The last forecast I’d seen for this area promised an overnight low near 37 degrees at 12,000 feet so I was excited to wake up a few times during the night and see 33-35 degrees on my thermometer here at 10,500 feet. About 6am John, Renata, Pete and I started up the now familiar trail to the basin below Mount Powell and Peak C. Just above the camp we found the snow well frozen and the sky was clear (another forecast failure working in our favor). A group of 4 skiers were just leaving their camp below the basin and headed for Mount Powell.
Once in the basin we strapped on crampons as the morning sun lit up “East Corner” peak.
To get to Peak C we first needed to climb a short couloir that broke the steep cliffs of the ridge running west from Peak C.
Pete was feeling strong this morning and took over the last bit of step kicking to led us to the saddle.
From this saddle we had a view of Peak C’s west face and could pick out the alternate line of ascent detailed in Cooper’s “Scrambles” book. It looked mostly snow covered, but while we had a rope, we hoped not to use it and his description mentioned requiring a rope for the downclimbs. Further to the right the normal southwest couloir ascent was hidden, but hinted at by the fan of wet slide debris. We decided to take this normal route.
We were able to traverse over to the couloir without losing any elevation.
Once we were at the base of the southwest couloir, I abdicated step kicking to Pete and John who led a good way up the route. Most of the lower couloir was moderately angled – about 30-35 degrees.
As we climbed higher we could see that the couloir ended on the south ridge of Peak C with a large gendarme blocking access to the summit. We ended up following steeper snow (~40 degrees) to our left and meeting the south ridge less than a hundred vertical feet from the summit.
The wind was blowing strong enough that Pete and I didn’t want to sit on the exposed ridge long, so we hurried up about 50 feet to a large rock and found shelter on the leeward side while basking in the sun. The view south along the Ripsaw Ridge at peaks C-Prime, D, E, F and G was amazing.
With large cornices overhanging the east side of the ridge, we stuck well to our left on a mix of rocks and snow as we worked our way up.
We had one slightly tricky downclimb just south of the summit. In summer, it was probably easy class 3, but with some snow and in crampons it felt a bit harder. However, none of felt the need for a rope and we were soon celebrating on the summit.
Looking north at Mount Powell we actually spotted several of the skiers standing on the summit. With the wind and a lot of snow left to descend, we didn’t spend long on the summit.
We quickly moved past the one tricky spot by spotting one another then continued back to the couloir which was still hard enough that we thought it best to face in and down climb the steeper upper section.
Once the angle eased off and we found the snow had softened enough, we switched to plunge stepping down the couloir where we regrouped.
From the couloir we reversed our traverse to the saddle on the southwest ridge of Peak C.
The north facing snow couloir we’d kicked steps up in the frozen morning was now soft enough to facilitate a speedy plunge step descent. Back in the basin we noticed some ski tracks descending from Kneeknocker Pass as we removed our crampons for the hike back to camp.
The weather wasn’t looking too favorable, so we quickly packed up camp and started down the climber’s trail. On the way in we’d often gotten off trail, but this time we followed the trail much more consistently by remembering that the trail was often a flowing creek.
The climber’s trail meets the main Upper Piney Trail at a series of small cascades – a popular day hike for visitors to the Piney River Ranch. Indeed, once we hit the main trail I was asked by a family “how far to the cascades?” Looking behind me I replied “50, no 40 feet.”
In all fairness, the cascades are not very spectacular, but they do make a nice place to picnic later in the summer. The real draw of the valley should be the open forests of aspens and the rock boulders at the bend in the valley that make for a great view looking west.
We rushed through the 3 mile hike back to the trailhead, but still enjoying the forests while hoping to avoid the rain that looked imminent. We did receive a few sprinkles and John’s shorts-with-long-underwear outfit provided a photo opportunity for some tourists near the ranch. Looking back east, we had a final parting view of Peak C flanked by Kneeknocker Pass on the left and our ascent couloir on the right.
Adam’s Mount Powell and Peak C photos
Pete’s Mount Powell and Peak C photos
