TR: Seven Gables via North Ridge - June 19, 2014

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redbear
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TR: Seven Gables via North Ridge - June 19, 2014

Post by redbear »

Friend and I climbed Seven Gables Peak via North Ridge on June 19, 2014 - day 4 of our recent North Lake to Pine Creek SHR variation trip.
Seven Gables Peak tops out at 13’060 ft. and has earned a position in the Sierra Club's Sierra Peaks Section Mountaineer's List of 35 peaks based on the quality of their climbing.
14. Seven Gables.jpg
We used Vee Lake for our base camp with a great view of Seven Gables right from our tent.
13. Vee lake.jpg
On the day of the climb we've started fairly early and were already walking by 7 am.
We ascended the green gulley that starts west of the lower Seven Gables Lake, which ended up with a perfectly formed cornice.
Start of acsent near lowe SG lake.jpg
It was easily avoidable on the left side via class 2-3 rocks.
Cornice at the end of green gulley.jpg
Above the cornice, at the start of the East chute it was a mix of rock and snow at first, eventually becoming all snow towards the top. The snow was very good when we've got there around 11 am, but the final portion of the chute is fairly steep, so we used ice axes and crampons for safe ascent. Right before the saddle a section of clear class 2 rock appeared on the right, which we gladly used as our hands were tired from plunging the ice axes into the snow.
Start of the East chute.jpg
15. Approaching Seven Gables saddle.jpg
End of chute.jpg
The saddle was entirely clear; we took a short break and started ascending the North Ridge, which was a mix of snow and talus, with portions of class 3 rocks near the top.
At the saddle.jpg
16. Seven Gables North Ridge.jpg
View South West from the ridge.jpg
To be continued...
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Last edited by redbear on Sat Jun 28, 2014 12:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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redbear
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Re: TR: Seven Gables - June 19, 2014

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We’ve summited at around 12:40 pm and spent about an hour up on top. The 360 degree views from summit were breathtaking! My friend who’s been on top of many other Sierra peaks sad it’s one of the best he’d seen.
360 panorama.jpg
East face.jpg
17. Vee lake from Seven Gables.jpg
When we’ve found the peak register it turned out we were the first to summit Seven Gables this year.
We are first this year.jpg
We ate lunch on top of a flat summit block and started to descend right before 1 pm.
Start of descend.jpg
18. Going back down the chute.jpg
The snow was still very good as we completely avoided post holing.
Snow is still firm in the afternoon.jpg
Below cornice.jpg
One note: when we’ve got down to the lower lake, the “skeeters” were out in force and they were HUNGRY. Thankfully, when we’ve got back to camp at Vee Lake, there were barely any, as it was a bit windy and colder, I suppose.
Back at camp.jpg
All in all, it was a great climb, with good variety of conditions and beautiful views and is highly recommended.
Thanks for reading!
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Last edited by redbear on Mon Aug 31, 2015 6:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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calipidder
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Re: TR: Seven Gables via North Ridge - June 19, 2014

Post by calipidder »

Yay! Your pics brought back great memories. Seven gables is one of my favorite climbs. I remember coming down through bear lakes basin and looking at that chute. Looked much gnarlier than it ended up being. We had just enough snow to avoid some of the boulder fields, but not enough to need crampons or ice axe.


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