No exaggeration here, but this is argueably the best and most useful trip report I have ever seen submitted to the site! Thanks so much for all this effort... I know it isn't a quick job.
Also johngo... when replying to someone (like with EastKing above), use that little 'reply' link next to their comment. This causes your response to show on their profile page. Otherwise they are much less likely to see it.
I hope to climb North Sister in the next 1-2 years. When I go I now have exactly the resource I need!
Johngo,
wish you had posted this before September, we gave it a try from the Obsidian side. Late start from below arrowhead lake,the mountain looks deceiving close, and some weather started to form around the other 2 sisters. We made it as far as the ridge where the red starts. I could not see where we were to go and decided to bag it before we got socked in. Mt. Jefferson was much more easy to find the route on. Try next year with your info to help guide us. North and Middle will be the last of the 10k plus in Oregon for me.
Thank you for providing such a detailed description, it really makes it clear exactly what one is getting into on N Sister. I think after reading this it confirms my desire to do this late spring/early summer instead of taking on the scree.
Thank you, friend! This is a wonderful resource! Made our summit bid last weekend a bit easier. :)
A few more pieces of info that might help:
1) For those approaching from Pole Creek TH: take the main trail south until the Camp Lake intersection (immediately after you cross Soda Creek), then turn west. When you get to a clearing (maybe 1-2 miles), and the trail turns south, look for the climber's trail that continues up a small hill and west. From there, after 45 or so more minutes of hiking through gradually smaller brush, you'll hit treeline. There are beautiful places to camp right before you get to Hayden Glacier.
2) Camping near Hayden also puts you in great position to climb either the SE Ridge of North Sister or, alternately, heading up parallel to Hayden to the saddle between Prouty Peak and North Sister and doing the South Ridge. We did the SE, but agreed later that we should have done the South.
3) Definitely descend the South Ridge! :)
4) From the South Ridge, the wonderful topo above applies.
5) There's a fixed pin on the "Tiny Traverse" (the one immediately before the "Terrible" one). It's about 8 feet above the deck, halfway across.
6) I'll be damned if I could find the cam placements mentioned above. Of course. knowing how solid (ahem) this mountain is, they may have fallen off. :) Good (small) cam placements do exist, though...as well as decent constrictions for stoppers, so you might consider bringing a set.
7) We came into the Bowling Alley after climbing in solitude for 4 hours to find a large group (11) occupying a fixed line from the BA to the summit ridge. In addition, about half of this party was summiting at the same time. If you find yourself in a situation like this, you *can climb out of the BA to the right of the normal chute; the rock is fun, not exposed at all, and surprisingly solid. Your belayer can belay from the safety of the alcove (through that thread), and a 200' ripe gets you to the rappel station with about 15' left over. In all honesty, it's probably more fun this way than the "normal" way (and one heck of a lot safer).
8) Please heed johngo'd advice about keeping the party together in the BA. As we were roping up for our alternate pitch, the first few of the party of 11 were summiting. Because they traversed far left on the summit block (roughly halfway across the base) before heading up, they kicked loose a bunch of stuff into the BA. The summit block is delightfully solid (sheesh, it's still *there, right?), and it climbs like Theilsen. As you get to it, traveling northward on the summit ridge, climb it as soon as you can and savor the last 30 diagonaling feet to the top.
9) A single 60 meter rope allows you to rappel through the BA to just above the thread.
10) I climbed the route in trail running shoes. They worked great. :)
Thanks for the good vibes. I'm glad you had a successful climb.
Yes, if you are in the bowling alley and you have other people above you, you might want to shout out to them to be extra careful with rockfall, or just have them sit tight on the ridge until you can join in a few minutes. Any rocks kicked off from near the summit block will go down into the bowling alley and be bad news for anyone who is down there.
Also, with a large group like that, you can probably hitch a ride on their rope if you wanted do. But, sounds like you were faster anyway… Congrats!
You bet, friend! Thank YOU for the wonderful report - a lot of work went into it, and it was an awesome primer.
NS is a pretty awesome volcano - just committing enough to keep your attention (constantly), but not so kamikaze to be overtly dangerous. Stoked she let us up. :)
Thank you Jongho and Sean! How many ropes do you suggest I bring (solo climber)? From Sean's response I'm guessing 2 x 60m ropes. One to use while ascending the Bowling Alley and one rap from summit... ? ... BTW I'll be climbing in early August of this year. Thanks again guys!
EastKing - Oct 7, 2013 5:39 pm - Voted 10/10
Nice betaThanks for putting this trip report up. I will use it for my beta for next years climb.
johngo - Oct 7, 2013 7:55 pm - Hasn't voted
yer welcome!Eastking,
You are very welcome, good luck on your climb next year.
mrchad9 - Oct 31, 2013 12:40 pm - Voted 10/10
The BEST TR ever.No exaggeration here, but this is argueably the best and most useful trip report I have ever seen submitted to the site! Thanks so much for all this effort... I know it isn't a quick job.
Also johngo... when replying to someone (like with EastKing above), use that little 'reply' link next to their comment. This causes your response to show on their profile page. Otherwise they are much less likely to see it.
