The climbing conditions on Mt. Jefferson can vary from year to year. This year, snow was visible along the north side of the summit pinnacle in early August from Salem. A Mazama climb team also reported unusual amounts of very steep and icy snow on the traverse and rime ice on the summit pinnacle on August 14. The extreme conditions made it too hard for their climb team to attempt a summit. Steep ice runnels with blue water ice in them proved the biggest obstacle on the snow traverse from Red Saddle to the North Ridge. Knowing this in advance, prompted us to carry four ropes and 14 pickets to protect the steep snow traverse.

Our heavily loaded team of eleven hiked the seven miles from the Pamelia Lake trailhead (3100’) to our Shale Lake base camp (5900’) under clear blue skies. A nice breeze and the mostly shady trail made for very pleasant hiking conditions. This year’s late snowpack was evidenced by patches of snow lingering at our 5900 foot base camp at Shale Lake. The snow and mosquitoes are normally gone by Labor Day weekend; not this year.

The stable high pressure system prompted several members of our team to go “tent less” to save on pack weight.

The group was up and climbing by 3:30 a.m. Saturday following bits of trail and GPS waypoints through the trees on a dark moonless night. The first hints of dawn were visible once above tree line. We made steady progress up the low angle and rocky South Ridge.

We arrived at Red Saddle before our 10 a.m. target and found a climb team of four from Washington. They had attempted the snow traverse using a running belay, but decided the conditions were too icy. Two of the team were lounging when we arrived and the other two were attempting to negotiate the moat (gap between snow and rock) above the traverse. They too turned back due to the difficult conditions.

Our large and strong group generally lacked experience on steep snow but we had lugged the necessary gear to fix a line across the entire 400 foot snow traverse.

Climb assistant, Greg Phillips, belayed me as I set the fixed line. The slope was icy in spots and required some chopping in places to create foot holds. Pickets were easily placed. Greg followed me clove hitching each picket. The process of kicking and chopping foot holds was quite fatiguing and took a considerable amount of time.

Climb assistant, David Braun, orchestrated the preparation of the climb team and got them on the fixed line. The more confident climbers went first and were encouraged to improve the foot path for those who followed. The less confident climbers gained confidence from watching those ahead of them. I was very impressed with how well the team managed this daunting task.

Once on the north ridge I thought we were home free. Unfortunately, a large snow patch still existed in the shadow of the North Horn blocking the normal rock scramble to the summit. I explored the route to the right and I determined that the scrambling was too difficult for the experience level of our team. I was ready to call it quits when a solo climber “Dave” offered to try passing it on the left. He reported that it only required a few steps on snow and that the remainder of the route (west facing) was snow free. We scrambled to the summit. Only one other climb team had signed the summit register this year before us. We took several group photos before heading back down.

We were back at Red Saddle nearly two hours later than planned (about 4 p.m.) David Braun led the group down while Steve and Greg brought up the rear. The climb team was allowed to spread out on the descent in order to mitigate the rock fall potential. After regrouping we moved together down the low angle route retracing our route through the trees to Shale Lake arriving just after sundown (7:30 p.m.).

We left our base camp Monday morning at 9 a.m. and all climbers were at the parking lot by 12:30 p.m. All but one member of the climb team was able to enjoy a lunch at the Dougherty home near Mill City where we had a chance to debrief and pass out summit certificates.

This was my ninth time to Red Saddle and my sixth summit of Mt Jefferson.

Climbers were Steve Dougherty (leader) David Braun (assistant), Greg Phillips (assistant), Brian Kier, Aislinn Adams, Matt Tryon, Mark Olson, Jason Kabbes, Max Ritchie, Ryan Hatch, and Mason Smith.

Photos from the trip are posted to my site: http://wyrde.com/pictures/main.php/v/MtJefferson2011/