Trip Report
Basic Rock Climb - South Early Winter Spire/South Arête
Mid-season conditions earlier than expected.
Ryan Cairnes
- Sat, May 20, 2023
- Basic Rock Climb - South Early Winter Spire/South Arête
- South Early Winter Spire/South Arête
- Climbing
- Successful
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- Road suitable for all vehicles
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The parking lot was not plowed but had thin coverage for May. The snow was thin through snowline with exposed and unexposed but audible flowing water. There was no snow on route and the upper part of the climbers trail was exposed. The upper part of the SW Couloir is totally out. The gulley to Liberty Bell and Concord had snow in the lower half but was snow free for the remainder of thee routes.
The snow coverage allowed us to take a direct approach. We started from the road at 6:15AM and were at the base of the route at 7:50AM. There was choss in the chimney and we released a few small rocks (the size of two baseballs). The rappel stations that NCMG bolted last year were in excellent condition. We had two ropes out for the rappels and there was plenty of room to stack students up at the stations.