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Trip Report    

Basic Alpine Climb - Silver Star Mountain/Silver Star Glacier

Successful climb of Silver Star Mtn via Burgundy Col.

Curtis Stock Curtis Stock
September 09, 2019
  • Road suitable for all vehicles

  • Ascent.  After dropping down from Burgundy Col we stopped at the edge of the glacier to rope up and spent about an hour getting food/water/harnesses, etc.  Started up the glacier around 9:00am.  Glacier was in great shape, there were only a few small cracks to step over.  Arrived at Silver Star Col by 10:20am.  Unroped and scrambled mostly left to find easiest route to the summit.  Reached summit block 11:15am.  We spent about a half hour on the summit. 

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    Descent.  There was a good rappel anchor at the summit so we rapped from there, using one 50m rope.  That got us below the worst of the downclimbing.  From there we picked our way back to the snow directly down the fall-line.  Retraced our route back to Burgundy Col.  Descended the glacier without any issues.  There was a two-person team climbing Burgundy Spire from the east side and another climbing Paisano Pinnacle/Burgundy Spire from the west. 

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    Time:  2h15m Burgundy Col to summit.  2h15m summit to Burgundy Col.

Start Location:  Highway 20, MP 166
End Location:  Highway 20, MP 166
Elevation Gain:  4636ft

General Activity Notes:
Early start (4am) so most participants car camped at the trailhead.  A few stayed either at Lone Fir CG or in Mazama. 

Approach conditions:
Climber’s trail was snow-free.  Followed trackline, bootpath and cairns to Burgundy Col.  On the descent we descended too low before moving toward skier’s right between 7500 and 7200ft so made the descent harder than it needed to be.  Regained the ascent path at 7200ft.

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Time:  3h20m from TH to Burgundy Col.  3h20m from Burgundy Col to TH.

Permits required?
None.

Driving / parking notes:
Ample parking along Highway 20.

Equipment notes: 
Carried and used poles, ice axe, 50m rope.  Carried but did not use crampons. 

Required Skills:
Rock scrambling skills. Glacier travel skills.  Route-finding.

Weather Notes: 
Mostly high overcast, with some sun breaks.