Peak Condition Update | Mt. Bancroft

Peak:	Mt. Bancroft
Route:	East Ridge
Range:	Front
Posted By:	polar
Date of Info:	4/26/2019
Date Posted:	4/26/2019

Details
Not a whole lot has changed since nickle's report, so I'll just add a couple of things. First of all, we parked right at the start of Steuart Road at the junction with Alice Road. Even though there's a "no parking" sign there, we didn't have any trouble. But there's only space for one vehicle here without blocking the road. The rap anchor mentioned by nickle is indeed in very good shape, but is set a little back from the edge. I didn't want to pull my rope over the edge, so I used a lower rap anchor, that's in decent shape and can be accessed by some easy downclimbing. From this lower anchor, it is only a 20 feet, maybe 30 feet max rappel to the notch, possibly due to a high snow ramp? Had I known this, I would not have hauled a 60m rope up there... combined with the fact that we did the class 4 bypass out of the notch, it was a long way to haul that much rope for such a short rappel. A 30m rope is probably sufficient from the lower anchor, unless the snow ramp melts out. The weather forecast for today wasn't the best, so I was keeping my eyes out for possible bailing points along the route. Previous TR has indicated that you can bail from the notch by downclimbing the couloir, but no other bailing point is mentioned anywhere. About 2/3 way up the ridge, there is a saddle covered in dirt instead of the usual rock. It looks possible to downclimb this saddle into the steep snow field below. Probably not a good option in the summer, but may be a good exit point with snow if bad weather moves in. Bailing between the notch and this dirt saddle would be very tricky. After the dirt saddle the route doesn't stay scrambly for long, so it may be quicker just to go to the top.

Details

Not a whole lot has changed since nickle's report, so I'll just add a couple of things.

First of all, we parked right at the start of Steuart Road at the junction with Alice Road. Even though there's a "no parking" sign there, we didn't have any trouble. But there's only space for one vehicle here without blocking the road.

The rap anchor mentioned by nickle is indeed in very good shape, but is set a little back from the edge. I didn't want to pull my rope over the edge, so I used a lower rap anchor, that's in decent shape and can be accessed by some easy downclimbing. From this lower anchor, it is only a 20 feet, maybe 30 feet max rappel to the notch, possibly due to a high snow ramp? Had I known this, I would not have hauled a 60m rope up there... combined with the fact that we did the class 4 bypass out of the notch, it was a long way to haul that much rope for such a short rappel. A 30m rope is probably sufficient from the lower anchor, unless the snow ramp melts out.

The weather forecast for today wasn't the best, so I was keeping my eyes out for possible bailing points along the route. Previous TR has indicated that you can bail from the notch by downclimbing the couloir, but no other bailing point is mentioned anywhere. About 2/3 way up the ridge, there is a saddle covered in dirt instead of the usual rock. It looks possible to downclimb this saddle into the steep snow field below. Probably not a good option in the summer, but may be a good exit point with snow if bad weather moves in. Bailing between the notch and this dirt saddle would be very tricky. After the dirt saddle the route doesn't stay scrambly for long, so it may be quicker just to go to the top.

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