SOLOING the Kain Route on Bugaboo Spire

Interested in any insight into climbing Bugaboo spire via the Kain Route sans ropes (I know I know this will all be subjective beta, blah blah blah)

specifically: 

-is down-soloing gonna be spicy?

-should I bring a rope to rappel ?

-should I just simlu it?

-how much real 5.6 climbing is involved ?

-how much exposure ?

-is it basically a scrabble  ?

-is route finding tricky ?

(been to the bugs 5 times, so i know the lay of the land)

I think you should just go for it and find out. Keep the adventure alive! Also I don’t know how to answer bullet point one through seven via the internet, sorry. 

I recall the Gendarme pitch being real, although I led it in hiking boots, 1973. And we were happy to rappel down it. The rest was easier. I would at least bring rope(s) for the rappel(s). I hear that getting to the Snowpatch-Bugaboo Col from the east has become dangerous in recent years/decades. In 1984, Laura Jasch died in a crevasse or moat close to the top of the col. And there has been lots of rockfall, not to mention the December collapse of the north end of Snowpatch Spire. 

I climbed the Kain and the NE Ridge last year. I think one of the biggest risks are other people. As you know, the bugs are popular and 5.6 is an easy target for newer climbers. Lots of newer climbers on the Kain when we did it and line of people (more experience though) on NE Ridge. The majority of the descent for both goes down the Kain (except the first three rappels which skirt the Kain a bit). So I'd worry about getting bottle-necked or someone dropping a rope/rock on me depending on time of day you hit it. But hear the col is out this time of year, so may keep folks away from the Kain right now. 

The gendarme pitch definitely has a tricky, slabby, reachy move with a lot of exposure and I wouldn't want to down solo that. I was breaking into 10s last year with some bigger climbs under my belt (direct north ridge of stuart, pingora, burgandy-paisano, etc) and felt skeeved leading that (but I also dislike slab). The rest of the route has solid cracks and is more reasonable to down climb if folks aren't on it. The first three rappels have some hanging rappels with exposure and the third requiring some 45 degree shenanigans. 

The only tricky bit of route-finding is the scramble to get to and from the route. The rest is pretty straight forward. First half of the climb has two pitches of fun 5.6 (think I placed 3-4 pieces for a rope length). Then ridge running to some 5.easy (and an awkward bit if I remember correctly) to the gendarme pitch which is 5.6+ lol.

I don't know your climbing experience or risk tolerance and I'm not much of a solo'er and tend to be risk moderate so my viewpoints from that perspective. I'd recommend a rope at least to rappel and if you can, simul the gendarme.

I don’t like soloing in general, but there’s absolutely no freaking way I would down solo the crux. Absolutely not. To me, it was insecure friction. The exposure on the crux is in the neighborhood of a 1000+ feet. I would definitely have the rope to get down that part at the least

The vast majority of the rest of the route is more secure, less exposed, and much easier. 

YGD 

YMMV

Grant Adamswrote:

But hear the col is out this time of year, so may keep folks away from the Kain right now

Yeah, I saw a photo of the Bugaboo-Snowpatch Col on the Friends of the Bugs FB page.  It's remarkably bare already.

(gonna have to save this objective for next summer)

Thanks for the feedback guys!

ryan climbs sometimes wrote:

What ever you do you should do it naked 

reading my mind! 

FKT of Bugaboo spire Naked Car-to-Car

I'm thinking 7 hours

You should simlu it's mostly a scrabble. I would bring a stick clip for the crux and rollerblades for the descent 

If u solo bring a rope to rap

Sean Bakerwrote:

If u solo bring a rope to rap

Yeah, I think that's the play.  I aint much of a soloist, like to play it safe, also I feel like rapping can be quicker than down soloing 

ps col is out so kain route is pretty much impossible unless you want to hike around snow patch and pigion 

Sean Bakerwrote:

ps col is out so kain route is pretty much impossible unless you want to hike around snow patch and pigion 

Far from impossible, there are lots of folks doing the walk around this time of year.  A <4hr approach from camp, to a high value alpine climb seems like a no brainer to me.... It would be a lot of solo glacier travel for sure though.  We did see some parties going up Bugaboo-Crescent Col, towards the base of the NE Ridge.  It might be worth looking into that approach, CCW around Bug Spire instead of CW.

Agreed it is possible to do the Kain route by walking around. But it will easily add 8 hours to the day. 

Also, From the top of Bugaboo Spire, the Vowell glacier looks pretty gnarly. Definitely not something to do solo. 

I would recommend staying at the high camp by Pigeon if you're super keen on Kain.

Sean Bakerwrote:

Agreed it is possible to do the Kain route by walking around. But it will easily add 8 hours to the day. 

Our party of 4 made leisurely progress to the base of Pigeon in under 2.5hrs from the hut.  Another hour of a mostly traversing mile (1.6km) to the base of Kain.  And for the decent you have the raps in P-S Col, 2 parties we spoke to averaged 90 minutes from the base of the Kain Route to the steps at the Kain Hut using the raps.  So instead of the normal 3-4ish hrs to get to and from the base of the route when the cols are in you have 4-5hrs to contend with.  The days are still long, especially when the stoke it high.

The issue I see is the extensive solo time on the glacier.  Maybe you hang out in the hut and find another party heading that way and offer to carry gear in exchange for a ropeteam to tie into until you're at the base of the route and then part ways?