Mt Helen Ice Couloir
NW Arete of Ellingwood Peak
I don't remember when my good friend Kyle Williams first contacted me about
his plans to organize a week long trip into the Wind River range in Wyoming
through the Wasatch Mountain club. I do remember looking forward to it for quite
a while. The trip took place in August of 1996, months after some long holidays to Spain.
I was unable to start out with the group, so I left a bunch of gear with
Kyle to get onto the horses the group had arranged through a local packer.
A couple days later I hiked in to Upper Titcomb basin where the group was
camping. It was a long trip, about 20 miles including two resulting from a
wrong turn.
On the way in it seemed like everyone I met asked if I was the "ice climber"
that the group was waiting for today. It seemed a strange identity, particularly
since it was not exactly an ice climbing trip. It was also strange that everyone
seemed to know me in this capacity.
At the camp I found a large group of probably a dozen or so people. Their
experience and objectives were varied. The first day after my arrival Kyle
and I taught a basic class for some of the others in the group. This afforded
me the opportunity to rest a bit from the trek in.
The next day Kyle and I planned to climb the Mt Helen ice couloir, which
is supposed to be among the best in the range and on a par with the Black
Ice Couloir. Another climber, Brooke, decided to join us. I led the entire
climb, with Kyle climbing second and Brooke last. I was able to climb with
only one general purpose ice axe, so I think it is less difficult than the
Black Ice Couloir. Brooke had flexible leather boots and had never climbed
anything of this nature before, so he found it to be a bit of a challenge.
It was a really nice route, and Brooke made it up ok.
After another day of rest in camp (sitting out a brief eye infection) Kyle
and I went off to climb the NW Arete on Ellingwood peak. I had to hike out
the following day, so I took most of my gear with me. We left in the evening
and hiked a few miles to a bivy site near a trail junction at the lower end
of the Titcomb lakes. A couple hiked to the base of the peak with us but decided
to bail out and returned to camp.
The ridge on Ellingwood was 5.6-ish and long. A few parts seemed harder
than 5.6 and we suspect we varied a bit from the route in those spots. We
got to the summit late in the day but with a few hours of light left.
The descent from Ellingwood is supposed to be a bit tricky. We did not traverse
off the summit far enough before heading down since we saw what appeared to
be a likely descent route down after a couple rappels. This was a mistake. I no longer
remember the details, but it turned into a lengthy descent involving numerous
rappels off of less-than-ideal anchor systems and a falling rock which damaged
our rope. It was probably midnight or so when we returned to our bivy site,
and our rope was about three meters shorter than when we began.
Despite the descent the climb of Ellingwood was excellent as well, making
the trip to the Winds very memorable indeed.
Jim Frankenfield
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