Mountaineers Forums

Anybody have correct (collected enroute) GPS waypoints for Stuart's West Ridge they'd like to share?

Using GPS will just take all the fun away from this route.

jiri:

Using GPS will just take all the fun away from this route.

 ...for some definitions of "fun" (and perhaps some uses of a GPS)

 

As Fred would say, just follow the obvious gully.

On the West Ridge, I'd be a little worried about picking the wrong obvious gully to follow, personally (both on the way up and on the way down).

Ann - I've done the route twice.  I don't have GPS, but I do have EXTENSIVE photos with route lines drawn in the entire way.  My frinds followed them a few years ago and not only were they successful, they were grateful.  The W ridge route isn't always obvious; lots of dead ends.  Let me know if you want to link up for the beta.  Also, Don Schaechtel actually has video that he took while on route at critical junctions that were helpful the first time I did the climb.  Also, half the battle of the W ridge is NOT going down the Ulrich, as Steve, you, and I watched that other group do after the N ridge last year

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Don't hate me cuz I'm beautiful...

I highly doubt GPS would be able to resolve to the accuracy needed to do the routefinding up high.

Yeah, it would really suck to go down Ulrichs.  From above (just below the true summit), Ulrichs is the first one you see, and it looks like it'll go, but it turns into a mess.  Keep traversing east and go over to the just below the lower summit before dropping down into Cascadian.   Don't get suckered into turning early and going down Ulrichs or trying to drop into Cascadian much more then a couple hundred feet below the lower summit.

I think the most confusing thing with west ridge beta / trip reports was trying to understand where Long John Tower is actaully located on the ridge.  Once you get walk around the top of LJT, the rest of the routefinding is somewhat straightforward. 

I now have GPS points for this route, took mine along yesterday. I'm new to using a GPS and had the track points being collected too often--pretty funny to see every little wandering step backtracking all over the place as we checked things out.

Went with Ken D. who'd been up it 11 years ago, but I brought Ken Hahn's stellar photo beta he was so generous to share, which I think would beat GPS points in all but a pea soup white-out. Sean Ardussi's group had Ken H's beta too and it was working for them too as they were zooming along. I'm gong to add a few of my own pics and topo to Ken H's and would be happy to share too. Makes it so much easier and faster to have good beta.

At the notch, Ken D. said last time he did the route they started the roped climbing a few steps on the north side of the notch above the Stuart glacier. There was a big worn ledge there but the rock above didn't look nearly as worn as the ramp above the bivys on the SW side that we took instead.

p.s. We tried a 25 meter rope and it worked fine. The pitched climbing corkscrews around so much we could hardly simul with even that length.

p.p.s. I've never been up there in bad visibility, but it seems like getting to the Cascadian is straight-forward if you stay high on the summit ridge heading east to the hefty obstacle of the false summit, then just follow that down and cut east around it's bottom. (Another great Ken-Hahnian tip...)

Hey, Ann, I was in Sean's group right behind you & Ken, and I also laid down a track.

Using the NG TOPO maps zoomed into 400%, it's pretty clear to see where all the jogs are, the ramp, the climbs, etc, and I can just about pinpoint where Ken took his shots (yep, big bro's watching you, Ken).  While Ken's photo's were key and are far better than the GPS points, it's pretty clear that the GPS will tell you if you're close.  The key thing the GPS WILL do is insure you're in the right gully to start the climb and the correct one (Cascadian) to go down - I don't think anyone can argue that.

I'd like to compare coordinates with you since we both took the same route, but let's take that off-line.  jamesdeanreevesATcomcastDOTnet

I'll post an image of the route with coordinates in a few days.

-Jay 

Heading over to the false summit is definitely the way to go down.  By mid July you can descend on skier's left of the Cascadian, downscrambling class 3, to bypass steep snow (letting you leave axe at home, assuming you don't need it on some gully you go up).

You can also do the West Ridge straight up from Stuart Pass, though it's longer/funner/harder.

 

 

Ann gave me her data and I plugged it into a spreadsheet with mine - it's somewhat interesting, but not sure it proves a whole lot other than we survived. 

Satellite reception was obviously limited to 2-3 birds a few times 'cause I don't remember holding a square dance in some spots.  But overall, both tracks were pretty damned close.

I had my tracks recorded every 0.05 miles - Ann had hers set for a lot closer.

The real test now would be for some one to download the points into their gps and do the trip, checking how they compare on the route.  If you'd like my *gpx file or the *.tpo file, they're in the download's section, as well as the full sized image of what is below, and the xcel spreadsheet.

 The pic below are my points on the map.