South Ridge with Accidental Variation

We approached via Pole Creek TH to skirt the special entry permit required for the Obsidian Trail approach. The distance for both approaches seem fairly similar (about 6 miles). As the trail moves towards the Hayden Glacier the path towards North Sister becomes a little less distinct, but fairly straight forward. Instead of following the ridge crest of the glacier as for Middle Sister, the trail stays low and shoots for the saddle between Prouty Point and the south ridge of North Sister. We moved up the ridge directly, but it can also be gained at a less intense angle by moving north along the Collier Glacier and traversing up the ridge on the west side to reach the crest. Along the ridge we found that most gendarmes are best passed on the climbers left, except for the last few. 

The best path across the Terrible Traverse seemed to stay high, but we moved up and down the slope to avoid the snow and ice that was left. The Bowling Alley is accessed by traversing up a slight ramp at the end of the traverse. We moved around the bottom of this ramp and traversed into a rotten gully. This TR has great annotated photos that show the proper route and features. We can’t say much abut the climbing up the actual Bowling Alley as we completely missed it, but we managed our variation with a 30 meter rope and 3 medium-sized cams.  This mountain absolutely requires comfort climbing and walking on highly exposed terrain, as well as skill and experience with the art of “not-pulling,” aka, the ability to use your entire body to stay connected to a variety of surfaces while not pulling said surfaces down upon yourself.  Go prepared, plan for extra hours route finding if you get off route, and take TRs with a grain of salt since this Sister is in a constant state of flux.

For additional photos, stats, equipment list, and an in-depth discussion of the trip (among others), visit our page:

http://mountainrefugees.tumblr.com/post/126034038213/mountain-14-north-sister