Type: Ice, Alpine, 500 ft, 3 pitches, Grade III
FA: Samuel A Scoville & Julian Whittlesey 2/8/1930
Page Views: 31,274 total · 210/month
Shared By: Orphaned on Nov 25, 2006
Admins: Jay Knower, M Sprague, lee hansche, Jeffrey LeCours, Jonathan Steitzer, Robert Hall

You & This Route


140 Opinions

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Description

Overall an amazing route in a great location. Pretty straightforward, but remote - so self-reliance is key. Most of the accidents, and "near misses" (of which there have been MANY!) occur, not on the NE-3 ice, but above the ice where snow conditions can be treacherous and misleading...what looks and feels like beautiful neve may be three-foot-thick windslab. Take care, and remember: "It ain't over till it's over!"

Location

To the left of the low-angle Central Gully and just to the right of Pinnacle Buttress.

Protection

Screws - possibly some rock gear for belays (there is fixed gear easily found on both sides of the gully at 60m rope lengths)

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Photos

Working up P1.
Working up P1.
 3
Looking DOWN from near the top (photo taken circa 1977-78) [ Mary-Jane Cross on one of the earlier female ascents.]
Looking DOWN from near the top (photo taken cir…
 1
Duncan pulling through the crux on pitch 1
Duncan pulling through the crux on pitch 1
 1
Looking Up at P2; Note the 12" - 15" thick windslab fracture, not that unusual a condition!
Looking Up at P2; Note the 12" - 15" thick wind…
 3
Pinnacle, as seen from Yale gully.
Pinnacle, as seen from Yale gully.
 3
A busy day on pinnacle.
A busy day on pinnacle.
 2
11/29/12 The climb without snow... awesome. First pitch and a half or so.
11/29/12 The climb without snow... awesome. F…
 2
New years day 2015
New years day 2015
 3
Bob Adams on top !
Bob Adams on top !
 3
Phil Schuld during an almost full moon ascent
Phil Schuld during an almost full moon ascent
 3
The start of Pinnacle Gully
The start of Pinnacle Gully
 2
Thin ice after warm week. Nov. 11th 2013. Looking up at pitch one.
Thin ice after warm week. Nov. 11th 2013. Looki…
 2

2 Comments

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Ian Wolfe
Fayetteville, NC
  WI3
Ian Wolfe   Fayetteville, NC
  WI3
Climbed the route Sunday, 4 April 2010. The right half of the climb was a raging torrent. The left half, was soft and wet, but screws held solid and the sticks were swing and forget. I brought with me a .5 and .75 camalot and a set of nuts, and was glad to have them.

We did the route in 4 pitches, with the 2nd and 4th being primarily snow. The 3rd, though not as difficult as the 1st pitch, was my favorite. The gully narrows to a couple meters across, the pinnacle pushes rock over your head, the waterfall was running down the right half. I could literally see water rushing under the ice I was kicking in to, and the ribbon of ice we were climbing was only about a meter wide! Wild!

I dropped my pack at the Alpine Garden, ran up and tagged the top 30 minutes later, and then returned to my pack to strap on the skis we had carried up with us. We skid down Tuckerman's and enjoyed a Hefe.

Glorious. Apr 6, 2010
Paul Rago
 
Paul Rago  
 
i've been up this route twice and could only find fixed gear at the top of p1. There were two spots that had pins here, both on the overhanging wall: next to your head and down below by the snow. But the latter was snow covered and difficult to find. There was a pin near the end of p3 where a 0.5-0.75 C4 would also fit. Mar 21, 2011