Bear Creek Spire (North Arête)

This is the second route I did on Bear Creek Spire. It's rated grade III, 5.8 though it didn't seem as hard as that would imply. We stopped by a local climbing shop and heard that the weather conditions were not so good--rain and snow flurries off and on all day--still, we decided to go up and see how things were in the morning.

(91K) Matt on the approach to the climb--it's about 5:30 a.m. and we only grabbed a couple of hours of sleep the night before. At this point we're both thinking that the rain would come in and turn us back.
(145K) One of the many lakes on the way to the the climb. Weather-wise things were looking up but the clouds kept moving in and out.

(75K) Mount Dade in clouds.
(166K) It's about 7 a.m. and we're finally getting close to the Spire.

(361K) A small waterfall fed by runoff from the snowfield above.
(179K) The route we climbed is the steep ridge (called an "arête") that's marked in red.

(137K) Scarest part of the climb--climbing the snow (ice) field to the base. At least we did bring an ice tool otherwise it would have been crazy.
(205K) Matt leading the "second" pitch of the climb--actually we used running belays for much of the climb so we ran many of the easier pitches together.

(236K) A shot looking down the route--I'm sorry I don't have better pictures of the climb but since we were in a hurry to beat the weather to the top I didn't bother to pull out the camera much.
(194K) Matt at one of the belays--high on the route as I lead the third pitch.

(119K) Here we've un-roped and are near the top.
(181K) ...and just in time! The clouds that had been threatening to move in finally did. This is looking down the descent.

(182K) Matt walks away from BCS, on the descent. There was much talus hopping to this point and there was much to come.
(244K) After doing the descent it started to rain a bit more--this is the lake closest to BCS.

(266K) My artsy shot...
(172K) Matt making the long walk back to the car--we got back to the lot around 5 p.m. A full day of climbing.

(70K) After driving off the mountain and having a "Bad Ass Buba Burger" in Bishop we went to the Buttermllk Country to do a bit of boldering the next day.
(161K) Matt on "Green Wall"

(173K) This is a formerly brand-new truck we saw beside the road to the Buttermilk Country--apparently from a party the night before. I don't think anyone was too badly hurt...
(186K) Climbing gear we found on the Spire--and since we were in a hurry (and my skill at removing stuck gear isn't what it could be) this is only part of it. While I don't blindly trust found gear the chocks are certainly in good shape.

This page created on a Macintosh using PhotoPage by John A. Vink.

(91K)	Matt on the approach to the climb--it's about 5:30 a.m. and we only grabbed a couple of hours of sleep the night before. At this point we're both thinking that the rain would come in and turn us back.	(145K)	One of the many lakes on the way to the the climb. Weather-wise things were looking up but the clouds kept moving in and out.
(75K)	Mount Dade in clouds.	(166K)	It's about 7 a.m. and we're finally getting close to the Spire.
(361K)	A small waterfall fed by runoff from the snowfield above.	(179K)	The route we climbed is the steep ridge (called an "arête") that's marked in red.
(137K)	Scarest part of the climb--climbing the snow (ice) field to the base. At least we did bring an ice tool otherwise it would have been crazy.	(205K)	Matt leading the "second" pitch of the climb--actually we used running belays for much of the climb so we ran many of the easier pitches together.
(236K)	A shot looking down the route--I'm sorry I don't have better pictures of the climb but since we were in a hurry to beat the weather to the top I didn't bother to pull out the camera much.	(194K)	Matt at one of the belays--high on the route as I lead the third pitch.
(119K)	Here we've un-roped and are near the top.	(181K)	...and just in time! The clouds that had been threatening to move in finally did. This is looking down the descent.
(182K)	Matt walks away from BCS, on the descent. There was much talus hopping to this point and there was much to come.	(244K)	After doing the descent it started to rain a bit more--this is the lake closest to BCS.
(266K)	My artsy shot...	(172K)	Matt making the long walk back to the car--we got back to the lot around 5 p.m. A full day of climbing.
(70K)	After driving off the mountain and having a "Bad Ass Buba Burger" in Bishop we went to the Buttermllk Country to do a bit of boldering the next day.	(161K)	Matt on "Green Wall"
(173K)	This is a formerly brand-new truck we saw beside the road to the Buttermilk Country--apparently from a party the night before. I don't think anyone was too badly hurt...	(186K)	Climbing gear we found on the Spire--and since we were in a hurry (and my skill at removing stuck gear isn't what it could be) this is only part of it. While I don't blindly trust found gear the chocks are certainly in good shape.