Kelsey and I were ready to move on from ski season but are in terrible rock climbing shape after pandemic years out of the rock gym, so we searched for snow routes. Mount Maude quickly shot up the list and we believed it would still be in shape despite it being late July, based on the snowpack we’d been observing this summer so far. We’d been up in the area to scramble Seven Fingered Jack before, and so the approach was familiar.
We drove out Friday night in Kelsey’s van, getting a free, violent massage chair experience on the especially-bumpy access road, and conking out a bit after 11pm. We had decided that it would be nice to catch the route in slightly softened conditions and that its North-facing aspect should keep it from heating up too much, so we woke up at 5am and were moving by 5:30am. With just climbing gear, layers, and food for the day, we were reasonably light and banged out the approach to the meadow camp in Leroy Creek Basin in just over 2 hours. From there, we followed the climber’s trail until we hit snow, switched to boots, and made our way up to the Seven Fingered Jack / Maude col at about 10am. It was sunnier, warmer, and with less snow than we’d hoped on this side, but our view of the top of the route suggested it might still be in condition.
We had a snack here, put on our harnesses and sharps, and started our downward traverse toward the route. We were on mushy snow for a ways before hitting a baked-out section for which we took crampons off and scrambled loose 3rd class until hitting snow coming down the North Face which looked more or less continuous. We got our crampons back on here at 11:30am and pulled out our second tools. The snow was softer than we were hoping for down low, but not demonstrating any signs of loose slide potential, so we scampered upwards unroped. The angle down low is quite reasonable in the 35-40 degree range.
In the middle of the route, there was a brief bare traversing section we had to scramble through, but it was low-angled and pretty easy. From there, the route kicked up in steepness. We took our time, kicking in good steps, which varied in difficulty from a couple of kicks to five or six with some toe bashing. The last 75 feet or so was appreciably steeper and much more firm. We slowed further here to kick nice, secure steps. A nice consolation was that the firmer snow made for secure high-dagger tool placements.
At 1:15pm, we crested the last steep snow of the North Face and high-fived on low-angle, rocky terrain that led to the summit. We had lunch and took a brief nap up here then started down at 2:15pm. After heading down the South Ridge for a ways, we decided to roll the dice and take a more direct, loose descent path to the West. It had efficient sections on loose scree and snow and a couple more painstaking sections on loose rock, but it went. By 4pm, we were back at the Leroy Creek Basin camp area and, by 6:15pm, we were back at the van for just under a 13-hour day. A fun day out, a beautiful area, and a nice transition out of ski season.
