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We hit snow just
above Dade Lake; the entire north and west facing
slopes were covered with the stuff. It made the
going very interesting, as it was not enough snow to
cover the talus, but just enough to make it difficult
to judge the stability of the various blocks. It
also made them slippery as hell. Thankfully, the
ridge itself wasn't too snow-covered, and we made good
progress. Near the top of the ridge, where it
joins the North Arete, the snow became more of a
problem. My approach shoes were slipping all
over the place and I couldn't get good friction with
my feet. With the route getting steeper, the
exposure getting more pronounced and me getting more
scared, I opted to switch into my sticky soled
climbing shoes.
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Eric leads upward. Eric climbs the ever
steepening rock towards the summit ridge. |
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Yes, it really is a ridge. Seen from
below, the "NE Ridge" doesn't really look deserving of
the name, but once you're on it, there is no mistaking
it. Here, Joe cruises up one of the narrow parts
of the route. |
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Mount Humphreys.
Looking over the east ridge to the distinctive pyramid
of Mt. Humphreys. This one is next on the list
-- a combined ski/climb assault planned for the
spring. |
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Holy
chit mang!
I still can't believe I'm at 13,300' on some gnarly
ridge 10 miles from my car and I still have to drive 7
hours back home and go to work in the morning.
(photo:
J.Stewart)
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"The
Death Couloir".
Looking down the nasty couloir that separates the NE
ridge from the North Arete. One slip and its a
long roll downhill.
(photo: J.Stewart).
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Getting
snowy. Eric
and I getting into snowier territory high up on the NE
Ridge. Just above this, I switched to rock shoes
as the climbing difficulty increased beyond my comfort
level in slippery tennis shoes.
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Joe and
Mt. Dade.
Joe hangs on above a big drop, with Mt. Dade and
Pipsqueak Spire in the background.
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Exit
Route? I
think one thing that keeps this route to a Class 4
rating is the potential to get off the ridge proper
and cheat out a little bit to the ledges to climber's
left. With all the fresh snow, that was not an
option today. So we had no choice but to do the
direct finish straight up to the arete.
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Eric on
the magical summit ridge.
Eric cruises up the knife edged summit ridge.
You hear that term overused all the time -- "knife
edge" -- well this one's for real dudes. Here's
where Eric helped calm me down as at one point I was
facing a 15 foot high featureless tower with no
apparent escape route. My fear that I would have
to downclimb the entire route was assuaged when Eric
found a death defying (yet easy) hand traverse above
the west face.
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