Indianhouse Mountain Northwest Ridge - 11/9/19
Ridge conditions November 2018. Point 3920 on left, Indianhouse NW ridge on right. I 'd attempted this ridge last November, but a late start and general unpreparedness saw me turning back at the first gendarme. I vowed to return, and almost exactly a year later, I found myself parked at Fall's Creek and hiking up point 3920. This time, it was 8am, and I had ice tools and a rope. Top of 3920, looking towards Indianhouse. First gendarme is center left. R eaching the top of point 3920, I clipped on crampons and took out the tools. After descending to the ridge proper, I quickly made my way to the top of that first gendarme, encountering light mixed climbing on the way up. At the top, I surveyed the options. A rappel was pretty much mandatory from here - downclimbing would have been nutty and I had, after all, lugged 60m of 9.4 all this way... Maybe I need to invest in a lighter rope ;) Using the tools, cause I had 'em and hooking around was fun.