However I believe that the dates where overnight permits are required are incorrect. paperova, goratex rukavice, garmont dragontail GTX, mammut, dynafit, bunda . I stuck more to the face, trusting my picks in super thin ice. Photo: John. Photos (7,350) Directions. Guided climbs of Dragontail Peak in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness offered by Northwest Mountain School and IMFGA guides John and Olivia Race. On the approach, before the first pitch, a six-foot boulder barred her way. A few hop turns and we were below the entrance cliff to TC's. Jacob led more easy terrain until reaching a 5.5-5.6 corner. The summit is a small bedrock clump that drops on the north. The massive complexity of the entire face unfolded before us. I got up at 2 am, ate breakfast, and started the drive over to Leavenworth. Our tax identification number is EIN 91-0900134. https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/dragontail-peak, https://www.wta.org/@@site-logo/wta-logo.png, Summer Trail Work: Be Ready for WTA's Backcountry Trips. I manage to flop out of the icy water like a beach whale and enjoyed a frozen minute of sun bathing on a little iceberg. The upper hand crack was super cruiser. to fill my thermos with an excessive amount of caffeine I left Seattle West northwest wind between 9 and 14 mph, with gusts as high as 18 mph. Thank you! Log in and send us The rest of the route was generally 3rd to mid 5th class, so we switched to a 30 m spacing and started simul climbing. In the fall, the area becomes world famous for the larch trees that turn golden yellow beginning in early October. 600 Sherbourne Leavenworth, WA 98826 (509)-548-6977. At first the trail parallels Mountaineer Creek and gains 1,100 feet in 2.5 miles. Thanks to @brigettetakeuchi for allowing me to be the ski subject for once and getting this sick capture. Triple Couloirs 4/1/2017. A few hundred feet above the lake the trail veers off to the climbers left of the creek. Good thing I was not on lead! Mountain: Haute Route Ski Traverse. Home; About Us. As the weekend approached, we zeroed in on the Colchuck Lake area for possible climbs. A few days before heading out a storm came from East to West. Dispersed camping is not allowed between the road and Icicle Creek. updates, images, or resources. Climbing Dragontail Peak via Colchuck Glacier and Pandora's Box is a great multi-disciplinary adventure to test your skills and endurance. He will lead sketchy, runout mixed pitches, but finds steep skiing insane. Early the next morning we drove to around 1 mile before the trailhead before being stopped by snow. Now I can check that off my bucket list! Dragontail Peak. I'm too wussy to drop in blind, especially on a route like TC's. The name was officially accepted in 1955. 208SX. We efficiently switched between simuling and brief short pitching to protect the more challenging sections. 280 summits. From the summit I skied back down the . Mountaineers Club Cascade Classics Peak Pin. We conducted a thorough search of Dragontail, including this route and all moats at its base. Head southwest on the Stuart Lake Trail. Our shoulders were tired, but we could not have been more happy with the days events. They are close together to climb in a day in optimal weather. Kyle was our mixed climbing rope gun! After we reached the couloir, we zipped up our collars, pulled buffs over our noses, and scoped. Thanks for the excellent page! There were bomber finger locks and thin hands. Looking forward to many more together . Dragon Tail Couloir is a Colorado classic. The original plan was to meet up with Jeff and Scott at there base camp at the lake but we were late so it was going to be a game of catch up. From there, it was just a walk up a sandy gully to the summit of Dragontail! Children refers to the set of objects that logically fall under a given object. I finally got this ski off my chest, having thought about it all season. Clear editor. Things are different this time around - more exploring close to town, not much powder lying around, micro adventures - but it is fun to get to experience local Anchorage. Its position above Colchuck Lake was tantalizing. Ft. 3904 Shawnee Ridge St, Las Vegas, NV 89129. Selected Winter/Spring routes (approximate) above Colchuck Lake. One at a time we layed down our tracks in the wide open face. Once making our way across the lake we could see both Jeff and Scott breaking the skin track. P.O. # 632018379. All around us, there was a maze of granite gendarmes and towers. But yesterday was an exception, and I was rewarded with a beautiful sunrise and some great snow on humpback mountain. From the moment we were on the