Team Mango

white slabs - snow creek wall

a few weeks ago, suzy diesen was going to lead a climb of mount thompson, which i had attempted the week prior. i signed up, only to be thwarted by the weather again. so last week, the four of us on the climb regrouped and talked about climbing the beckey route on liberty bell. the weather was looking very cold with possible snow, so on john mackey’s suggestion, we opted for the more pleasant weather of icicle canyon near leavenworth. forecasts were called for partly cloudy and 60’s. chris kirsten, who was in our original group, had to bow out of the climb, but we picked up yves arrouye at the last minute.

unfortunately, because of schedules and logistics, we weren’t able to carpool to the climb, so we drove four gas guzzlers to leavenworth. suzy, john and i arrived at different times, but all camped at eightmile campground. i woke up at 6:00a and quickly found john walking past my campsite. he discovered that morning that he had forgotten to pack his helmet, possibly jeapordizing his chances of joining us on the climb.

the three of us convened at the snow creek trailhead. we went through our options for the helmet predicament. climbing with an odd number would be inconvenient but do-able. so, while we were still waiting for yves to show up, john drove into town to check out when the climbing shop would open. we returned shortly and said it would open at 9:00a. so we devised a plan where the three of us would start up the trail with both rope and both racks, and john would wait in town for the shop to open, buy a helmet, then zip back to the trailhead and sprint up the route with his light pack. no prob.

suzy, yves and i left the trailhead about 7:15a. we weren’t in a huge rush, so we took our time, doddling up the trail, and stopping every so often to scope out the route whenever snow creek wall came into view. we found the climber’s trail about 2 miles in. shortly after fording snow creek via a slippery log crossing, we entered into a boulder field. there were a few cairns to follow, but we lost sight of those and continued navigating on our own. it turned into a bit of a bushwack, but it was still fairly tame. halfway up the boulder field, john radioed us to say he got a new helmet and was heading up the trail.

at the base of the climb, we geared up, still taking our sweet time while waiting for john to arrive. suzy and yves paired up on one rope and would start the climb first, and i would pair up with john when he arrived and follow them. indeed, john did fly up the trail in no time at all, aided by the fact that he was able to stay on the real climber’s trail and avoid the bushwacking.

yves led pitch #1, which started as a 4th class scramble, then transitioned to a short 5.0 section up to a scraggly tree anchor. i led this pitch following those two. by the time i reached the tree, suzy was leading pitch #2 — a sustained 5.7 — and complaining loudly about some water that was trickling down the rock, making for slippery climbing. because of this, she placed copius pro along the way. i belayed john up and he, yves and i crowded at the belay station. as she was reaching the top of #2, suzy started yelling “ROCK! ROCK! ROCK!” from above. the three of us saw something hurtling down towards us, so we all ducked as it went sailing past. suzy yelled “shit, i just lost my radio”. i looked down to spot the radio still careening down the rock face. i followed it with my eyes and managed to spot its final resting place. we guessed that it was toast, but i made a note of its location so we could at least check it out when we got back down.

suzy belayed yves up pitch #2, and john led up immediately after him. the section of wet rock was enough to keep john from catching up to yves at the next belay station. eventually it was my turn to follow, and face the slippery rock. the water occured at the crux of #2, and upon arriving at yet another crowded belay station, i exclaimed to john how glad i was that he had to lead that one.

pitch #3 was more sustained 5.7 climbing, starting with a lieback dihedral, then an unprotectable ramp, then another dihedral. many of the moves involved slabs which were highly polished and not very grippy. yves led #3, followed by suzy, then i led. at the crux of this pitch, where the first dihedral transitioned to ramp, i couldn’t find any place for pro. instead of hanging out and getting psyched out, i ended up getting through the crux, then running the rope out about 25’ before placeing the next piece. also, suzy — now on pitch #4 — managed to dislodge a couple rocks above us, and we all yelled “ROCK!” repeatedly to john below us. john radioed up to us “what the hell was that?!”, to which i responded dryly, “a rock”. john reported hearing the softball-size rock jet past his head as he ducked for cover. good thing he had that shiny new helmet!

pitch #4 was yet more sustained 5.7 climbing on more slabby dihedrals. suzy led, followed by yves, then john led, followed by me. the crux of this pitch — and i would argue of the whole climb — happened right at the top. again, i thanked john for leading this pitch, as the last move was a slightly overhanging, off-balance crack involving a foot-jamb, some slippery slabs, and some rounded handholds above. after trying to figure it out for a couple minutes, i finally found a small lip for my foot that enable me to step up far enough to find a decent handhold, and voila, we were all at the top…

…of the route anyway. the route ends at the “country club ramp” which runs across the face of snow creek wall. earlier in the day, we had talked about following the “white slabs” route with a climb of “umbrella tree” — a 2-pitch 5.7 route that would take us to the top of the wall. but as it was now 4:30p, we were running out of daylight and decided to rappel back down the climbing route. one single rope rappel, and two *full* double rope rappels got us to the base of the climb.

we packed up, and headed out. i directed suzy to her fallen radio. we found one battery on the way, then the body of the radio, still looking in good shape, but missing the other two batteries and the plastic battery compartment cover.

we all found the climbers trail on the way out which made our exit much more enjoyable then our entry, and we were back to the trailhead just as it was getting dark at 6:30p.

all in all, an excellent climb given the level of challenge and the wonderful weather. on route, there were numerous small problems that with a little thought and perserverance, we all managed to figure out and overcome. for more photos of the climb, click here.

thanks to suzy for leading this climb and helping me get one step closer to graduation! only one ice climb to go…

UPDATE: suzy reported that with a little duct tape in place of the battery cover, her radio, which fell probably 150 feet, is working fine!

Posted by jason at October 11, 2005 11:31 PM