Washington Pass 2014 - Take 2

Washington Pass 2014 - Take 2

September 5 - 7, 2014

Participants: Aaron Cornes, Don Montrichard, Alan Trick, Julio Velandia, Mike McMinn, Amber McMinn

 The weekend after labour day Mike, Don, Aaron and I along with Alan and Julio returned to Washington Pass to climb a couple of  the routes that we had been rained off of a few weeks earlier.

South Early Winter Spire

Washington Pass, Highway 20, WA, USA

South Arete, 10 pitches, 5.6, Difficulty II

On our first day we climbed the South Arete on South Early Winter Spire.  The other guys in our group had hoped to climb the Southwest Rib but unfortunately we picked a busy weekend and there were already 5 parties on the route by the time we got there at 8:30am.

We started the day with a 5:30 wake up call, met our group at 6:30 and were hiking by 7am. The approach took a little over 1.5 hours to get us to the base of the route and we were lucky to be the first ones there for the South Arete route.  We paired off into 3 climbing teams and followed each other up the mountain.  

The route starts right away with the crux, a 5.6 mantle move, and then quickly eases off. The next pitch has the second crux, a 5.4 chimney section.  The next few pitches involved a lot of scrambling with a few climbing moves mixed in. 

On the 7th pitch you get to cross the white Camel, a fin of rock that you hand rail (or straddle depending on your comfort level) as you traverse across, that added some excitement to the route.



 Shortly after the White Camel pitch you get to the exposed traverse that brings you to the summit bolder.  Aaron and Don strung a fixed line along the traverse to ease the passage of the rest of our group. It worked out well as it got all 6 of us efficiently across the traverse to the summit.

Once across the traverse we took turns climbing onto the summit boulder to enjoy the views and had a well deserved rest and snack on the summit. 

Once we were done enjoying the summit we crossed back over the fixed line, hiked down a gully, traversed the white camel and began a series of down climbs and rappels to reverse the route and get off the mountain. 

One note about this route - it's popular! Start early! We passed about 20 people on the way down. It was nuts! 

We reached the base of the route around 11:30am and were back at the cars by about 1pm.  Climbing time: about 3-4 hours return from the base of the route, 6 hours car-to-car. 

The route was not technically difficult but was still a fun romp in the mountains - providing enough interesting pitches to be worth the effort and providing stunning views and atmosphere along the way. 



Since we were back earlier than expected we spent the afternoon cragging at the Rhinozone at Mazama Rocks for a few hours, enjoying refreshments from the Mazama store and swimming in the Methow River swimming hole before retiring to Klipchuck campground for the evening. 

Prime Rib of Goat

Goat Wall, Mazama, WA, USA - 11-pitches, 5.9, sport route

 On the Sunday we headed out to Mazama to climb an 11-pitch sport route called "Prime Rib of Goat"  It is located on the Goat wall, 3 miles North of Mazama on Lost River Road. "Prime Rib" is marketed as the longest moderate sport route in the US and follows a rib of rock up the Goat Wall along side a gully. 

We were once again up at 5:30 am on the road by 6:45am.  We were at the parking area for the goat wall around 7am. We had read that there was an area at the top of wall where you can park a car and do a car shuttle allowing you to top out and avoid the 15 rappels that it takes to get off the route at the end of the day so we opted to go for the car shuttle option since we had 3 vehicles with us.  

4 of us headed up to get started on the route while Don and Mike kindly volunteered to organize the car drop for the 6 of us. The car shuttle took about an hour and involved driving up the dirt Goat Creek Road (South of Mazama) for about 20-30 minutes and parking at the second cattle guard located at 5500ft elev. and then returning to the base of the route, North of Mazama. 

The rest of us started the approach which was relatively straight forward with an obvious trail located about 100m North of the parking area which we followed for about 15-20 min before emerging into a talus field below the goat wall. From there we picked our way up and then left across the talus for another 20 min or so to reach to base of the wall. 

Aaron and I were climbing together that day and I started out leading up the first two pitches at around 8am. The climbing in general was liberally bolted and straight forward. Aaron took over the lead on Pitches 3-9 and we cruised up the fun terrain enjoying the movement and atmosphere of the route. By about the 4th or 5th pitch Mike and Don had finished the car shuttle and caught up with Julio and Alan on the route and all 6 of us followed one another along the route for the rest of the day. 



