South Early Winter Spire/South Arête

Trip report for 6/7/15. From Jay Hoover

Timeline: 7:30am left Blue Lakes TH, 9am arrived at base of route, noon summit first party, 2pm start descent, 7:30pm TH

Trail mostly clear to the climbers trail with patches of snow at the beginning. The climbers trail was partially melted out with a solid snowfield above the treeline to the col. The snow was still firm and made for good steps up to the col and plunge stepping back down. Crampons and spikes were not used.

There were no goats at the base of the climb as we geared up. As we belayed the last of the climbers up the first pitch a mother with two kids approached and a brief fracas broke out when another goat approached.

We encountered one party descending the route on the way up but the variety of options above the first pitch made passing a non-issue. There is a small patch of snow on a bench about halfway up, easily passed.

As the rope teams arrived at the summit, we were joined by parties coming up the SW rib and watched other parties ascending the Beckey Route on Liberty Bell. The extra teams didn’t create very much of a jam on the descent and everyone was considerate and cooperative.

Overall a great climb on a beautiful day. We had a strong team of climbers and incredible weather.
Our group:
Jay Hoover
Cara Cutler
Josh Gannis
Jared Bowe
Michael Nanney
Jeneca Bowe
Miho Urabe
Jim Nelson