After firing the link-up of Paisano Pinnacle and Burgundy Spire the week before, my excitement to get into more alpine climbing was gnawing at me. Eric was more than ready to get onto his first real rock route for the season, which made for a collective stoke that had us both antsy to get up to the mountains. I got off work at 3pm on Saturday and was ready to go when Eric arrived to my place at 330. We pulled up to the Blue Lake trailhead around 8pm and began sorting gear with alpenglow waning on the Liberty Bell Group.
With the parking lot full of people, it was a good bet that we wouldn't be the only ones attempting to climb the popular Southwest Rib. Not wanting to compromise our efforts, Eric and I opted for a 330am start from the trailhead to ensure we would be getting onto the route without a queue.
At 530am I set off into the start of the route—a left leaning 5.8 hand crack dubbed "the wavy crack" (there is an optional pitch prior to this, though it didn't hold much appeal for Eric and I so we opted to scramble to the belay ledge below the Wavy Crack).
The impeccable granite shared by many North Cascade's classics was a welcoming start to the day. A sequence of solid hand-jams and gear placements dumped me onto a large ledge and I began bringing Eric to the belay below the next pitch.
A bit uncertain on the beta, Eric ventured off around a corner and quickly climbed to the start of the Boving Roof—a 10b variation to the route that I was hungry to get onto. The cold winds and stout climbing left Eric less excited about leading the pitch, and he retreated back to find the standard route.
100 or so feet of slabby, 5.6 climbing leads to the start of the classic Bear Hug pitch. I quickly learned that the name "Nervous Nellie" was appropriate for the climbing. As I moved out of the belay I was able to place a .75 C4, which would remain my only protection until I hit the awkward step into a wide crack (maybe 25 feet of easy, albeit unprotected climbing). The moves here are exposed, but no harder than 5.6.
By now the sun had risen enough to illuminate the array of peaks that blanket the North Cascades. We stopped to snap a photo and grab a snack before Eric grunted up the Bear Hug pitch (two large cracks parallel either side of a wide flake, making the best way to climb a slightly awkward but secure sort of bear hug around the flake).
With most the technical climbing behind us I ran up a long pitch of 5.6, scrambling until I heard Eric signal that I had reached the end of the rope. When Eric arrived we swapped leads and he brought us to a short rappel into a gully below the summit. From here, we walked up to a notch in the ridge to a final short pitch of 5.5 crack climbing to the summit of South Early Winters Spire.
Just after 9am we had reached the summit and sat back to enjoy the views. It has become unspoken tradition for Eric to hide some type of victory beverage in his pack, usually revealing it after completing an objective or to provide a little respite in a tough situation (not that we've ever had any of those...).
Today's offering was a pair of ice cold Modelo's. As we enjoyed our summit beers I pondered whether our breakfast fell into the category of classy or trashy. Our remote position left us unaffected by the social questionability of our decision making and we finished our beers before packing up and starting the descent.
Some fairly mellow down climbing, a few steps across a 5.5 ridge traverse and 3 rappels brought us back to the ground. Admiring the route on our hike out, the three parties scattered among the route left us happy with our decision to get an early start. We stopped for a burger and beer in Winthrop, and by 730pm we were back in Spokane.
On the drive home Eric and I noted that while the route offered great movement, quality rock and a mellow approach, neither of us felt very challenged by the climb. This is a great intro to alpine rock and it's easy to see why this route is so popular. Ultimately, we decided that this was a great way for us to move forward and start tackling some of the larger routes on our radar.
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