Mount Lowell via the Chute. 10-13-2017

Mount Lowell via the Chute. 

Friday the 13th, 2017

This journey started on August 15th, 2017. Gazing east from Signal Ridge, on our way up to Carrigain, my wife and I noticed the stunning cliff wall across Carrigain Notch. Jay Beaudoin informed me that this was Mt. Lowell, and there just happened to be a route to the summit, up through that cliff, known as 'The Chute.' Being a sucker for slides, chutes, and anything semi-dangerous, I started making plans to tackle this mysterious, undocumented line. 

 

On Friday the 13th, 2017, Jimmy Olson, Casey Breeds and I reached the summit of Mt. Lowell by ascending the Chute.

 

Mt. Lowell from Signal Ridge. August 2017.

Up front, the intention of this blog is to augment the already sparse web info regarding the Chute, and to discourage any future attempts. This Chute is truly an anomaly. Although it begs to be tackled via technical climbing gear, it won't let you......I understand that most will see this and be inspired to attempt it, but don't......

 Mt. Lowell has the steepest maximum slope in the White Mountains, measuring in at 93.4%. It also claims third place for average slope percentage at 59.8%, following close behind Mt. Flume and Whitewall. According to Steve Smith at Mountain Wandering, "The name Mt. Lowell honors Abner Lowell, the president of the White Mountain Club of Portland, ME, which specialized in exploring the Carrigain region in the 1870s. Vose Spur was named for George L. Vose, another prominent member of this short-lived club."


You should only attempt this if you have significant climbing experience, and are comfortable free-climbing within the 5.5-6 rating range.

 The stone in this gully is too old, wet, brittle, and collapsible. In dry conditions, technical climbing gear with be of no use to you.


This is a free climb........................................


It's a death wish if ever there was one. Imagine the last 10 feet of the Watcher left slide for 2-3 hours straight. If you're lucky enough to avoid death, you'll certainly carry some other form of physical or emotional wound. Will I do this again????? NEVER........

When I tell the story of this ascent to my PVSART brothers and sisters, they look at me with an unknowing look that says 'What is the Chute?'

In my research leading up to our Friday the 13th, 2017 Chute ascent, it was obvious that this was a trip that few, if any, had contemplated, let alone actually attempted.

The most recent documented attempt dated back to May 6th, 2012.

One, only one video of a young, helmet-less, adolescent was available on Youtube. I don't know what this Father was thinking, but damn......brave kid....

From the thin, skimpy information available  online, it was obvious that the Chute ascent was ripe for the picking, but only by the right crew. I had originally invited many well-known, experienced hikers/climbers on a nighttime ascent of the Chute. All but 2 bailed. Hey, cant' blame them. After a cursory search, it's clear  that this was a fool's errand. Looking back on our daytime ascent, a night ascent would've been impossible.

The final crew came together literally within hours of the departure.

Jimmy Olson. Casey Breeds, and myself.

The three of us had joined forces on gnarly adventures in the past, mostly during the harsher Winter months. I knew that I could trust these two. I knew that we would work well as a crew, and that we would bail the moment true danger arrived....which goes back to the mystery of this ascent.... you can only ascend this route if you truly trust yourself, your crew, and your abilities.

Furthermore, when you reach the point that you have never reached before, you need to be able to push past it, no matter the outcome...  this ascent was truly a 'one-way street.' For me personally, I couldn't have done this without Jimmy and Casey.  I can't thank Jimmy and Casey enough. I look forward to our next adventure!

I've attempted to organize these pictures and videos somewhat sequentially. My apologies if they don't align with your attempt.

The following pics and videos represent the Lowell Chute by 3 separate perspectives. Hopefully this will add a volume of information that is sorely lacking.

Photo of Mt. Lowell by Steve Smith of Mountain Wandering.
The Chute is the long thin gash running up to the right of the summit.

