firm but not mushy. AI2-ish with a tiny rock/mixed bit. Windy and spindrifty, made for a nice alpine feel! From the trees at the top of the first pitch, we simulclimbed up and over the little ice step to the false summit, and then up to the true summit (giant cornice! Amazing!)

 

Our beta was to "scramble" down the gully to the rap anchor; it was a downclimb through alternating firmer and wetter snow. Thanks to whoever extended that anchor over/through the cornice (so giant). The downclimb back to the basin was uneventful, we took a little break, and then it was super sunny and postholey on the way out. Trying to descend hills in chunky snow while wearing snowshoes is not fun... but niether is postholing every 3 steps.

 

Car to car time was around 11 hours.

 

IT WAS SO MUCH FUN!

 

 

 

Chair Peak!

 

Joe starting the first pitch

 

Ice step!

 

Rappelling over/through the 30' cornice

 

Gear Notes:

-- We brought a 1/2 set of stoppers, single cams to #2 camalot, one each 10cm, 13cm, 16cm, and 19cm ice screws, three pickets, two knifeblades and one lost arrow. Alpine draws and some double slings, of course.

-- The rack we used consisted of one knifeblade, a few tips and finger sized cams, a few stoppers, one stubby screw, one medium screw, slings for bushes/trees, and the pickets. The pickets were good to have, but the snow was unconsolidated enough that they weren't super useful.

[OlympicMtnBoy]

Cool, looks like fun!

[ilias]

Nice work! Looks awesome. Been wanting to get on that...

[martinlun]

Good climb! What were the temps when you were up there?

[manninjo]

It was 32 degrees in the parking lot at about 4am. Highs were forecast to be in the low-mid 40s but it was really windy with some intermittent cloud cover which helped things from warming up too much.

 

As an aside, we went back last Saturday to do the North Face route, but the steep snow slope below the face was extremely loaded with windslab/snow that had sluffed off the face and piled up. There was a slab that had released in the vicinity of where you would belay the first pitch (the first pitch did look super fat, thick blue ice). Also, the cornice over the N.Face route was huge and really overhanging last weekend.

 

We repeated the first pitch (S-gulley) of the NE Buttress and rapped off in two 30m rappels. Two other parties of two were ahead of us and continued up the route. The ice/snice was a bit worse for the wear compared with the week before and I think you'd want some lower freezing levels for the route to be in good shape.

[martinlun]

Thanks! Well if I can find a partner maybe I'll see ya up there in the next few weeks of it cools off!

[miragewsu]

A buddy and I are pondering on giving this a go tomorrow. I was recently up there I think the day before OP's trip report. We turned around near the base of the route as the winds were high and sustained. So I have a bit of unfinished business.

 

The warm temps though we have had though I'm not so sure on. The alpental telemetry shows it possible got down near freezing last night (if I extrapolate up form 4350'). Tonight, it may not even get to freezing. The ice was pretty fat, when I looked at it a couple weeks back. A few days back, it would have been below freezing at nights so I bet it's there, but will be getting some melting the last two days.

 

Maybe the biggest concern would be slushy snow both going up and down, and that big ass cornice above the rappel

 

Just curious if anyone had thoughts on whether it's worth it to get up super early and check it out tomorrow.

 

[jakedouglas]

I was in the area this morning. I think you can expect an overnight freeze with the clear skies, but rapid warming once the sun is out. I would only consider hitting it VERY early or maybe the do NF instead, but descending with the cornice and all would still be of substantial concern.

[Alisse]

NWAC says.. "..High freezing levels, light winds and sunny skies over the next several days will cause natural loose wet avalanches on solar aspects and increase the odds for low likelihood/high consequence problems such as cornice failures."

 

I would definitely NOT want to downclimb the gully and/or rappel under that giant cornice in the temps that we've been having.

 

If I were you, I'd wait for the supreme type 1 fun that will come with colder conditions!