My first thoughts were that I was glad to have bailed. The face was very intimidating and the fact that nobody had climbed it before made my stomach drop. It must have triggered something in Jens because he came up with a crazy idea. It went something like this:

"You're going to think I'm crazy but hear me out. I'll buy you dinner if you follow me up. Here's the plan. We climb halfway up that snow chute and jump on the rock that leads to the gulley. From there it looks like 4^th class to the buttress that leads to the summit. I think we can be on top by 2pm."

It was around 7am but it didn't take me long to decide. We followed our tracks down and climbed about halfway up the 40-50 degree snow chute. So far, so good. It took about 30 minutes to switch from snow to rock. Jens began the first pitch around 8am. He used most of his 60 meter 10 mm rope before it was my turn. I squeezed my double boots, crampons and extra clothing into my pack and lugged my 50 meter 9mm rope on the outside. I knew it was going to be tough but somehow I managed. The next pitch was the crux. Jens did an inspiring lead with some 5.10- moves and huge runout. I managed to follow it but this is probably where I would have turned around without a toprope. The next lead was mine. It involved 50 meters of 4^th class into the gulley. Jens followed and continued left on more 4^th and low 5^th. When he ran out of rope we did some simul climbing towards the buttress. He stopped just short of it and I lead an exposed traverse to the heart of the buttress. I might have pulled some 5.9 moves on this traverse. I'm not sure because I was completely focused on the loose rock and single piece of protection that I placed on the 40 meter pitch. We swapped leads for 3-5 pitches of mid 5^th class that led to a short (10ft) downclimb. I enjoyed the climbing in this section although some of it was loose and dirty. Protection was sparse but adequate. Jens led a difficult hand crack that followed the downclimb. The moves were probably only 5.9 but we both had some holds break on us making it feel more difficult. Protection here was good and plentiful. 2-3 pitches of low 5^th led to the top. We made one 50ft rappel just below the top because we chose to stay on the buttress.

The climb took longer than we had expected. We reached the top around 4:30. Jens found the summit register. We were the first to summit in 2001. I ate my bagel and finished most of my water. Jens switched to his leather boots while I retrieved my rope. We headed down around 5pm. We made two double rope rappels just north of the summit. The first rappel could have been a single and there was a short climb to reach the second. The ropes got stuck on the second rappel so Jens did some spyderman to retrieve them. We coiled them up and downclimbed a good 500 vertical feet from there. Another 500 foot traverse led to the what looked like the standard rappel descent. I was pretty gripped on the descent. We definitely pulled some 5^th class moves. All of it was solo. A fall would have been deadly. It took three more double rappels to reach the snow. The ropes got stuck on the second to last. I belayed Jens so he could get a better position to pull but there was still a lot of drag. We managed to get away with it though. I put on my double boots while Jens finished the last rappel. We both put on our crampons and ice axe for the snow. It took forever to downclimb the snow. We frontpointed the entire chute but the snow was good so we placed little protection. We came across some sections of 60+ degrees that made me think twice about wanting skis. I was dying of thirst so I stopped when I heard a drip coming from the lower bergschrund. Jens went in and got us both a swallow. It was 9pm and we figured that we had a least an hour back to camp so Jens got out his headlamp. He misplaced it on his helmet and it went tumbling down the slope. No recovery attempt was made. We traversed left around the crack that ate the headlamp and back right towards the ridge. There was a short section of uphill that slowed us down some but we made it back to camp by 10pm.

Water was our first priority. I retrieved my headlamp, Jens gathered the jugs and we headed towards the slab of life. The temperature had cooled significantly so we weren't sure if our drips would be there. They were and I've never been so thankful.

We returned to our camp and had dinner in the dark. There was no way that we would hike out that night. Jens called his wife to let her know the good news (that we made it) and the bad news (that we were late). I didn't tell anyone about our trip so I was free to stay another day.

The weather had finally cleared but it was much colder than the previous night. Jens was forced to sleep in his wet sleeping bag. I had a bivy sack so I was comfy and warm. We both managed to sleep ok.

We welcomed the sun the next morning. It didn't take long for us to pack. I had a bagel and candy bar for breakfast. That was the last of my food so I was anxious to get going. We wore our crampons and traversed snow on the southwest side of the ridge. We continued in boots all the way to the moraine. I stopped where my pack took a tumble to look for my watch. I scratched in the rock and brush for several minutes before giving up. I went up to show Jens my disappointment and when I looked down I found it lying there in the dirt. I felt pretty stupid.

I considered changing into tennis shoes but decided to stick with boots. We kept to the path all the way to the Nooksack River before switching over to tennis shoes. The primary motive for this was the log. I backed away on my first attempt. The bark was a little wet and it looked scarier for some reason. I switched places with Jens and he made his way across. I didn't want to waste time fording and I wasn't going to straddle (it was slightly upslope) so I went for it. I started shaking about 1/4^th of the way across and even saw glimpses of myself falling. Somehow I made it.

We retrieved our bikes from the trees and sped down the remaining 3 miles to my truck. We had to walk some of it but having our bikes made all the difference. The descent from our camp took 3 hours.

Jens retrieved the beers from the river and we toasted our climb. We each had a drink and split the sausage I had carried down for this occasion. It was 11am but neither of us cared.

We stopped at Taco Bell on the way back because Jens had promised me dinner. It was more of a lunch but it tasted the same -- excellent.

The photos came back a couple weeks later but my memory was still fresh. I didn't want to carry my SLR camera on the climb so I only have a few to share. Jens took some photos with a disposable camera during our climb. They are the ones above except for the second to last one.

This is a trip that I'll never forget. I can't imagine a better way to rekindle my climbing career. The views were spectacular and the climbing was exhilarating. I'm glad I got to lead a few pitches although I only placed 3 pieces in the 4 or 5 pitches that I led. It was nice having Jens there to do the dirty work. I'm used to pushing my partners when it comes to skiing and kayaking. It felt good to be pushed for a change.

Back