Prusik Peak Attempt (West Ridge) - 06/13-14/09

After much deliberation Katie, Jon, and I decided to brave the 50% chance of thunderstorms and headed for the Enchantments to climb the West Ridge of Prusik Peak. I had already climbed this route 4 years ago with Ralph and Ben, but did not lead a single pitch and was excited to do so. Katie and I met Jon in Leavenworth and were quickly making our way up the valley. There were some threatening skies throughout the day, but there was also enough blue to keep us motivated and positive. As we approached Snow Lake, the weather turned a little sour and it began to sprinkle. At this point, we picked up the pace and made it to the far end of Snow Lake without getting wet. Our plan was to camp at Lake Viviane in order to make the second day shorter, but we didn't want to get soaked doing so. We figured we would wait (a constant theme for the trip) at the lake and see if it cleared at all to ease the hike up. All of a sudden it started to rain harder and the tents went up. Dinner, photos, and relaxation all sounded great anyway. Later in the evening the clouds began to clear and we had thoughts of packing up and hiking to the plateau, although by that time we decided to stay put. We woke up at 4:15am and made quick work of the hike up to Lake Viviane. The slabs were mostly dry and if there was snow, it was mostly firm. After a refill at the lake, we straightlined it for the south face of Prusik and then to Prusik Pass. The sky was still blue and we knew that todays weather was suppose to be better then yesterday. We were all feeling the alpine stoke and felt confident about the climb. Soon we were racking up and off climbing. Jon lead the first two pitches which got us to just below the ridge crest because we were climbing on 2 30m strands. The climbing was blocky and mostly easy although Jon struggled with rope drag pretty bad at one point. Things were going well, except that the weather was starting to deteriorate. I took the next lead and brought us up onto the ridge proper and to the base of the 5.7 crux untprotectable slab. The climbing was easy but the exposure was wild. At the base of the slab it started to rain, but still not that bad. We all decided to wait again to see if it would pass or get worse. We were at a good bail spot anyway. Lots of photos and stories later it looked like it was clearing as there was blue sky over our head. I took off to lead the crux slab, although I was pretty nervous. All week in my head I was saying that I would just destroy the slab, but when you are standing there it is scary. After a few up and downs, I finally went for it and after a few unprotected moves I was gladly holding a big hold and placing a cam. As Jon climbed the slab, the thunder again picked up, but still not horrible. After more ridge traversing, I got to just below the summit block and we were close. Unfortunately the thunder started to really boom, followed by four strikes of lightning, followed by an intense hail storm. Within seconds, we were all soaked to the bone and shaking uncontrollably. Good times! We had to bail asap. I led off on a long slippery traverse searching for the rappels. Just as I was running out of rope, I spotted the raps under the summit. I was pretty psyched. I brought Katie and Jon over and we started rapping. During our first rap, it was hailing so hard that it was just to cold to be out exposed. Jon found a cool cave for all of us to wait out the hail. Great times! After a while, the hail turned to rain and then the rain turned to mist. We pulled the ropes and we made another rap. Soon after the rain stopped and it began to warm up a bit, but we were still shaking. A few more rappels and some sketchy snow traversing brought us back to our packs at the balanced rock. We changed out of our wet clothes and scrambled off of the peak. Then just like it always happens, the sun came out, the clouds disappeared and it got really hot out. It never got cloudy again that day, oh well. Now comes the best part, an extremely long 10 mile slog out back to the car. We got back to our car at 10:30pm and the only thing that was open was the Safeway. There is nothing like pulling off ticks and eating food in a parking lot at 11pm. Katie had to be at work in 4 hours, so we had to go home. There was construction on Highway 2 and I began one of the scariest drives I have taken up 97 to 90. It is never a good situation when you are counting mile markers for two hours. Eventually we made it back to Seattle safe and sound. Pictures can be found at http://alpinenapping.com/main.php/v/mountains/2009/prusik-06_13_09/