[ragman and rodman]

We climbed the SW face of the East Peak of Ingalls Peak... a route where the actual climbing felt similar to the standard south route of the North Peak... perhaps a bit more difficult. Heading up the gully that separates the north peak from the east peak, we kicked steps in the snow for ~100 feet... then veered to the left as the gully steepened... still trending left and up as we gained another 50 feet of elevation on Class 2/3 rock to a small ledge (~7200') where we stored our packs and changed into climbing gear. We used four pitches to reach the false summit... then made a short, unprotected crossing (Class 2/3) over to the true summit (7480'). Our climbing strategy was for iraman to lead a pitch while rocman belayed him on two 60 meter ropes. When iraman reached a belay station he would anchor both ropes and then belay rocman and me simultaneously as we climbed to the belay station... each of us on a separate rope. Pitch 1... from where we stored our packs (~150 feet west of the approach gully) to within 25 feet of the approach gully. Class 3/4... some might choose to do this pitch unprotected. Pitch 2... from 25 feet west of the approach gully... went around a corner to where we could look down on the gully... continuing above and up the left side of the gully... across the top of the chockstone at the head of the gully and up a very short distance onto a large, roomy ledge. One low Class 5 move. Pitch 3... from the ledge above the chockstone... straight forward, low Class 5 (5.3 or 5.4) climbing on nice slabs with convenient cracks for hands and feet. Pitch 4... much shorter and easier than pitch 3... leading to the false summit that leaves a short, easy scramble to the true summit. Now to get back down to our packs. Rappel #1... rocman made the short rappel... carrying the second rope on his back so that the could set it up for the second rappel while iraman and I rappelled down to him from the false summit. Rappel #2... rocman rappelled down to the large ledge a short distance above the chockstone and iraman and I followed. Rappel #3... we set up a "double rope rappel" by tying the two 60 meter ropes together... then took turns rappelling down the gully... leaving a steep, 50 foot downclimb on snow to get to a place where we could traverse over and get our packs. The crux of the climb had nothing to do with gaining elevation... instead, we found the crux to be the 160 foot rappel from the ledge above the chockstone at the top of the approach gully. The gully was very airy and eerie... filled with wet, serpentine rock... and a large moat waiting for us where the rock transitioned to snow... not even close to fun!!... surely there has to be a better way down. iraman and rocman have seen a lot of rappels over the years... and they were hard pressed to come up with one that was more gnarly... and both of our ropes are still in that damn gully... as all attempts to rescue them failed. 10 miles roundtrip, gaining ~3500 feet of elevation. Photos, trailhead directions and downloadable GPS track of our trip to the east summit of Ingalls Peak. ..

[puzzlr]

Bummer to lose the ropes, at least for now. Any plans to go back to rescue them?

I like this view of Stuart. Clouds were perfect for photos.

[ira]

ropes have been rescued by two wonderful gentlemen from portland that i met in the parking lot who were going to do a traverse of all 3 ingalls peaks. they just called me and i'm meeting them in 1/2 hr. and that rappel was probably the worst i've ever done and i've done some pretty gnarly rappels over the years.

[ragman and rodman]

[gneiss]

Ha ha, I remember rapping that gully last year! Our final rappel was on 2 nuts we placed, did you happen to see them?

[ragman and rodman]