| South Early Winter Spire - Southwest Couloir Trip Report |
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| South Early Winter Spire - Southwest Couloir   | 
| Page Type: Trip Report Location: Washington, United States, North America Lat/Lon: 48.51220°N / 120.6208°W Date Climbed/Hiked: Mar 13, 2005 | Page By: esugi Created/Edited: Apr 7, 2005 / Object ID: 169973 Hits: 868 Loading... Page Score: 0% - 0 Votes Loading... Vote: Log in to vote |
| Mountain: South Early Winter Spire Mountain: South Early Winter Spire Elevation: 7807 ft Route: Southwest Couloir Date: 3/13/05 It had been little over one month since I returned from my successful Ecuador Andes climbing trip (where I climbed 4 peaks in span of 2 weeks). I had not done anything since and I was itching to get out!! I’ve been eyeing this route for a long time. I placed a thread on Cascadeclimbers.com and hooked up with Paul. We slept in back of his truck at the Hairpin pulloff just east of Washington Pass on Highway 20 (North Cascades Highway). It was the first weekend the highway was open and the earliest ever on record. Needless to say, there were several cars taking advantage of early season climbing. Next morning, we set off at 6:20 am. We quickly hiked up the snow covered trail (with some post-holing). As we got closer to the base of the couloir, snow turned to ice. We put our crampons and took out our tools. In 2 hours, we were at the base of the couloir. We took a good 20 minute break as we roped up and ate some grub. With Paul in lead, we climbed to the left of the "huge" boulder, blocking the entrance of the couloir. The snow was hard and crampons were "biting" very nicely. The grade wasn’t too bad on the lower part but we decided to practice running-belay anyway. After placing 2 pros, we split off to the right and got into icy 50 degree slope with some exposed rock. Now we’re having some fun! Although the ice was not very thick, it felt good to swing my tool again. It was also cool to practice my dry-tooling skills. Paul placed couple of screws along the way and we came to a spot where we changed leads. Once past the icy sections, we now got to loose rock. I had to really watch each step so as to not dislodge any rock on my partner. I’m sure Paul appreciated the care I took on each step. At the top of the couloir, we hung a left onto the summit block. After short class 3/4 scrambling, I was standing on the summit enjoying the wonderful views of the north Cascades. It was a beautiful day and I can make out many of the great mountains (Glacier Peak, Mt. Baker, Mt. Shuksan….just to name a few). We descended down to a rappel station, where we double roped (joining teams with 2 climbers that came up after us) and rapped down as far as we could. After freeing our ropes (it got stuck and one of us had to climb back up – that sucked), we front pointed down the rest of the way. Another rappel over the huge boulder at the entrance of the couloir, and we were hightailing back to our car. Overall, it was a great outing for an early spring outing. I enjoyed this route very much and hope to do it again next spring.
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