The Saying: "Route finding is the crux" Is no joke!
I have long sought the wild and rugged adventure that Mount Stuart and the West Ridge has to offer. After breaking my ankle in the spring, I thought that this dream would have to wait another season. However, with my recovery going quicker then expected, we decided to go for it! We may have slightly underestimated the beast that this mountain truly is! Scaling the thousands of feet of technical terrain took every ounce of endurance and all of our technical climbing skills to pull it off.
Unfortunately we got caught out in the dark high on the mountain and ended up off route, further complicating the difficulty of the technical pitches. After losing one of our head lamps and having the other one die (and the charger broke) the situation quickly devolved into survival mode. We were forced to make an emergency bivy in the sub freezing temps with less then ideal preparedness. Just a few hundred feet from the summit, we huddled together, sharing a bivy sack and shivering our butts off while we anxiously awaited dawn. The wind chill brought the down temps into the the lower teens and frost nip began to set in. When the morning finally came we finished the last two pitches, which included the 5.6 crux. This was relatively easy compared to the icy pitches we had climbed in the night. The walk off down the Cascadia Couloir was still a challenge in some places, as our bodies and minds were exhausted. We had a long trudge and bushwhack back to our camp.
This Mountain tested and humbled us on many levels, but its extreme and rugged beauty made the challenge worth the while. We will certainly be back, and next time, more prepared!
28 авг 2024
