This may fit more as a sort of guide to this area than as a trip report.

On many less-enthusiastic walks down and out of Icehouse Canyon, I looked at some of the rockfaces on the Northern side of Ontario and Sugarloaf Peaks. They looked like they could provide some good mixed climbing, and I hoped the rock was strong and solid enough up there to support protected climbing, or at least bodyweight.

Mixed climbing here in the San Gabriel Mountains is different, I suppose, than most other areas. The rock is typically very crumbly, making moves that much more delicate, and placing protection starts to rely more on canyoneering-style anchors around trees and bushes than by using screws, pitols, or other forms of pro.

All mixed climbing in this report is traditional mixed, as opposed to sport mixed (bolted).

Doing the deed

On the morning of the 11th, I set out to give one of these areas a shot. I figured that even if I was unable to climb the harder parts, I could set off on a different tangent, and at least reach Sugarloaf's summit.

Looking up at the route to be

The most precise directions I can give are to go for what looks good. This is all obviously west of Falling Rock Canyon. The approach is over a talus/boulder field, with soft snow the whole way up. The water had not frozen at the climb itself, leaving soft snow that did not support bodyweight, making for a somewhat unpleasant day.

Waterfall

There are two possible routes to climb from this spot, with what looks like an easier route heading up to the left, and a mixed route with waterfalls straight ahead. The left route steepens later on, and though I did not climb it, it appeared to have a waterfall, and probably several more on the way up.

Looking directly ahead at the possibilities

Close up

The left couloir

I chose to move up the waterfall at center, which looked like it would go rather easily. In a group, roped, I believe this pitch would probably go at aroun M2-M4. It is loose but fun, and with ice, it would be much easier.

Drytooling up

Since I was unable to climb this waterfall, I bypassed it on the right side by going up some ledges. These are low angle, and without hard snow or ice, I was often skating on rock with crampons. This was a difficult section to downclimb. It looks featured enough for an easy downclimb, but the rock often will move or break out. Lots of cleaning is required for safe passage, or one can rappel it, even if it looks too easy or short. Better safe than sorry, as many accidents happen closer to the ground, or on terrain that is deemed "easy" by the climbers, and therefor less safety precautions are taken.

The second waterfall is much longer and larger, and of course, it too was flowing free instead of freezing. From past experience in this area, it would have to be VERY cold for several days for the ice to be of sufficient quality. The waterfall steepens further up. Before this point, it is easy and lower angle, with no drytooling required for anything but balance. The waterfalls themselves are mostly solid, but one must always apply lots of pressure to any possible holds in order to avoid one levering out mid-move.

The second falls

On the right side of the falls, I tried climbing up a section that looked easier. Apparently some folks have used this as a sort of canyoneering style descent from Sugarloaf, as I found a cord that looks like it came from Home Depot tied around a bush.

This looks perfectly safe!

Pretty interesting...

After this, I began the long, slow, careful process of getting back down to the trail. This proved to be easier without crampons on, since there wasn't anything to bite into. However, having the crampons on did help me better some techniques for future climbs. If conditions improve, I feel that this could become a very fun, technical route ot the summit of Sugarloaf, something we lack presently for most of the local mountains.

I plan on checking the area out more extensively, focusing on the left couloir as a possible easier alternative.

What was Learned

-Tools with more clearance would be rather nice
-Focus on canyoneering-style anchors
-Larger-size nuts (maybe #6-10) would be better here than the full range, and should probably be backed up by other means, if not avoided outright.
-New camera is huge, and akin to carrying a newborn child in your jacket.

Images

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