June 14th, 2020
~ submitted by Greg Deabler
After watching the mountain forecast for Arrowsmith all week, we decided to move our trip up the Unjudges route to Sunday and take advantage of the partial sunshine forecast – haha. 5 of us met at Whiskey Creek and picked up a sixth at the Alberni summit hump. We dropped a car at the judges route and took 2 cars to the unjudges trailhead.
The day was a great example of why you do not trust weather forecasts. Climbed up into the grey void, at times misting with 100% humidity, and descended into the grey void, finally seeing a bit of sunshine when we hit the lower trail coming down the judges route.
A high snowpack made the first crux, the gulley below the south col extending about 1/3 of the way up take advantage of our iceaxes up to the col. We tagged the south summit and then traversed over to the main summit. No fancy moves this day, with the rock dripping wet and demanding attention to foot placement and hand holds. But everyone moved well, following Michel’s lead.
We dropped off the summit to find a sheltered lunch spot, and then moved down to the second crux, a gulley requiring front pointing going down and care at the bottom transition to the rock, which was down to bare ice.
We moved on with no mishaps and arrived back at the vehicles around 3:45 for a time of around 7 hours.
Thanks to Bill, Michel, Andrew, Cindy and Geoff for joining me Greg, on a classic Arrowsmith scramble route. no pictures of the grey void included.