Dragontail Peak, Northwest Face Variant. On June 19, after a cold storm, Robert Cotter and I climbed Dragontail Peak in icy conditions. We ascended ice runnels and snowfields and a long rock pitch onto the northwest-face route to Ball Bearing Amphitheater. The rock pitch was hard, sometimes wet and run out. Instead of heading right onto Serpentine Arête, we finished in the long, ice-filled comer to the right of the spectacular slab known as the Fin. Throughout the route, the ice runnels were very narrow but always thick enough for good tool placements (AI-3).

Mark Bebie