Like Sleeping in the Fridge

“Finally!” Nick and I had just finished the long hike in to Dragontail Peak. It’s winter and the forest service road is under snow, adding a few miles to our adventure. Now we focused on drying our boots and warming our hands for tomorrow we’d be glad we had as we made our way up this beautiful peak. Triple Couloirs is among the most desirable of ice climbs in the Cascades, featuring three steep icy couloirs that are connected by rock bands smeared in ice. This is the climbing of my dreams!
Our first view of the route worried us, as there appeared to be less ice than desired. The next morning we started up anyways. Sure enough, it hadn’t gotten warm enough during the daytimes to cause the melt water that freezes into ice. “Oh, well, let’s hit it.” And off I went, slowly and even more precariously. One tool in a corner with two inches of ice, the other hand jammed in a crack in the rock while my feet scraped around for something that could support the weight of me and my pared down pack.

During these times, I have to fight back creeping thoughts that make you doubt climbing altogether. “Here I am, you'd better make it work.” I'd say. Two pitches of this was all we could handle. There was nowhere to place protective gear and we were wasting daylight. So we rapped off to our right and scraped up an alternate line we had scoped earlier.

The long winter night caught us as we finished up more climbing on rock smeared in ice:As we summited, discussion turned to what we had been wondering to ourselves. We had only day packs, no sleeping bags and no stove. The plan was to be back at the base that night, and descending the opposite face of the peak was tricky. Deciding it was too dangerous to rappel an unknown route in windy darkness, we began digging a ledge for the night. This was most certainly the coldest experience of my life. Sitting straight up and on our packs and rope to avoid touching snow, we killed time all night by silently wondering if and when the sun would rise. Winter nights here are as long as they are cold. Light did come, though not in the form of warm sun we had lucidly dreamed of. Still cold and Seattle gray, our stiff legs took us eagerly home. I can hardly wait for new winter experiences!