Observation Rock/North Face

Climbed Saturday 10/3, with a group of 6, and left TH at 0630. We had some heavy wind gusts in the morning but they cleared up as soon as we got to the base of Ob Rock. It took us roughly 4 hours to get to the base of the first pitch from the TH. From the climbers camp, follow the moraine to Ob Rock by skirting it on the north side, and crossing over to the south side near the upper pass. This will let you traverse down to the base of the climb. We started the climb on the top of the scree band, and completed the ice in 4 pitches with 60m ropes. You probably could hike up another 50-100 feet higher and knock it out in 3 pitches, the lower sections aren't that steep. For the last pitch, get your belay station up as high up as you can. The lip up to the flat bench at the top uses more rope than you think. No pickets were needed, and we used screws for the entire route. The ice is plenty thick for deep screws. The last pitch is about 70deg slope, and had some "dinner plating". Timid lead climbers may want to pass on this section. From the bench, you can scramble easily to the summit, or traverse around Ob Rock and head back to camp via the lower glacier. Roughly 13-hrs car to car, depending how much time your group needs to complete the ice pitches. The road to mowich is in poor shape and we saw about 6 deer crossing on the drive in, use caution.