Swiss Peaks Traverse

Returning mid-week from our eastern holiday we made a quick turn-around to meet Ross and Brian in Rogers Pass. There was an early birthday celebration for me on Friday night. Over a few celebratory beers Ross filled us in on his recent adventures in Ecuador, and Brian regaled us with tales of his new (alas temporary) life as a climbing bum. After a long and leisurely breakfast on Saturday morning, and the steep hike up to Hermit Meadows, we were soon relaxing in the sun and contemplating our goal for the next day, a traverse of Mount Rogers and the Swiss Peaks.



Just after sunrise we were ambling across the glacier with crampons crunch-crunching in the hard snow. It was a glorious blue sky day and by the time we reached the steep headwall the snow had softened just enough for easy kick steps up to the Rogers-Grant Col.



From the col we followed some old tracks up a snowy rib.



And soon stood on our first summit of the day four hours after leaving the tents. Just about guidebook time! Unprecedented :)



Back to the col for a snack, we briefly skirted around to the north side and then up to a snowy notch on the ridge. Here we ditched the crampons, stepped from snow onto rock, and began the rock climbing portion of the day.



Up and down we went. The summits of Grant, Fleming, and Swiss all passed by in a blend of sunshine, rock, and magnificent exposure on all sides.



We had the rope out at this one small corniced section between Fleming and Swiss where you can see our tracks.



We also used the rope for a quick rap at a rubbly-snowy-icy section just below the top of Swiss Peak as we descended towards the gendarmes on Truda. It was here after the rappel that we had our only "yeesh" moment of the day. It wasn't entirely clear where we should be heading; staying on the crest of the ridge would mean tackling the most difficult rock climbing we'd seen all day, but dropping down a steep gully on the south side didn't seem like much fun either. Time was slipping by and of course the only clouds of the day chose this moment to obscure the sun and make the whole scene seem more serious that it needed to be. Eventually Ross lead the way down the gully.



We descended a short distance and then picked our way around on snowy ledges until able to work back to the ridge and eventually to the Swiss-Truda col. Not too bad in the end. I suspect these ledges would be snow free most years.

We had a half-hearted debate about whether to continue up Truda for our fifth summit of the day, but I don't think any of us really wanted to try it. Happy enough to save Truda for another day we faced in and started the long process of kicking steps down the Swiss-Truda couloir back to the glacier.



A stellar day in the mountains.



More of my photos on Picasa. Ross' photos on Picasa.