Gear

• 70m rope (was needed for linking some of the pitches, otherwise too long)
• 19 draws (7 single alpines)… Didn’t use all of them, but skipped bolts when linking. 7 alpine was pretty good.
• Radios – useful! Other party was struggling to communicate and they didn’t even link pitches
• 1 liter of water each, Alexis only drank mine, probably good with 1.5 liters total (and the water ditched at bike above)

If did it again, maybe shorter rope and don’t link? Having to pull up the rope was annoying, and linking had some pretty bad drag.

Getting there

We left home at 5:30 PM Tuesday night, slept at Cutthroat Lake Trailhead, then drove up to drop off bikes in the morning. The waterfalls were running like crazy in the North Cascades!

The climb – 15 pitches (linked 3 pairs)

Left the car at 6:30 AM. Approach trail was straightforward, took 25 minutes. We started climbing a little after 7:05 AM… maybe closer to 7:15 AM. Summitted at 1:05 PM, so just under 6 hours, which is 20 minutes per pitch!

People complain about the bolting… it’s really frequently bolted. Even on easier 5.7 sections. But that’s not a bad thing, it’s basically similar to a gym route, where 5.7’s are bolted the same as 5.10’s! It’s actually safe! If you want some “spice”, you can always skip bolts, you’re not obliged to use all the bolts.

The other complaint about the bolting is that some bolts are in awkward positions. There’s a few cases where you can’t reach a bolt till you pull a more difficult move, but then by the time you’re able to safely clip that bolt, you’re already standing above it. Or some bolts that are farther from the climbing line than make sense. But there’s not too many of these, and since it’s so frequently bolted, you can choose to skip the awkward ones. Really, complaining about this is like a spoiled kid complaining his croissant has inconsistently-sprinkled powdered sugar on it.

The grades overall felt very accurate. They felt like gym 5.9’s and gym 5.8’s… unlike most climbs where they say it’s a 5.9 but it actually seems like a 5.10. The only exception is that one crux move on P7, that’s realistically probably a 5.10 move.

P1: 5.9, 9 bolts. Start in a right facing corner, 40 feet to the Right of a large dead tree. 1st bolt is near head hight. Thin face crux up high.

Pretty easy pitch.

P2: 5.6, 8 bolts. Easy ramp to 15-foot block, mantle onto slab and continue to chains

Alexis led this one.

P3-4: 5.8, 10 bolts then 5.9, 11 bolts. Steep face to ledges, ending at an exposed belay. Then, traverse left into intricate face moves followed by sustained face climbing.

P3 is super easy, most of it is class 4 really. Linked with P4, which was mostly easy climbing, some crimpy climbing on the face but not bad. However, rope drag started to become bad, and clipping the bolts on the left was a bit difficult. Felt like I was dragging a heavy bag behind me.

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P5: Low 5th Class, 5 bolts. “When second arrives move belay 4 feet towards gully. Extend 3rd bolt with a runner to avoid rope drag. Continue past rappel anchor to base of pitch 6”

Alexis led this one.

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P6: 5.8, 9 bolts. Tricky bulge leads to excellent arête climbing. Walk 40m south to base of wall to start next pitch

Slightly trickier climbing, mostly the starting move I think.

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P7: 5.9, 8 bolts. Stemming corner leads to steep and wild face moves into a crack.

Definitely the crux of the route, there’s one move that traverses left on crimpy holds with not great feet. It’s a committing move, probably in the 5.10 range realistically. Group before us had both climbers try it and eventually just aided past. I climbed it cleanly, but definitely glad it’s well bolted!

P8: 5.8, 16 bolts. Sustained enjoyable climbing leads to a large ledge. Follow Cairns for 50m South to start of the next pitch.

P9: 5.9, 15 bolts. “Perfect pocket pitch”, Scramble up and to the right of flag tree for next pitch.

Not too difficult, but some searching for the right holds.

P10-11: 5.9, 10 bolts then 5.7, 14 bolts. Over-hanging jugs in broken flakes lead to an exposed belay. Then, diagonal face leads to a clean slab. Walk past trees to south 50 yards to start of pitch 12.

P10 is kinda pumpy! Some overhanging juggy moves. P11 is super easy, nice quick slab.

P12: 5.7, 9 bolts. Sustained moderate climbing through corners and overlaps.

Alexis led this. Climb past the rappel anchor (which is at like the 5th bolt).

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P13-14: 5.8, 14 bolts, then 5.9, 9 bolts. Continue climbing through corners and overlaps. Then, stay left on arête to short-face followed by traversing flake into a squeeze chimney.

Don’t remember much about P13. For P14, skipped those bolts on the left face to avoid rope drag. Rope drag in chimney was SUPER BAD. Really difficult to pull up rope to clip. Chimney was super fun though, has a right-leaning jug flake that you lean out on and I even got a heel hook in! And then squeezing into the chimney feels secure. Definitely 5.9, but fun climbing. Wouldn’t link these next time, but we passed the other group here by linking.

P15: 5.4, 6 bolts. Follow bolts through easy slab trending left to a stance above a gully.

We walked this, it’s class 3-4, no reason to climb or clip.

P16: 5.8, 7 bolts. Step across the abyss to exposed arête and jug ladder. Scramble 3rd class past lone pine tree to start of 17.

The step across the abyss is actually pretty easy! I belayed off the lone pine tree, next pitch starts far to the right of the pine tree.

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P17: 5.7, 10 bolts. Boulder start leads to step face trending right.

Alexis led this one.

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P18: 5.9, 10 bolts. 3 consecutive 5.9+ bouldery problems lead to the exposed finish.

Sustained climbing! I was glad it was well bolted. Probably not 5.9+, but some sustained and some trickier moves.

The top!

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The descent

Walk off to the road was 20 minutes at a slow and exhausted pace. Then the bike ride down was only 1 hour! Back to the car just before 3 PM! So 6:30 AM to 3 PM car-to-car… 8.5 hours car-to-car!