Cobb Peak Ice

SMG guide Drew Daly and I got out yesterday to check out the ice on the lower flanks of Cobb Peak.  The climbing is located at 10,000 feet and we approached through as much as 2.5 feet of snow!  Skiers–none of this snow has faceted and at least for now it looks like a great base!  The ice conditions were thin and wet, but hey, it’s only October! 

There are fixed anchors (3/8′ bolts with Metolius Rap Hangers) at the top and the climbs can be TR’d with a 60m rope.  There is also a set of anchors about 100 feet lookers right of the main flow for a mixed line that isn’t currently in condition.

Approaching the Cobb Ice.

Drew's Alpine Bender Continues!

Summer Photos

Baron Spire and Baron Lakes.

Community School Juniors on top of the Super Slabs.

Ellen Singer underneath the Grand Aguille.

Warbonnet Basecamp at the Feather Lakes.

Looking down the Stur Chimney on Mt. Heyburn. Camp 4's Rule!

Sarah Michael and Virginia Eggers on the summit of Mt. Heyburn.

Mountain goat near the summit of the Devil's Bedstead.

Is this man afraid of heights?

North Face of Mt. Borah

On Monday Sept. 21 Frank Gould and I climbed the North Face of Mt. Borah.  Although the face looked pretty melted out, it was acutally in great shape with firm snow down low and hard alpine ice up high.   The traverse to the standard finish in the couloir that tops out near the summit was completely melted out.   Instead we opted for the couloir that tops out on  the Northwest ridge, about 200 vertical from the summit.  From the notch at the top of the couloir it’s easy 3rd class to the summit.  We climbed together on firm snow with crampons to the base of the ice.  Then we climbed the ice in 4 pitches to near the top of the couloir.  The ice dead-ended about 100 feet from top-out on the Northwest Ridge, but the climbing was easy 3rd class, albeit loose and ugly!

 

Most excellent bivy at 10,000 feet with great limestone bouldering!

Frank on the 2nd ice pitch.

Our Route in red. This photo shows how the upper horizontal snowfield doesn't link to the summit couloir.

Northeast Ridge of the Devil’s Bedstead West

On August 7th Robb Hamblen and I climbed the Northeast Ridge of the Devil’s Bedstead West in the Pioneer Range.  The route entailed about 1600 feet of 3rd, 4th, and easy 5th class climbing on generally sound rock.  During the last 300 feet the rock quality deteriorated somewhat.  We descended the trail down the Right Fork of Kane Creek, which made for an excellent loop.  Our climb may have been a first ascent, but in a canyon as popular as Kane Creek this would seem unlikely!  I’m continually amazed by the stellar character of the Pioneer Range and the enormous potential for alpine climbing!

 

McGown Peak, July 5

July 5: After an ominous start Erik Boe, Jeff Tumelo and I (Erik
Leidecker) managed to summit McGown Peak via the North Couloir.  The route
was melted out at the top and we had to do some legitimate mixed climbing to
get around a crux chockstone!

Titus Ridge, July 14th

July 14th: Panda and Holly on Titus Ridge. They navigated with map and compass from Titus Lake!

Thompson Peak, July 9 – 10

Horstmann Peak

July 18 - James Gillespie and Rob Freeman on the top of Horstmann Peak

Sawtooth Chute School 4/30 – 5/3/09

Our last spring ski mountaineering course of the season drew a packed house.  Sawtooth Mountain Guides co-owner and IFMGA guide Erik Leidecker along with SMG guides Mike Hatch and Zach Crist lead a group of 10 guests for 4 days into the heart of the Sawtooths for some fantastic skiing and skills development.  We had people show up from all over the country – New Jersey, Connecticut, Washington, and California- along with a handful of locals from Sun Valley.  The diverse group of clients with varying backgrounds and abilities created a great learning environment and helped forge new friendships.

Climbing up Big Fatty

Todd rippin Big Fatty

Spring time in the Sawtooths can be a mixed bag of snow conditions and we definitely got a sack full of corn, crust, and powder.  This required us to use at one time or another all that gear we were cursing having to lug around on our backs – ice axe, ski crampons, boot crampons, harness, rope, etc.  The snow pack in the alpine is holding up well with the chutes and couloirs nicely filled in.  Conditions in the alpine during the course were rather winter-like on northerly aspects with 6-8″ new in the chutes and coulees and spring -like on southerly aspects with  light freezes Friday and Saturday nights contributing to mid-afternoon corn cycles.

