tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352166344614826568.post1241899971284905115..comments2024-03-14T10:07:59.760-07:00Comments on American Alpine Institute - Climbing Blog: Route Profile: Dorado Needle - East RidgeErin-Leigh Hardyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10781785451497618508noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352166344614826568.post-48903162068357640022019-07-22T12:20:35.543-07:002019-07-22T12:20:35.543-07:00Followed this beta on 7/20/19. Overall, pretty acc...Followed this beta on 7/20/19. Overall, pretty accurate and straightforward. On the first part of the ridge we did a couple pitches of low fifth, then we veered climber's right instead of gaining the ridge. This led us to some enjoyable scrambling straight to the cannonball hole, which is pretty cool and a nice place for a snack. We gained the ridge from there with 4th and easy 5th class climbing. Glad we trusted the rap beta from the tower into the notch, despite that not looking from above like a wise choice. Climbing was very enjoyable from base of summit pyramid. Wondering if we took the correct rap down from the summit, because southwest from the obvious tat slung on an easterly horn led us 100ft into a super loose gully, with an even looser ledge about 20-30ft below that. To get from the end of our first rap and over to the NW Ridge did NOT feel like "easy ledges," so we decided to set up a belay to run one short pitch. When we got to the NW ridge, the obvious tat from the NW side of the summit above would seem to have been the better first rap, NOT what was closest to the East Ridge. For those considering the East Ridge, you might have better luck than we did with a SW rappel from the summit, but if we were to do it again ourselves we'd definitely trade an extra rappel or two down the NW Ridge vs whatever ease the SW side may offer. Nevertheless, when we got to the notch below the NW Ridge, the glacier was pleasant to get on without any moat present. Going down the glacier from there was a lot more straightforward to navigate and enjoyable than it appeared from the base looking up. We did it with headlamps no problem, and descended very efficiently. Beware of rockfall, as always. There's a ton of looseness up there, and we had a couple close calls...one of which nicked our rope about 18in from the end (rather fortunate place to damage your rope).Adam Schmidthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08327277223980985828noreply@blogger.com