I took the lead again for pitches 9 and 10 and Aaron finished off the route with final 5.9 crux pitch. We scrambled a few hundred feet up into the sparse forest and found some shade to enjoy lunch and wait for the rest of our group. 



From the top of the route we traversed up and right through the forest for about 20-30 min before coming to a barbed wire fence which we followed out to the dirt road. We then hiked up the road a few hundred feet to find our car waiting at the top. It took about 30 min to drice back to the base of the route and our other vehicles, which was significantly quicker than 15 rappels would have been. The car shuttle was well worth it!



We ended our day with a swim and celebratory beverage in the sun at the Methow River swimming hole and then we said good bye to Mazama and Washington Pass and headed for home. 



We topped out at around 1pm, about 5 hours to climb the 11 pitch route. The climbing on the route is a lot of fun and would be a great lead for a 5.8/5.9 climber who is looking to get some multi-pitch miles. The whole route is well bolted, the climbing is fun, varied and interesting, difficulties are short lived and the views and atmosphere are awesome. Well worth the trip!



Goats Beard Mountain Supply Store in Mazama sells guidebooks with topos for the routes on the Goat Wall and surrounding climbing areas. 

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Coliseum Mountain

 Coliseum Mountain

25km, 1240m (4070ft) elevation, 8hrs return with running lower trails to and from Norvan Falls), expect 10+ hours return if hiking full route

A couple weekends ago I thought I'd take a break from climbing and get out for a long hike for a day.  I'd been wanting to check out Coliseum Mountain in Lynn Headwaters Park for a few years now and with a full day free and a bombproof weather forecast it seemed like a good day to go.






I decided to run/hike the route to make it bit less time intensive so I loaded up my camelback with water, gels, jacket, a few bars and some safety equipment since I was heading out solo - map, compass, emergency bivy, Fast Find personal locator beacon, headlamp, lighter, whistle, small first aid kit and of course, bear bangers in that area.



The first 4 km of the route is along the Cedar Mill trail which follows Lynn Creek from the parking lot to the 3rd debris chute and is fairly flat. This then leads to the next 3 km section to Norvan Falls which is still fairly low angle but more of a single track trail. I ran the first 7 km to Norvan falls at a casual pace in about 1h15min.



From here you reach a sign and map board that clearly marks the turn-off for the Coliseum mountain Trail.  This is where the fun begins! From the sign post you immediately start to climb through the forest along Norvan Creek. The trail crosses the creek, climbs some more and then crosses the creek back again before flattening out for a bit of a reprieve.  After about an hour of hiking I caught up to some park rangers who were doing trail maintenance up to the summit of Coliseum that day. They were the first people I had seen since Norvan Falls. I was happy to see other people since at this point a majority if the trail was though blueberry patches which seemed like an area that bears would like to hang out.



About 1.5 hours into the hike the forest began to thin and a viewpoint and Norvan meadows was reached. I ran into another group of hikers at this point and took a break at the viewpoint with them. From here the fun part of the hike began. The next hour or so involved some short rock steps, steep hiking to the false summit and then descending steeply into a notch and back out before traveling along rocky slabs that finally bring you to the summit.  It took me a little under 3 hours to get from Norvan Falls to the summit of Coliseum, including two or three short breaks en-route for snacks and photos.



The views from the top make it worth every ounce of effort. You can see all the local mountains, the Lions, the peaks of Garibaldi Park and the City of Vancouver far below. There is also a pretty little tarn just below the summit where several people were cooling off. I lingered on the summit and enjoyed the sun and the views for about 45min before retracing my steps for an uneventful descent.



The full hike took me about 8 hours car-to-car and was a great way to spend a day in the mountains on a sunny summer day.



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Washington Pass Climbing

Washington Pass Climbing

August 9 - 13, 2014

Participants: Aaron Cornes, Don Montrichard, Mike McMinn, Amber McMinn

For this years climbing trip Mike and I along with Aaron Cornes and Don Montrichard went out to Washington Pass, off Highway 20 in WA, USA to climb in the Liberty Bell Group.



