West Ridge of Sheepshead

 West ridge of the Sheepshead, (AKA West McDonald Peak) Mission Mountains, Montana

3/17/23 

On March 17 I set out to climb the west ridge of the Sheepshead in the Mission Mountains. A moderate alpine route known to some Missoula climbers that is graded to be WI2-3. There was a great weather window that day and I saw it as the perfect opportunity to take all the skills I had gained over the climbing season and put them to the test. 

I woke up at 3 am and left Missoula at 3:30. At 4:30 I arrived at the frozen bog, and could drive no further, so I parked and began suiting up. This was the part of my day I was most worried about, walking through the forest in the dark, alone. I was nervous that grizzly bears were rising from hibernation, and scared that they were hungry. Since the area is known to have a larger population of grizzly bears I think my fears were rational. I toured with an ice tool clipped to my harness (because I would totally fight off a hungry bear with a Nomic) and a can of bear spray as well. I think that my fear of running into some sort of creature was beneficial to my pace, because I was moving quickly through those woods, trying to get out of there as fast as I could. 

I toured up the road for a little over two miles to get to the “trailhead” and at this point dawn was starting to show. I kept on gaining elevation, and was lucky enough to be out of the trees to see the sunrise over the mountains. 

Sun rising over the Mission Mountains (Sheepshead far left hidden behind tree) 

Glad to be somewhat out of grizzly territory I kept on moving, and was eventually able to see my objective. It looked quite far and my legs were already beginning to cramp, which was a bad sign, so I got to a good spot and re-fueled. At this point my ipod died, and the portable charger I was supposed to bring was plugged into my wall at home. It was around 9:30-10 and I was racing the sun, managing to stay out of its light until I got to the point where I was going to start the route. 

West Ridge of the Sheepshead 

Looking down the north side  of the lower ridge 

 Approaching the Route

At around 10:30 I got to a step on the ridge which I thought was a good place to ditch the skis, and transition into climb mode. I took one last drink of water and caffeinated mio squeeze, and racked up. I had a 40 meter 6 mil rope, belay device, 4 nuts, 3 alpine draws, 2 ice screws, and 20 something feet of cord, as well as a few carabiners. 

At 10:40 I started the climb and right out of the gate was basically swimming through snow, which made me concerned about wet slides as the day went on. I moved over the rock/snow gendarmes, careful about the cornice just to my left that offered a guaranteed ride down the north face of the sheeps head. The snow was slowing me down quite a bit, and was rather tiring. I had to then cross over two pretty exposed areas of steep snow that looked like they had potential to slide in the right conditions. I made a mental note of that, and kept on moving. 

Moving under giant snow mushrooms, I made my way towards the meat of the route. I found an obvious chimney that would lead me to the upper pitches of the ridge, and to my expectation there was very little ice in it. Occasionally I would find areas of alpine ice buried under the several inches of snow, but for the most part it was mixed climbing. 

 I began climbing up the mix of rock and loose snow, and found actually great mixed climbing! There were nice pick sized crack systems shooting up the sides of chimney which allowed me to wedge my pick in there and move my way up.

Looking down the first chimney

 (M2/AI2) This is the rating of the conditions I experienced

After this pitch I was feeling pretty good, and moved on to the next chimney, which at first glance appeared to be more mellow than the first one. As I climbed up the steep snow to get to the mouth of it, I looked around for something to rap off on my way down. I spotted a dead tree above the first chimney which looked like a good option that would save me leaving gear behind… 

I got to the mouth of the second chimney, and began making my way up. I found harder conditions this time. The rock was quite smooth, so finding holds was a challenge. I did find one area on my left side about half way up that had some actual alpine ice buried under the snow, which offered a good rest spot for a second, but the ice ran out quickly, and it was back to smooth rock buried under snow. Once I made it to the final step of the chimney, I found one solid placement for my right tool, however I couldn't find anything for my left tool. So for what felt like 5 minutes, I held on by basically just my right tool and my foot placements which I would learn soon that I didn't pay enough attention to. 