south face of Dragontail Peak the snow changed immediately. Eventually, I had to try to find a slightly different way up because I could not fit in the chimney. After a light snowfall, the air becomes clear and crisp and coupled with peak larch color, the scenery is probably the best in the country for a couple weeks in October. Leavenworth 5 Peak Challenge. Dragontail Peak is the second highest peak in the Stuart Range, exceeded only by 9,415 foot, . Stuart trail, but at around 2.5 miles go left towards Colchuck Lake (there will be a sign at the split in the trail). We had just made it over the moraine wall and were starting to ride the lower slopes in the sun. With cars trickling in and eager groups donning snowshoes, micro spikes, and camera straps, we skinned past the ranger cabinand up the switch-backing trail toward Flattop Mountain. Earlier in the week I had been in this zone heading up Mount Aix. Keep up the good work. Dragontail Peak, Triple Couloirs, 1st Ski Descent. Fortunately we still had a few hours of daylight and headlamps in our backpacks. Stuart. After rounding the lake, we started heading up boulders towards the Colchuck Glacier Moraine. All Rights Reserved. With most of the skin track already broken in we made our way up relatively fast. Southwest wind between 6 and 14 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph. NOTE: In early season, almost the entire descent can be glissaded. A few minutes from the junction, cross the creek again on another log bridge and continue another couple miles switch-backing up to the lake. We arrived back at the car before sunset. I am very thankful to be able to adopt and continue to provide lots of information about this wonderful peak here on SummitPost. Eventually, we reached a point where an obvious sandy ledge trended right for 20 m. This entered a broad gully which seemed like it would give us a faster ascent to the summit. Instead of riding Mount Stuart we would go for some north facing slopes. Nearby homes similar to 11832 Dragontail Peak Ave have recently sold between $480K to $1,200K at an average of $300 per square foot. Ascend snow (early season) or talus to glacier (no crevasses but can be icy by mid-season) and follow glacier to Colchuck Col. From Colchuck Col scramble northwest to the summit. I don't know if it takes bigger cajones to drop a route like that blind. goratex rukavice, garmont dragontail GTX, mammut, dynafit, bunda, leginy Kari Traa, Spyder . As he was setting up his belay at the top, one guy appeared below me. (jOkE!). 4 Beds. 2.5 Baths. This variation was fast. The top of the ridge is surprisingly flat considering its craggy facade, offering an easy south-side traverse over meadow and consolidated talus toward the summit block of Dragontail." Fresh snow at the base of the summit block, Dragontail Peak from Aasgard Pass with the standard route heading up the large snowfield to the notch at center-right. While I love powder I wasnt interested in hiking up a 4000 foot south facing avalanche path. The view, however, was incredible. I'm stoked to be back in Alaska! Once in the couloir, we enjoyed a great ski down to near the Colchuck-Dragontail Col. @heinelogan or @samchaneles ? Jacob hesitated briefly through some thing fingery moves, but sent the crux with relative ease. That is very fascinating, Youre an excessively professional blogger. I just think being able to climb a classic and then ski one makes for one great day in the mountains. Excellent page - very helpful. Additional information. Cheers! As we basked in the warm sun, Jacob checked his inReach. Copyright 2022 CascadeClimbers.com Your email address will not be published. To the southwest you could see Mount Stuart and Sherpa Peak. Serpentine Arete rises out of Colchuck Glacier between the peaks. Andy set out climbing on Thursday, August 7th. Cross over the broad snow-saddle and make for the southern skyline, scrambling up a short class 2/3 section to the ridgetop. The helicopter spotted a body in the snow at the base of Triple Couloirs, north of Dragontail Peak, around 11:15 a.m., deputies said, though the helicopter could not land because of strong winds. There was no more 5th class to the summit. We passed when we needed to, and everyone was cordial and having a great time. It was this huge, 20 ft long, 4 ft wide ledge, perfect for switching to rock shoes! You will emerge onto a talus slope on the south side of the peak. Impulses from my youth began to surge in me and I decided to take a swim. People have died here by straying too far to the right. The men's Dragontail Tech GTX by GARMONT is a technical, precise and lightweight approach shoe for the skilled