Snow School 101

March of the ski bums

Even though the weather was less than ideal the group still managed to knock off a laundry list of ski objectives and skill sets.  On Friday, after snow school and ice axe handling techniques, the group split with half climbing up and skiing Big Fatty and the other half climbing peak 10084, rappelling off the summit, and skiing Meadow Bowl.  The Big Fatty group found 6-8″ on a firm base and everybody skied strong and fluid.  On Saturday the clouds veiled the peaks, but even in low visibility the group still managed to ski several nice lines including the spire lined SW face of Williams Peak and after several rappels and a short climb the other half of the group dropped into “What’s Up Doc” – a narrow steep coulior off the shoulder of Thompson Peak.  On Sunday with 4-6″ new the group headed for the Profile drainage to ski classic lines like “Resurrection” and “Jesus” -  these were featured on the opening spread of the “Backcountry Magazine” article on the Chute School.  Erik lead one group who focused on rope handling and mountaineering skills like building anchors and proper belay and rappel techniques.  The lines flirted with us through the clouds and the new snow tantalized our taste buds.   The north-facing couloirs were holding good powder snow and the group had to manage the steep and tight terrain and sluff.  The whoops, hollers, and high fives at the bottom signaled the thrill of the runs and the culmination of days of technical skill development, inspiring turns, and great camaraderie at the Williams Peak Hut.  Thanks to all for spectacular course!!!

Cheers, Hatch, Erik, and Zach

Climbing up Big Fatty

Todd rippin Big Fatty

Big Fatty (aka. Fat Bastard)

Snow School 101

March of the ski bums

1084 Rappel

Brenden Rappelling

Rex “This ain’t Hunter Mtn.”

Erik and Zach

Let’s see how this axe works

Powder to the People

Rex lovin the carvy corn

The Boyz

Devin and Sean top of Resurrection

Hank and Tyler

Thompson Peak Couloirs

Brenden liking the squeeze

SW Face Williams Peak

Erik and his “Resurrection”

“What’s Up Doc”

Trip – always ready to go!

March Madness

Decker and the “Black Dog” Face

Clark and N. Face of Decker

B-town Powder Patrol-Banner

Brad layin’ it down

Finger of Fate

Kirk likes his coffee

Megawatts and mega wolf tracks

Mystery Tour

Zack Crist reveling in the Mystery

Like the hat says

Sawtooth Panorama looking south

Mystery

March was a snowy month in the Sawtooths.  For the month, the mountains picked up 6-8 ft. of snow – almost doubling our snow pack!  This made for some incredible powder skiing in the backcountry and helped fill in the coolies and chutes in the alpine.  All the snow tempered our alpine ambitions, but will make for some great April and May spring skiing and glorious descents.  This is getting us excited for our spring ski mountaineering courses in April. We are on the northwest flow powder train right now and we’ll enjoy the ride as long as it lasts.  The Sawtooth Mountain Guides “Chute Patrol” did manage to ski/board the north face of Decker Peak ( 10,701), which will now be known as the “Black Dog Face”, for reasons my dog Gus, Clark and I would like to soon forget.  Just heed these words of advice – keep your four-legged friends in the deep, not the steep.

Also in March, my brother Brad Hatch and several of his B-town Boyz made a weekly pilgrimage to enjoy the Sawtooth goods.  They managed to luck out – powder, powder, and more pow!  Cheers to the Greenwood’s crew for motivating many early mornings to make the drive and suffer through numerous face shots!

In March, the SMG crew along with Zach Crist, took a nice circumnavigational tour around Mystery Peak.  The snow pack was a little touchy, so we stayed to lower angled terrain, but the views were awesome.  We scoped out numerous lines and hopefully we’ll scratch some off the list in April.  Zach loved the tour and is thinking about giving up steep skiing for gentle tours through the woods.

In the middle of March I had the pleasure to guide Jay Stevenor and his fun group up at the Williams Peak Hut.  We found some nice snow over in Marshall Basin.  Tad Jones, a fellow knee-dropper, put together a nice slideshow and video of their trip.  You can check it out here at :  http://www.jjds.net/outdoor/w_peak/index.html