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South
Early Winters Spire  Summit Elevation: 7807 feet Trip Length:
1/2 Day Route: Southwest
Couloir Difficulty:
5th Class Rock, Backcountry Travel, Steep Snow Elevation Gain:
2607 feet Distance: 6
miles Roundtrip Date: April
19, 2003 Photos by : Sean Walsh, Oyvind Hennigsen |
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"Beep!
Beep!" It was time to get up? But I had just gone to sleep
3 hours earlier! After my plans for climbing Outerspace in Leavenworth
were cancelled, I was invited to accompany Sean and Oyvind to Washington Pass
and attempt the Southwest Couloir on SEWS and get some turns in at the same time. After
not finishing packing the pack until 1:30am, I awoke again at 4:30am so I could meet
them at 5am. I was barely awake that next hour, but before I knew it we were
on 530 heading east into Darrington. The darkness hid the overbearing views
of Whitehorse, or I might have been half asleep? We arrived at the trailhead
only to find a few spots for cars, and that 6 parties had created a basecamp since it seemed they were spending the entire opening week up there (jealous!)
We got our skins on, saw the sun poke out time after time and began our ascent
up the Blue Lake trail. The snow was not the best, as it was 2 inches of fresh
on top of an icy base, and there was no glide or traction. Those snow conditions
made some of the steeper slopes in the mid basin a little difficult for myself
and the other guys from time to time. Once above treeline, the views were awesome,
with the Liberty Bell Group dominating the surrounding area. Liberty Bell, Concord
Tower, Lexington Tower, NEWS, and SEWS all make a dramatic backdrop to such
incredible rock climbs and ski tours in the area. Since the North Cascades
Highway had just opened we were excited to get some fresh tracks in and
around the area, but the breakable crust that I noticed was not looking that
enjoyable, but we hoped the sun would melt it and give us some good corn snow
to descend upon. After 1.5 hours we reached the base of the route and got our
gear on. We brought rope and harnesses just in case we had to protect anything
since it is known to get icy up in the couloir. I like to break up the climb
into 4 sections.1. The first section is moderate snow slopes up to about 30-35 degrees, pretty simple stuff, and the snow was like styrafoam at this point. 2. The next section veers to the right at the fork and tends to get somewhat steeper, around 40 degrees 3. Then the couloir gets narrower and works it's way up to 50 degrees or so near the top, and fluffy snow and rock are hit with your axe as you try and get a good self belay (ouch!) 4. At that point you exit onto the rock and make a traverse onto the summit. There is one 5th class move that can be difficult with crampons and an ice axe, so we took a belay as it is somewhat exposed. The steepness of the route
depends on the snow conditions and coverage at the time of travel. I have heard
mixed reviews during the season. The summit provides some incredible views
of the North Cascades and the surrounding Liberty Bell Group. Dominant peaks
in the area include Black Peak, Mt Goode, North Gardner, etc. We then downclimbed the
entire route, and since I went first (on purpose so I didn't get all the snow
and ice sent my way) I got down pretty quick so I thought, but I gave myself
a self belay every other step just in case I lost my footing and wanted to arrest
quickly. After awhile my back started to really hurt from doing this, so I sped
up as I noticed another group at the bottom of the second portion of the climb,
and they were out of the way so they would not get all the debris slid their
way. After I got down, Oyvind ran down the couloir (literally) and then Sean. We quickly mounted our
skis and hit some turns, well kind of........not really. The breakable crust
was prominent the entire route down so it was mostly survival skiing the entire
time. Once in the trees it was icy and fast and every skier was for themselves.
Oyvind was able to find a gulley entrance on the downhill side and lofted himself
on a kicker up and backwards into the bottom of the gully. We all got our share
of faceplants and such, but we got down fast enough, and back at the car by
2pm. This gave us enough time
for lunch at "Good Food" in Marblemount. DO NOT GO THERE.
We witnessed an employee shoveling manure inbetween their job duties in the
kitchen, wearing the same clothes at each job........We recommend "Clarks" just west of Marblemount, or Cascade Pizza in Sedro Wooley.
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