[TR] Vesper Peak - True Grit 6/27/2016

[ilias]

Trip: Vesper Peak - True Grit

 

Date: 6/27/2016

 

Trip Report:

On Sunday, Nick, Jim, Brian and I climbed True Grit on Vesper, a new route put up last year as described in this TR:

 

http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1143286

 

Great new route, thanks for developing this! We had a really fun time. Traversing steep snow on the approach added a bit of alpine spice to the day:

 

 

We chose to put on crampons and use ice axes and actually rope up for the traverse of that snow patch in the center of the photo. The snow was firm and fairly stable, so you could definitely do it unroped but we had plenty of time in the day and decided to play it safe.

 

Due to the layout of the snow, we ended up doing a variation on pitch 1, as shown in purple in this route overlay:

 

This variation involves less traversing of bushy ledges under the face so may be a decent option any time of year. It is also low 5th like the original pitch 1.

 

Beautiful views while climbing all along the route, it's got great position:

 

 

The chimney on pitch 2:

 

 

This chimeny is a distinguishing landmark but we didn't actually climb it like a chimeny, there are a ton of holds on the outside. Above the chimney was a fun short slab pitch, it's got cool holds and features in the rock:

 

Pitch 4 is definitely the funnest pitch of the route and the finger crack is very enjoyable, with ample pro in the cracks and bolts where you need them on the pitch:

 

The last pitch is a short section of easier terrain to reach the summit ridge, where you can belay off some blocks/horns.

 

Other thoughts:

 

- It seemed like pitch 2 and 3 could definitely be linked into a single pitch without issues.

- You could probably link pitch 4 and 5 if you have enough slings

- With some snow on the descent route, you can make it from the summit back to the saddle from which you traverse out onto the face in like 5 minutes, so climbing both True Grit and Ragged Edge in a day would be very doable and make for a great moderate outing with ~10 total pitches

- It looks like there's potentially room for another route or two on this face, out left of True Grit...

 

Gear Notes:

We brought:

 

- Cams: Doubles of 0.3-1, and a single #2 (too many, the climbing is easy and could definitely be done with a single rack 0.3-2 by leaders comfortable at 5.8)

- Nuts: single set (used a fair amount)

- 12 slings (you'll need all of them on pitch 4)

 

Approach Notes:

Plenty of snow. Until the steep snow patch melts out, I'd say mountaineering boots, crampons, and axes are highly recommended.

 

The road says it's "closed" at 1.2 miles in but it's actually open and totally passable to the trailhead. However, it is in danger of washing out at the marked location and could disappear in the next major storm or next winter.

Edited June 27, 2016 by ilias

[dberdinka]

Glad you liked it. It involved way more excavation than I anticipated before I began. You wouldn't believe how much trundling and cleaning the "fun short slab pitch" required. A third route is in the works maybe 50'-100' left with a surprisingly different style of climbing than True Grit or Ragged Edge. Hopefully finished up a little earlier in the season than the last two.

Edited June 28, 2016 by dberdinka

[ilias]

Nice! Yeah we saw a few bolts out left and figured you were working on another route there.

[olyclimber]

Looks fun!