True North on Gothics

[Chocodove]

Planning a late January attempt. Any tips to share? As I understand it, it's somewhat similar to Central Gully on Washington (steep snow slog), minus the ice climbing pitch but plus the routefinding of getting to the actual slide.

[tcd]

I've only been down TN, not up it. It is, in fact, a steep snow slog; be aware of avy danger.

Reversing my recollections: Take the standard GNF approach. TN is separate from, and climber's left of the wider NF. After the streambed has widened out, and you are approaching the base of the steeper climbing on the NF, look for a way through the woods to the left. When I was there last, a couple years ago, someone had put a couple pieces of orange survey flagging on this line. Leave the stream bed and hike a vague path up and left for a couple minutes to the base of TN.

A little ways up TN, it is joined by another branch from the left, and it will be brushy and have small trees for a bit; then it clears up again. Steepness eases in the last bit at the top. The slide ends at the release zone, where you will see large rock ramparts above you.

At the top, walk left through spruce (usually mostly buried, so it's pretty open looking) for a minute to hit the trail.

Have fun!

[Chocodove]

Great info, thank you.

[masshysteria]

I found that the closer you can get to the North Face before you head left, the easier the push through to the lower right leg of True North.

[BJH]

Anyone know what the slope angle is on True North at its steepest?

[masshysteria]

Anyone know what the slope angle is on True North at its steepest?


This is the view up to the top of the slide, the large erratic at the top is on the edge of North Face, which is just to the right. Getting above the erratic requires scaling it, which is a little intimidating, given that it is on the rim of the North Face.

http://inlinethumb43.webshots.com/49194/2221744210102049035S600x600Q85.jpg

This is where the slide splits; left being the shorter leg that runs parallel to the drainage from the North Face. the left leg, longer of the two, brings you almost to the Orebed Trail.

http://inlinethumb03.webshots.com/35778/2305373630102049035S600x600Q85.jpg

Other than the final pitch from that erratic to the summit, it's not that steep.

[Chocodove]

You guys are awesome. Approximately where on the slide does one pop out after traversing left at the face? Above or below the little "island"?

(pic borrowed from http://gunksterpuller.blogspot.com/2011/01/gothics-north-face-and-true-north-slide.html)

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_2ltrDWkx1pU/TTcPcZaFvKI/AAAAAAAAAbo/v-KMahRhmis/s1600/99142.jpg

[Joe H.]

Way above the little island. I have done this route twice in the summer with my teenage daughters - we went up to the North Face both times with the intent on doing the New Finger Slide on the far right as a technical rock climb. Both times the face was way too wet and we bailed to True North to have fun and still adventurous days. From the very good last picture of the face, one can see a smaller barely noticible drainage between True North and NF. We have always been pretty even with the island on the NF when we head into the trees climber's left. It is a short wack to the small drainage which can be followed up to where it intersects with TN (about halfway up on the picture). There is one small steep waterfall in the little drainage that we have wacked around to the left as well. In the winter this is likley buried.

As others have said there is avalanche potential on both the NF and TN.

[Chocodove]

Thank you, I figured it was way after the island. Seemed to be the only thing that made sense.

[masshysteria]

You guys are awesome. Approximately where on the slide does one pop out after traversing left at the face? Above or below the little "island"?

(pic borrowed from http://gunksterpuller.blogspot.com/2011/01/gothics-north-face-and-true-north-slide.html)

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_2ltrDWkx1pU/TTcPcZaFvKI/AAAAAAAAAbo/v-KMahRhmis/s1600/99142.jpg

You can barely make out the shorter right leg of the slide in this photo. You can see where the slide splits just to the right of what looks like a tree in the middle of the longer left leg, quite a ways above the island. You can see the bottom of the short right leg, just between the lower 'V' of the North Face and a rectangular slide to its left. The angle of the photo hides the bulk of that shorter right leg. The distance between the open drainage of the North Face and the right leg of the True North is only a matter of 200'.

But depending on how early you head left into those woods determines how thick the push is.When I was there, I went left too early, and ended up on that rectangular slide, and it was awful thick right there. I returned to the drainage and climbed closer to the North Face before heading left, and picked up the right leg with ease.

Some pictures of the climb; http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/574039647JDPwmg

[masshysteria]

OOPS, forgot I had this aerial photo, where you can clearly see the shorter right leg and its nearness to the North Face.

http://inlinethumb10.webshots.com/44745/2128317940102049035S600x600Q85.jpg

[Chocodove]

That picture is perfect, thank you.

[Chocodove]

Finally made it up this yesterday with the great info from the forum in an exhausting and long day. Thanks everyone!

If anyone is interested, it was spikes from the garden to the turnoff on the Ore Bed, snowshoes to the base of the slide, crampons on the slide, snowshoes on the ridge, crampons from the cables to the Ore Bed lean-to and then spikes for the slog out. The cables were seriously sketchy on the way down.

[masshysteria]

I trust a TR is soon to follow? :tup:

[Chocodove]

I trust a TR is soon to follow? :tup:

Yeah I'll get one together over the next few days!