giggy
New member
Great Gully in winter/spring conditions had been on my tick list for a couple of years now, and had a few trips canceled due to weather, avalanche potential, etc.. In fact - Arm, Woody and myself had been trying to do this since last winter. Arm, Woody, Alan, Jenn and me are climbing together in the cascades this summer so we wanted to get some team practice, etc.. and over the last couple of weeks, we wre tossing this around as a potential climb if everything lined up.
Abster (for her mount blanc trip) and Adamiata (who started ice climbing this year and pm'ed me) wanted to try some mountaineering out - so we ended up having 8 people up.
Jenn, Abster, Adamiata, and myself decided to camp off the Short Line on friday night, so we hiked in at night. The moon was so bright we didn't even really need lamps. We shoveled out a tent platform, made some hot drink and then crashed out about midnight to a pretty chilly evening.
Woody, his brother Alan, and his stepson camped about 1/2 mile lower on the Short Line and would meet up with us in the am., Arm met up with us in the am due to work.
The next morning, we all met up not far from the king ravine/short line intersection and made our way up to the base of ravine in some really amazing weather - sunny, warm (but not too warm) and not a hint of wind -looked like it was going to be perfect.
So - we all took a rest at the base of the ravine near the subway - It's now we someone soloing the gully about 3/4 of the way from the top - (more on that later)
Great Gully fills with snow in the winter and turns into a classic gully snow climb - you have 2 options, head straight up the gully and tackle a nice big ice bulge or 2 - or veer to the right to the side of a rock cleaver and head up the steep snow and veer left after about 2 or 3 pitches of snow and get back into the main gully. Our plan was to look at the bulge and make a call after seeing it up close. I was leading one rope and woody was leading the and we discussed that not heading up the ice was the best bet for this trip. We decided the ice was just enough - that a running belay might not be the best option for this trip- esp when you have an "easier" alternative.
Since this was absters first time on this type of stuff (she had done rock before), I was being conservative with the protection - banging pickets or screws in about every 40 or 50 feet to be safe and also to get practice for folks (myself included). Woody's rope was doing less pro (all very comfy on steep snow) so they ran it out a bit more and were moving a bit faster - but we were in no hurry as it was warm, sunny, and just amazing seeing all of King Ravine from in the gully and bluebird skies. Real alpine feel.
The entire gully probably took 6 to 8 pitches of snow to top out. The snow was pefect for climbing - hardpack styrofoam all the way up. (another reason for pickets, as self arrest could have been tough). Didn't really soften at all. Sucky for sking - pefect for climbing!
Could not have been better.
Its pretty sustained steep snow until the the last couple hundred feet where it gets quite steeper (enough for frontpointing and using axe in dagger position) and the gully widens a bit and its quite exposed as well.
Topped out where there is really miminal snow above the headwall - and then went up adams where the wind really picked up - had a uneventful trip down airline to Chemin des Dames back to the base, packed up camp and then headed down for much deserved beer and food at mr pizza.
I knew Doug (cbcbd) and Chris (Percious) were going to be at hikers paradise (they were doing pinnacle gully on sunday) that night so doug came with us to eat and then we found out he walked by our camp at about 4:00am (he knew we were up there) and that was him high in the gully after a 2:30am start and a short bivy in near mossy falls.
in ending - we all tossed down some suds at hikers paradise and were pretty excited about having a perfect day in the hills. I think eveyone had fun.
I am sure some will post pics here. - I didn't take a camera - others did.
Abster (for her mount blanc trip) and Adamiata (who started ice climbing this year and pm'ed me) wanted to try some mountaineering out - so we ended up having 8 people up.
Jenn, Abster, Adamiata, and myself decided to camp off the Short Line on friday night, so we hiked in at night. The moon was so bright we didn't even really need lamps. We shoveled out a tent platform, made some hot drink and then crashed out about midnight to a pretty chilly evening.
Woody, his brother Alan, and his stepson camped about 1/2 mile lower on the Short Line and would meet up with us in the am., Arm met up with us in the am due to work.
The next morning, we all met up not far from the king ravine/short line intersection and made our way up to the base of ravine in some really amazing weather - sunny, warm (but not too warm) and not a hint of wind -looked like it was going to be perfect.
So - we all took a rest at the base of the ravine near the subway - It's now we someone soloing the gully about 3/4 of the way from the top - (more on that later)
Great Gully fills with snow in the winter and turns into a classic gully snow climb - you have 2 options, head straight up the gully and tackle a nice big ice bulge or 2 - or veer to the right to the side of a rock cleaver and head up the steep snow and veer left after about 2 or 3 pitches of snow and get back into the main gully. Our plan was to look at the bulge and make a call after seeing it up close. I was leading one rope and woody was leading the and we discussed that not heading up the ice was the best bet for this trip. We decided the ice was just enough - that a running belay might not be the best option for this trip- esp when you have an "easier" alternative.
Since this was absters first time on this type of stuff (she had done rock before), I was being conservative with the protection - banging pickets or screws in about every 40 or 50 feet to be safe and also to get practice for folks (myself included). Woody's rope was doing less pro (all very comfy on steep snow) so they ran it out a bit more and were moving a bit faster - but we were in no hurry as it was warm, sunny, and just amazing seeing all of King Ravine from in the gully and bluebird skies. Real alpine feel.
The entire gully probably took 6 to 8 pitches of snow to top out. The snow was pefect for climbing - hardpack styrofoam all the way up. (another reason for pickets, as self arrest could have been tough). Didn't really soften at all. Sucky for sking - pefect for climbing!
Could not have been better. Its pretty sustained steep snow until the the last couple hundred feet where it gets quite steeper (enough for frontpointing and using axe in dagger position) and the gully widens a bit and its quite exposed as well.
Topped out where there is really miminal snow above the headwall - and then went up adams where the wind really picked up - had a uneventful trip down airline to Chemin des Dames back to the base, packed up camp and then headed down for much deserved beer and food at mr pizza.
I knew Doug (cbcbd) and Chris (Percious) were going to be at hikers paradise (they were doing pinnacle gully on sunday) that night so doug came with us to eat and then we found out he walked by our camp at about 4:00am (he knew we were up there) and that was him high in the gully after a 2:30am start and a short bivy in near mossy falls.
in ending - we all tossed down some suds
at hikers paradise and were pretty excited about having a perfect day in the hills. I think eveyone had fun. I am sure some will post pics here. - I didn't take a camera - others did.
Last edited:
