The inspo

After climbing Mt. Whitney last year in a group of four, two of us hatched a plan to go even bigger this year.

Personally the Bugaboos has been on my mind since I saw Reel Rock’s Boys in the Bugs and got a lil celeb crush on Will Stanhope. My friend fell for the Bugs after leafing through pictures in the guidebook. So we agreed to make the trip.

We planned to spend a week in July at the Kain Hut. The target was some combo of 1) the NE Ridge of Bugaboo Spire, 2) Surf’s Up on Snowpatch, 3) the Snowpatch Route of Snowpatch Spire, and 4) the West Ridge of Pigeon Spire. We toyed with a few others, but weren’t sure how many climbing days we’d have because of weather and energy.

The appeal wasn’t just aesthetic. The challenge drew me in, because it was so big and I knew it would be challenging by using all of my skills (and require me to learn new skills). I had to learn to cross a glacier properly for starters. And many of the routes are notorious for benighting climbers new to the area, and it felt like a good test of my ability.

The prep

My bugs partner and I took a one day snow travel course locally, which was definitely not enough for me to feel comfortable. I had one other day of snow travel after that, when I attempted Shasta. I had bad weather, was alone, was unfamiliar with the weather there… and everyone else on the mountain was bailing, so I felt like it wasn’t worth it. It was also very spur of the moment. So I had extremely limited snow travel experience. And in the Bugaboos I ended up feeling like it was not enough for my comfort level.

The approach

We left our cars in the lot with chicken wire surrounding them to reduce the impact of curious porcupines.

Hiking in was a wet staircase straight up with a heavy (for me) pack. We quickly left the forest and arrived in a rocky alpine environment.

At the time I was unsure if I would get all the days in the hut or if I would have to hike back out to get a tent to link my disparate Kain hut nights. I ended up getting them all. That was stressful, but it worked out when I got there and the hut keeper let me stay. I am pretty sure he pocketed the cash and didn’t actually let anyone know I was still there. But either way, I got to stay, so I was happy.

Climbing

My Bugs partner and I hadn’t really roped up that much, let alone for anything this big. We did really well considering it was our first (ish) time roping up for something this big.

The first day we had very marginal weather so we decided to go for Pigeon, via the BS col. The rain and visibility worsened quite a bit as we made our way up the col. On top of that, there were a lot of rocks coming down. It was rather scary. We bailed due to weather, visibility, and safety. The BS col was already out, we would have to go around Snowpatch for the rest of our climbs, which meant longer days (and way more rappelling).

The second day it poured rain the entire day so we did not attempt to climb. We did, however, assist with a rescue. A climber had fallen on his hike out, and fell about 100 feet. He had to be long-lined out via helicopter, and we helped carry items to him. That was a pretty jarring experience to have right before our big send. We heard later that he ended up being alright.

The third day, we woke up at 2am for the NE Ridge of Bugaboo Spire. We left right before a guided party, but we got lost on the approach. But after losing the cairns and wading through choss, we saw their headlamps and got back on trail. We started had steep snow to the base of the BC col and then decided to solo the 4 pitches to the base of the route. Partway through that, my partner requested a rope, so we pitched out the last pitch. It was dark and perhaps we were off the optimal path, but I felt it was airy and more than 4th class.

When we got to the top of the col, we were a little jarred, so we rested and pitched out the rest of the approach. I think it was a good decision given how the 4 pitches went. But realistically, in retrospect, it was completely unnecessary.

At the base of the route, the guided party went first, and a pair of Colorado soloers, both called “Chris” went second. We were third, and two parties had lined up behind us. My partner kindly gave me P1 and I promptly whipped. I thought I was past the crux, and I was in a wet crack. I remember thinking my toe hurts from the jam. I took that as a sign my toe jam was secure. The next thing I knew I was falling. I was rattled, but my gear held. I think this happened because I didn’t eat enough and was shaky, and also because I felt rushed.

We continued up, and I felt shakier and shakier until finally my partner suggested I eat something. I did and I was pretty quickly cured of the shakiness. Note to self – eat enough….!

The climbing was all pretty friendly, exposed, beautiful, high quality rock. But the climbing was a very small percentage of our day.

We didn’t feel comfortable doing techy 4th class scrambling with a ton of exposure, so we pitched out or simuled all of the ridge scrambling. Looking back I think we could have simuled more but I am happy with our risk related decision making.

The way down was constant switching from rapping to simuling to rapping to pitching etc etc. It was lengthy but we could see the guided party off in the distance for part of it and that helped.

Then we walked back down to the BS col, and switched back to glacier travel to take the snowfall raps back to the Kain hut. It added another 8 raps, and 2 glacier crossings to our day, plus a ton of loose skree to descend, and the mental effort of route finding through all that.

But we made it back to the hut in 18:40, which was great considering that we had to go around and couldn’t use the BS col.

The fourth day, we rested. And the fifth day we went up Eastpost spire, a fourth class scramble, to get a nice angle on Bugaboo Spire. I was glad we didn’t have to leave too quickly. The sixth day we hiked out.

It made sense for us not to attempt another big route with iffy weather and lower energy than before. We snagged our big objective, learned a lot, and left with stoke to spare. I will be back for Snowpatch someday certainly.

Basking

At the top of Eastpost spire, we basked. And then back in Radium Hot Springs, we basked. Now that I’ve had a big trip with basking built in, I will never skip it! Basking is the best, and honestly I think it is what prevented a painful comedown from such a high-high, which usually debilitates me. Basking is the solution.

Lessons Learned

• Always bring extra food, especially PB.
• Eat MORE, fuel properly even if I’m not hungry. Count calories!
• Mind transitions. Don’t take off crampons when it’s not necessary or vice versa. I think this takeaway is amplified for me because of my glacier travel inexperience.
• Book the Kain hut far in advance for more than a few days to avoid getting rained out.
• Do more squats.
• Bring more layers.
• Always bask.
• Sexting on the inReach is fun, but if worst comes to worst, would be bleak and embarrassing to be found like that. It may not be worth it.