Swinging and digging through the snow, I searched for a good placement and found an edge somewhere under the snow that I decided to trust. So I pulled with my left tool, and began to crawl over the final step when suddenly my tool and crampons popped all at once causing me to fall probably 2 feet or so before being caught by my right tool. All of a sudden everything was real. I didnt think about what just happened, I instead began frantically figuring out a solution. I got my feet back in good spots, and wedged myself by pushing my back against the snow wall, and feet against the rock down low. With my right tool still hanging on that hidden jug, I switched my strategy and started swinging my other tool further left. After several hero swings straight to rock I finally found a somewhat trustworthy hold up high so I rolled with it. I managed to crawl my way over the final step of that chimney, and got to a good flat spot looking down on the two chimneys. 

Looking up at the top of the second chimney

(M3/AI2 were the conditions I experienced) 

I stood on the little platform I was on and thought about what just happened, and what I was doing. I checked my phone, and it was 12:30. I told myself that turn around time was 2pm, no questions asked and when I looked at the rest of the ridge I had left, It seemed like I was so close. There were no more mixed pitches to get over, just steep snow and big snow mushrooms to get around. I could see what looked like the summit from where I was but I couldn't make a decision on whether to go on or not. I was pretty spooked after what had just happened, and a little worried about the descent and warming snow. I decided  that I would build a rappelle station. 

I dug through the snow around this massive rock next to me, and was able to finagle the long piece of cordelette I had with me around it. Once I had my rap station set up I checked the time, and I had a little less than an hour till my turnaround time. I observed what I had left to climb and noticed that the rest of the route was just moving up steep snow, and over snow mushrooms to the summit, and there didn’t appear to be anymore mixed pitches, or ice left.  I decided that I would try and push for the summit. I moved through the steep snow, and got onto what ended up being the false summit. At this point I was sick of wading through the snow, and was getting more aware of  the snow heating up around me. I had 200 something yards left to the summit proper, but I took my earlier fall scare as a sign from the mountain, and I turned around. 

The summit from where I was standing Looking down on the ridge from where I turned around

 

My GPS location of where I turned around 

I carefully made my way back down from my high point, until I reached my first rap station. I began setting up my rap system and was able to rap 20 meters all the way down the second chimney to the area in between the first and second chimneys. I looked for something to rap off from this area, and found a small sapling poking its tip out of the snow. I really hoped that it was bigger than it looked, and when I began digging it up I learned it was not. I took out the shovel I had with me and started moving snow more effectively down to the base of the sapling. Luckly the sapling was cold and stiff, and I was able to fit the rope under the lowest branch, and between a rock so that it was less likely to blow off when I put my weight on it. 

The sapling that was crucial to my descent

You learn how short 20 meters really is when you are relying on it to get you to the bottom of a pitch. I landed about halfway down the first chimney when I hit both the stopper knots at the very end of the rope. Not trusting the sapling I was hanging off of I quickly started digging through the snow searching for a crack system or rock, or anything I could clip myself to. I used my tool to start clearing snow from my left side, and found a decent crack big enough for a number 10 nut. I wedged it in there and clipped myself to it. I then jammed a number 8 nut up a little higher from it, pulled my rope and set it up for the next rap. I felt good about this rap station, although I was a little bummed that I had to leave gear behind. 

The third rap station about halfway up the first chimney 

My third rappel took me to the bottom of the first chimney, and from there I pulled my rope, and carefully walked back down the ridge. I moved quickly across the exposed areas of snow I had to cross again, and in a couple places I had to down climb the rock which I came up. At around 3:15 I was back to where I left my skis. 

The route from where I started

I was feeling pretty wiped, so I drank some water and ate some food before putting my skis on and making the descent back to the car. The skiing up high was really good, and I was stoked to put some good turns in before reaching the tight trees. Skiing back down the ridge to the trailhead was hard, but once I made it to the road I toured up I was surprised how easy it was. The road was basically downhill the whole way, and I made it back to my car at 5:30, which was  a lot quicker than I thought it would take. 

The turns I made from the point I started climbing from

Looking back at the Sheepshead

The Sheepshead from the bog

Overall I had a great experience, and am excited to have wrapped up my winter climbing season on this climb. Thanks to those who let me borrow gear for this one!