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Trip: Strobach - FA: Ponderosa Pillar WI5 65m Date: 2/1/2009 Trip Report: Alpine Monkey and I (Bryan Schmitz) went into Strobach for some ice this weekend and ended up having a great time. The snow conditions were pretty prime, no post holing. We began at the Motherlode area on Saturday. Me looking pretty jazzed for the Hike in after the 2:15am wake up and the three and half hour drive that followed. Hiking In Some cool looking rock or dirt? 2 + hours later we arrive!!! In the words of Frank Snaders, "i am here now" Dropline through Bleeder Project Strobach Unclimbed A & B. Now strobach Unclimbed A & Ponderosa Pillar Me high up the route, the route was about 70 feet longer than we thought, topped it out and rapped off a tree. God look at all those screws what was I doing? First on The Right Left side of the watchtower Area We climbed the tongue and Hidden Delight on sunday A possible "Winter Dance" of Strobach in the upper left of the photo. The Watchtower, NOT Touching, to bad, but a good reason to return later. Approach Notes: Hwy 12 Tieton Road just east of rimrock lake, head through the woods towards Strobach Mountain. Follow directions in WA state ice. You can see the climbs on Strobach across the lake and would be a good way to check conditions if you had a scope.

Trip: Near Hope - F.A - Family Man , 150m WI2+ Date: 12/26/2008 Trip Report: So MikeW and I were going to climb Hell's Lake Falls or something up the Fraser Canyon but just past the gas line crossing the fraser while heading east towards Hope we spotted a line running up a corner/gully on the cliff left of the road. We parked and geared up at a small pullout 100m east of the route and walked over to the base. I took the first lead which climbed low angle thin ice to the right of the prominent right-facing corner. Where the angle decreased and the ice became thinner I moved left to the corner where I scrambled up low angle mixed rock and ice to a blob of ice decent enough for a belay. (50m WI2 M0) Mike climbed a few meters of low angle ice past the belay to a snow terrace then a few more meters of low angle ice to a tree below the main gulley. This could probably just be soloed or some simul climbing could be done to combine pitches 1 and 2. (25m Wi2-) Mike took off on lead again as the last section had been short and easy. He climbed up the gulley on more low angle ice towards a prominent rock buttress where we took the left hand branch (the right hand branch looked like more low angle ice). This narrow gulley to left of the rock buttress had the most enjoyable climbing of the route, climbing up several short, steep bulges then staying to the right to avoid some bushes. Mike then belayed below the most prominent bulge as he ran out of rope. (50m WI2+) I took the last lead up the final steep bulge, then up more low angle ice moving right into an easy rock dihedral(to avoid bushes)leading to the forest above. (25m WI2+ M0) I saw some more ice in the woods above so we hiked up to the base of it. There were many options on this flow ranging from about WI2+ to WI4+. I wanted to climb a fine looking pillar but Mike had to be back in Hope with his family for the evening so we headed down, hence the name of our climb. All lines on this wall remain unclimbed. We rapped the route off V-Threads and Trees in 4 raps. Stupid me did all this in my thin lead gloves and my fingers froze until they were too weak to shove back into my toasty belay gloves. In fact I'm having trouble typing this report as my fingers are still thawing out I will post pics when Mike sends them to me... or Mike will just post them himself. Gear Notes: A few Stubbies, some med - long screws, rap tat... 50m or 60m ropes... Approach Notes: The climb is located between the gas line crossing the Fraser and Hell's Lake off Highway 7 near Hope. Look for a large prominent corner system on the cliffs above the road (where there are no nets covering the cliff) The climb follows this system staying left of the rock rib near the top.

Trip: Near Hope - FA Tradewinds 210m WI3 Date: 12/26/2008 Trip Report: This nice ice line has formed up right of Tailwind, in an area that is often dry or the ice is thin... it may be the same one that David and Nick Jones climbed a couple pitches of on an attempt in 1989 (see WCI guide p.94) In between Tailwind and Tradewinds is a very obvious unclimbed line in a fresh rockfall scar/corner that appears to consist of several pitches of mixed slabs in a corner to a vertical pillar with a huge yellow ice roof at the top that looks like a cobra's hood. Anyways Jesse, Graham, Robert and I scoped this line on the 21st but it is exposed to the down-valley winds and we didn't feel like climbing in 50km/h outflows with gusts to 80... Winds persisted through the 23rd. Shaun and I were ready for an attempt on the 24th but the record snowfall halted that plan. After loading our bodies with a few pounds of turkey and micemeat pie we were back at the climb today with no winds and only light snow. Perfect conditions near -4C all day long. We parked as for Tailwind off Hwy 7 and hiked through forest, prickle bushes and fresh rockfall debris to the base in about an hour. We both simul-soloed the first pitch, towing the ropes up - 50m WI2. The next pitch had a narrow, awkward ramp and then great fat ice and chimneying moves, with a bit of rock pro. I note parenthetically it's way faster to place a bomber nut off to the side of a climb than it is to fuck around drilling a shallow screw and trying to avoid rocking the teeth. Belay was a weird chimney stance, 55m WI2+ Shaun led what turned out to be the crux, a wall with several short pillar steps and several ledges. Lots of opportunity for variation, WI3 to 3+ lines depending on if the pillar you chose was 3m or 8m long. Above this, another long chimney/ramp, to a belay on a giant boulder frozen in the ice (hopefully solidly). 55m WI3. I led the final pitch which was a long ramp with lots (by this time) of snow over low-angle and wet ice, and a couple of steeper bulges, finishing to trees. 61m WI2 (Shaun had to take the belay down and climb up a meter or two for me to make the trees). We rapped the route rather than spend a few hours walking off. Three 55-60m raps trending to climbers left (off tree, off the boulder, and off another tree well left of the ice) got us down to a tree ramp we could downclimb 30-40m to the base of the route. Total round trip time was about 6 hrs. Mike and Marc were climbing Tailwind at the same time, they were just approaching the final crux pitch as we got back to the car. Looks like the bottom of that route was thin and spicy! No photos cause in the post-turkey daze both Shaun and I forgot our cameras! Gear Notes: 10 screws plus a set of nuts. Approach Notes: Highway 7 from Agassiz east 20km then park just past Rockface Trailer Park; hike in: see TR for hiking rt. details.

