Contraserius: Part III

Part III

Our descent of Mt. Endeavor had required about 70 ft. of tat and left us with a whole 2 ft. of tat for any additional climbing. We wanted to climb something that had never been climbed before and picked and asthetic looking summit. Unfortunately we didn’t remember that it had been climbed by a group in 2003 and were disappointed by a cairn on the summit.

We climbed the West Ridge of Doormouse Peak and found generally good rock. The first four pitches of the West Ridge were on generally solid shattered granite up to 5.9. We gained the ridge crest and found continuous fourth and mid-fifth class climbing to the summit. Again we descended the line of the first ascent, the East Ridge to the glacier. In honor of our bush pilot, who really deserves to be memorialized we named the route Dalestrom D 5.9 2000 ft.

The last five days of our trip we were forced to reduce our rations to a single pack of oatmeal, five granola bars and half a freeze-dry dinner per person per day. In an effort to maximize food stores we boiled sweedish fish that had soaked and bloated on the glacier into a delish stew.Oatmeal was rounded out to become oatmeal plus with the addition of crumbs found in stuff sacks. Why just brew one cup of coffee with ground when you can brew 10?

After climbing two new routes we had no tat or food. Climbing any more routes would mean we need to cut up our ropes or slings. Regardless we were so hungry we really didn’t need to spend any calories doing anything but surviving. We decided to come out one day early. We spent a warm night next to a campfire on a lake in northern British Columbia, got picked up early the next morning and spent the next couple days supplementing our lost calories.

It is really hard to explain what this trip was like. The climbs don’t look all that impressive from a technical standpoint mainly because technically they aren’t hard. But given all the other problems: the omnishoes, the exploded food cache, the loose rock, the bushwacking, etc. these climbs were challenging for different reasons. The only way I can really explain it is to say it was an adventure.