To be honest, I hadn’t heard a lot of good things about this mountain, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to tackle another major Oregon peak and gain some additional alpine rock experience close to home. So, when applying for climbs with the Mazamas this season I chose 3 Finger Jack as one of my objectives.
Our sizeable group of nine climbers spent the night at a rustic A-frame cabin that was built in the 1940’s near the Hoodoo ski area. We left the trailhead by headlamp at around 4:00 a.m. As the sun came up the eerie shapes of naked tree trunks that had been burned by the B&B complex fire slowly became visible.
After 4.5 miles we headed off the PCT on a climber’s trail up the South Ridge of 3-Finger Jack. The trail quickly turned to rock, which only got looser the farther up we went. After some class 4 scrambling we ended up at the first roped pitch known as, “the crawl.”
The crawl is an exposed traverse that involves mostly 4th class moves. We protected it by placing a fixed line, making use of two fixed pins and large boulders at either end. The next section involved more 4th class, which we simul-climbed using mostly natural protection. This brought us to the base of a short chimney leading to the summit. Our leader setup a belay and a rappel line at the top of the chimney which we took turns ascending and descending to the small summit.
I don’t have a lot of good things to say bout the mountain, but I did meet a lot of new and interesting people from the club. The route wasn’t nearly as sketchy as I’d imagined, but I was really glad to have a leader who knew the route and was willing to setup ropes on the technical parts.
Our sizeable group of nine climbers spent the night at a rustic A-frame cabin that was built in the 1940’s near the Hoodoo ski area. We left the trailhead by headlamp at around 4:00 a.m. As the sun came up the eerie shapes of naked tree trunks that had been burned by the B&B complex fire slowly became visible.
After 4.5 miles we headed off the PCT on a climber’s trail up the South Ridge of 3-Finger Jack. The trail quickly turned to rock, which only got looser the farther up we went. After some class 4 scrambling we ended up at the first roped pitch known as, “the crawl.”
The crawl is an exposed traverse that involves mostly 4th class moves. We protected it by placing a fixed line, making use of two fixed pins and large boulders at either end. The next section involved more 4th class, which we simul-climbed using mostly natural protection. This brought us to the base of a short chimney leading to the summit. Our leader setup a belay and a rappel line at the top of the chimney which we took turns ascending and descending to the small summit.
I don’t have a lot of good things to say bout the mountain, but I did meet a lot of new and interesting people from the club. The route wasn’t nearly as sketchy as I’d imagined, but I was really glad to have a leader who knew the route and was willing to setup ropes on the technical parts.
Though the rock was crummy, the approach and climbing were easy. The trip was definitely fun and worthwhile. I’m glad to cross this one off my list, but I can honestly say this mountain gave me no reason to return.
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