Editor’s note: We’re all in the swing of ski season, but it’s nice to be treated to a late summer alpine rock romp from the amazing Emilie!

Day 1 – The Approach

Patrick and I woke early at the Paha Campground after freezing our butts off sleeping on the ground. It was so cold that I had to get up at 3:45am, wake Patrick for the car keys, and put more layers on inside my sleeping bag.

Otherwise, I was feeling pretty good. My (whooping?) cough was beginning to subside. We had a hearty breakfast at Annette’s Café of eggs, sausage, and strong coffee. We met our Mountain Adventure Seminars guide, Tony, who I remembered from a self-rescue course a couple of years prior. We did a quick gear check and divided up the group climbing gear and food. Patrick and I were both a bit worried about not feeling in great shape having both been too swamped by work to properly train. We learned that Tony was a bit apprehensive as none of his guided trips up the North Arête made it to the summit, and at least one had a wee bit of an epic bail. In most cases, the clients were overconfident of their technical skills or didn’t have the fitness level required. He said if we took more than 5 hours to hike to the intended camp site, we would have to have a difficult conversation. Doh!

My pack felt super heavy and I was cursing not fitting in more training hikes beforehand; however, the pace was very moderate and the long switchbacks in the trail were gently graded. I was breathing hard but just focused on keeping my exertion from spiking too much. After we surpassed the never ending switchback section, the trail leveled out and we entered the valley with expanding views of the Sawtooth Range. We took an extended break where I duct-taped my left foot and focused on staying hydrated.

It was hot – Patrick said it was 90 degrees! I do much better in the cold – heat makes me wilt like a delicate flower. Thankfully, we hit an extended flattish section that follows Horse Creek. We could see a steep wall of scree that would need to be surmounted. It seemed daunting, especially with the heat. We took our time rest-stepping and plodding along, and I felt shockingly good. Patrick was beginning to feel the heat beat him down so we took another little break among a small clump of trees. We were still conscious of meeting that 5-hour deadline, but it was looking promising.

We braced ourselves as Tony called the last section “the final kick in the teeth!” It was all trail, but very steep ball-bearing gravel that would slide backwards. Patrick was just beginning to bonk, but we were graced with the sight of a gorgeous little alpine lake and Horse Creek Tower. Our new home would be located on the far side of the alpine lake. We ascended 2600ft in 4 hours and 8 minutes and rejoiced with relief. Tony said he had already stopped worrying about us hours ago.

We had a great view of Matterhorn and could pick out the North Arête – it looked intimidating and still seemed far away. Hors d’ouevres of Triskets, cheese, and tuna, water filtering, napping, getting packs ready, parmesan fettuccine alfredo for dinner, and in bed by 8pm!

Day 2 – Matterhorn Peak (12,279ft)

Up at 4am for an alpine start. We were dialed and hit the trail at 5am sharp. We all seemed to be feeling pretty good and kept a moderate pace to conserve energy. We circumnavigated the alpine lake, ascended a mossy section, and gained the glacial moraine. The moraine was the usual unpleasantness of unstable talus and boulders. I was thankful to reach the snowfield and bust out the crampons and ice axe. Tony offered to rope up at any time we felt uncomfortable with the slope as the snow was quite firm, but the slope was also sun-cupped which made for comfy foot placements. This is where I get in my groove with solid crampon steps and the slight sounds of metal creaking in snow with each axe placement. The alpenglow was heart stopping and we remembered why alpine starts are oh so worth it!

The snowfield section passed too quickly and we were at the base of the Matterhorn peak. We ditched the snow gear and headed up uncomfortably steep, loose scree trying not to knock anything down on each other. An eternity passed. Tony found the ramp of ledges that are the beginning of the North Arête. Tony led, I climbed in the middle, and Patrick cleaned. Starting off on the first pitch, I felt a welling up of nerves. It had been a while since I was on rock, and the usual thought of “why do I do this to myself?” crossed my mind.

Pitch 1 – The climbing was not physically challenging, but the exposure was unnerving. The route goes straight up a block section, over an awkward knob, and traverses (with no hand holds) to a mild overhang with a layer of choss right at the top out. Was I a wimp for not having much fun on this part???

Pitch 2 – Up some more loose blocky stuff and around to the right. Argh – another traverse with some stomach lurching exposure.

