Chutla, Eagle & Wahpenayo Peaks

Trip

Winter Scramble - Chutla, Eagle & Wahpenayo Peaks

Winter scramble / general conditioner for Olympia climbing and scrambling students

  • Strenuous 3, Technical 4
  • Moderate
  • Mileage: 7.0 mi
  • Elevation Gain: 3,600 ft
Event Date:  Easter Sunday April 17th
Meeting Time:  7:00 a.m. pacific
Anticipated travel time:  about 3.5 hours up, an hour of flex, and two hours down.  I’d tell friends and family not to expect you home for dinner.
Meeting Location: North end of Longmire parking area:  https://tinyurl.com/f5cxhz8h
Destination:  Our primary destination is now the Eagle Peak / Chutla Saddle.  Here is the trail on Caltopo:  https://tinyurl.com/2p977r8h
Weather:  We have a favorable forecast with medium predictive power.  If luck is with us, it will be cold, but mostly sunny with mild wind.  Current weather instability means that the precipitation forecast for Saturday and Monday could easily swing into us.  Hope for a dry trip but plan for precipitation.  https://www.meteoblue.com/en/weather/week/eagle-peak_united-states_5793050
Avalanche safety:  Additional snow showers and wind should continue to impact the area on Friday and Saturday. We must keep an eye out for areas of wind-drifted snow on higher angle slopes where we are more likely to trigger an avalanche. An increase in wet avalanche potential may accompany warmer weather.  Fortunately for us the forecasted temperatures Saturday and Sunday are similar.  Our approach to avalanche safety will be to avoid exposure to any hazard.  Our shared responsibility is to apply what we know about avalanches, recognize what we don’t know, decide conservatively, create space for expression of concern.  Our team will evaluate each concern, no matter how small.  We will err on the side of turning around if all 12 of us are not “green to go” at every stage.  I’m counting on each of you to share your thoughts if you get a bad feeling.
Our route is in the trees for most of the way, and on a ridge of sorts.  You will see in the Caltopo that roughly 2.7 miles into our trip we approach a slope of about 38 degrees from the west.  Our route cuts northwest near that point, out from under the slope, but we’ll have to be vigilant approaching this area and all the way up from there. The final 120 feet to the saddle between Eagle and Chutla is also over 35 degrees, so same drill there.
Packing:  Pack according to your training and experience with the 10 essentials for an all-day winter outing including insulation suitable for a night in the open in single digit temperatures.
Additional Gear Requirements:  Snowshoes, micro-spikes, ice axe, helmet
Optional gear:  Trekking pole(s), crampons
Prohibited gear:  Skis, split board
I welcome questions, comments, thoughts.  Let me know if you have any questions.  See you Sunday morning!  360-591-4048; free_2_climb@yahoo.com
Route/Place

Chutla, Eagle & Wahpenayo Peaks


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