Forum Index > Trip Reports > Sherpa Peak West..No.. East Ridge 7-6-16
 Reply to topic
Previous :: Next Topic
Author Message
Fletcher
Member
Member


Joined: 29 Jul 2009
Posts: 1870 | TRs | Pics
Location: kirkland
Fletcher
Member
PostThu Jul 07, 2016 9:24 pm 
John and I climbed Sherpa in a long day yesterday. We had gotten rained out of an attempt back in 2013, then I was spooked off the east ridge with Heather and Mike back in May by fresh snow and wet lichen. John and I met at the barricade on Teanaway Road ~2 miles before Esmerelda TH Tuesday night for a single day push Wednesday. We got up at 5 and were hiking down the closed portion of the road at 5:45.
first light on Esmerelda East
first light on Esmerelda East
We made good time up to Longs Pass, down to Ingalls Creek and then down to the junction with the Turnpike Creek Trail. I don't recall what time it was when we turned up the climber's trail through the meadow then forested slopes below the Stuart/Sherpa Col.
zoom of Sherpa summit as seen from just above Ingalls Creek Trail
zoom of Sherpa summit as seen from just above Ingalls Creek Trail
The route is straightforward from Ingalls Creek, up and over the rib, and into the basin below Sherpa. Not much snow remaining in the basin, which would have aided our ascent.
approach, just before hopping over the rib
approach, just before hopping over the rib
Sherpa!
Sherpa!
Sherpa Peak 7-6-16
Sherpa Peak 7-6-16
After realizing that our crampons and gaiters weren't needed, we ditched them on a rock around 7600 and made our way up to the base of the West Ridge. Around 11:30, we were roped up and John was leading the first pitch.
Sherpa Peak 7-6-16
Sherpa Peak 7-6-16
nearing the base of the West Ridge
nearing the base of the West Ridge
John at the bottom of the first pitch
John at the bottom of the first pitch
Once John got to the first rappel anchors, he brought me up. Then we got a bit confused about which way we were supposed to go. Neither of us had brought a decent route description for the west ridge. Big mistake! I belayed John from the rap station as he explored options above but came to a spot that was extremely committing. Not sure if this was it or not, we didn't think it was a good idea to proceed (since getting home and checking it out, we think this was the way to go). I suggested that we bail off the west ridge and go climb the east. I had just been there this spring and knew much of the route well. John agreed as long as we didn't have to lose too much elevation. I remembered reading that a key gully climber's left of a tall, prominent black pillar leads to a high traverse below Sherpa's south side.
John rappelling off the west ridge
John rappelling off the west ridge
Luckily, we really nailed this traverse and made great time to the east ridge. We cairned the route to avoid confusion on the return. Having lost a ton of time on our west ridge attempt, we arrived at the base of the chockstone gully that is mentioned in other TRs around 3:30. We knew we would get out late, but we still had time to summit!
general terrain on the south side traverse
general terrain on the south side traverse
chockstone gully
chockstone gully
John ascending toward chockstone gully
John ascending toward chockstone gully
We both free-climbed the chockstone gully with relative ease. Much easier than the last time I was here now that it was snow-free. We scrambled over a minor rib and arrived at the base of the rightward slanting 4th class gully/chimney feature. We both free-climbed this as well. Now I was where I turned around in May. We put on rock shoes and roped up here.
4th class stanting gully/chimney thing
4th class stanting gully/chimney thing
John climbing
John climbing
There are two variations that get you to the summit area from here, puzzlr's left option and Matt's right option. We chose puzzlr's way because it avoids some very exposed and scary moves needed to get onto Matt's lower traverse route. John lead this next 4th/low 5th gully, brought me up, and it was just a short scramble to Sherpa's iconic Balanced Rock.
4th/low 5th mini-pitch to the Balanced Rock
4th/low 5th mini-pitch to the Balanced Rock
John below the Balanced Rock
John below the Balanced Rock
Enchantments
Enchantments
