The first day of winter break my mom and I jump in my little Hyundai Accent, crammed full of ski gear, somehow we managed to squeeze in 4 pairs of skis! Figuring out the ski rack the night after finals was not happening, my brain cells were shaking in fear. We were headed North to ski the Powder Highway! We had the resorts Revelstoke, Kicking Horse, and Red in our cross hairs!
All was well, until car troubles struck! The throw-out bearing in my clutch decided to squeal like a squashed cat so we called it quits in Bellingham and limped home. In different circumstances I might have risked making the trip but snow conditions were so lame and definitely not inspiring risky behavior.
Through my climbing career I've developed some resiliency to set backs like this and decided to take advantage of the rare, ice cold temps Washington was receiving at the moment. I managed to get out ice climbing the next couple of days, bumming rides from my climbing partners.
Leading some rambling WI2
Brendan
Lance
STOKED
Chase
Hubba Hubba in Leavenworth
Chase topping out on Hubba Hubba
After some good times climbing ice, Chase Nelson and I turned our attentions toward an alpine objective. Luckily we had the ability to choose an optimal weather window. We waited a few days and planned our summit day for the 19th when NOAA called for a 30% chance of precipitation and cold temperatures, the best forecast in the next 10 days.
We arrived at the Bridge Creek campground at the reasonable hour of 10:30am and began our trek into the Stuart Range. We had high hopes that the classic Triple Couliors on Dragontail would show some promise but carried Argonaut in our bag of tricks just in case Dragontail's north face was uninviting.
For instant stoke you should check out this video from Chase's gopro, edited by his friend Sean Thomas
For even more stoke keep reading!
Unsurprisingly Dragontail's North face was totally snow and ice free. Even from the approach it was obvious there was no ice to be found on Dragontail.
So we continued down the trail to Argonaut, did some bushwhacking and arrived at a comfortable bivy below Argonaut. We set the alarm for 4am and settled in for the long winter night.
Argonaut from the approach in center left
After leaving camp the next morning we quickly found ourselves fighting through endless slide alder in the cold darkness. It was incredibly miserable and suffering was reaching an all time high. I kept moving to the right hoping to break out of the deathbrush. Eventually we escaped and made good time to the base of our route.
Approaching the base of the route
That is the moon!
Chase approaching the base of the route at sunrise
Once we escaped the miserable alder we made good time to the base of the route. Our plan was to start the route exactly at sunrise to maximize our amount of usable daylight during these cold dark winter days. Surprisingly we found ourselves ahead of schedule which meant sitting and freezing waiting for the sun to rise, without the heat of the sun both of us were freezing. I was somehow using every inch of fabric I had to keep me warm, even my backpack was wrapped around my legs. Eventually the sun rose and we began our climb.
The first steep steep into the coulior was interesting, with some stemming and grunting I pulled into the easy snow coulior and we continued upward simul-climbing. On the right side of the coulior we spotted a fun looking mixed ice and rock corner, the ice was thin but looked solid and there was decent options for protection in the rock. Chase was gung-ho to start on the sharp end and I was content to belay him while attempting to work some warmth back into cold feet.
We worked our way up through some steep rock and found ourselves in another slightly steep coulior which lead to some easy rock climbing before the final snow slopes to the summit.
coulior climbing = burning calves
Maximum Exposure
Nice view eh?
Steps from the summit
After traversing the summit ridge and climbing some easy rock we found ourselves on the prominent summit surrounded by the glorious peaks of the Stuart range and the peaks beyond. We could see south to Mt. Hood and North to Mt. Baker. We took the obligatory summit shots and signed the register, which hadn't been signed since September! I thought that was pretty cool.
Summit shot! Stupid Headlamp
After our high fives and pictures we began our descent down climbing the summit ridge and finding rappel anchors from a previous party. With double ropes we made good progress making full rope rappels and soon enough we were strolling down easy snow slopes to the bottom of Mountaineer's creek valley.
Chase on the descent
We made good time back to camp and packed quickly resisting the urge to sit down and relax for a bit, there was still a long way back to the car and it was important to not lose our momentum. As we moved down the trail darkness engulfed us and made the trek back even more miserable. Finally we arrived at the car, tired but totally stoked on a great day in the alpine.
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