Pitch 3 – Up a narrow chute that was downright comforting (no sense of exposure) and then what I considered to be one of the two crux moves. There was a flake with an undercling hold combined with crappy feet up to a reachy move to grab a positive flake. I fell on my first try and let out a yelp like a wounded puppy. Tony asked if I was OK and I said “yeah, just had to fall to get out some jitters!” That pitch was supposed to be 5.4 and I remember thinking I was in trouble if the main crux was 5.7 and yet to come!

Pitch 4 – Fortunately, the next pitch was amazing. Just 5.6 but clean and straight forward crack with a good hand or foot option somewhere to be found if one paid attention. I told Tony that pitch made me a happy camper and restored my desire to do more alpine climbing. Patrick fell on that pitch – I think he just did it just to make me feel better.

Pitch 5 – Around the corner and that was easy but super exposed again. This short section positions you for the last, best, and hardest pitch – the 5.7 corner. I really dug this section, as corners are more about opposing friction and faith in your feet than pure physical strength. There were some tough sections but I could always find some way to rely on a nubbin or get back in the crack. Little did we know that the top of the supposed crux was a short (15ft?) chimney that was tight. I could barely fit and I shimmied up inside and utilizing the rarely utilized “shoulder jam.” The top of the chimney has a small overhanging bulge that took some commitment and, voila!, we reached the end of the technical difficulties!

We could see the summit just to the south. Crappy exposed “Sierra 4th class” was all that stood between us and the summit. Thank goodness for guides that have to keep their clients alive! Any slip on that section would have held no chance for recovery, so I was most pleased to stay roped.

There were three hikers at the top that were in awe of what we had climbed. We chatted, ate, and drank in the views. As is often the case, once I reached the top I began to dread the descent. I could not wait to get down to the snowfield where I knew the going would get easy again. However, the trail off the top was super cush, kind of sandy with rocks and flowers. Some easy scrambling around the backside led us to the top of the couloir. Super loose, sandy switchbacks snaked down the couloir, but the sliding was easy to control. Before we knew it, we made it back to our packs and boots. However, the scree got much worse between there and the snowfield. We were slipping and setting off rock avalanches all the way down.

Finally at the snowfield! I was excited to be back on snow but it was super slushy and difficult to plunge step in with out sliding out. We did three long glissades down the dirty glacier bouncing around. Patrick said his underwear got stuck up his intestinal tract as a result of the glissade. Good times!!!

After surmounting the glacial moraine once again, we made our way back to our sweet little home next to the alpine lake. We lounged around and basked in the warmth and our success. We were also happy for Tony to have completed his first guided ascent sans epic!

Day 3 – Horse Creek Tower (11,320ft) and Descent

We slept in a bit and prepared for the objective of the day. Patrick and I were just a teeny bit tired from the efforts from the day before, but not bad for a couple of out-of-shape climbers! The Northwest Face route, which is the prominent line on the right hand skyline, is a 5.8 three pitch climb considered a bonus if we were able to summit Matterhorn in just two days. A quick 45 minute hike brought us to the base of the climb and we donned our rock gear one more time.

Pitch 1 – A straightforward enjoyable 5.7 crack up to a ledge with a tree belay.

Pitch 2 – Another great crack section, 5.8, up to another solid ledge belay right at the base of the “guillotine flake.”

Pitch 3 – This supposedly 5.4 section was intimidating. The flake looked like any of its layers were ready to peel off and there was a large void between the flake and the tower, creating an open-air chimney. To make matters worse, the route snaked backwards so that the rope actually pulled us backwards and a fall would result in a major pendulum. We surmounted the hair-raising obstacle and climbed around to the South side where Tony was patiently belaying. Patrick and I both took turns eeking out the dive board summit and carefully inched back down.

After one rappel, we climbed around to the West side of the tower and carefully descended fourth class terrain. I kissed the ground and strode with satisfaction back to our camp to break it down and end another glorious adventure. Horse Creek Tower was definitely the cherry on top!

Two thoughts on Tenaya Peak's Northwest Buttress:

1. GREAT climb for beginners out there who are looking to learn the ropes on multi-pitch alpine rock.

2. GREAT early-season climb for working out the winter bugs.

I'm finally at a point where I can feel okay about the fast-approaching end of backcountry ski season. It's not here just yet - there's still a ton of snow out there. I might even try to get some in this weekend, but what I']]> http://www.sierrajournal.com/2009/06/12/tenaya-peaks-nw-buttress-this-weekend/feed/ 0