[TR] Dragontail - Triple Couloir Attempt 2/24/2013

[dave schultz]

Trip: Colchuck - Triple Couloir Attempt

 

Date: 2/24/2013

 

Trip Report:

Gorin and I went for a single push TC climb and possible ski descent. Inspired by John and Scott's TR of their descent in early January I thought that there might be enough ice for the climb and descent snow with reasonable avi conditions for a shot at this elusive tick.

 

We started at the TH at about 4am on Sunday morning, and actually met Scott on the trail on his way to his Ice Cliff Adventure. We made descent time to the start of the hidden couloir, arrive at around 9am. We took a little while to reset ourselves and then made bad time up the hidden couloir. We made the mistake of climbing through the thin ice and mixed rock which demanded an actual belay instead of simply taking the easiest way up in favor of speed.

 

We arrived at the runnels to find them in very thin shape. Mixed climbing would be favorable description, it looked more like straight rock climbing. We opted to simply descent the route instead of continuing to the second or third options. Had conditions been favorable, an all afternoon and evening/night climb would have been in order, but with the poor conditions we decided to tuck tail.

 

In order to avoid any silly mistakes on the descent, and in order to try out some general mountaineering skills we made eight double rope rappels using snow bollards (which neither of us had ever done before). It was way faster than building gear anchors for rappelling, and definitely faster than down climbing. Skiing down would have been faster, but we decided against it just to be on the safe side.

 

We got to the bottom, packed the gear, and made descent time to the car. Skiing down the road was fast, with only about 4 areas that required taking skis off.

 

Compared to the previous TRs for the area, there appeared to be significantly less snow than previous/normal. This should be no big surprise based on the minimal amount of recent snow, and the very low February precipitation.

 

We did not see bad avi conditions, only a few local heavily wind loaded areas displayed possible areas of concern, as would be expected. The areas of significant loading were very well bonded, and was difficult to shear that slab form the underlying bed surface.

 

If seeking simply a ski descent, the route is probably still in pretty good shape, just be well prepared for the rappels: find established stations (risky) or be prepared to leave gear.

 

We both forgot out cameras, so iPhone pics is the only thing to show. And only one pic of the runnels, kinda funky orientation, but pretty clear that there is not much ice.

 

 

 

Gear Notes:

We brought a med ski mountaineering rack for the route. half a dozen nuts, 6 pins, .3-2 C4 cams, and four ice screws. we used two double 8mm ropes. half a dozen slings and 5 screamers.

 

Approach Notes:

pretty straightforward approach. not a lot of new snow on Sunday.

[downey]

Thanks a lot for the conditions report, Dave! I find these types of TR's extremely helpful.

[epst10]

Globel Warming. Shit.

[JasonG]

Actually what that route needs is some warming, then a freeze. Typically the runnels don't come in until late winter or early spring, depending on the weather. April/May is often better than dead of winter. Of course, then the ski conditions wouldn't be great, but it is tough to have it all.