West Face

Overview & Approach

Concord Tower is an interesting summit to climb and the West Face route is a fun, moderately hard [4 pitch] climb on clean rock. There are other moderate routes and variations up all sides of Concord (except the East) on generally good rock with an easy descent. On the E is Minuteman Tower which is a seven pitch technical rock climb rated 5.9 - A.0 or 5.10 free.

Concords West Face (seen here, second summit from the left) is accessed from the Liberty Bell / Concord gully. The route climbs out of the gully (in shadow) and reaches the shelf about 1/3 of the way up the W Face; it then climbs the left-hand side of the Face all the way to the summit. Starting from the left (N); Liberty Bell, Concord Tower, Lexington Tower, North Early Winters Spire and South Early Winters Spire. Photo provided by leejams

Drive Washington State Route 20 (the North Cascades Hwy) E or W to 1 mile W of Washington Pass and park at the FS Blue Lake Trail #314 parking lot; a FS Parking Pass is required for all vehicles at the TH.

In early season (when plenty of snow covers the official trail) follow the boot-beaten cattle-path in a SSE direction towards the W toe of Liberty Bell (do not ascend too close to LB or you will end up on a shelf upon the lower W Face of LB from which you will need to rappel off). Later in the season when the official trail is exposed follow it for approx. 1-1/2 miles (making two lazy switchbacks); the first 1/2 mile parallels the Hwy heading E. In either case, you will find yourself entering a meadow (the bottom edge of the basin). The Blue Lake trail continues W from here and a climbers track scrambles up to the S; climb uphill (S) staying near to the left edge of obvious slabs.

Above the slabs the route splits, the left-hand trail is the approach to the LB-Concord gully, the right-hand continues up to NEWS, SEWS and Blue Lake Peak. Follow the LH trail and ascend the gully between LB and Concord, this is your objective. Ascend about 1/4 to 1/3 the vertical distance up the LB-Concord gully. On the right hand wall (of the gully) you will find an area of broken rock which looks to end on a large shelf upon the W Face (of Concord).

Note: Looking at the W Face of Concord from a distance (to the W) this shelf is quite obvious and large, it cuts clear across the face from N to S and divides the face in half, from top to bottom.

Route Description

4 Pitches. Other than the climb out of the gully to access the upper W Face the route stays entirely upon the W Face. For further information see Trip Report.


P1 5.6 or 5.7: Starting at the broken rock section in the LB-Concord gully climb moderate 5th class rock 100'+ up and reach the prominent shelf dividing the W Face of Concord.

P2 5.8 or 5.9: Looking directly up from your position (on the N side of the W Face shelf) find a short crack which leads to an arching Flake, climb this for approx 140'. Transition from the Flake, which continues up and to the right (petering out below a roof), to another crack which continues up and slightly to the left. This crack leads to a ledge. The 2nd pitch is fairly long, a 150' rope might not get you to the ledge.

P3 5.6: The 3rd pitch is an enjoyable lead of cracks, knobs and flakes which continues up one full rope length to another belay stance. An extremely interesting feature on this pitch is the natural rock Brackets along the route. The brackets are large and can be easily slung for natural protection points.

P4 5.6 or 5.7: Continue up (staying on the W Face) one last, slightly shorter, pitch of cracks, knobs and flakes; this lead finishes with some face climbing (near the top) to the summit.

Descend the N Face rappel route (easily done with a single rope and several rappels) and then descend the upper gully to your starting point.

Essential Gear

One long (60M) rope, a full rock rack with a selection of small (not micro) cams, hexes to include a #10 for a bombproof anchor (end of P2), quickdraws for the flake pitch, some long slings for the "brackets" on P3. In early season boots and ice axes for the approach. Rock shoes for the climb, hard hats for the climb and the descent of the gully. The gully can be a real shooting gallery when melted out and other parties are above you (I once was pasted by a baseball sized rock in the shoulder and found myself 30' down the gully, still facing uphill, surprised but un-injured).

Early in the season snowmelt will dampen the route increasing the difficulty.

NOAA Digital Weather

You can check the NOAA weather site here for current local conditions.

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Images

View West Face Image Gallery - 3 Images