Terrific easy rock route, but ridiculous number of people climbing; and it was Wednesday. The approach is almost totally free of snow but the mosquitoes in the morning are extremely hungry.
jordansahls - May 19, 2007 9:23 pm Date Climbed: May 19, 2007
craziness!
climbed the SW couloir, was a fun route, wasnt in the greatest condition.
alpinerack - May 10, 2007 2:17 am Date Climbed: May 6, 2007
Awesome!
Great weather and great partners. High snow year and early season, no chockstone! Used pickets, stoppers and a couple cams.
thundercloud - Mar 13, 2007 8:22 pm Date Climbed: Sep 4, 2004
South Arete
Nice fun and easy climb. Snow spit at the start, but weather held on enough for enjoyable afternoon.
Route Climbed: SW Rib. Date Climbed: 9/9/07
An OK route. As Martin mentions, ledgy with good climbing consisting of "short bursts" here and there. Also, Martin's suggestion of linking works well - did it in about 5 pitches (could've cut down one more I think). Nice day & hence 2 parties ahead of us (& more on descent).
Route Climbed: DEB. Date Climbed: 9/30/06
Shirley & I wanted to do LC but couldn't quite crawl out of sleeping bags pre-dawn (again). Nice line. Did it at about 5.9 A0 (yarded bolt ladders). Nice cracks on lower 4 pitches. Nice exposure & OK climbing on upper part (probably nicer if you free the bolt ladders). As always, transitioning from aid to free mid-pitch is a bitch. Cold when in shade. I liked East Face of Lex and even East FAce of Minuteman better than this one.
Route Climbed: South Arete. Date Climbed: 10/12/02
My wife, our friend J. and I did the climb together. Perfect weather on this sunny side of the mountain. Very easy rock - the only interesting part was at the very beginning and even that was not harder than 5.5. Ran into only one more climber (soloing) from Methow. Saw a party rapping off the Liberty Bell.
Hoping to get in a Fall climb, but only started the route. Snow, some ice made us back off. Rock was very cold and our hands got numb quickly. Hope to do the whole route in better weather. There was no one else around. Beautiful place.
Route Climbed: South Arete Date Climbed: July 10, 2005
My first climb in the North Cascades! Great sticky rock, fun moves (especially the traverse on the whaleback), and gorgeous scenery added up to a great day. We got to the summit just before it started sprinkling, but then dried up 'til just before we got back to our cars. 5-star climb!
Route Climbed: Southwest Buttress Date Climbed: 11 June 2005
Very fun route. A bit cold - climbed through the clouds with wet snow falling and then hail, but it gave the experience a nice mountain ambiance. Recommend it!
We desperately needed snowshoes, as we punched through hip deep most of the way to the route. Once there, the route was quite nice. Crampons were necessary. There was plenty of snow in the couloir, but is is melting fast. Be careful of the cornice once you exit the couloir and begin the scramble. I loved this climb.
Route Climbed: Southwest Couloir Date Climbed: 4/23/05
Great climb! We left Blue Lake Trailhead 8:00AM, summit by noon. Warm and sunny, with fantastic views. Only one other group ahead of us, so no line ups in the Couloir. Snow was soft and deep enough for us to use snowshoes on the approach. Couloir had snow almost to the summit , but melting fast. Some of us used crampons in the Couloir, optional on this day. Thanks to Summitpost for good beta on this route.
I loved this climb. Approached via the hairpin turn parking area. Saw lots of goats that tried to kick rocks down on us! Glissaded back down almost all the way to the car.
zzril - Jul 14, 2007 8:09 pm Date Climbed: Jul 11, 2007
Beautiful route, perhaps too popularTerrific easy rock route, but ridiculous number of people climbing; and it was Wednesday. The approach is almost totally free of snow but the mosquitoes in the morning are extremely hungry.
jordansahls - May 19, 2007 9:23 pm Date Climbed: May 19, 2007
craziness!climbed the SW couloir, was a fun route, wasnt in the greatest condition.
alpinerack - May 10, 2007 2:17 am Date Climbed: May 6, 2007
Awesome!Great weather and great partners. High snow year and early season, no chockstone! Used pickets, stoppers and a couple cams.
thundercloud - Mar 13, 2007 8:22 pm Date Climbed: Sep 4, 2004
South AreteNice fun and easy climb. Snow spit at the start, but weather held on enough for enjoyable afternoon.
rpc - Oct 2, 2006 9:04 pm
3 routesRoute Climbed: SW Rib. Date Climbed: 9/9/07
An OK route. As Martin mentions, ledgy with good climbing consisting of "short bursts" here and there. Also, Martin's suggestion of linking works well - did it in about 5 pitches (could've cut down one more I think). Nice day & hence 2 parties ahead of us (& more on descent).
