Mt. Habrich / Escape Velocity - June 4th 223

 Originally I had plans to attempt a Blanshards Peak / Golden Ears traverse but when Todd and Gabby invited me to do Escape Velocity on Habrich I knew I couldn't pass it up. I was eager to get some alpine climbing experience and this looked like an easy objective and Todd is very experienced so I was happy to get some practice in with him.

Looking at Goat Ridge on the way up

I had wanted to drive up the FSR to save myself the gondola money but the 3 others coming (Gabby, Gabe and Todd) all had passes so I had to buy a pass too. We met at the parking lot at 8:30 and got on the first gondola up at 9. The first ~5km or so on the logging road passed rather quickly in just over an hour and soon we were at the base of the climbers trail. It was my first time meeting Gabe and he was very fit and fast and Gabby and him pulled ahead of Todd and I which would be the same for most of the day. I did have a big heavy pack though with my 70m 10.2mm rope.

Sky Pilot peaking out near the base of Habrich proper

 Once at the start of the climbing trail we headed up, it gains ~500m in under 2km so its quite steep. Gabby and Gabe set a strong pace and I did my best to keep up, I wasn't feeling super quick but I had some good endurance and I wasn't slowing them down much. Eventually we came across some steep snow, we had brought crampons and ice axes and everyone except me put them on. I felt safe enough to go up without and just picked my line correctly and never felt unsafe. Gabe had never used an ice axe or crampon before and him and Gabby had sneakers so it was tougher for them.

Todd starting up the 2nd (5.9) pitch

 While they put their crampons on Todd and I finished the hiking portion and scoped out the route a bit. I was pretty confident I could see where we were going and so we had a break and got ready. We were 4 so we did two teams of two which were Todd and I and then Gabby and Gabe. Todd and I started first, the 1st pitch was a short 5.4 with two bolts but we opted to just french aid it by pulling on some webbing that had been left in the bolts and soon we were on the belay ledge for the 2nd pitch which was huge.

Looking at Al's Habrich Route

The second pitch was the hardest of the whole day at 5.9 and no bolts. We had decided beforehand that Todd would lead it as he was much more experienced in trad climbing so up he went without too much trouble. I followed and a couple moves felt hard but overall it was pretty easy and I was on toprope so nothing crazy. I was pretty glad I hadn't lead it as I would've been a bit nervous.

The 3rd pitch was 5.6 with a couple bolts so I opted to lead it. It started up a small chimney and it felt really easy I almost wanted to skip placing gear but I figured why not practice so I stuck one in and hopped up. After the chimney it got really easy and I could see bolts on the face but I was practically walking so I just skipped them and soon I was at the belay ledge, very easy.

Gabby coming up the final pitch

From here it was a wondering 5.4 and Todd lead it. It took him a while to find the next belay and Gabby and Gabe came up at the belay with me and then I followed Todd. Not much to say about this pitch its basically hiking with a short move at the end. Then we were at the 5.8 pitch was supposedly the money pitch of the route. I was going to lead this but I felt bad for Todd since the whole day had been so easy and so I offered it to him and said I'd lead the last two pitches and he accepted.

Summit shot

He got to the top of that pitch without much difficulty and soon I was up there with him. There was one slightly muscly move at the top but overall very easy as well. Finally we had the last two pitches which I was going to lead. The first one was a 5.7? with a bunch of bolts. It was slabby but very easy and the bolts were quite close together and I had no trouble. At the top though I couldn't find the anchor because of some snow so I set up a temporary anchor around a tree and belayed Todd up. On the rappel Gabe would find the anchors so I guess I just need to look around a bit harder next time.

Finally the last pitch which I lead and for me was the most fun one. It was a short 5.7 but actually felt like climbing. I didn't have much trouble again but took my time and practiced placing some gear. We got to the top and had a nice break, it was a beautiful day and Sky Pilot was looking absolutely gorgeous in the distance.

Not much to say about the way down. We rapelled everything and hiked out and got home late in the evening. Overall it was a lot easier than I expected and really only the 2nd pitch felt like climbing, most of it was more scrambly but I was glad to get some experience none the less.

Ledge, Skypilot, Co-pilot (L to R)