North Arete 5.7

Matterhorn Peak's North Arete was next on my list of Sierra alpine classics, and Justin sounded interested. We headed out early from San Jose on Thursday morning and reached Bridgeport by noon. The ranger station there disinterestedly issued us a wilderness permit and off we went to Twin Lakes.

We started hiking around 1:30pm. It was kind of warm, but it got cooler as we gained elevation.



We arrived at the tarn about 4:30 or 5 and set up camp.



Another party was already in the area. They were planning to do the North Arete on Saturday though. The mosquitoes came out and kept us company over dinner, somewhat alleviated by a southerly wind during the evening.

In the morning we got underway around daybreak. Fortunately the wind had died down by then. We arrived at the glacier around 7am, put on our crampons and got out our ice axes.


We left our snow gear on a rock at the base of the east couloir, which was mostly melted out. We headed up the loose dirty gully and looked for the start, narrowing it down to a couple of ramps, and then found one which looked promising. Around 8:30am Justin took the first pitch, and our choice was confirmed by a stuck yellow alien which neither of us could booty.



I took the short second pitch and passed the baton to Justin.





On the fourth pitch I got off-route, and traversed a ledge / crack system to the base of Double Dihedral (5.8) -- I'm pretty sure I went the way the supertopo says not to :) It was a rope-stretcher for the 50m x 8.5mm strand we were climbing on.


We decided not to go that way :) Justin led off around the chockstone and got us back on track.



Ah, the final pitch.



It felt kinda hard for 5.7, but it was sustained and at 12000' with some wider sections. I remember doing a fist jam in one place. There was an awkward chimney above the corner, with an easy but exposed finish. Full value for a punter like myself :) I brought Justin up and we reveled in the glorious views.



Presently we looked over at the true summit, which a couple of peakbaggers were scrambling up.


We decided to belay one more pitch across some fourth class, and then scrambled the rest of the way to the true summit.


Ah, the thrill of summit registers :)



We snacked and took in more great views. It was a little after 2pm, and the day was perfect, though the afternoon wind was starting to pick up again.



After putting the rack, rope and rock shoes away we headed down and traversed third class ledges back to the exit of the east couloir.




The gully was mostly snow-free, with one small soft patch still not quite melted out, providing some running water had we needed it. It was pretty loose, so we carefully descended, trying not to kick down rocks. It took longer than I expected.

Back at the snow gear we packed up our crampons. The bergschrund was starting to show, and I carefully traversed around it, but otherwise had a nice glissade back to the moraine :)


The descent back to camp was uneventful. By 5-ish we were packed up, and racing the mosquitoes back to the car, which we got back to before 7:30. From there we drove over Conway Summit and had dinner at the Whoa Nelli Deli, so that Justin could experience a true east side delicacy, their fish tacos :)

Gear notes:

 6 trad draws (shoulder length)
 2 double-length slings
 Wild Country rocks 1-8
 cams from Wild Country zero Z4 up to #4 tech friend
 50m x 8.5mm rope
 2 cordelettes

The larger cams came in handy on the last pitch, though I'm sure the more accomplished wide fetishists could do without :)