Route Climbed: DEB. Date Climbed: 9/30/06
Shirley & I wanted to do LC but couldn't quite crawl out of sleeping bags pre-dawn (again). Nice line. Did it at about 5.9 A0 (yarded bolt ladders). Nice cracks on lower 4 pitches. Nice exposure & OK climbing on upper part (probably nicer if you free the bolt ladders). As always, transitioning from aid to free mid-pitch is a bitch. Cold when in shade. I liked East Face of Lex and even East FAce of Minuteman better than this one.
Route Climbed: South Arete. Date Climbed: 10/12/02
My wife, our friend J. and I did the climb together. Perfect weather on this sunny side of the mountain. Very easy rock - the only interesting part was at the very beginning and even that was not harder than 5.5. Ran into only one more climber (soloing) from Methow. Saw a party rapping off the Liberty Bell.
osatrik - Aug 25, 2006 6:33 am
South AreteProbably the most fun multi-pitch rock route I've done. My OSAT rock-jock buddies took me up this, and let me lead the slab crossing on the descent.
emilie - Jul 31, 2006 5:53 pm Date Climbed: Jun 28, 2006
South AreteMy first time in the Eastern Cascades and first time alpine rock climbing. Will be back for more!
Norman - Jul 31, 2006 3:32 am Date Climbed: Jul 29, 2006
SEWSMy son and I returned this year to complete the Fall attempt last year. We had excellent weather. No one else climbing the South Arete this day.
missadventure - Feb 10, 2006 12:26 am
Route Climbed: South Arete Date Climbed: july 9 2001what a sweet climb!
danman3156 - Jan 18, 2006 9:03 pm
Route Climbed: South Arete Date Climbed: August 12 2004Fun route, not too hard but it was perfect for my technical alpine climb.
setrent - Dec 26, 2005 10:07 pm
Route Climbed: Southwest Rib Date Climbed: 16 Aug, 2004A great climb in Washington Pass. Needed the two #4 Camalots. Would make the direct start next time.
Norman - Oct 2, 2005 8:19 pm
Route Climbed: South Arete Date Climbed: 10/1/05Hoping to get in a Fall climb, but only started the route. Snow, some ice made us back off. Rock was very cold and our hands got numb quickly. Hope to do the whole route in better weather. There was no one else around. Beautiful place.
rcook1 - Jul 19, 2005 7:45 pm
Route Climbed: South Arete Date Climbed: July 2005excellent 360 degree views at the top, mountain goats fought over my urine
lidijagrazulis - Jul 11, 2005 11:43 am
Route Climbed: South Arete Date Climbed: July 10, 2005My first climb in the North Cascades! Great sticky rock, fun moves (especially the traverse on the whaleback), and gorgeous scenery added up to a great day. We got to the summit just before it started sprinkling, but then dried up 'til just before we got back to our cars. 5-star climb!
willow - Jun 13, 2005 1:16 pm
Route Climbed: Southwest Buttress Date Climbed: 11 June 2005Very fun route. A bit cold - climbed through the clouds with wet snow falling and then hail, but it gave the experience a nice mountain ambiance. Recommend it!
Blakester - May 31, 2005 3:27 am
Route Climbed: Southwest Buttress Date Climbed: May 28 2005Warm and beautiful weather. Bring a couple big cams for the offwidths. Start just to the left of the two-topped Larch.
esugi - Apr 29, 2005 1:37 am
Route Climbed: SW Couloir Date Climbed: 4/25/05Climbed with Gunner below. Second time on this route this year. Made for great outing (except for post holing) with short approach and fun route.
Had the entire route to ourselves.
gunnersmith - Apr 26, 2005 10:28 pm
Route Climbed: SW Couloir Date Climbed: 4/25/05We desperately needed snowshoes, as we punched through hip deep most of the way to the route. Once there, the route was quite nice. Crampons were necessary. There was plenty of snow in the couloir, but is is melting fast. Be careful of the cornice once you exit the couloir and begin the scramble. I loved this climb.
Norman - Apr 25, 2005 12:22 am
Route Climbed: Southwest Couloir Date Climbed: 4/23/05Great climb! We left Blue Lake Trailhead 8:00AM, summit by noon. Warm and sunny, with fantastic views. Only one other group ahead of us, so no line ups in the Couloir. Snow was soft and deep enough for us to use snowshoes on the approach. Couloir had snow almost to the summit , but melting fast. Some of us used crampons in the Couloir, optional on this day. Thanks to Summitpost for good beta on this route.
Dan Winter - Mar 25, 2005 2:42 am
Route Climbed: South Arete Date Climbed: 6/15/02I loved this climb. Approached via the hairpin turn parking area. Saw lots of goats that tried to kick rocks down on us! Glissaded back down almost all the way to the car.