Events - Event View

Saturday the 11^th will involve driving to the trailhead.  Once at the trailhead, we will hike approximately 4.7 miles to the Green Lakes basin where we will set up camp for the evening immediately to the west of Broken Top. I will review some basics from Climb School that we will use during the climb on Sunday. Finally, we will go to sleep early so we can have a pre-dawn start on Sunday for our climb.

Sunday the 12^th will involve waking up early and preparing for the climb. From the eastern edge of the Green Lakes basin we will gain the climbers trail to a saddle on Broken Top’s Northwest ridge. Once on the ridge, we will continue to move upwards to a large flat bench just below the summit known as “Backpack Ledge”.  A 15-foot basalt rock wall bars hiking access to the summit at this point. At backpack ledge, we will drop our packs, donn our harnesses and helmets. I will climb the 5^th class basalt wall and establish an anchor, top rope and a belay, which will protect each team members as they climb this 15-foot section. After conquering the 15-foot wall, we will scramble un-roped up the 3^rd class “catwalk” ramp to the true summit. Our stay on the summit will be dictated by the weather. Our return to  “Backpack Ledge” will either be by a splendid repel from the summit block (weather permitting) or by reversing our path back down the catwalk ramp to a short repel down the 15-foot vertical wall. After returning to backpack ledge, we will remove our harnesses and descend to Green Lakes basin were we will grab a quick lunch and break our camp down (we will not be descending the scree-field due to environmental damage).  Once camp is broken, we will return to the trailhead by the corresponding Fall Creek / Green Lakes approach trail.

This climb will be limited to a party size of 8. The following four variables could cause this trip to be cancelled =
A) Not able to obtain required Central Cascades Wilderness Permit, or
B) Weather conditions, or
C) Wildfire evacuation notices for the surrounding area: Level 1-Ready, Level 2-Set, or Level 3-Go, or
D) Air Quality Advisory of 151 or greater (wildfire smoke).