ClimbWashington.com: Prusik Peak / West Ridge

I sat at the belay near the start of the 2nd pitch, with the unrelenting whipping north winds. I watched Sergio as he clipped the mangy piton & started up the famous 5.7 unprotectable slab. My only anchor was a granite horn that I had to lean back on. The exposure was exhilarating. Sergio disappeared around the corner & I waited, fed out rope & waited. Still nothing, but more rope drag & more waiting. I decided to use the radio to find out if he was at the belay yet. The wind was so strong I could barely make out if someone was talking or if it was the wind. John and Craig reached my belay and were now waiting for us to move on..........

The climb had started the day before at the Snow Creek Trailhead. We got a late start, but after hauling our gear for 6 miles or so we reached Upper Snow Lake and set up camp at our site. The sun went down and it got cold real fast. The breeze blowing off of Snow Lake certainly enhanced the cooling effect & additional layering was promptly applied. Later, Sergio broke out his mini am/fm radio and we enjoyed some great 80's tunes from a local radio station in Wenatchee. We went to bed around 10pm and all slept soundly. A sleeping pad on sand is the way to go!

We awoke at 4:30am and got moving at 5:00am. We made our way around Snow Lake in the dark, missed a junction in the trail & ended up back at the lake. Realizing the folly of our ways, we located the correct trail & made good time hiking up towards Lake Viviane. From there we skirted the east side of the lake and under the South Face of Prusik Peak. We passed Temple Lake on our right & traversed a large boulder field towards the base of the West Ridge where the famous "Balanced Rock" lies. We never saw the rock on the way in. It was however hard to miss on our way out. As we approached the base of the route, a party of 3 was making their way up from Prusik Pass. They hurried to get ahead of us, determined to be first on the route. We let the other party go & endured the arctic wind waiting for the party of three to complete the first pitch.

Just a few feet below the right side (south) of the ridge the wind could barely be felt. The view down to Lake Viviane & the surrounding Enchantments was awesome. We scrambled up the first pitch & set up a belay as the other party moved up & out of sight. I won rochambeau & so I got the first lead. I decided to start where the other party was climbing. The granite on this route variation was somewhat lichen infested, but I made fast ground until I got up to a weird spot that was unprotectable and had to do a small mantle move to complete the pitch. I did this only after failing to locate an easier alternative. Even though the 2nd pitch is only supposed to be 5.6, my variation felt more like a 5.7. I got up to the belay and brought Sergio up. We then freeclimbed up and over the next block and followed the ridge towards the 3rd pitch. There is a fixed piton at the belay, but otherwise a featureless 15 foot 5.7 slab to again reach the ridge-top. Sergio was able to place a small cam on a flake above the slaband continued climbing the narrow and exposed ridgeline. The wind was heinous, blowing me back and forth. I was unable to hear Sergio even with a radio & rope drag was so bad that communicating via rope tugs was next to impossible. With Sergio now out of sight, we were all curious what lay ahead.

Finally, with Sergio on belay, I followed the 3rd pitch. From the top of the 5.7 friction slab I passed a large block to the right along an incredibly narrow & exposed ledge with nice views down the imposing South Face. A few moves later I was at the belay. From there we scrambled up the fourth pitch to the belay at the base of the fifth & final pitch. I started the next pitch up a 5.6 handjam/fingercrack which was awesome. From there I was able to gain a ledge and was faced with a couple options. Directly upwards lies a 5.8 chimney that I saw the climbers ahead of us head up. It looked awkward: knee jams, and arm bars, etc. I decided to hit the 5.6 lieback flake that lead right & around a corner to the final 5.5 chimney. Rope drag was bad, and though the climbing was relatively easy, I placed a larger cam at the base of the final chimney. This was the prudent thing to do as I only had one other piece in on this entire pitch & a fall would almost certainly result in a horiffic pendulum. I inched my way up the chimney until I was on the summit. It was 11:30am & I was damn happy to be here. I put Sergio on belay and he followed. Communication was poor, but he eventually made it up. I hauled up his pack before he finished the 5.5 chimney. Together we basked in the sun & waited for John & Craig to complete the pitch.

The rappel route is on the north side and involves about 4-5 single rope rappels. Note that the 2nd and 3rd rap stations are sometimes hard to locate. After rappeling back down, we hiked for a few minutes back to Prusik Pass and retrieved all of our cached gear. I was happy to find my camera which I though I had lost. We downclimbed towards Prusik Pass, and descended to Gnome Tarn for the classic view of Prusik Peak. We continued down to Lake Viviane and passed around the southern end of the lake, requiring a few fun low 5th moves up a crack (easily bypassed above lake) to gain a bench in order to join the trail again. The way out was long and tiring, especially after packing up camp and jogging out the 7 miles with full packs. Darkness fell & we continued for about another hour before reaching the parking area. It was a streneous weekend, but an awesome alpine summit on a beautiful day in the most incredible mountain landscape in Washington. All Photos >>

Directions: From Hwy 2 heading east, tuen right on Icicle Creek road and follow to the Snow Creek trailhead.
Map: USGS Enchanment Lakes / Green Trails #209S: The Enchantments
Trail Conditions: click here
Road Conditions:: click here
Web References:
SummitPost.com
PeakBagger.com
Sverdina.com
MountainWerks.org
AlpineRack.com

Additional Info :
- Video:

Coming Soon
- Books:
- 100 Hikes in the Alpine Lakes
- Cascade Alpine Guide, Fred Beckey
- Selected Climbs in the Cascades, Jum Nelson, Peter Potterfield

