| Made a day trip to the North Ridge, and descended the West Ridge. The approach and climb were beautiful, taking you on a wild circumnavigation of the mountain. We crossed a notch above Sharkfin Col, rappelling onto the Boston Glacier. A grand glacier walk to the start of the route. Tough moves on the lower ridge led to scrambling and several snow ridges. The route was long, we seemed to scramble forever up, down and around towers. Finally, the upper ridge provided a few fun moves before the summit, which was anti-climactic -- I'd gotten used to climbing, and didn't know what to do when that phase of life was over! It was around 3 pm, and we began the descent. It went well until I simultaneously lost my ice axe and jammed the rappel ropes in a moat in the couloir! We had to leave the ropes, and I used a snow anchor to descend the steep snow and cross a snowbridge. My experienced partner had wisely forgone the last rappel. Wish I had done the same! Anyway, we reached the car just before dark after a beautiful evening hike in Boston Basin. What a day. |
