The Sorcerer- Feb 4 2009
The Sorcerer in the Ghost River is a stunning line. After many rumors of serious snow drifts and a horrible section of road on the way in called “stump land”, Emily and I were dubious as to our ability to drive in without a winch and a hummer. Rumors were starting to circulate, however, that some people were making it without serious effort. It turned out to be a simple matter of gunning it through some drifts and weaving around the biggest of the stumps. A truck is definitely advised, however.
The approach is a fairly simple matter, but conditions were deep and there was only one set of winding tracks that had mostly filled in. You head up a road until you get to the end of the first of two lakes, and head left up a slope. After a ways of post holing through a thick crust into the biggest facets I have ever seen, we crested a ridge that gave us the view of the route. It took our breath away. We did notice however that it looked somewhat rotten and wind affected from afar.
Upon closer examination, we noticed that conditions were indeed a bit thin.
The third pitch turned out to be a crux. We climbed the left side, as it was the only part of the route that was protectable. But this mandated that the belay at the top of the second pitch be placed at the middle of the ice rather than at the bolts on the right. There was a overhang to maneuver around while stemming on rock and thin ice that was simple enough to manage if you could trust the ice blobs that did not seem quite so welded to the rest of the ice. The rest of the pitch is spent traversing to the cave on the right of the ice fall.
It was wild climbing- the ice had formed in big blobs making foot placements simple but dubious- and you would swing into the rotten snice at the top of each blob that would make a deep stick easy but again dubious. The protection was equally questionable at times but not too hard to find better ice that was very hard. The problem being that the placements were all a part of the blob nature of the ice which was marginally connected to the whole.
The third pitch was steep and exhilarating. We headed back in the dark and were thrilled to make our way back to the highway without incident.
-Julia