In the 80's I climbed the NE ridge with Kevin Gibson, carrying all our gear with the intent of descending the standard route to the W. We met a couple of women on the ridge & at the top they said they'd planned to descend the S ridge to retrieve their camp, but had only 1 rope. What could we say? They were women, we had testosterone.
I don't even remember whether we downclimbed or rappelled to the big S shoulder that gives Triumph its chair shape, except that what we did was straightforward and obvious. From the "chair seat" things were a little iffy. We settled on a blind rappel into a deep, dark gullly on the W side. I carried a pair of short prussiks and extra slings in case the ropes ran out before the rappel did. (2 short prussik slings almost always hang from my harness gear loops. They've been handy a few times.) It turned out that a single 2-rope rappel reached the bottom with room to spare. We walked the lower ridge south until we ran out of ridge, then rappelled the slabs E to the glacier.
The (50m) ropes didn't quite reach. I can't quite remember, but I think we left a little wired stopper behind and and still had to downclimb the last bit to the snow.
Reached the car about midnight. I'm still a bit miffed about carrying sleeping bags and everything over the top of that thing, then having to pair up with climbers who hadn't planned for the descent.
Just climbed the route again (for the fourth time) 12-14 August 2011. A single 60m rope is long enough for each rappel, and the rappel stations are sturdy with rings, quicklinks, or carabiners installed. If you're climbing mid-summer, bring extra cord to replace any worn tat, but you should be fine with a 60m rope.
This was a terrific climb but we found the beta confusing. Some descriptions report very little snow on the approach from the col and advised against boots and crampons. We crossed steep snow and glacier ice all the way from the col to the base of the climb (on 8-4-2022) and were really glad we brought boots, crampons, and ice axe. The crossing would have been slow and difficult without them. We changed into climbing shoes and started up the slabs just right (north) of the ridge, but the ramp/dihedral to the left (south) of the ridge seemed better and easier to protect. We simulclimbed most of the lower half the route (low 5th class) and belayed the towers and knife-edge ridge due to the exposure. We also belayed the fun off-width crack pitch (5.7) which ends at the great notch. After a short break we headed left on the easy ledge from the great notch and then diagonally left up easy ledges (class 3-4) and heather slopes toward the south ridge. After gaining the ridge we followed it to the summit.
We couldn't find a way to rappel down the way we came up, and rapped from the sketch tat you can see about 100 ft. down and left from the summit. Two more raps took us back to the great notch with a single 70m rope. The rapping/downclimbing was fairly straightforward from there until the top of pitch 3, where the rap station is hidden in the bushes off to descender's right. It might be wise to take photos or set waypoints for hidden rap stations on the way up, to make it easier to find them on the way down.
Approximate timing for us: car to camp 5 hrs., camp to summit 6 hrs., summit to camp 10 hrs., camp to car 5 hrs. Three days total.
The south ridge is a completely different climb and appears to be a much shorter, easier, and more direct route back to the col. However you have to cross the snowfield and/or glacier to get back to the base of the northeast ridge if you left any gear there.
Eric Sandbo - Nov 21, 2004 1:30 am - Hasn't voted
Route CommentIn the 80's I climbed the NE ridge with Kevin Gibson, carrying all our gear with the intent of descending the standard route to the W. We met a couple of women on the ridge & at the top they said they'd planned to descend the S ridge to retrieve their camp, but had only 1 rope. What could we say? They were women, we had testosterone.
I don't even remember whether we downclimbed or rappelled to the big S shoulder that gives Triumph its chair shape, except that what we did was straightforward and obvious. From the "chair seat" things were a little iffy. We settled on a blind rappel into a deep, dark gullly on the W side. I carried a pair of short prussiks and extra slings in case the ropes ran out before the rappel did. (2 short prussik slings almost always hang from my harness gear loops. They've been handy a few times.) It turned out that a single 2-rope rappel reached the bottom with room to spare. We walked the lower ridge south until we ran out of ridge, then rappelled the slabs E to the glacier.
The (50m) ropes didn't quite reach. I can't quite remember, but I think we left a little wired stopper behind and and still had to downclimb the last bit to the snow.
Reached the car about midnight. I'm still a bit miffed about carrying sleeping bags and everything over the top of that thing, then having to pair up with climbers who hadn't planned for the descent.
But hey, it was an experience.
mtnfreak - Aug 29, 2011 2:24 am - Hasn't voted
single 60m adequateJust climbed the route again (for the fourth time) 12-14 August 2011. A single 60m rope is long enough for each rappel, and the rappel stations are sturdy with rings, quicklinks, or carabiners installed. If you're climbing mid-summer, bring extra cord to replace any worn tat, but you should be fine with a 60m rope.
davidjcarrier@yahoo.com - Aug 17, 2022 4:53 pm - Hasn't voted
Route commentsThis was a terrific climb but we found the beta confusing. Some descriptions report very little snow on the approach from the col and advised against boots and crampons. We crossed steep snow and glacier ice all the way from the col to the base of the climb (on 8-4-2022) and were really glad we brought boots, crampons, and ice axe. The crossing would have been slow and difficult without them. We changed into climbing shoes and started up the slabs just right (north) of the ridge, but the ramp/dihedral to the left (south) of the ridge seemed better and easier to protect. We simulclimbed most of the lower half the route (low 5th class) and belayed the towers and knife-edge ridge due to the exposure. We also belayed the fun off-width crack pitch (5.7) which ends at the great notch. After a short break we headed left on the easy ledge from the great notch and then diagonally left up easy ledges (class 3-4) and heather slopes toward the south ridge. After gaining the ridge we followed it to the summit.
We couldn't find a way to rappel down the way we came up, and rapped from the sketch tat you can see about 100 ft. down and left from the summit. Two more raps took us back to the great notch with a single 70m rope. The rapping/downclimbing was fairly straightforward from there until the top of pitch 3, where the rap station is hidden in the bushes off to descender's right. It might be wise to take photos or set waypoints for hidden rap stations on the way up, to make it easier to find them on the way down.
Approximate timing for us: car to camp 5 hrs., camp to summit 6 hrs., summit to camp 10 hrs., camp to car 5 hrs. Three days total.
The south ridge is a completely different climb and appears to be a much shorter, easier, and more direct route back to the col. However you have to cross the snowfield and/or glacier to get back to the base of the northeast ridge if you left any gear there.