Trip: Agassiz, Hopyard Hill - F.A - O.C.D Pillar 37m WI4 Date: 12/24/2008 Trip Report: So this morning MikeW picked me up and we went over to a roadside climb in Harrison. I led it but Mike started feeling sick so we left.I was trying to figure out what to do as the day was still young but all the low angled stuff I would solo was getting buried in snow. I remembered that on a little hill named 'Hopyard Hill' 1 or 2 km's west of Agassiz's city center there is a NE facing bluff of dirty, crappy rock. On this cliff there is a rarely formed pillar that is usually just a couple of icicles. I thought it might go this year so after picking up a new pair of climbing pants at the post office, I convinced my GF to come out and give me a belay on a pillar. It took a fair bit of convincing to get her to go out in the cold and heavy snow, she told me that I was 'obsessed' to want to climb the route this badly... thats where the name comes from. It took us about 1/2 hour of walking to reach the base of 'Hopyard Hill' from my house and the pillar looked good but quite small. We hopped a fence, crossed a little field and hiked up snow covered rocks and bushes to the base of the climb. We put harnesses on, I racked up, then started up the ice below the pillar. I started on the right side of the flow, climbing a very short step and then a slightly longer steep step above the first. From the top of the second step I headed up and left towards the pillar on thin, but low angled, ice. Once I reached the base of the final pillar I was surprised to see that it was actually about 10m long, vertical, and chandeliered... I thought to myself, 'dammn, I've never lead water ice like this', and was hesitant to continue. I thought of placing a screw right at the base of the pillar but decided to conserve them (I only have 7) for the steep section, plus I needed the long one to make an Abalakov if neccesary. I started up the chandeliered, dripping pillar and got a screw in partway up, I continued up the steep pillar until I got to just below an obvious crux and fired in a short screw. I did a few more moves and got some bomber sticks at the top of the pillar and pulled into a shallow cave. The very top of the cliff was a few feet above me but getting there would require pulling a roof on a 3 inch thick curtain, the shallow cave had good ice in it and I built a solid abalakov and rapped down. My 70 meter rope didn't quite make it so I ended the rap in some bushes to the right. It then started to snow very hard so we quickly packed up and walked home. Overall the route was much better than anticipated, it was longer and steeper than I had originally thought and made for a nice F.A on Christmas Eve.... My only picture of the route sucks... I'll get a better one tomorrow if visibility improves The route from the base, it starts on the right hand side then diagonal's up left to the base of the obvious pillar. I ended in the shallow cave at the top of the pillar. Gear Notes: Screws, V-Thread Tool.... Approach Notes: Just off Mountain View Road in Agassiz, Look for some bluffs facing the road on the hill... the obvious pillar above the trees is the top of the route...

Trip: Hope - FA Blue Moose (90m WI3+) Date: 12/22/2008 Trip Report: Tyler Linn and I climbed a new route near Hope today. The climb forms on the lower slopes of Hope Mountain about 200m west of the Thacker Creek drainage and I have been eying it for several years. A steep curtain at the base that doesn't always form leads to rolling ramps. You can only see it briefly from the highway but from the east side of Hope near the Coquihalla Bridge on Kawkawa Lake Road it is very obvious. It looked like the curtain had touched down so Tyler and I headed up after a bit of a gong show involving me forgetting my tools in Chilliwack and driving back to grab them. You can't park at the base on the highway so we ended up parking at the Hope crematorium and walking along the highway to the route. A better spot would have been to park near the gas pipeline office. You turn off the highway right at a sign saying "Next Services 100 km" and bushwack up to the climb in about 15 or so minutes. Route line from the highway. Route from the base. The direct pillar was touching down but was sadly spitting wet and horribly chandeliered and I didn't fancy leading it. Neither did Tyler. However I found a dry line along the very left margin, steep with good rests for 20m and then a narrow chimney/ramp line with some tricky and delicate footwork on a narrow ice vein combined with moss drytooling. I belayed after 30m in a clump of bushes and dealt with a loose crampon. Tyler led through on the next pitch which was a long rambly ramp, snowy but with a steep 15m high WI3 in the middle. We walked off to the east (towards Thacker Creek - skiier's right of the climb) down through steep forest, no rappels necessary. Ass shot of me reaching the ramp. The climb was pretty good, the direct column will also be a fine line with short approach when it comes in. Most everything else is in around Hope and the Fraser Valley in general and should last till Friday. Gear Notes: Eight screws or so, a few 10 and 13cms are useful. Approach Notes: See trip report.