We started our trip with a leisurely travel day on Saturday August 9.  We left Vancouver at 10am, crossed the border, did our shopping for the week and arrived at our campsite in Washington Pass at around 4pm.  Lone Fir Campground is closest to the climbing but was full when we arrived so we continued on to Klipchuck Campground.  Klipchuck ended up being a good place to stay as it was off the highway so it is quieter than the other camping in the area and it is only 20 min from the climbing and 10 min away from Mazama if you need supplies. I will most likely stay there instead of at Lone Fir next time I go.

We stopped at the ranger station in Marblemount on-route which had a lot of guide books, trail info, maps, etc. if you need further information about the area.  The small town of Mazama also has  a gear store, Goat's Beard Mountain Supplies. They were incredibly helpful with supplying us with updated weather forecasts, route info, guidebooks (Super Topo Washington Pass Climbing and Mazama Rock)  and any necessary gear and supplies.

North Early Winter Spire

Chockstone Route - Difficulty: II+, 5.7, 6-pitches

Our first climb of the trip was the Chockstone Route up North Early Winter Spire.  We got up at 5am and were on the trail at 6:30 am to begin the approach.  We started at the Blue Lake trail head and followed the hikers trail for about 45 min before branching off onto the climbers trail.  From there we hiked steep tails for a short section and then ascended some alpine meadows, passing a family of mountain goats on the way, to the base of the route.  The full approach took about 1.5 hours.

We scrambled up the short 5.0 first pitch and walked up the grassy 2nd class second pitch in a few minutes and geared up under the chockstone at the base of the third pitch where the real climbing begins. The third pitch had some fun climbing and a slabby traverse onto the top of the chockstone.





From there we followed some easy blocky rock to a 2-bolt anchor and then traversed over easy ledges to the right to the base of the final pitch, a 5.4 chimney.  Be sure to traverse climbers right from the bolted anchor.  If you get to another set of chains and bolts you are off route and are now climbing the much more difficult and poorly protected rap route.



The final chimney pitch is listed as having poor pro but the climbing is easy and Mike managed to find several reasonably good placements.  From the top of the chimney we did a short scramble to the summit where we enjoyed lunch surrounded by spectacular views of the area. The climb took about 3-4 hours.



The descent was fairly straight forward, there is a rap route set up with two-bolt anchors and chains all the way down. A 60m rope is a must have and even then the raps are rope-stretchers. We did 3 raps from just below the summit then a short walk to the top of the chockstone.



From there you do the infamous free hanging chockstone rappel followed by another short hike and a final rappel off some trees to reach the bottom of the route. The descent took us about 2 hours followed by another 1.5 hours of hiking to get back to the cars.



We ended our night with some celebratory beers and dinner and an early night to rest up for the next day.

Liberty Bell

Beckey Route - Difficulty: II, 5.7-, 4-pitches

On our second day of the trip we woke up to  a 4am alarm to maximize day light and climbing time in the shade as it was quite hot out the day before.  We were on the trial by 5:30 am and it took us about 2 hours to hike and scramble up to the Liberty Bell-Concord Tower Col.



 The approach starts the same as the previous day, starting at the Blue Lake trail head and following the hikers trail for 45 min before branching off onto the climbers trail, but the second half of the approach is not as straight forward. To gain the col you must ascend a loose scree-filled gully, so the going was slow as we were watching our footing and moving precisely to avoid dropping rocks on our partners below.

Our first route of the day was the classic Beckey route up Liberty Bell. We were the first parties on the route and enjoyed a fun climb to the summit.  The first pitch involved easy climbing through a tunnel with little difficulties. Some parties opt to climb alongside the tunnel instead of through it, but I thought it was a fun feature to climb through.  The second pitch seemed a bit tougher than we remembered from the first time we did the route. After some inspection we realized that last time there had been slings in place to aid past the burly start moves but the slings had been chopped. Instead we found a path around the left side of the blocks that was less strenuous, protectable and kept the climbing at the listed 5.6 grade.



We broke the third pitch down into 2 pitches to reduce rope drag. We started with one pitch up the easy low angle slabs to an area where the route steepens and from there set up a second station and headed out left onto a airy traverse. In hind-sight, we should have gone right instead of left which would have allowed us to avoid both the second station and the airy traverse. The left line is actually a pitch on the route "The Girl Next Door" and is not the "Beckey Route".



From the top of the third pitch we soloed to the summit, spotting each other on the 5.7 slab move and bringing a rope to rappel to avoid down climbing, had a break slightly below the summit due to a weird and gross fly infestation on the summit and then headed down via rappels.  We found a rap station on a tree just above the 5.7 slab. We rapped down to the top of the third pitch and then hiked down some braided trails to the first bolted station on the descent route. From there it took us two 30m rappels off bolted stations to get back to the col.



We were back at the col by 11:30am so we assessed the second route of the day and made a plan. We had originally thought of climbing three spires that day - Liberty Bell, Concord Tower and Lexington Spire - but after the first route we decided that we'd keep it to two since energy levels were waning and it was getting hot out. We enjoyed a relaxed lunch break at the col and then geared up for our second route of the day, the North Face of Concord Tower.

Concord Tower

North Face - Difficulty: II, 5.7, 3-pitches

 Our second route of the day was a 3-pitch climb up the North Face of Concord Tower. The route starts at the Liberty Bell - Concord col, conveniently right across from the descent route from Liberty Bell.  We had scoped out the route while we were on Liberty Bell and were still on the fence as it had look fairly intimidating from that vantage point. However, once we got to the base of the route the obvious line up the face became apparent and looked reasonable to climb.



We slimmed down our packs and left our extra gear at the col to make the climb more enjoyable and  hopped on the first pitch at about 12:30pm. It turned out to be a casual romp up to a large ledge where we established our first gear anchor.  The second pitch was just as the guidebook described - in your face 5.7 climbing.  All the holds were there but the pitch was long, sustained and on the burly side of 5.7; the holds weren't as obvious as they typically are on most 5.7 climbs. The final pitch was a lot fun with a good variety of different techniques needed from slab climbing to finger/hand cracks to an awesome bear hug section that ends on the summit.



The views from the summit were great with a spectacular view of the Beckey route that we had just climbed. Overall, the climb was a lot of fun - easy enough to not be stressful but challenging enough to be interesting.



It took us three rappels to get back to the col, the first two were off of bolted anchors and the final one was off of a station on tree located on a giant ledge. We were back at the col by 3:30pm which got us back to the car by 5pm and just enough time to drive into town and restock the beer supply for that night's celebration.

  Cragging at Mazama Rocks, Canine Crag

On our third day in the pass we decided to take it easy and enjoy a rest day. We slept in, had a leisurely breakfast of bacon and eggs and headed out to Mazama shortly before noon. Everyone was tired from the last two days of mountain climbing so we opted for some low-key cragging for the day.  

We bought a guidebook for at the Goat's Beard gear store and went to check out the Mazama Crags. 

None of us had climbed there before so we chose which crag to explore that day by proximity to the car. We ended up at Canine Crag, which happened to have about a 30 second approach - perfect for a rest day! Canine Crag is actually quite an impressive looking climbing area with a huge roof and some 2-pitch 5.12 routes.  We opted to climb two of the 5.9s below the roof and Mike onsighted an 11a that the rest of us top-roped afterwards.



After our short but sweet climbing session we headed out to look for a swimming hole that is mentioned in the guidebook since it was over 30c and we were all cooking hot in the afternoon sun. We found the swimming hole with little difficulty and enjoyed a nice swim in a stellar setting. The water was freezing, but it felt good to cool off and the area was a great little place to hangout and relax for a while.



We spent that evening enjoying relaxing in camp with a leisurely dinner and some slack lining and preparing for a 5.9, 11-pitch sport climb "Prime Rib of Goat" on the Goat Wall the next day.

Till Next time Washington Pass

Unfortunately when we woke up in the morning the rain had started and put an end to our climbing plans. We drove into Mazama to have breakfast and use the internet to check the forecast.  The weather seemed to have turned for the rest of the week. The surrounding areas also had wet forecasts so we opted to head for home instead of camping in the rain. After breakfast we broke down camp and drove back to Vancouver. It turned out to be a good choice as we enjoyed a few days of dry weather and climbing in Squamish for the rest of the week to end our vacation. South Early Winter Spire, Lexington Tower and Prime Rib of Goat will have to wait until next time......

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