Swiss South Face

Ho boy, another weekend of high pressure! Ian and I went to Hermit parking with the loose objective of something on the Rogers-Swiss massif. Once we battled our way up the infernal raincrust and popped out on the Swiss glacier there was already a group well up the Rogers headwall, and another swooping around to one of the Swiss couloirs. We took lunch and waited to see which couloir the second group would go for. Continue reading Swiss South Face

Ursus Minor SE Couloir (and others)

Damn, I love Ursus Minor! Such a cool climb up, from trees to a great bit of steep skinning up the S face, then scrambling up some difficult looking rock (emphasis on “looking”) to the summit. We went for the SE couloir, one of the lines I haven’t yet done on this awesome mountain. Based on previous adventures, I was expecting a super sketchy rollover onto the north face on our way to the couloir, but the NE ridge was perfectly well-behaved and straightforward, and with good coverage. Continue reading Ursus Minor SE Couloir (and others)