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Trip Report    

Lane Peak/Zipper (winter)

Attempted the Zipper on 3/28. The approach in the valley below Narada falls was mostly melted out, and lots of soggy bog crossings are required. We needed to do a couple of log crossings over the creek to get to the base of Lane Peak, in addition to good old fashioned bush whacking since the trail is unmarked. The base of the climb was in decent shape; there was evidence of a recent avalanche release at the base of the couloir above the bolder field from a few days ago, but the slope appeared consolidated and stable. The snow was dense and had a "wet sand" feel to it.

Our team approached the mouth of the zipper and the snow depth/cover was much lower than anticipated. Several exposed rock steps were present up the couloir (5+) in lieu of the comfortable uninterrupted steep snow climb. We passed the first rock notch without protection on the left side of the chute, but were unable to take the second rock step; most of the rock was covered in sleet and hid the few options for dry tooling, plus eliminated any option of smearing on the rock; there may be better options in dryer conditions. There was a piton to the upper right, middle section of the rock, but was of no use. We didn't find any decent holds to take you above the upper section of the second rock step to the next series in the chute and turned around.

We didn't climb it, but the Fly route looked to be in better shape.