{"id":1097,"date":"2014-09-04T10:57:28","date_gmt":"2014-09-04T16:57:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/larsonweb.com\/blog\/?p=1097"},"modified":"2022-02-10T08:42:37","modified_gmt":"2022-02-10T08:42:37","slug":"bugaboos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/larsonweb.com\/blog\/bugaboos\/","title":{"rendered":"Alpine Rock, Part 1: Bugaboos"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Snowpatch<\/a>
Snowpatch Spire, viewed from McTech Arete<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It has been more than 20 years since I last visited the Bugaboos. \u00a0I had planned three trips since then, and actually bought plane tickets twice, but my partners always seemed to drop out on me, usually at the last minute. \u00a0Every year it seemed like the Bugaboos was on my list of places to climb, but every year it always seemed to fall through.<\/p>\n

This year, my plans finally paid off, and I got to go back to the Bugaboos again. \u00a0\u00a0My success in getting to the Bugs was mostly the result of just giving up on going with any of my climbing partners and hiring a guide. \u00a0\u00a0I scheduled 9 days of private guiding through the American Alpine Institute<\/a>. \u00a0My guide for the trip was a great guy named Chad Cochran.<\/p>\n

We met in Bellingham early Saturday morning, and spent the rest of the day driving. \u00a0Spent the night in a cheap hotel in Golden, B.C., then drove up to the Bugaboos trailhead and hiked up to the Conrad Kain Hut. \u00a0The Kain Hut is super nice, with luxurious cooking accommodations and comfy pads to sleep on. \u00a0It\u2019s \u00a0a great alternative to tenting, especially for a climber like me with old bones and stiff joints.<\/p>\n

\"Bugaboo
My rental truck wrapped in chicken wire at the trailhead to prevent animals from gnawing the rubber bits.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Bugaboo<\/a>
View of Snowpatch Spire from the approach trail. If you look closely, you can see the Kain Hut peeking out directly below the snowpatch.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Conrad Kain Hut<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The view from the Kain Hut<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The weather forecast for the next few days was good, and we were stoked to go climbing. \u00a0We picked the SE Shoulder (Weissner Route) on Snowpatch Spire for our first objective. \u00a0It\u2019s long, (17 pitches) but of moderate difficulty, so it seemed like a good route to start out with and get our systems, communications, and changeovers sorted out.<\/p>\n

We left the hut Monday morning at about 5:30 and we were scrambling up the rock to the base of the route about an hour and twenty minutes later. \u00a0After we scrambled up to the saddle where the route starts, the real fun began. \u00a0\u00a0What a terrific day! \u00a0We were all alone on the route, and the weather was perfect. \u00a0We had blue skies, comfortable temperatures, and great climbing. \u00a0We pitched out the lower sections, but we simulclimbed the easier parts along the margin of the big snowpatch, which saved us a lot of time.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Chad Cochran, on the Snowpatch Route<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There was a lot of great climbing on the route, with my favorite pitch probably being a beautiful open book section a couple of pitches below the snowpatch. \u00a0The views were amazing, and the summit dramatic. \u00a0\u00a0This is truly a stellar route. \u00a0 It took us a little over 6 hours from the time we began climbing to the time we topped out. \u00a0That was a pretty good time, attributable mostly to Chad being a serious rope gun who made short work of the technical pitches.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Climbing on Snowpatch Spire<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The descent down the back side of Snowpatch was simple but tedious. \u00a0The first rappel station is right below the summit blocks, and we just rapped down on fixed anchors, taking in gorgeous views of Pigeon Spire. \u00a0Once at the base, we had to work ourselves down and left (skier\u2019s left) around to another series of fixed anchors on the West side of Snowpatch Spire that drop you down to the glacier and snowfields on the South side of Snowpatch. \u00a0\u00a0This descent route was required because the Bugaboo\/Snowpatch Col was not in condition for descent. \u00a0When I was in the Bugaboos 21 years ago, the Bugaboo\/Snowpatch Col was a nice ramp, covered with snow and ice. \u00a0Straightforward cramponing was all that was required to get up or down. \u00a0\u00a0However, in its current state, this avenue is a horrific death trap, with lots of very loose rock, and big slides coming down it with frightening regularity. \u00a0Luckily, the new descent route on the West side of Snowpatch was pretty straightforward.<\/p>\n

\"Pigeon<\/a>
Pigeon Spire, as seen from the rappels off of Snowpatch’s summit<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We were back at the hut in time for an early dinner, and made plans for our next day. \u00a0I wanted to try something technically a bit harder than the Snowpatch Route, but not quite so long, as I was kind of tired from our long outing. \u00a0\u00a0We decided on a climb of McTech Arete, a 6 pitch 5.10 on a buttress in the Crescent Spire area.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
McTech Arete<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
View of Bugaboo Spire from McTech Arete<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We got up late, and strolled over to McTech Arete. \u00a0We were in no hurry, because the route doesn\u2019t get any sun until about 10:00 or so. \u00a0About 10:30, we began climbing. \u00a0This was another stellar route. \u00a0Unlike the Snowpatch route, it didn\u2019t feel really alpine, but the climbing was great, and the views were amazing. \u00a0We had excellent vistas of Snowpatch and Bugaboo Spires, with glimpses of the Howser Towers peeking out from above the col. \u00a0The climbing was definitely harder than the climbing on Snowpatch, but I managed to only fall off once. \u00a0Just about every pitch was really enjoyable, and the experience was great. \u00a0It was casual cragging in an alpine setting.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Climbing on McTech Arete<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After finishing off McTech Arete, we headed back to the Hut. \u00a0I was pretty tired at this point, and was in need of a rest day to recuperate a bit. \u00a0The weather report indicated that the weather window was closing and the weather getting more unsettled over the Bugaboos, so we decided to leave the Bugs and head back south to Washington Pass in search of more good weather and fine granite. \u00a0We packed up and took off the next morning, However, I had already decided that I was definitely coming back with Chad next year. \u00a0Next time, we were going to start out on the Beckey-Chouinard, a route I have been dreaming about much of my life.<\/p>\n

For now, however, I was satisfied. \u00a0I\u2019d climbed a big route on Snowpatch that I had wanted to climb for a long while, and had a great time in the mountains. \u00a0I got some much needed rest and relaxation on the drive back to Washington.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It has been more than 20 years since I last visited the Bugaboos. \u00a0I had planned three trips since then, and actually bought plane tickets twice, but my partners always seemed to drop out on me, usually at the last minute. \u00a0Every year it seemed like the Bugaboos was on my list of places to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1139,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[59],"tags":[298,297,301,300,303,302,299],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/larsonweb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1097"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/larsonweb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/larsonweb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/larsonweb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/larsonweb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1097"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"http:\/\/larsonweb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1097\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2028,"href":"http:\/\/larsonweb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1097\/revisions\/2028"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/larsonweb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/larsonweb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/larsonweb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/larsonweb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}