Sun Ribbon Arete 

We always camp as close to the base as possible, it is a bit of a hike from 2nd (and even 3rd) Lake.

Water is usually not an issue with glacial melt. You can often crawl behind the glacier to approach this route on loose/sandy rock. This obliviates the need for axes/crampons.

Contact Pass can get messy quick, after you dropped down from the buttress proper (scary 4th or a rappel) I recommend that you "stay high and right"--don't get drawn into the large talus.

Alternately, if there is enough snow you can glissade large portions of Contact nearer to the buttress.

Fantastic route!

We camped at Third Lake and that worked well for us, but Second Lake also works. From Third Lake, it is a mere 45-minute hike up a talus slope to the base of the steep snowfield. Getting up the snowfield might be the crux of the route, depending on the conditions. With only approach shoes (no crampons or boots) and one ice axe each, we were able to kick/chop steps, but it cost us over an hour to reach the rope-up ledge. From there, you can toss your axe and hope it reaches the base of the snowfield to retrieve on your descent.

The route: after ascending the snowfield for a few hundred feet, gain a rock band and scramble up to a large ledge. Walk to the far right edge of the ledge and rope up at the base of a left-facing corner system. Ascend this (5.6). The next 2-3 pitches are 3rd/easy 4th class scrambling. Another 3 full pitches brings you to the top of the Second Gendarme, where you will need to set up a tyrolean traverse to cross! This is the most fun and memorable part of the route. Toss a loop of rope across the gap, aiming for a horn of rock about 20' on the other side. Once you have successfully looped it, secure both ends of the rope on your side, and tyrolean across the gap. Re-rig for the second to retrieve your rope. From here, more scrambling and a couple of short rappels brings you to the route's crux - a steep 5.9 hand and fist crack on the left side of the arete. Climb this, then traverse right at a slung block (crux). This section is rated 5.10a in the Croft guidebook. Continue up crack system to easier ground. Several more easy pitches (mostly 5.5ish) from here along the sometimes knife-edge ridge lead to 4th class and eventually 3rd class to the summit.

Descent involves one single-rope rap to Contact Pass.

I hope I don't seem like too much of a douche bag for this, but I deliberately omitted a detailed description of each pitch due to the likelihood of someone going up there without a topo and trying it.

Without a topo, you may as well treat this as an FA project and pick your way up the gendarmes. There are at least 3 common variations to the crux (up and left, straight up, right and up the crack) along with plenty of ways to climb around the Tyrolean, avoid the rap, etc.

A topo (SuperTopo is good, but so is Croft's book, and even the topo in Moynier is much better than a simple textual description) is so much more useful than a text description that I decided to leave in the only landmark that really matters -- the big gray scar that demarcates the initial 5.7ish corner/crack pitch. Once you're on the route, I honestly don't think that you can get too far lost if you just follow a topo and simul a lot, taking the line of least resistance as you ascend the gendarmes.

Either way, it's a great day of climbing on surprisingly solid rock.

Hard-pressed to think of a route I've enjoyed more. Absolutely stellar.

One tip: bring about 5 or 6 feet of untied webbing if you plan to do the left (5.9 crack to face traverse) version of the crux. You'll be glad you did when you find the tied sling currently in place.

Know also that there are many errors in the ST topo - Croft is a much better source for this climb.

We simuled every pitch except the crux, and still did the descent in the dark. This is a (gloriously) long route.

426's advice to stay high and right in Contact is gold, and crucial, especially if you descend in the dark.