Prusik Peak Highpoint Elevation: 8040 feet Region/Location: Alpine Lake Wilderness / Enchantment Lakes region Trip Length: 2 days Route: Snow Creek Trail #1553 / West Ridge Difficulty: Grade 2, 5.7 (Small rack to 3") Elevation Gain: 6740 feet Roundtrip Distance: 20 miles Trailhead Elevation: feet Date: October 6, 2002 Video:: Coming soon (resurrection) Photos by: Scott Harder, Craig Beaver, Sergio Verdina [Click here to view the shutterfly photo collection]
I sat at the belay near the start of the 2nd pitch, with the unrelenting whipping north winds. I watched Sergio as he clipped the mangy piton & started up the famous 5.7 unprotectable slab. My only anchor was a granite horn that I had to lean back on. The exposure was exhilarating. Sergio disappeared around the corner & I waited, fed out rope & waited. Still nothing, but more rope drag & more waiting. I decided to use the radio to find out if he was at the belay yet. The wind was so strong I could barely make out if someone was talking or if it was the wind. John and Craig reached my belay and were now waiting for us to move on.......... The climb had started the day before at the Snow Creek Trailhead. We got a late start, but after hauling our gear for 6 miles or so we reached Upper Snow Lake and set up camp at our site. The sun went down and it got cold real fast. The breeze blowing off of Snow Lake certainly enhanced the cooling effect & additional layering was promptly applied. Later, Sergio broke out his mini am/fm radio and we enjoyed some great 80's tunes from a local radio station in Wenatchee. We went to bed around 10pm and all slept soundly. A sleeping pad on sand is the way to go! We awoke at 4:30am and got moving at 5:00am. We made our way around Snow Lake in the dark, missed a junction in the trail & ended up back at the lake. Realizing the folly of our ways, we located the correct trail & made good time hiking up towards Lake Viviane. From there we skirted the east side of the lake and under the South Face of Prusik Peak. We passed Temple Lake on our right & traversed a large boulder field towards the base of the West Ridge where the famous "Balanced Rock" lies. We never saw the rock on the way in. It was however hard to miss on our way out. As we approached the base of the route, a party of 3 was making their way up from Prusik Pass. They hurried to get ahead of us, determined to be first on the route. We let the other party go & endured the arctic wind waiting for the party of three to complete the first pitch. Just a few feet below the right side (south) of the ridge the wind could barely be felt. The view down to Lake Viviane & the surrounding Enchantments was awesome. We scrambled up the first pitch & set up a belay as the other party moved up & out of sight. I won rochambeau & so I got the first lead. I decided to start where the other party was climbing. The granite on this route variation was somewhat lichen infested, but I made fast ground until I got up to a weird spot that was unprotectable and had to do a small mantle move to complete the pitch. I did this only after failing to locate an easier alternative. Even though the 2nd pitch is only supposed to be 5.6, my variation felt more like a 5.7. I got up to the belay and brought Sergio up. We then freeclimbed up and over the next block and followed the ridge towards the 3rd pitch. There is a fixed piton at the belay, but otherwise a featureless 15 foot 5.7 slab to again reach the ridge-top. Sergio was able to place a small cam on a flake above the slaband continued climbing the narrow and exposed ridgeline. The wind was heinous, blowing me back and forth. I was unable to hear Sergio even with a radio & rope drag was so bad that communicating via rope tugs was next to impossible. With Sergio now out of sight, we were all curious what lay ahead. Finally, with Sergio on belay, I followed the 3rd pitch. From the top of the 5.7 friction slab I passed a large block to the right along an incredibly narrow & exposed ledge with nice views down the imposing South Face. A few moves later I was at the belay. From there we scrambled up the fourth pitch to the belay at the base of the fifth & final pitch. I started the next pitch up a 5.6 handjam/fingercrack which was awesome. From there I was able to gain a ledge and was faced with a couple options. Directly upwards lies a 5.8 chimney that I saw the climbers ahead of us head up. It looked awkward: knee jams, and arm bars, etc. I decided to hit the 5.6 lieback flake that lead right & around a corner to the final 5.5 chimney. Rope drag was bad, and though the climbing was relatively easy, I placed a larger cam at the base of the final chimney. This was the prudent thing to do as I only had one other piece in on this entire pitch & a fall would almost certainly result in a horiffic pendulum. I inched my way up the chimney until I was on the summit. It was 11:30am & I was damn happy to be here. I put Sergio on belay and he followed. Communication was poor, but he eventually made it up. I hauled up his pack before he finished the 5.5 chimney. Together we basked in the sun & waited for John & Craig to complete the pitch. The rappel route is on the north side and involves about 4-5 single rope rappels. Note that the 2nd and 3rd rap stations are sometimes hard to locate. After rappeling back down, we hiked for a few minutes back to Prusik Pass and retrieved all of our cached gear. I was happy to find my camera which I though I had lost. We downclimbed towards Prusik Pass, and descended to Gnome Tarn for the classic view of Prusik Peak. We continued down to Lake Viviane and passed around the southern end of the lake, requiring a few fun low 5th moves up a crack (easily bypassed above lake) to gain a bench in order to join the trail again. The way out was long and tiring, especially after packing up camp and jogging out the 7 miles with full packs. Darkness fell & we continued for about another hour before reaching the parking area. It was a streneous weekend, but an awesome alpine summit on a beautiful day in the most incredible mountain landscape in Washington. All Photos >> Directions: From Hwy 2 heading east, tuen right on Icicle Creek road and follow to the Snow Creek trailhead. Map: USGS Enchanment Lakes / Green Trails #209S: The Enchantments Trail Conditions: click here Road Conditions:: click here Web References: SummitPost.com PeakBagger.com Sverdina.com MountainWerks.org AlpineRack.com Additional Info : - Video: Coming Soon - Books: - 100 Hikes in the Alpine Lakes - Cascade Alpine Guide, Fred Beckey - Selected Climbs in the Cascades, Jum Nelson, Peter Potterfield