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Past Activity

North Sister

  • Start date: 07/27/2013

  • Start time: 12:00 AM

  • End date: 07/28/2013

  • End time: 11:59 PM

Description:

Saturday we'll hike in the Obsidian Trail and Glacier Way to our camp at Arrowhead Lake. On Sunday we'll climb North Sister via the south ridge.

Note: there is a $6 processing fee for the group's permit for the Obsidian Limited Entry Area, to be split equally among all participants.

  • Event Leader: Wayne Deeter

  • Event Leader Phone: 541-954-0924

  • Event Leader Email: wrd@deetour.net

  • Assistant Leader: Brian Hamilton

  • Event category: Climbs

  • Area Type: Mountain

  • Departure Location: See Trip Description

  • Rating:

  • Roundtrip total drive miles: 128

  • Season: 2013

  • Permits Required:

  • Event Status: Passed

  • Supplies and Equipment Required: Ice ax, crampons (check fit at home!), helmet, harness, 2 locking carabiners, 2 prusik loops, belay-rappel device (ATC), overnight gear, food for both days.

  • participant prerequisites:

  • Conditions:

  • Total Distance: 16

  • Member Fees: 3

  • Elevation Gain: 4800

  • Non-Member Fees: 15

  • Committee: Climbs

  • Junior member fees: —

Trip Report

We had great weather for this difficult climb. We set up camp at Arrowhead Lake Saturday afternoon. There were already some tents in the area--a group of Portlanders who were climbing Middle Sister that day. Some of us chose to descend the butte and get water from Sister Springs (and visit Obsidian Falls) or Scott Spring, others preferred to filter from the lake. We started our climb at 3:30am Sunday, hiking up the climbers trail under a last quarter moon. At about 7600' we put on crampons and continued up on snowfields. At sunrise we were crossing the Collier Glacier. The slog up the scree to achieve the south ridge does not get any better with time! The Dinner Plate was about 2/3 covered with snow starting at the south edge. My ice tool with hammerhead was very useful for pounding in the pickets as there was a hard ice layer under the snow. All six of us spent a few minutes on the summit taking photos and admiring the view. We then began the descent, getting back to camp, hiking out, and (the most dangerous part of the trip) driving back to town, all before sunset. Many thanks to Brian Hamilton for his able assistance.