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Summary
Looking down from the lead of the second pitch on The Great Gendarme (July 30, 2005).
Shirley & I climbed the North Ridge (III 5.9) of Mount Stuart in July of 2005 (via notch vs. complete ridge) from a camp below Ingalls Lake. Very fun! Mostly low 5th class and very well protected where harder. Descending down Cascadian C. was the lowlight of the day (loose scree & boulder fields). One of the Fifty Classic Climbs of North America.
My most vivid recollection from this outing happened the morning after our climb. A pressing need for #1 woke me up and so I got out of the tent and proceeded to relieve myself a few steps away. Eyes still half closed, mind fogged over with remnants of sleep…it was not till they were 20 feet away that I saw an elderly couple hiking in my direction. A further delayed reaction on my part did not help. A full frontal offensive is not what they expected that morning. I recall struggling internally with two options: to apologize or to play it off as if it hadn’t happened… I do not recall what heppened next.
Photos
The south face of Mount Stuart reflecting in the pretty Ingalls Lake. This is on approach to our camp below the lake.
Shirley in camp below Ingalls Lake the evening before our climb of North Ridge of Mount Stuart.
Shirley on the way up to Goat Pass in the pre-dawn hours of our climb day.
Shirley on a small snow field below Goat Pass just before hitting Stuart Glacier during our approach to North Ridge (July 30, 2005).
Shirley on the eastern "half" of the Stuart Glacier. This half is more crevassed (left side, low) than the previous but the angle where the bootpath crosses is much gentler. 3rd/4th class gully used to access the upper North Ridge lies at the end of the boot path (July 30, 2005).
Looking back towards Goat Pass (low point on the left) across the Stuart Glacier. This is the standard approach to the upper North Ridge route. The glacier is heavily crevassed down below but the approach takes a high route clear of any visible crevasses (July 30, 2005).
Shirley approaching the notch in the North Ridge of Stuart. Stuart Glacier is in the background.
Shirley a rope length or two above the starting notch on the North Ridge of Mount Stuart.
Leading the low angle slab on pitch 8-ish of the North Ridge of Stuart.
Leading the low 5th class (but very cool nevertheless) slab on pitch 8 of North Ridge. Pitch numbering is per Nelson and Potterfield guidebook; this is about 3 pitches below The Great Gendarme (July 30, 2005).
Shirley belaying me (pitch 8 acc. to Nelson and Potterfield guide) atop a prominent gendarme on the North Ridge of Mount Stuart. Below on the left is Lake Stuart (July 30, 2005).
Shirley following the low 5th class slab on pitch 8 (acc. to Nelson and Potterfield) of North Ridge. A prominent gendarme is in the background. Below on the left is an unnamed ridge trending NE from the base of Stuart's north ridge. Further left is Lake Stuart (July 30, 2005).
Shirley following the low 5th class slab on pitch 8 (acc. to Nelson and Potterfield) of North Ridge. A prominent gendarme is in the background. Below on the left is an unnamed ridge trending NE from the base of Stuart's north ridge. Further left is Lake Stuart (July 30, 2005).
Yours truly at the 8th belay (roughly) on the North Ridge of Stuart.
Looking back towards Shirley at the belay from the lead of pitch 10 (numbering per Nelson and Potterfield) of North Ridge route. Wonderful exposure and the highlight of this route. Colchuck Peak (?) is in the background (July 30, 2005).
Shirley on the knife edge traverse (5.7-ish) of pitch 10 (according to Nelson and Potterfield) of North Ridge (III+, 5.9). Below is an unnamed ridge trending NE from base of the north ridge. Further below is Mountaineers Creek Valley (July 30, 2005).
Shirley on the knife edge traverse (~5.7) of pitch 10 (per Nelson and Potterfield description) of Stuart's North Ridge. This is one of the highlights of this route. The going is reasonably easy the pro is OK but not overabundant - awsome stuff ! Below is an unnamed ridge extending NE from base of North Ridge (July 30, 2005).
Shirley finishing up pitch (roughly) 10 of the North Ridge of Stuart.
Leading the low 5th class terrain to the base of The Great Gendarme (starting dihedral visible) on the North Ridge of Stuart.
Shirley approaching the base of The Great Gendarme on the North Ridge of Stuart.
