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bivvy on Beckey-Chouinard

Original Post
Jake wander · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Aug 2014 · Points: 195

anyone have any experience with the bivvy on Sandy Ledges during the Beckey-Chouinard route in the bugs?

Seems much more fun than a bivvy on the approach, but obviously much more exposed to weather.

I would love to hear any advice from those who have done the route. Thanks.

-Jake

Flex · · Flagstaff, AZ · Joined Apr 2007 · Points: 1,025

I stopped and had lunch there but that was it. It looked big enough to be fairly comfortable, better than Big Sandy on Half Dome! Carrying bivy gear and possibly water too would seriously diminish the fun factor on the route though. If you bivy at East Creek you should be able to do it in a day fairly easily. We simul-climbed the 1st 3 pitches (5.7 or less) & the last few pitches (5.5 or less) to speed things up.

Dow Williams · · St. George, Utah; Canmore, AB · Joined Mar 2006 · Points: 240

carrying that much weight up there for a planned bivy would make no sense to me...can't always assume availability of snow/water either, depending on conditions...either comfortable day climb from East or long day from Applebee...not a great route for moving slow

Martin le Roux · · Superior, CO · Joined Jul 2003 · Points: 401

It depends on whether you think you can do all 17-18 pitches and descend safely in one day. If you're a confident 5.10+ trad leader that's probably realistic, but in our case it wasn't and we opted for the bivy. It's a great ledge but you'll need to carry water.

Cor · · Sandbagging since 1989 · Joined Mar 2006 · Points: 1,445

The bivy is great! We climbed the route like the ol'timers did with a planned bivy on the 50th anniversary of the first ascent. The view was great with magic sunset colors! Do it!

We left Applebee camp in the morning, started the route in the afternoon (2pm?)
While climbing we would stop and melt water where we could, worrying about not getting it higher up.
Then not too many pitches before the bivy we stopped, melted snow, ate dinner.
With more light remaining we went higher up to the bivy ledge. Or if I recall there was a few bivy ledges.
I think they were only a pitch apart or so. Both seemed good, but I think we went to the higher one.
In the morning it was cold as the sun does not hit there early on the ledge. We slept in, and didn't start climbing until around 10am when we heard others coming up the wall.
Topped out with much time to rap down in the day light, which is nice.
Make sure to check the sign (maybe photo it) at Applebee camp. It shows the new(old now) bolted rap route down the spine on the front. They are all single rope raps. All bolted. And much safer than the old rap route down, which was to the climbers left if you were facing the wall on the descent.

Great climb, have fun!

Hans Bauck · · Squamish, BC · Joined Oct 2007 · Points: 2,099

First time I climbed the route we bivied at the big ledge. We had left the Bugaboos for a few days because of bad weather and came back just for this route, and so we started from the parking lot. By the time we began climbing it was around 2pm. Like the previous poster, the next day we started late as it was quite cold, but we still had plenty of time to top out and hike out to our car. It was a cool experience.

If you aren't fast, bivying is a good strategy as you can start late and you won't be holding up other parties. But it will also suck because at the minimum you will have to carry water, extra food, etc.

This was our view from the bivy

Sunset on the big bivy ledge below the headwall.

I have climbed it since then from Applebee with an early start and this is definitely the best way to go. If you can climb NE ridge of Bugaboo in 9-10 hours from Applebee back to Applebee you should be fine doing the Beckey-Chouinard in a day.

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

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