Route:  Sherpa, W Ridge
Climbed:  June 17, 2001


Approach:  Cross Longs pass and hike to the Ingals Lake trail.  Hike
down valley.  In 10 minutes or so you will come to a meadow with a
horse camp in the trees to the right.  The trail through the meadow
leads up the Cascadian Coulior.  

You could climb this then traverse to Sherpa.  There are bivi sites at
the top of the Cascadian or at the notch in ridge (about 8,100 ft)
which you'll cross to get to Sherpa.  From that notch you'll have to
descend 300 ft of steepish snow or rock then back up to the base of
the climb.

Or you could hike the ingals trail east for another 10 minutes.
You'll come to another meadow and the intersection of the
Beverly-Turnpike trial.  Ascend the meadow, diagonaling right toward a
gully.  The upper part of the meadow is brushy and if you are good
you'll pick up a faint trail through the brush.  If you are not
lucky...well, it is worth trying to find that trial.  The trail leads
to the base of a gully.  Cross the stream and grind your way up onto
the ridge to the east.  Grind your way up that ridge.  At about 5800
traverse east into the basin.  There is camping at 6,100 ft or up
higher at 7,200 ft.  

From either, ascend to the ridge at the base of Sherpa's west ridge.
From there you will be presented with a broad "ridge" leading to a
blunt tower with a left facing corner.

Pitch 1: We simul-climbed over 3rd class blocks to where the face
steepens.  Up and into a left trending gully.  Exit to right (if you go
to the top of the gully it is a little tricky.  Continue up blocks
near center of "ridge".  Higher you come to a ledge perhaps 50 ft
below the tower.  From there we climbed a chimney behind a block, the
left facing corner of the tower, then over blocks and through a small
notch in the tower.  This was somewhat tricky climbing, though direct.
If you went left from the ledge you would enter a gully then climb up
and across several gullies on broken blocks, traversing left of the
blunt tower, eventually coming back to the ridge at a notch east of
that tower.  

Pitch 2:  From the small notch we walked a ledge right of the crest
and came to the notch described above.  Climb up and traverse a small
ledge east of the crest (about 12ft long) then scramble easy ledges for
over 100ft to come to the base of the summit face.  

Pitch 3:  Climb onto a flake then step across onto a blockly face.  Up
that to a left trending ramp.  At the top of the ramp you come to a
ledge below a "cave".  Intermediate route description describe two
alternates:  jam crack to the right and mantel to the left.  We went
right.  There are two cracks.  Andrew lead the left one, in the corner
and struggled with it.  I straddled the two then moved right onto ledge
and up into chimney.  I thought this was more like 5.6 than 5.4.
Belay at large ledge above chimney.

Pitch 4:  Climb through notch and up gully toward ridge crest.  From
there cross exposed slabs to the summit.  

Descent:  We did 7 single rope rappels.  All were obvious except for
the rappel from the notch east of the broad tower.  We climbed to the
top of the tower and slung a broad horn above a gully.  

Notes:  Snow on the north face ledges made it difficult to judge how
hard climbing would be over there.  However, I think that most people
climb up left (north) of the broad tower and rappel down through
there too.  



[Route description written by Tom Unger]