Observation Rock/North Face

Our group of 6 left the Mowich Lake trailhead at 7:00am, following the Wonderlan trail to the cairn marking the turn off towards Observation Rock around 6200'. We were fortunate for a clear and sunny day with great views of the route and the mountain starting in Spray Park. We hiked the scramble route to about 7000' then dropped in to the the valley and went up the morraine to the right of the snow to the base of the climb.

The lower third of the route was firm snow, great for pickets. The upper route had really good, solid ice that took screws well, best to stay to the right as the ice was very rotten to the left. If you set your first belay anchor about 40-50' up from the base, you can avoid having to do a short final pitch and finish the route in 4 pitches. Each team had 4 pickets and 8 screws which was plenty.

The climb went well, all had fun, and we topped out at 2:30, then took time to get some water and eat before heading out, returning to the cars just after 7:00pm. We only saw two hikers and another group of 2 in front of us on the route, otherwise we had this part of the park to ourselves.