Trip: buck mountain - firs: buckshot (an easy way up the north side) Date: 12/3-5/2008 Trip Report: first internet recorded spray (attempt at hype deflation): on 12/4, cappellini and i climbed the line marked in red on the accompanying photo (photo used with permission of john scurlock: http://www.pbase.com/nolock/mountains ). we found conditions thinner than shown on john's photo from 12/7/05. we pitched out the first 4 ropelengths (wi3, wi4, wi4+, wi3). 3 simul-climbing blocks followed (quite a few wi2/3 sections separated by snow slopes). late in the day we were at the head of the main gully below some overhangs (the uppermost point of the blue line in the photo). overcome with a recurrence of alpine chicken syndrome, we downclimbed a couple hundred feet and simul-zigged right up steep sugar snow and neve to a belay. a zag left for 2 pitches (a bit of m4/5?)in the dark led to the ridge. dan was unwilling to slog up to the summit so we descended the west slopes and back to the tent on the moraine. in retrospect, we should have finished up the a ramp system roughly marked by the green line (more sustained and aesthetic) and slogged to the summit. to my knowledge the only photos dan took were during the hike out. as wayne noted, there are other lines to be climbed here. a line of smears directly up the north face would be a fantastic addition. ice forms early and those willing to play roulette with the road condition will be rewarded. watch for cornices (very small this year compared to previous years that i have seen it) and wind deposition. buckshot: iv, wi4+ plus a little bit of m4/5(?) Gear Notes: screws, rack to 2.5" plus kb's/la's Approach Notes: call the usfs wenatchee river ranger station at 548-6977 to make sure all gates are open on the chiwawa river road. 4wd and/or chains highly recommended.

Trip: Hells Gate/Fraser Canyon - FA "Styx" 105m WI3 Date: 1/26/2008 Trip Report: This line is located 200m north of Cerberus on the west side of Hells Gate. I had scoped it earlier and it seemed pretty easy, with a couple steep steps dividing rambly-type ice. My friend Sarah was down from PG and looking to do her first ice leads so this appeared to be a good choice. We left Agassiz at 7:30, had some Triple O's in Hope and left the car parked at Hells Gate around 8:30. Hiked down to the river, waited for 2 trains to pass, crossed the bridge and 2 sets of fences, and hiked up the tracks past Cerberus gully to below the route. Crampons on at the tracks and 100m of easy approach hiking up low-angle ice led to the route. First pitch was 45m with 5m and 15m WI3 steps separated by easy ice. Second and third pitches were led by Sarah for her first two ice leads. P2 was 20m WI2, mostly moving the belay up an easy ramp. P3 was 40m WI3 with a 5m near-vertical wall halfway up and easier ice elsewhere. Two raps down. Snow started on first rappel. On the way back out it turned out one of the locked gates we had climbed over was not really locked. Slog back up to the highway, as always, is crux of climbing at Hells Gate. Gear Notes: 8 screws, 2 ropes, waterproof gloves Approach Notes: Hike down trail, cross river, walk up tracks

Some ice/mixed stoke for some of you. 3sEm_j5fqqw Story at http://www.climbing.com/news/hotflashes/winterdance07

Trip: Sumallo Bluffs - Unnamed WI3 - 60m Date: 12/1/2007 Trip Report: I went up to the Sumallo Bluffs today with Matt Kidd and his buddy Cam. We climbed a WI3 a few hundred meters to the left of 'the mess'. The ice was super thin and sketchy for Matt to lead because of lmited screw placements. We all made it up and I was ecstatic after my first ice climb ever. Here's some pics... Here's details about our climb. We drove past the Buzowski Kippan and Landmark gullies for at most 1km and pulled over at a small parking lot across from a couple small clearcuts. We headed into the trees about 50ft back from where we parked and crossed the creek on a small log bridge we contructed over a shallow area. We bushwacked up the trees for 20 mins to find ourselves at the base of a small gully with some low angled ice at the bottom, we then traversed east into the next gully and ascended snow covered rocks to the base of our climb. The 60m rope was about 15ft short of making it to the anchor tree (above and left of the route)..so a 70m rope would be a good idea unless you want to simul climb 15ft of the route while your partner climbs to the anchor. To descend we did one single rope rappel down a cut in the trees to the left of the climb and then one double rope rappel down the last bit of trees. These two rappels bring you to a little slope 25m left of the base of the route. We then bushwacked straight down through the forest back to the car. If this is an FA I dont really know what to name the route..suggestions would be cool.. I was thinking of calling it Stairway to Heaven because the route reminded me of three big steps.. but I'm pretty sure that that name has been used a million times before.