The Chute in Winter. Some blogs have Winter trip reports, with
full winter climbing gear.

...........

Here we go. A late start at 9:44pm... Friday the 12th....

Carrigain Notch Trail via headlamp. We passed one promising camp site
with a water source, but opted to continue on further up Carrigain
Notch trail.

Camp....somewhere between Vose Spur and Mt. Lowell.

4am...Do we really have to do this???? The Moon and stars were so amazing. It was so sad to go sleep.

Mt. Lowell appears in the early morning light. The Chute was also clearly visible from
various vantages at camp.

The lower 1/3rd of the slide is, fairly tame, easy going.

Ascending the lower slide. Cliff starts to rise. The stones underfoot were fairly stable.
This lower portion of the Chute went on for quite some time, giving us a false
sense of security.

Jimmy and Casey inspect the southern cliff wall as we ascend.
As you can see, the Chute, due to its alignment, gets very little direct sunlight, so
It's typically damp

Signal Ridge and Carrigain begin to appear through the trees.

The first wet pitch presents itself. This section was slippery, but easily navigated.

Jaime heads up the left wall of the first pitch. The first serious section of climbing
presented itself as a 3-sided headwall with 2 options of ascent: straight
up the middle or to the left, where a thin ledge offered a potentially
easier route.

Casey climbs the first pitch, opting to go straight up the middle. Climbing shoes
helped immensely per Casey.

Jimmy nails the first pitch

#teamwork

That Holy-Shit Moment......

The view down from the first pitch. Note the orange helmet below...The first
Pitch was about 40-60 feet high. Some reports claim 20, but that's not accurate.

View of Carrigain starts to pop.

Jimmy plans his route above the first pitch.

Planning my next sequence up on the first pitch

                  

                          

                                    

Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse.Casey scrambles on the left and hits a challenging, loose section of rock perhaps 2/3rds of the way up the Chute. I spidered up the middle. Jimmy took this pic from a small ledge that provided us a brief respite while Casey climbed. Unfortunately, we were being rained down upon by stone from above as Casey progressed. One bowling-ball sized stone hurled down at one point, grazing my forehead, directly striking my right shoulder joint. There was just nowhere to hide, particularly as the Chute narrowed.

 

We made it. Safe and sound! The sense of relief that we had, once we topped out, was immense. The actual last pitch of the Chute proved to be the hardest of the climb. Each of us essentially had to throw the weight of our trunks upon the last tiny ledge as our legs dangled. This is one point during the climb where an anchor would work, assuming the leader gets over the last ledge.

The bush between the top of the Chute and the height of land. Very thick and deep, with numerous hidden root-holes and Stanford bear dens. Beautiful and rugged!!!!

The height of land after topping out of the Chute. At this point, a hard left turn to the north, marked by numerous herd paths, bright you to the summit canister of Mt. Lowell.

THE LOWELL CHUTE CREW 2017; Left to right: Jimmy Olson; Casey Breeds; Jaime Bernard.

A well-deserved rest on the lower Mt. Lowell talus fields, after a serious bushwhack.

Carrigain Notch

Casey, enjoying the view of Vose Spur from the lower talus fields of Mt. Lowell.

  GoPro videos by Jimmy Olson.

Photos by Jaime Bernard, Jimmy Olson, and Casey Breeds. 

 

Jimmy Olson:

"Hell yeah. Wouldn't have changed anything about that, other than more beta going into the climb."

"Determination and no other valid options (got us through)."

"1.5 hours of second guessing every foot hold and hand hold. I feel like I blacked out during half of it and was in a zone. I was more worried about being in bad spots down low to take on the falling shit."

 

 Casey Breeds:

 "I love our teamwork and support."

"My legs were shaking with fear lol. I wonder if we did it again would it be that bad?"

"Luck helped us but determination got us through."

 

Jaime Bernard:

"I couldn't have pulled that chute off with any other crew members. We did it together big time. Great, great crew."