I hope to climb North Sister in the next 1-2 years. When I go I now have exactly the resource I need!
rick6003 - Oct 31, 2013 9:55 pm - Hasn't voted
too late!Johngo,
wish you had posted this before September, we gave it a try from the Obsidian side. Late start from below arrowhead lake,the mountain looks deceiving close, and some weather started to form around the other 2 sisters. We made it as far as the ridge where the red starts. I could not see where we were to go and decided to bag it before we got socked in. Mt. Jefferson was much more easy to find the route on. Try next year with your info to help guide us. North and Middle will be the last of the 10k plus in Oregon for me.
mountainsandsound - Nov 2, 2013 10:11 am - Hasn't voted
Man...What a scary looking choss pile! Hats off to you Oregonians, you true volcano connoisseurs. I prefer my volcanoes with a layer of ice.
Great write up, I'll probably refer to this when I head down that way.
triyoda - Nov 2, 2013 3:27 pm - Hasn't voted
Nice reportThank you for providing such a detailed description, it really makes it clear exactly what one is getting into on N Sister. I think after reading this it confirms my desire to do this late spring/early summer instead of taking on the scree.
Sean Rule - Aug 23, 2016 12:46 pm - Hasn't voted
Some more beta!Thank you, friend! This is a wonderful resource! Made our summit bid last weekend a bit easier. :)
A few more pieces of info that might help:
1) For those approaching from Pole Creek TH: take the main trail south until the Camp Lake intersection (immediately after you cross Soda Creek), then turn west. When you get to a clearing (maybe 1-2 miles), and the trail turns south, look for the climber's trail that continues up a small hill and west. From there, after 45 or so more minutes of hiking through gradually smaller brush, you'll hit treeline. There are beautiful places to camp right before you get to Hayden Glacier.
2) Camping near Hayden also puts you in great position to climb either the SE Ridge of North Sister or, alternately, heading up parallel to Hayden to the saddle between Prouty Peak and North Sister and doing the South Ridge. We did the SE, but agreed later that we should have done the South.
3) Definitely descend the South Ridge! :)
4) From the South Ridge, the wonderful topo above applies.
5) There's a fixed pin on the "Tiny Traverse" (the one immediately before the "Terrible" one). It's about 8 feet above the deck, halfway across.
6) I'll be damned if I could find the cam placements mentioned above. Of course. knowing how solid (ahem) this mountain is, they may have fallen off. :) Good (small) cam placements do exist, though...as well as decent constrictions for stoppers, so you might consider bringing a set.
7) We came into the Bowling Alley after climbing in solitude for 4 hours to find a large group (11) occupying a fixed line from the BA to the summit ridge. In addition, about half of this party was summiting at the same time. If you find yourself in a situation like this, you *can climb out of the BA to the right of the normal chute; the rock is fun, not exposed at all, and surprisingly solid. Your belayer can belay from the safety of the alcove (through that thread), and a 200' ripe gets you to the rappel station with about 15' left over. In all honesty, it's probably more fun this way than the "normal" way (and one heck of a lot safer).
8) Please heed johngo'd advice about keeping the party together in the BA. As we were roping up for our alternate pitch, the first few of the party of 11 were summiting. Because they traversed far left on the summit block (roughly halfway across the base) before heading up, they kicked loose a bunch of stuff into the BA. The summit block is delightfully solid (sheesh, it's still *there, right?), and it climbs like Theilsen. As you get to it, traveling northward on the summit ridge, climb it as soon as you can and savor the last 30 diagonaling feet to the top.
9) A single 60 meter rope allows you to rappel through the BA to just above the thread.
10) I climbed the route in trail running shoes. They worked great. :)
Thanks, johngo! This was a great report!
johngo - Aug 23, 2016 1:06 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: Some more beta!Hey Sean,
Thanks for the good vibes. I'm glad you had a successful climb.
Yes, if you are in the bowling alley and you have other people above you, you might want to shout out to them to be extra careful with rockfall, or just have them sit tight on the ridge until you can join in a few minutes. Any rocks kicked off from near the summit block will go down into the bowling alley and be bad news for anyone who is down there.
Also, with a large group like that, you can probably hitch a ride on their rope if you wanted do. But, sounds like you were faster anyway… Congrats!
Sean Rule - Aug 23, 2016 2:15 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: Some more beta!You bet, friend! Thank YOU for the wonderful report - a lot of work went into it, and it was an awesome primer.
NS is a pretty awesome volcano - just committing enough to keep your attention (constantly), but not so kamikaze to be overtly dangerous. Stoked she let us up. :)
Be well!
SasangDoc - Jul 20, 2020 10:45 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: Some more beta!Thank you Jongho and Sean! How many ropes do you suggest I bring (solo climber)? From Sean's response I'm guessing 2 x 60m ropes. One to use while ascending the Bowling Alley and one rap from summit... ? ... BTW I'll be climbing in early August of this year. Thanks again guys!
johngo - Jul 21, 2020 10:32 am - Hasn't voted
Re: Some more beta!1 rope is fine.
Many people don't even use that.
SasangDoc - Jul 25, 2020 10:13 pm - Hasn't voted
North ApproachThanks for the added beta Johngo. Say, have you ever tried the North ridge approach? Looks like the 3 sisters marathoners take this route.
Serge - Aug 25, 2021 4:53 pm - Voted 10/10
Thanks for TRThank you for the excellent TR!
Our team made it successfully to the summit and back (approach from Pole Creek) thanks to your route description