Trip: Abiel Peak - Spindrift Daze (FA) Date: 2/3/2007 Trip Report: Matt (NYC007), Bob (Tazman) and I established a new route on the north face of Abiel Peak yesterday. Thanks for making the slog guys, it was worth it. We were indecisive about where to go and what to climb, but Abiel held that "I have lots of unclimbed lines" appeal for us. We had also heard that lots of people were interested in Kent, so that added to our decision. The road to the trailhead was slicker than a skating rink, so we had to bivy in Bob's sweet camper at the Granite Mountain parking lot across I-90. Beers were swilled until too late in the night. A short night with inadequate sleep later found us tromping up the trail, sliding all over the place and falling on our asses, until we got to the valley. We reached the base around 10:00 and scoped out our options. Compared to last year, routes are very thin, but most will go with some work. approaching the route (with hanging daggers below the slab) we picked a line left of the North Face Direct, but right of the 1984 route. We tried the direct line up the hanging daggers, but it was unprotectable and just out of reach. ultimately, we went right a little ways and I took us up the first pitch (AI3X) to a semi-hanging belay under an overhang at about 30M. I think I used a couple of my nine lives on that pitch. it is one of the few where I almost puked upon reaching the belay. two more pitches of ice took us up to a steep snow couloir filled with mostly great neve. starting up the first pitch Somewhere in there it started snowing, then it turned into a freezing mist...Then the spindrift started. Bob cresting the difficulties into the couloir...happy to be out of the firing line Matt took us on a long simul pitch up the couloir; after which I took us up to the top. we gained the 1984 route for about 50' at the top of our route. Matt finishing up We skipped the half ropelength walk to the summit and walked off down the west ridge to the descent gully since it was getting dark and we were soaking wet. A long and dreamlike trudge out the valley brought us back to more beers in the early evening. FA: Abiel Peak, "Spindrift Daze" III, AI3+ Kurt Hicks, Matt Cusack, Bob Masasi blue - 1984 route orange - Spindrift Daze yellow - North Face Direct Green - North Face Couloir Only the lower half of the routes are visible. Gear Notes: Gear to 2" pins (mostly LAs, Angles) 10 screws Approach Notes: I-90, exit 47. Annette Lake Trailhead, go up the valley bottom to the face. 3 hours. no flotation needed.

Trip: Highway 270, WA - "Death by Chocolate" WI 5+ M7 Date: 2/4/2007 Trip Report: Finally I got a first ascent!!! After getting kicked off the 'bouldering curtain' behind Shop-ko in Pullman, we (Lee Neer and I)found these two pieces of Ice hidden behind a new, (6 months old) Rock pit on the way back to Moscow. The climb on the left is for tomorrow morning as early as light will allow, and hopefully will be another successful F.A. The one on the right was option 'B', but looked safer, (relatively, lol), because it was not quite as overhanging as the left one. I'm just excited, sorry. . . .. . .pulling out of the cave scared the shit out of me, and the whole 'climbing on very brown ice' was totally foreign. The one nice thing about the beginning was the amount of 'hooking' available due to the heinously thin/new/overhanging ice, but it meant the burn held off till the end. . . .. . .now to work on some endurance. . . Going to get a couple of second opinions tomorrow, but as far as Big John (hyperspud sports), and I have figured it would go around WI 5+ // or M7-8 and I named it "Death by Chocolate", approx. 60-70ft. short, but oh so sweet. Pun intended. Going to pull a repeat and then a couple second ascents tomorrow morning and hopefully the left climb. . .hopefully. . . (Photos by Amanda Wiebush) CRAIGMAN Gear Notes: short screws approx. 5 and a BD spectre, (or 2), a couple small nuts, and a Trango 'ballnutz' size 3 if you care. Approach Notes: tomorrow

Today my girlfriend, suckbm, and I decided to find some ice. The approach was a five minute uphill walk wich left me gasping for air, seriously. The crux was getting through a barb wire fence while suckbm tried to grop me. We found some undocumented ice to the right of the "Beer" routes. We first climbed the middle route, which we named "Pink Panty Dropper," 35 feet tall, WI 3. Then the route to the right, which we named "Gummy Bear Martini." 25 feet tall, WI 3. We were going to climb the far left one as well, but I walked to the base and the top out was only 6 feet above my head. Perhaps Capallini would find it a significantly tall climb. The FA is up for grabs. We then trecked over to the far left of the Beer routes and found a climb wich to our knowledge had not been climbed. We followed foot prints to the base of the climb and topped out to some fresh webbing. It was an excellent climb though. I really wanted to do Bavarian Dark, but it was to chandeliered for me. Lastly, we climbed Sody Pop which was in great condition, Rainier Light was not in, it could be climbed but you would just bash your picks up. My little darling.

