Climbing Mount St. Nicholas (9,376 ft.): Part Two - August 19-22, 2009
Climbers: Ron Gruber and Ralph Thornton
Copyright Notice
The climb above the Great Notch begins with an ascent of an overhanging cliff. Below Left Ron Gruber is geared up and ready to lead, he then looks up to search for the best route (below Center). No more pics of this section though as I spent my time belaying Ron and he spent his time figuring how to climb the overhang. Once Ron was on a ledge where he could establish a good anchor, he belayed me while I struggled up the overhanging cliff. For us this first pitch proved to be one of the most difficult.

The photos below show some of the action of our climb. Unfortunately there just wasn't time to photograph every detail. The rock was good and the climbing was challenging and fun (for the most part). There were some scary parts but we managed to surmount all the obstacles along the way.

Once above the overhang we headed slightly left climbing some relatively easy class four cliffs.
After gaining a hundred feet or so we looked right to see a "cannon hole." This was a gap in the mountain with a big rock laying across the top. Our route took us up to and through the hole. With packs on it was a tight squeeze but with some maneuvering we managed to get through.

Here, I watch Ron climb to the Cannon Hole.
Then it was my turn and Ron got to watch me wiggle though the hole.
Above the Cannon Hole we roped up again and climbed a series of steep pitches. In the above left photo Ron is placing some protection in the crack before climbing to the ledge above him.

Once past this point there was a 15 foot high sheer cliff that proved quite difficult. You can see this cliff in the last photo on this page. That sheer cliff was THE most difficult part of the climb for me.

Fortunately once above that pitch things got easier and soon (above right) Ron was snapping my photo as I walked up to the summit cairn. Whooooppeeeee!!!!

Left: Ron and I congratulate each other on the summit of Mount St. Nicholas.

The third time was definitely the charm!
Ron's Nature Valley -- Mount St. Nicholas, Glacier National Park!
After taking a few photos we found the summit register.

Ours was the third climb of 2009 but there were no entries from 2008. We read through the register and took a few pics of the entries of some friends.

After signing our names (below right) we returned the book to the container and placed it securely back in the summit cairn.
The day was getting on. After taking a few more looks at the view we climbed down about 200 feet then completed a series of five rappels to return to the Great Notch. Finding our stash of gear in good shape, we changed back into our mountaineering boots, enjoyed a snack, then headed back down to our camp.

This photo is of Ron on rappel down the sheer cliff about 200 feet below the summit.

The following day I managed to get us just a little confused in the brush along Muir Creek. It took us an extra 4 hours there which meant we didn't get back to our vehicle until after midnight. But what the heck! We didn't care one bit because we climbed Mount Saint Nicholas.
Click HERE to go back to Part One
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