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Vancouver, British Columbia
Canada
558 Posts |
Posted - 04/29/2012 : 6:57 PM
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Climbed this route with 4 others on Saturday. It was a very mild and moist day.
Approached via Lions Bay and Magnesia Creek. This time the route was pure snow.
Greatest difficulties that we encountered were a few deep (down to the rock slabs) and undercut glide cracks that extended right across the ramp and required a bit of a pause to choose the best place to cross. Occasional bits of ice falling off of Harvey and Harvey's Pup (and the odd recently fallen stone) provided encouragement to move quickly. We did not need to use the rope or pickets until the traverse at the top of the route - the snow was very solid but the exposure remains thought-provoking.
Descended via the southwest ridge and the regular hiking trail, which was a slippery and steep mess (once the snow disappears). We were in mist/rain/snow for most of the day, until departing from the summit.
Gearing up in the boulder field below the route:
  
Approaching the entrance to the route:
Climbing in the ramp:
Using a fixed line to protect the traverse:
  
Being belayed in across the traverse:
Views over Howe Sound as we descended the southwest ridge (when the weather finally lifted):
Edit: mucho thanks to Andrew for the photos - I forgot my camera battery in its charger. |
Edited by - DPM on 04/29/2012 7:41 PM
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Chilliwack, BC
Canada
837 Posts |
Posted - 04/29/2012 : 7:40 PM
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Solid Mtn. trip for the "Fab 4"...or "Fab 5"
One of these days I will have to head that way to explore that playground.
Cheers,
Kelly
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Edited by - kellylegros on 04/29/2012 7:59 PM |
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Squamish, British Columbia
Canada
1007 Posts |
Posted - 04/29/2012 : 9:02 PM
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Nice report. Was this the BCMC trip? Meant to go on that one but had to go on another one that had been postponed.
Nicely done, glad to see you guys succeeded. |
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Vancouver, BC
Canada
1111 Posts |
Posted - 04/29/2012 : 9:22 PM
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| Good stuff. Nice the clouds lifted for you. |
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Vancouver, British Columbia
Canada
558 Posts |
Posted - 04/30/2012 : 06:44 AM
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Thanks for the comments guys.
Leigh: this was the trip (perhaps the most rescheduled trip in club history...). We had pretty friendly conditions overall, but it looks like things will start to fall apart in there pretty quickly - there might be a window of a week or two before you will need to wait until winter for the route to be in shape again. |
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7 Posts |
Posted - 04/30/2012 : 1:38 PM
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| Thanks for posting the trip report and pictures. Love the shot of the only view with those wispy clouds. |
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North Vancouver, BC
Canada
1606 Posts |
Posted - 04/30/2012 : 9:40 PM
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| Good report. I'd like to try this eventually. On Sunday, we were practicing setting up anchors near Brockton Point. I was able to make a few anchors fail (I'm glad I had goggles but next time I'm setting up a redirect!) I'm going to do my best to never fall on a snow picket anchor. |
Edited by - Steventy on 04/30/2012 9:40 PM |
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 Kootenay Bud
2695 Posts |
Posted - 05/01/2012 : 07:25 AM
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It's easy to make snow pickets fail - particularly placed vertically or off vertically as they appear to be in this TR. Placed correctly as deadmen they can be quite strong, but vertically or off vertical they should be reserved for neve snow.
I don't know why people bother with them unless deployed as deadmen as I can't see any of them holding a fall. It's good to wear a helmet. I've seen them fail spectacularly and nearly hit people on the head as they fly out.
On the other hand, the snow looks so soft it would be hard to fall far.
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Vancouver, British Columbia
Canada
558 Posts |
Posted - 05/01/2012 : 08:57 AM
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Yep, I agree with that generally. Placed "tentpeg" style they can and do fail quite spectacularly. Placing them "deadman" style is definitely more secure, but it is (of course) more time consuming.
In this case, the decision to place them vertically was based on the apparent low level of forces that would have been generated by a fall during the traverse on this particular day - i.e. the local snow characteristics indicated that they would have (probably) held such a low impact fall. On this particular day, it indeed would have been hard to fall very far.
However, almost a year ago to the day, I lead out across the same slope - on that occasion, it consisted of very soft and loose powder (new snowfall, and the weather had stayed much colder) - I did place pickets deadman style - even then, I really did not want to test their strength with a genuine fall (what you cannot see in these photos is the huge drop off into Magnesia Creek). From my p.o.v., it is much harder to evaluate the strength of this type of protection than rock (or ice) gear. |
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Vancouver, BC
Canada
1111 Posts |
Posted - 05/01/2012 : 10:12 AM
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quote:
However, almost a year ago to the day, I lead out across the same slope - on that occasion, it consisted of very soft and loose powder (new snowfall, and the weather had stayed much colder) - I did place pickets deadman style - even then, I really did not want to test their strength with a genuine fall (what you cannot see in these photos is the huge drop off into Magnesia Creek). From my p.o.v., it is much harder to evaluate the strength of this type of protection than rock (or ice) gear.
what happened then? Did you have to turn back? |
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Vancouver, British Columbia
Canada
558 Posts |
Posted - 05/03/2012 : 7:33 PM
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^^^
(Sorry, probably didn't express myself clearly there)
I still went across. I buried 3 or 4 pickets as deep as I could, deadman style, and was really careful not to make any missteps while crossing the traverse to the next belay stance. There also a few youngish trees below the traverse, and before the drop-off, that I would like to think might have caught the rope if I had fallen and all the pickets had blown. |
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 | LeeL
Advanced Member
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Extreme ski tourin, mountain bikin addict who hikes at least once a year
2506 Posts |
Posted - 05/03/2012 : 9:42 PM
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| Not criticizing but i always think of pickets as like seatbelts in a helicopter. Prophylactic at best! I still want to ski that route one day |
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Vancouver
349 Posts |
Posted - 05/03/2012 : 9:57 PM
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Good job, Win and Dan L and team! |
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Vancouver, British Columbia
Canada
558 Posts |
Posted - 05/04/2012 : 06:21 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by LeeL
Not criticizing but i always think of pickets as like seatbelts in a helicopter. Prophylactic at best! I still want to ski that route one day
Haha! Yes, I often wonder if pickets are just a psychological aid to make a sketched out climber feel a little better ("at least you are putting something in..."). Snow flukes, that is the way to go.... |
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Happy go lucky, plaid wearin, postholin, safeway gaitor sportin, old-school film shootin, giver of many regards
Abbotsford, B.C.
Canada
13453 Posts |
Posted - 05/04/2012 : 5:57 PM
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I remember descending the northeast side of Harvey a few years back, had to follow my buddies lead. It looked almost impossible to walk down, but there was a way.
K |
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North Face Ramp - Mt. Harvey - April 28
