Glacier Mountaineering Society

Fri, Jul 28 2023 - Pinnacle Wall Goat Trail (Short Cut) (View Original Event Details)

Coordinator(s):		Greg Notess
Participants:		Greg Notess, Justin Heinrichs, Michael Contrada, Rick Thomas, Coby Grove, Austin Lindsay, Dennis Eaves

Write Up:
We started the day with clouds and low cloud cover, not sure if we'd be able to do this trip. When we got to Ptarmigan Lake, the clouds were occasionally lifting the our next destination at the low point just below Ptarmigan Spire. So we went up the Ptarmigan (Pinnacle) Wall to see if the clouds would lift further. We picked up the goat trail from there and were pleased to see that the clouds kept lifting. We followed the goat trail almost to Ahern Pass, where the shrunken snow field was far too steep and hard to ascend. Instead we found a route through the cliffs just before the snow field, and go everyone up through the one short class 4 section to the top of the cliffs.

From there, we all ascended the steep slope to Iceberg Notch and the dropped down to Iceberg Lake and took the trail back out. Great group of climbers who appreciated the teasing views of Merritt and Ipasha as the clouds very slowly cleared throughout the day.

Have some photos from this event that you'd like to share in our photo album? Please forward them to Tim Anderson at twamontana@gmail.com. Please note that we prefer to receive the photos in approximately 640x480 or 750x500 pixels - do NOT send original high-res photos. If you have a LOT of photos, please submit up to twenty of your favorites (only) for a day event, or up to forty of your favourites for a multi-day event. Thank you.