Trip: Snake River - Higher Learning (FA) Date: 1/18/2007 Trip Report: Justin and I decided to skip our formal coursework and take our education outdoors today. We climbed what we believe to be a new route along the Snake River, about 3 miles east of Granite Point. "Higher Learning" WI4+/5-, 65' of ice. Side view of higher learning About 2/3 up the route. The pillar above was fully detached and shook throughout whenever I swung into it. We decided to walk off to the right (which included horrendous berrybrush bushwacking and a crotch deep creek fording). It is better to rap the route with 2 ropes from the bush we slung. Justin post climb. It is the hardest route he's ever done. FA: Kurt Hicks, Justin Hougham Higher Learning WI4+/5-, 65' Gear Notes: A half dozen screws Gear to .75", mostly stoppers and pitons 2 ropes to rappel Approach Notes: At milepost 19 on Wawawai River Road, a couple miles toward Lewiston from Granite Point.

One week ago my partner and I attempted the unnamed and unclimbed Strobach D on page 220 of the WA Ice book. The begining of the climb begins with a 25 foot free hanging ice curtin, aprroximatly 95 degrees. While attempting the route a loud bang, like a gunshot came from the curtin and a fracture line appeared. I bailed. We returned one week later (12/29/06) to find the hanging ice in a little better condition, resulting in the FA of a fine route. Name/Difficulty: Tower of Power - WI 5 FA: 12/29/06 Length: 50 meters Avalanche Danger: Moderate Approach: The right most flow in the Motherlode Area Route: Ascend the 25 foot 95 degree free hanging curtin leading to moderate ice climbing above Descent: Rappel the route

Trip: Banks Lake - Brush Master II, WI4+, 5.7 (FA) Date: 12/28/2006 Trip Report: What do you do at Banks when it's not "in"? You go mixed climbing. Today Matt (NYC007) and I established a new route that is mentioned as a "rumor of ice" in the Washington Ice Guide. It is located between "The Cable" and "H202". We named the route "Brush Master" after it's slight resemblance to Mixed Master (which we just climbed last week). We found no traces of prior ascents. The route starts on fractured basalt, by the road, left of the ice runnel to gain a snowy ledge. Traverse out right to the icicles and ascend the brushy ramp, protected with many many crappy knifeblades, to thicker ice above. I belayed after about 50m, just after the first ice step (yellow/gray aliens helpful). The last 50' of ice were sunbaked and partially detached, but the sun was shining and it was a great, although quite technical, pitch. After that, one double rope rappel from the now slung bush brought us back to the ground. A nice little mixed route. Brush Master (click for topo) Me leading the first mixed crux Higher up on the sun baked and detached pillar. A good day out "Brush Master" II, 65M WI4+, 5.7 FA: Kurt Hicks, Matt Cusack Gear Notes: An arsenal of knifeblades (8 or so) small cams #1 or 2 camalot (optional for last pitch) a couple screws & screamers slings double ropes to rappel Approach Notes: Park about 100m south of H202.

Trip: Hedley Ice - Private Reserve WI3+ 45m FA Date: 12/9/2006 Trip Report: There are some advantages to knowing a meteorologist. Jmace is a meteorologist. On Friday night he told us that a 200 foot thick layer of freezing air would persist in the Hedley area through Saturday when it was +5C and raining in Lillooet and Pemberton. Fuck ya! So Jordan and Steve and Jesse actually woke up at 4 AM and picked me up at 6. Off to Princeton. Somebody said that they emailed Serl about ice climbing this weekend and that he told them a lobotomy would help if you wanted to find climbable ice with this weather Surprisingly enough, we got to Princeton and it was still cold. Actually Landmark Gully was even in at Sumallo Bluffs albeit a bit gray and melted looking. Drove from Princeton to Keremeos scoping for ice. When driving to Rossland to visit snoboy last year, I remembered seeing some ice on the wrong side of the river. We even brought hip waders in case we had to cross the river. But we saw the ice, looked in the Backroads Mapbook, and it turned out that there was a road to the base. Fuckin' A! It turned out that the road crossed native reserve lands. Well, I'm 1/32nd First Nations so I figured it would be Ok if we drove up the the "Private Keep Out" signed road. We did. We did run into a truck with two native guys in it while racking up. They smiled and waved. We smiled and waved. They didn't stop. End of access worry for the day. The hike up Larcan Creek to the route sucks. Jordan, Steve and I got covered in tiny burrs. Jesse dodged it somehow. It took us about an hour to make it to the ice. We roped up. Jesse got the sharp end. 45m of blue plastic goodness. Knowing that it was +7 and raining in Vancouver made it all the sweeter We ended up taking two laps apiece to fill out the day. You could climb this rig at WI3/3+ on the left or chandeliered WI4 on the right, good stuff. I forgot my camera but everyone else remembered theirs. Pics will come. Hiking out we found a better way out via game trails on the north side. No prickle bushes but "approach crampons" might help. Ate dinner at the Greek place in Princeton and drove home. Steve went to some party and got hungover. End of story The name of this thing is "Private Reserve". Seemed appropriate somehow. It went up to +2 in Princeton today Gear Notes: Fat ice takes good screws. Approach Notes: Drive to Keremeos. Take Ashnola Rd. Just before pavement ends go right and follow dirt road through reserve to Larcan Creek. Park and gain 300m on slopes right (north) of drainage then contour on game trails to the ice. 45 minutes to an hour from vehicle. Ice cannot be seen from parking area or most of approach but can be scoped from Hwy 3 about 8 km east of Hedley. LENGTH OF DRIVING: ~600 km LENGTH OF ICE CLIMBED: ~2 laps @ 45m per person

Trip: Hope - Frost Heave (WI2+ R) - F.A Date: Today Trip Report: So I drove out to Hope today to meet my friend Justin Brown. Justin has done rock and alpine climbing but never water ice. He showed up with a pair of old straight-shafted Grivels with tied webbing leashes. "Ok, let's climb something easy. Warm up, first route of the season, yup!" So pretty much everything in Hope is in and fat right now except for Rickets. JLTR is quite big. Moustrap is solid. But we headed over to the gas pipeline crag on the north side where there is this big low-angle flow set up that I had only seen formed once before. On close examination the big flow does not really touch down, it vanishes into some turf about a pitch up. But a subsidiary flow on the left ran up to more or less the same height so we thought maybe we could climb that and traverse over. JB at the bottom This thing had a short steep start (WI2+) and then a long slabby section with some turf and scary thin ice (WI2R). I had a couple of 10 and 13cm screws mostly in and one tied off 16cm halfway in . At the top there was a comical mantle onto a huge moss blob and then a traverse left to a belay tree (40m). Justin finishing the pitch into the bushes. Getting across to the rest of the ice looked kind of sketchy with some snow-covered prickle bushes and bare slabby granite to contend with, also Justin had just bent the tip of his Grivel at 45 degrees So we decided to call it a day. Descent was a walkoff to climbers left down a ramp. Fun fun Hope might not be in by this weekend because of this warm front coming in but it should still be in tomorrow if you need an ice fix cxlose to Bellingham or Vancouver. Like I said, pretty much everything is in and climbable at Hope*. Bridal Falls area is still forming, only Never a Bridge and the Fox/Webb looked climbable. Bridal Falls itself was running in the middle, Decent Divorce was not touching down on the middle pillar, and White Wedding had 2 or 3 icicles waiting to touchdown. Easy Intro was in but really chandeliered. There was some unclimbed stuff in and fat by the Diviner and Hunter Creek looked fat and sassy except Medusa looked a bit thin at the bottom (maybe harder than 4 right now?) Seabird is in. Tailwind is in. * Hells Lake Falls is forming, looked too thin to lead but could be toproped? Gear Notes: Stubbies Warthogs for turf if you have them Strong rated picks (I can never remember if B or T are the thicker ones) Approach Notes: Drive Highway 7 east from Hope and park at the gas pipeline. Walk back on the gated road on the north side of the slough about 200m to the obvious roadside ice.

Climb: Abiel Peak-It's All-Der Date of Climb: 3/25/2006 Trip Report: After changing plans at the last minute, Keith, Pax and I decided to check out Abiel Peak on Saturday. The approach trail is popular with day hikers, and was packed down so well that we didn't need our snowshoes at all. Having hiked up in here this past fall with Keith, we sagely knew not to follow the picknic-table-nature-trail loop trail out of the parking lot. If you're coming in on skis, I would just go up the valley which is to the right once you reach the railroad grade (as Ade mentioned in his TR). As it has been mentioned, there are a ton of lines up there. The rock is like the sourrounding peaks: compact and fairly crackless. mixed lines could be bold. (big topo in the gallery) Fun climbing with two pitches of AI3 and one of AI4 on the right side of the face. We easily walked off right and down a wide gully to the west. more pics/details on my website Gear Notes: 4 screws, short and medium length lots of slings #1 camalot Approach Notes: Exit 47 off I-90. Take the Annette lake trail

Climb: Abiel Peak-North Face Possible FA Date of Climb: 3/11/2006 Trip Report: I have been intrigued by this peak, the “Ben Nevis of the Northwest”, since reading the brief description of its many unclimbed lines in Washington Ice, by Jason Martin and Alex Krawrik. Jason shared his take on the peak’s potential, and gave me beta on the line he and Gene Pires attempted in 2002. My usual partner was un-amused by my cryptic midnight ravings about this “sick line”, and excused himself with a newfound interest in geo-caching. So Mark Bunker agreed to join me on what would turn out to be a great adventure. After a scenic bus ride, I met Mark in Federal Way, and we were off. The approach hike was straightforward, if long. A ton of fresh powder needed to be blazed through, and we kicked in a nice trail to Lake Annette, across its frozen surface, and up to the base of the Peak. Our route in red, North Face Couloir entrance marked in green. We hiked up the highest snow finger right of the summit, left the snowshoes and my pack, and headed up to the fun stuff. Mark offered me the first lead, which clocked in about WI3 and ended up at a rock belay on the right side. After grabbing the rack, Mark traversed onto the main flow, approx 80degrees, and ran the rope out to a tree belay, just below the ridge. Swinging up the second pitch in great neve! This second pitch was great, two steep pillars connected by 60degree neve…sweet! We unroped on the ridge, wallowed up to the summit amid snow flurries and took in the seldom seen (for me) view of the peaks south of Snoqualmie Pass. Summit Shot, with Granite Mountain We descended the route via two double-rope rappels, and hiked out, where Mark was gracious and patient enough to occasionally wait for me to catch up. Headlamps stayed warm and dry in our packs on the descent, so we are not sure if it really counts as a winter ascent, ha-ha! This was a fun line, guarded by a slightly longer approach than other Snoqualmie Pass climbs. There is, as noted in Washington Ice, several awesome, unclimbed lines across the breadth of the north face. Many burly mixed climbs await their first suitors, so go check it out! Thanks for a great climb Mark! Gear Notes: Black Sabbath, large malnourished rabid dog to guard car and aforementioned Black Sabbath, screws, slings, and a small rock rack. Approach Notes: Hide your car in a ditch then snowshoe/ski up Lake Annette Trail (exit 47 off I-90)

Climb: Coquihalla Ice-FA - The Drool In The Lotus (100m WI3) Date of Climb: 2/18/2006 Trip Report: After driving out to Hope yesterday and scoping the available ice I spent last night hunting for a partner. One friend was flying in from Edmonton for the weekend but I thought it would be cool to go as a party of 3... many partners had other plans. Finally my friend got off the plane and called me "Uh, yeah... I looked at the temps online and thought it was too warm so I didn't bring my ice gear." So this morning I woke up late grabbed some tools and drove out to checkacheckacheck it out and maybe find something I could solo. There were a couple lines out by Sowaqua Creek I had been eying for a while. This thing is still unclimbed. It is what I had hoped to climb. It catches a lot of sun and might be rotten but it looks real purty. Seemed too hard to solo. Hidden in the gully north of the next buttress north there is more ice. I parked and walked to where I could see it. It looked pretty thin. I decided to bail. However, while I was driving to the turnaround I got a better view and saw more ice. OK, I'll go take a look. The route from the highway. red dots are bottom and top of the ice. The approach was the usual one hour plod uphill through talus and vine maple. I saw quite a few deer and coyote tracks and one set of what might be bobcat. Seems like a popular spot for the wildlife. When I got to the base of the ice it seemed climbable so I racked up. I had carried two ropes up in case it might be a rap descent but it seemed like I could walk off or downclimb so I left the ropes at the base. There was a WI2 start on the left but some fun mixed bouldering straight up so I climbed that. Thin ice and good turf sticks, probably M3 or so. Route from the base with mixed boulder start visible, before I knocked half of it down. Once above the bottom mixed step I climbed onto the ice. There was 30m or so of thin WI2 with some snow and running water, then a terrace. Above the terrace was a fun, narrow WI3 corner with some good stemming off the rock behind and generally thin shitty ice. I was glad I was climbing solo because there weren't many spots where the ice would have taken screws. The last section was about 35m and was a wider curtain with options ranging from a WI4 looking pillar to a soaking wet WI2 gully. I picked a dry line between the two extremes that featured a body length vertical step and some thin ice bulges, good WI3 with nice rests. The ice emerged from some munge at the top so I turf-tooled and bushwacked through the prickle bushes into the forest above. I figured I could walk off climbers' right. So, I wandered over that way with my crampons still on. After traversing a bunch of ledges I got into another gully system that had a beautiful, overhanging black-and white streaked basalt rock wall covered with wind-whipped icicles growing out in crazy directions. It was also catching sun and running with water and ice was falling off regularly. It had been -6C when I left the car but was considerably warmer in the sun. I stuck to the base of the overhanging wall and all the ice fell away from me instead of on me. Downclimbed a rubble chute and traversed back to my pack, then headed down. As soon as I took my crampons off for the descent I took a good fall and slid about 50m down frozen talus on my ass before stopping in a snowdrift fortunately with no holes in my new pants Red line shows ascent and descent. After getting back to the car I decided to call the route "The Drool In The Lotus" which is a pun on one of the names for Buddhism. Unlike Muslims I don't think Buddhists are going to hunt me down for joking about their religion? This was a fun little climb that seemed a lot like Rambles Centre in terms of overall difficulty and style of climbing. and best of all I was back in time to meet some hiking friends in da Wack for beer Gear Notes: two tools crampons Approach Notes: Park at Sowaqua Creek exit, route is visible from north end of onramp. walk across highway bridge then follow pipeline road for 200m then straight uphill thru vine maples for one hour.

