Three Sisters Speed Attempt

So Dave and I were flat out rejected in our attempt to climb the Three Sisters and Broken Top, unsupported in 24hrs. We knew the crux of the trip would be accessing the pinnacle on the North Sister, where we hoped the remaining ice would be solid enough to place confident protection. I guess I should not be so surprised that this is where it all went fell apart.

After leaving the Obsidian Trailhead at about 1:30am we planned to attack the North Sister first via the col. It was a delicate balance to leave late enough in the year that the approach trails were not totally snowbound, but there was still enough solid ice to get up the North Sister. We seem to have struck out on both accounts, much of the approach trails were still buried in up to 5 feet of snow. We were basically traveling cross-country immediately after passing the lava flow on the Obsidian Trail. As we were still below the tree line, we could not see any major peak silhouette to get a solid bearing. We simply set the compass and moved as quickly as we could. However, once we hit the deep snow, running was out of the question.

We still made decent time up to the col with our gore-tex trail runners. This cut a lot of weight off our feet and allowed a slight jog on modest slopes. We were climbing the North Sister proper by 6:00. However, we really slowed down as the altitude and mixed scree, sand and soft snow made climbing a chore. Forty-five minutes later we reached what is know as the "terrible traverse" - an aggressive (50-75 degree?) slope over a several thousand foot fall. We had hoped to be able to set up anchors and cross with a running belay, but even at almost 10,000ft at 6:45am it was well above freezing and the ice was quite rotten. We might have been able to get across, but returning an hour later in even warmer conditions would have been down right idiotic. So, only six hours into our adventure we knew the record was not going to happen.

We went on to tag the middle sister summit and might have made the loop with Broken Top in close to 24hrs, but who knows we were a bit pretty cooked with what we did. It may make more sense to bring skis and make a winter attempt next year? All in all, a great day in beautiful mountains. We'll be back. Thanks all for your support.