We had to poke our heads around for a few seconds to locate the correct way to drop down onto the class 2 ledge that crosses over to the summit access gully. The moves are easy, but the exposure is extreme. We protected this short section.
Sherpa summit from The Balanced Rock
Sherpa summit from The Balanced Rock
traverse to summit access gully
traverse to summit access gully
looking back across the ledge traverse
looking back across the ledge traverse
John kept me on belay as I crossed the ledge to make sure it all went. Its all easy class 2 but, like the rest of the upper route on Sherpa, it is exposed. I stopped at the base of the summit access gully, and brought John over. Almost there!
at the base of the summit access gully
at the base of the summit access gully
upper summit access gully
upper summit access gully
John once again lead this portion and anchored into the rappel station at the top then belayed me up. Like other parties have reported, you must belay one another over to the summit and back from there, as there is nowhere to anchor into on the summit proper. The slabs leading to the summit definitely provide the pucker affect! From what I thought was the summit, I was surprised to see the register on a small depression in the rock even further out toward the Balanced Rock. Although there were some nerve-wracking moves to be made to get over to it, I went over there and signed the register. Wish I had more time to read through past entries!
slabs to the summit
slabs to the summit
Sherpa Register
Sherpa Register
our register entry
our register entry
Balanced Rock from the summit
Balanced Rock from the summit
a little nervous for the Sherpa summitshot
a little nervous for the Sherpa summitshot
John's belay
John's belay
John brought me back to the anchor and I belayed him over to the summit.
John on Sherpa summit
John on Sherpa summit
At this point, it was 5:30 and we figured it was time to get the hell off this rock! We rapped the summit access gully and scrambled across the class 2 ledge. Then we set up a belay and John lead the super exposed moves back up to the base of the Balanced Rock.
John rapping summit access gully
John rapping summit access gully
back at the class 2 traverse
back at the class 2 traverse
Balanced Rock again
Balanced Rock again
easy but super exposed moves to the Balanced Rock
easy but super exposed moves to the Balanced Rock
Rainier
Rainier
We scrambled back over to the top of the next rap station and rappelled down to where we had ditched our boots. From here, we spotted 2 climbers coming down Stuart.
climbers descending Stuart
climbers descending Stuart
John throws the rope
John throws the rope
getting off Sherpa
getting off Sherpa
Sherpa Peak 7-6-16
Sherpa Peak 7-6-16
We put our boots back on, rapped the 4th class slanting gully/chimney thing, and hiked over to the top of the chockstone gully. There was a goat hanging out there.
John and goat
John and goat
goat paying no mind to us.
goat paying no mind to us.
We also rapped the chockstone gully, and began our traverse back along Sherpa's south side to our gear cache in the basin. During our traverse, we made a 5th and final rappel off of a small tree to avoid down climbing a dirty gully filled with large loose rocks that we had climbed up.
end of traverse back to the basin, note the big black pillar on the left, to the right of this pillar is the key class 3 gully
2 labels
end of traverse back to the basin, note the big black pillar on the left, to the right of this pillar is the key class 3 gully
Teanaway Peaks in the evening
Teanaway Peaks in the evening
We took a food break at the gear cache, packed up, and began our descent back to Ingalls Creek, utilizing snow when it was present. We got back to Ingalls Creek around 9.
Balanced Rock alpenglow
Balanced Rock alpenglow
last look back
last look back
The slog back up to Longs Pass took less than an hour, but the slog back down was a bit painful. The last ~2 miles of road dragged on and on. We got back to the car at 12:15. Feels great to finally get this much wanted peak! ~16 miles -8,666 feet in gain (per John's GPS) ~18.5 hours car to car (although we lost 3+ hours on our failed west ridge attempt)

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
cartman
Member
Member


Joined: 20 Feb 2007
Posts: 2800 | TRs | Pics
Location: Fremont
cartman
Member
PostThu Jul 07, 2016 10:07 pm 
Very strong day and good decision making. up.gif up.gif Well done!

