Hurry Up Peak, March 12-13, 2005

Who:  Jason and Sam

I'd like to think my little black book of skiing and climbing buddies is filled with at least a couple available partners to be called upon for any given adventure.  There is usually a fair amount of what I like to call "terror-chatter" that passes between a handful of these buddies during the week.  Ideas are passed around, weather and conditions are discussed and carpools are deployed at often ungodly hours.  For some reason, as Friday came and went, Jason and I were the only two who came to an agreement on a destination.  The Cascade Pass region is one of our favorites.  So many options; so little snow (this year!).  Our primary objective was a route on the north side of Spider Mountain.  Jason and I headed out from Cascade Pass Saturday morning with the intention of capitalizing on the excellent weather forecast.  Our march would lead us across Cache Col and on to camp at Kool Aid Lake.  

Hurry Up and the north face of Spider Mountain as seen from the air, 2/21/04.  Kool Aid lake lies in the basin directly through the major notch in the foreground.  Photo courtesy of John Scurlock.

During our climb from the trailhead and on to the col, the majority of our time was spent on north facing slopes; all of which were covered in a solid crust of ice.  

We both wished we had a few more day out here.

An evening recon to Art's Knoll revealed more of what we expected:  a very icy looking north side of Spider Mountain.  Ambition not easily doused, we skied corn back to camp and cooked our meals.  

Yummy...Ramen and Bush's Beans

We agreed that we had to get up in the morning and make a go of it, nonetheless.  The winds were virtually calm all afternoon, but one Jason and I crawled into the tent, the gusting winds soon began.  We had taken great care to anchor the tent so that it wouldn't be tempted to go on an adventure of it's own while we were out the next day.  And while the tent remained firmly in place, the powerful gusts came every 30 minutes or so and tried to flatten the tent with us in it!  Finally the winds died down around 7am and we slithered out of our cocoons.  Thinking I would prepare a warm drink, I walked to the stove only to discover the lid must have blown away during the night.  Or maybe a mischievous marmot decided to go sledding?  You make the call...  I hope the Marmot was wearing a helmet!

Out of camp by 8am, we cruised back up to the saddle at the knoll and skied to the base of Spider.  We found ourselves at the base of our intended route and the snow conditions were getting icier.  There was also the issue of the bergschrund spanning the base of the route.  Jason and I took a break and discussed our predicament.  As we cramponed up the glacier, the snow was only getting firmer and choice was clear.  We both knew but didn't want to admit that Spider was turning us away for a second time this year.  Looking across the cirque, we found our "Plan B".
 

Plan "B" couloir:  The south face of Hurry Up Peak, AKA "S" Peak.  Art's Knoll is the bump on the left.

Had we been here solely to climb our Plan "A", it would have been perfect.  But we were here for glisse!

The south couloir of Hurry Up appeared to have everything we were looking for:  steep pitch, continuous line, and it was south facing so we knew the snow would be softer.  Before we could think of a reason not to, we were at the base of the gully.  We were instantly impressed at how long and steep this couloir turned out to be.  We estimated the bottom 1/3 at about 45°, the middle 1/3 at 50° and the top 1/3 near 55°; never more than 20 feet wide on the upper 2/3.  

Nice Foot-Fangs, Jason!

The snow took front points and whippets quite well although towards the end we both sort of wished we had our ice axes in our hands rather than still lashed to our packs.  At the top of the couloir, we were elated to see that the path was easy to the actual summit, some 15 minutes away.  

At the top lies a sea of possibility.  Bonanza is on the far right side of the frame.

Soaking in the views and the sun, we knew we had to get going if we wanted to make it back to the car before dark.  

Jason get the party started of the summit of Hurry Up.

Standing at the top one of the most aesthetically perfect couloirs I've ever seen, the moment of truth was here!  I went first.  It was good!  

Getting ready to drop into a tuck!  Figure 11 style, baby!  photo:  Jason Hummel

The snow caused Jason to drop to his knees!

Jason wishing the gully went on forever...

All good gullies must come to an end.  For Jason and me, I think we're convinced that Hurry Up is a diamond in the rough; certainly deserving of more exploration.  Back at camp, neither one of us was looking forward to the climb back up to Cache Col.  The southwest facing slope was receiving intense sun and I knew it I was going to get hot.  However after a cornice hop at Cache Col we were immediately chilled by the shade.  On what we cramponed up the previous day, we now could plot a clear trajectory with our skis directly to Cascade Pass.  With a bit of care, we managed to ski to within 100 yards of the road.  What?  A trip that begins and ends in daylight?  Boy, I could get used to this!

"Plan B" couloir and the summit of Hurry Up Peak from the air by John Scurlock the morning of 3/23/05.

Click here for Jason's trip report

Click here for Phil and Bill's attempt from the previous year

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