consumer looking for the ultimate in technology with high performance. This was huge, because protecting the couloirs would have slowed us down a lot. Weird. It actually had a very nice, thick WI2 step of ice, which we soloed easily. We were in. Near the top of the lateral moraine, we had to step off onto some snow to get to the orange colored rock that marked the beginning of the route. Work your way up this talus slope following faint trails when possible. From here, we set up our 40m rap onto the north face with a couple pins and a couple cams (booty!). It was supposed to be mostly 4th class ledges, but he went too far right and got into some legitimate mid 5th terrain. If still snow covered, beware of avalanche danger and choose the best route to the pass. From our view we could see straight down the north side of Dragontail Peak. 2 talking about this. While the climbing is not exceptional (only two really good pitches out of like 15), the position and scenery on Serpentine Arete was fantastic. We were extra cautious and in no hurry to set a speed descent of TC's. The ice looked barely a centimeter thick in most places. Dragontail Peak is located about 15 miles southwest of Leavenworth within the Alpine Lakes Wilderness in the Cascades. If I do this again, I will unrope here and just move together. Little Annapurna. It began to hit us why this was such a famous climb. Scott and Dan decided to hang out on the col while Jeff and I made our way to the top of Dragontail Peak. Before long it was time to get snowboarding down Dragontail Peak. We awoke the next morning around 4 am and packed up. Instead we continued up and right. The crux of the route is moving from the first "hidden" couloir to the second couloir, which is in the middle of the face. Skinning the snow creek glaciers was a bit of a chore as the sun had turned the snow to glop and an incredible amount began balling up on my skins, once on the south side of dragontail I was so tired of the snow balling that I carried my skis for the final couple hundred feet or so. Glad we did not go that way! Chimney! It would be some of the best May conditions that we could think of as the snow was bottomless. My main skill on display was an ability to tread extremely carefully as to not trundle rocks down on Jacob. The Hidden starts off steep and remains so, all the way to the exit. gud job, at leest Yu gav the rope gunnr kredit! CDT - Twin Lakes to Interstate 70; Grays Peak Trailhead. The Serpentine Arte is a massive rock ridge that slithers (sorry) out of the Colchuck Glacier, weaving 2000 feet upward to the summit of Dragontail Peak. Ed skiing down the Colchuck couloir after summiting Dragontail Peak, WA Found 285 results. Mt. Triple Couloirs, the famous route up the north face of Dragontail Peak, was once a far-fetched dream, but now seemed within reach. Tyndall Gorge, which runs perpendicular to the base of Dragon Tail, evidences the Rockiesglacial history. Not wanting to commit to the three 60m raps down the un-ice runnels between the 2nd and Hidden couloirs, I discovered the following option for the ascent and descent. Skied the Triple Couloirs on Dragontail Peak yesterday. There is one section that constricts to the length of my skis, and a self-beloay with axe was handy to sideslip this short, steep section of snow over rock. From Aasgard Pass (7,800 ft), ascend southwest up the slope to the saddle at 8,500 ft. From the saddle, ascend northwest about 300 feet to the summit. This page was transferred to me by Bob Bolton. Andy and Jeff had climbed it just the weekend prior. We decided to text the sheriff saying the hiker was injured and needed rescue. Skied a nice clockwise loop around Dragontail Peak on May 9th, 2009. . The I am going to need to work hard to find something more technical than this. But use cautionserious accidents have happened glissading from Aasgard Pass. From the European Alps to the far more formidable Issy Alps, we had a great year. He was approaching it Teleross style, by hiking up the backside, and planned to do the raps. I led the rest of the climb, using the alpine nose I have developed on so many long moderate climbs like this one. Nice route guys.I'm envious as all hell. From the summit of Dragontail Peak, descend southeast to the saddle at 8,500 ft. Then descend east on a long snow slope to Aasgard Pass. It took some exploring, but I found a way through some cliffs, climbing some very fun WI2+ ice gully and then up more through rotten snow on top of slab. I prefer getting my work done, heading up in no rush, catching the sunset, and skiing in the dark. Who skied it better? 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