Trip Report
Cragging Day on the Coleman Seracs
Gorgeous Fall day out on the seracs to celebrate the recently re-opened road
Paul Brown
- Sat, Oct 21, 2023
- Intermediate Alpine Climb - Heliotrope Ridge and Lower Coleman Glacier & Seracs
- Heliotrope Ridge and Lower Coleman Glacier & Seracs
- Climbing
- Successful
-
- Road suitable for all vehicles
-
The route overall was unremarkable. The road — complete with new single-lane gravel section next to the washout — was in fine shape, as was the trail. The creek crossings were straightforward. Getting onto the glacier takes a bit more work than in some other years, as there is a thin layer of dirt/gravel/scree over downward-sloping ice to navigate for the last 10-15 feet.
We left the Heliotrope Ridge TH at just after 7AM with ours as the only cars in the parking lot, and we were geared up and walking up the glacier by 9:30AM. (By the time we were back at the TH, there were a half-dozen tents up at "Murkwood" and quite a few more cars in the lot.)
We found a reasonable spot part way up into the seracs and set up a sequence of top ropes on various lines from 60 degrees up to vertical/overhanging. (As usual, the seracs provided locations where some amount of moderate leading and scrambling opened up the terrain options.) The group had a good day out overall, and it was great to get back on the ice in what is a very special playground.