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
ONELUV1
Member
Member


Joined: 24 Aug 2008
Posts: 292 | TRs | Pics
Location: On the HILL
ONELUV1
Member
PostThu Jul 07, 2016 10:38 pm 
nice one gents. bravo!

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Distel32
Member
Member


Joined: 03 Jun 2014
Posts: 961 | TRs | Pics
Location: Edmonds, WA
Distel32
Member
PostFri Jul 08, 2016 6:41 am 
up.gif

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
jcocci
Member
Member


Joined: 16 Jul 2009
Posts: 483 | TRs | Pics
Location: Longmont, CO
jcocci
Member
PostFri Jul 08, 2016 2:06 pm 
Damn that was a much longer day than planned. Still can't believe neither of us brought the route description. Oh well. When fletcher first suggested that we head down and go the east ridge I thought he was crazy and I was thinking no f'ing way. However, neither of us wanted to come back for this again if we didn't have to. So I was in and all thoughts of getting back to the car at a decent hour were out the window. Fletcher pretty much summed up the route and details. We did get the rope stuck on one of the rappels. Luckily it was in a spot that was easy to climb back up and we have to leave a cam behind that was stuck and wouldn't budge. Maybe someone will be able to get it out and get some booty. Here's a few more photos. Glad to have this one of the list. Even though not as planned it was a great day and climb.
Rainier from Longs Pass
Rainier from Longs Pass
From the bottom of the meadow.
From the bottom of the meadow.
Fletcher heading up the meadow
Fletcher heading up the meadow
Iron and Teanaway Peak in the distance
Iron and Teanaway Peak in the distance
Approaching the basin
Approaching the basin
Fletcher eyeing the route to the base.
Fletcher eyeing the route to the base.
Making our way up.
Making our way up.
Scouting the traverse route to the east ridge.
Scouting the traverse route to the east ridge.
To find our way back
To find our way back
Up the loose gully.
Up the loose gully.
On the east ridge
On the east ridge
More east ridge
More east ridge
More east ridge. Argonaut in the background
More east ridge. Argonaut in the background
Balanced Rock
Balanced Rock
Enchantment Peaks
Enchantment Peaks
Fletcher on the summit
Fletcher on the summit
Fletcher on the summit
Fletcher on the summit
Hello goat
Hello goat
Sunsetting on Teanaway peaks
Sunsetting on Teanaway peaks

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
contour5
Member
Member


Joined: 16 Jul 2003
Posts: 2962 | TRs | Pics
contour5
Member
PostFri Jul 08, 2016 8:42 pm 
Cool trip report; nicely documented. Thanxfer postin!

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Magellan
Brutally Handsome



Joined: 26 Jul 2006
Posts: 13116 | TRs | Pics
Location: Inexorable descent
Magellan
Brutally Handsome
PostFri Jul 08, 2016 8:44 pm 
Sounds long and tough. up.gif

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Matt
Tea, Earl Grey, Hot



Joined: 30 Jan 2007
Posts: 4307 | TRs | Pics
Location: Shoreline
Matt
Tea, Earl Grey, Hot
PostFri Jul 08, 2016 9:19 pm 
Glad you persevered and were able to make it. Also agree that's an awfully long day.

“As beacons mountains burned at evening.” J.R.R. Tolkien
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
puzzlr
Mid Fork Rocks



Joined: 13 Feb 2007
Posts: 7216 | TRs | Pics
Location: Stuck in the middle
puzzlr
Mid Fork Rocks
PostFri Jul 08, 2016 9:57 pm 
Congrats. A classic central cascades peak.

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
   All times are GMT - 8 Hours
 Reply to topic
Forum Index > Trip Reports > Sherpa Peak West..No.. East Ridge 7-6-16
  Happy Birthday speyguy, Bandanabraids!
Jump to:   
Search this topic:

You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum