Fred Beckey's 100 Favorite North American Climbs by Barry Blanchard

Author:Barry Blanchard
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Climbing
ISBN: 9780980122718
Publisher: Patagonia
Published: 2012-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

PHOTO SID SCULL

APPROACH

The 4.6-kilometers trail to the Conrad Kain Hut gains 650 meters and is a slog with a heavy pack. The hut is built on a granite bench at 2,230 meters. For tent camping, continue one kilometer to Applebee Dome (2,480 meters), an outcrop beneath Eastpost Spire. Hut and camping fees apply.

Access to the Bugaboo-Snowpatch Spire col requires an ice ax and crampons after midsummer. Loose boulders may fall onto the snow and ice slope during warm days. Ascend the moraine path toward Applebee Dome, then turn to the Crescent Glacier and aim for the col. Pass the bergschrund on the right, where it pinches into rock (crossing options will vary). Belays and even ice screws may be required. Atop the snow slope, traverse leftward for the 2,760-meter col via a short gully, avoiding a loose area. No camping or bivouacs.

ROUTE

From the col follow scree paths rightward, then take a ramp past a rock scar. Ascend blocks to gain the ridgecrest, then continue easily via short steps right of the crest, trending right to gain a shallow chimney (class 5). Scramble past a flat, then follow ledges to bypass a step. From a small notch, follow a ramp, ledges, and corners on the right (east) side to gain a small pedestal directly below the blocking gendarme. From a platform climb a short, steep wall past horizontal cracks (fixed pitons) to the rounded edge. Here friction slightly down and across the crux slab to the top of a shallow saucer. Make a long reach left to gain a crack (fixed piton) that leads to a belay behind the gendarme (a 25-meter pitch). Follow the ledge left to a flaky corner system for a class 4 to 5 summit scramble.

DESCENT

Make the first rappel from chain anchors directly off the summit. Then rappel the gendarme, using a rappel station on its east side. Scramble westward 15 meters to a prominent flake to reach a chockstone and another anchor. Make two short traversing rappels, then scramble the narrow ridge to a flat spot; then rappel off the south end of a small tower. On the descent to the col, keep away from the east face.

Below the col on the south flank there are four fixed rappel stations (for 30 meter rappels) to reach beyond the bergschrund. An alternative descent is to use six fixed rappels from the Pigeon-Snowpatch Spire col.

BETA AND CAVEATS

MacCarthy in 1916 was amused at the “small mountain squirrel which ran about on the rocks” and thrived on lichen. Decades later, climbers discovered that this curious and clever critter, “the snafflehound,” has a fondness for shoe leather and ropes. These rodents can chew a hole in anything but glass or metal. When Galen Rowell and I returned from an ascent of Snowpatch Spire, we discovered that a critter had not only gnawed through our tent wall, but also a cordura rucksack to steal a morsel.

Beware of intense electrical storms. Attempt to be off routes by midafternoon.

Bring a headlamp.

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