Belaying from the foot of The Great Gendarme on North Ridge of Mount Stuart. The "tiered" crack system above me is the first 5.9 pitch of the route - a great finger and hand crack in some incredible rock (July 30, 2005).
Beginning the lead of the lower pitch of The Great Gendarme (North Ridge of Mount Stuart) - a nice finger to hand crack. This is pitch 12 accroding to Nelson and Potterfield guidebook. Stellar rock, stellar climbing, and perfect pro (July 30, 2005).
Shirley liebacking the lower pitch on The Great Gendarme (North Ridge of Mount Stuart) - a nice finger to hand crack with a series of rest ledges (a great pitch). This 5.9 pitch is a notch easier than the next 5.9 pitch the crux of which is an OW crack (July 30, 2005).
Shirley on the beautiful first pitch of The Great Gendarme.
Shirley liebacking the finger crack near top of the lower pitch of The Great Gendarme (5.9) on North Ridge of Mount Stuart. This is pitch 12 according to Nelson and Potterfield guidebook. To the untrained eye Shirley's expression could be mistakened for a smile while in fact she was instructing me to put the camera away and concentrate on the effing belaying! 11:30 am on July 30, 2005.
Leading pitch two on The Great Gendarme on North Ridge of Mount Stuart. I'm looking up to admire the short but strenuous 5.9 OW crack that marks the crux of the route (pitch 13 according to Nelson and Potterfield guidebook). The traverse over to reach the crack is a 5.9-ish balancy hand crack and foot shuffle with one decent looking piton and one fixed nut (July 30, 2005).
Beginning the lead of the crux pitch (#13 according to Nelson and Potterfield) of North Ridge - pitch two on The Great Gendarme. Shirley is belaying me from the comfy (and nicely exposed) pedestal (July 30, 2005).
Leading the crux pitch of North Ridge just above the 5.9 OW section. This is pitch 13 according to Nelson and Potterfield guidebook. I'm just above the short but strenuous off-width section. The photo underestimates the angle of the face which is in fact closer to vertical (July 30, 2005).
Looking down from the lead of the second pitch on The Great Gendarme (5.9 OW; crux of North Ridge route; pitch 13 of Nelson and Potterfield description) just above the crux off-width. Shirley is belaying me from the comfy pedestal. The pitch is nicely exposed (July 30, 2005).
Shirley scrambling on the "backside" of The Great Gendarme (pitch 14 per Nelson and Potterfield guidebook) on North Ridge. The two crux pitches of the route come up the left side of the Gendarme (July 30, 2005).
Leading the last short 5.8 section (15 foot handcrack) above The Great Gendarme on North Ridge. This is roughly pitch 15 of Nelson and Potterfield guidebook description. About 3 pitches left to the summit (July 30, 2005).
Shirley near the top of the North Ridge on Mount Stuart (about pitch 15 per Nelson and Potterfield guidebook) with The Great Gendarme on the left. This is about 3 pitches below the summit. Lake Stuart can be seen below as well as unnamed ridge trending NE from the base of Stuart's north ridge (July 30, 2005).
Shirley topping out on the summit of Stuart via North Ridge. This is looking roughly east. Furthest right is Sherpa Peak (with the distinctive balanced rock near its top); next to the left is Colchuck Peak; directly behind Shirley and beyond the foreground ridge is Dragontail Peak (July 30, 2005).
Yours truly on the summit of Mount Stuart.
Ingalls Peak(s) from the summit of Mount Stuart. Ingalls Lake is at the base. South Peak is in upper left; North Peak (with its classic rock routes) is in upper right; East Peak is in lower right (July 30, 2005).
Shirley on the summit of Stuart after our climb of its classic North Ridge.
Soaking in the glory of Stuart's summit 🙂
Shirley at the beginning of the descent from summit of Stuart (slabby highpoint in the background) after our climb of North Ridge. After some 3rd class scrambling down, the real sh*tty part begins: loose boulders and scree of the Cascadian Couloir (July 30, 2005).
Shirley at the beginning of the descent from summit of Stuart (slabby highpoint in the background) after our climb of North Ridge. After some 3rd class scrambling down, the real sh*tty part begins: loose boulders and scree of the Cascadian Couloir (July 30, 2005).
Ahhh - the shitty chosspile that is Cascadian Couloir. Shirley enjoying the start of this goodness on the descent from Stuart.
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