Climb: Chiwawa Mtn.-NW Face Date of Climb: 3/6/2005 Trip Report: Dave Burdick and I climbed a new route on Chiwawa Mtn this past weekend, after spotting the awesome-looking line in John Scurlock's new pictures. On Saturday we snomobiled up the Chiwawa River Road (with a snowmobile generously lent by Phil), and then skied up the Chiwawa Basin Trail (lot's of dirt skiing involved). We woke up early yesterday and hiked up to the Chiwawa-Fortress col, and then made a descending traverse to the base of the NW Face. Our route climbed the very obvious gully/chimney in the center of the face, starting mostly on ice, and gradually becoming more mixed. The climbing was fantastic although hard, and the route was the best mixed climb I've ever done. Our last pitch bailed out of the chimney onto the face on the right, but if some strong mixed climbers head in there they'll probably do the direct finish. Dave had his digital camera, so I expect we'll see some pictures soon. Chiwawa Mtn, NW Face New Route: "Intravenous" - IV, WI4, M6. Gear Notes: Reccomended Gear: -60m rope -5 knifeblades -a few small nuts -cams up to #1 camalot -2 stubby, 2 17 cm screws Approach Notes: The Chiwawa River Road is starting to get bare, so snowmobiling won't be a good option soon. However, the route sees no sun, so it will probably be in for at least a few more weeks, and perhaps the road will be drivable by then.

This is my first attempt to post a TR with pictures so in advance please excuse my ineptitude with this. Will send them soon. No TR function for posting? So two weeks ago, I took my two dogs for a walk up the Mt Dickerman trail on a rainy/snowy day. About two hours out at the 4500 foot level, there was a small creek which the dogs lapped up the cold water. Above was this patchy system of ice up the rambly cliffy section. The rest of the hike was pleasant in the snowy/rainy Washington kind of way. I knew though that the climb could form if it stayed cold and didn’t snow too much. This last week was good for creating ice. Fairly cold and clear. Alex was up for a good day and I was also able to convince a new buddy, Robert on a temporary assignment from LA, to come along. We got a good early start for the hike in, climb and follow up with a hike to the top. Two hours walking on solid boot pack (must be hundreds of switchbacks) got us to the ice, right above the trail. The ice is a cool little WI2 and about 75 meters, give or take a dozen meters. It can be split into 2 pitches at a convenient tree belay 30 meters up. The ice was thin with frequent hitting of rock but plenty of good medium and stubby screws were placed the whole way up. The angle of the ice compensates for the thin ice conditions. I hauled a bunch of standard rock gear and pins but was unable to find any cracks to place anything. Two raps off trees get back to the ground. Farther left, there is the possibility of some shorter ice climbs, some easier, some mixed. All involve wallowing through the deep stuff. After our climb, we got back on the bootpack trail and continued another hour to the top. We carried our ice gear with us to confuse and/or frighten the more sane hikers. No one seemed to notice. For those who haven’t been on top dickerman, there are good views of n and e face big 4, n face sperry, n face vesper, w face sloan, glacier, pugh, whitechuck, e face Whitehorse, e face 3 finger and baker. Many possible winter objectives can be checked out from this vantage point. Note for dog lovers, lots of people with dogs on this trail last week. I would not expect this climb to be exposed during a more normal season. It seems that it could easily be buried. But in early season, this could be a good climb to knock the rust off the swing and get a leg workout. It seems that this climb must have been done before due to the access. Whoever may have done it never bothered to mention it to Jason and Alex for the ice guide. Maybe it is too easy to bother reporting? But whatever, it is ice, it is in Washington, it has a nice trail, and it is fun for hacks like me. For those alpine suffering types, there is no visable ice on the west face of Sloan, east face of Whitehorse and Three fingers. BUT there is a very interesting ice formation on Big 4’s east face. Maybe three pitches of very steep terrain. It has a complicated approach but the reward is equally big for those willing to suffer. I will try to post some pictures later when I figure out how to zoom in on the photos I got. Gear: standard ice gear, medium and stubby screws, maybe some KB’s, snowshoes needed if there is recently snowfall. Skis not useful.

Climb: Mt. Snoqualmie, NW Face-Pineapple Express Date of Climb: 2/9/2005 Trip Report: On my third attempt this year, Roger Strong and I finally climbed the line going up the longest part of the NW Face of Mt. Snoqualmie. It starts just left of the lowest point of the face in a hidden right facing corner. 7 long mixed pitches lead up and then right to an intersection with New York Gully. Follow last 2 pitches of NYG to the top. 1000' of primo Snoqualmie pass mixed climbing. We dubbed the route Pineapple Express, grade IV, 5.8, M6, WI3+ R. Gear Notes: 60M rope,pins,nuts, cams, and lots of slings Approach Notes: Straight up Phanthom Slide, then drop into Thunder Creek basin and traverse to lowest point of face.

Climb: Hope-Powerhouse Falls, WI 2/3, FRA Date of Climb: 1/14/2005 Trip Report: McBee and I were getting ready to hike to Piccadilly Circus, but saw a tempting target directly behind the Power Station 11km west of Hope on Hwy 1. A great short approach up a gravel road led to two full 50 meter pitches of WI2 or 3. We continued on up the gully system for another 500 feet of elevation gain, soloing four more Grade 2 steps before ringing the bell and descending. Even though this climb isn't in Don's new guide, I am very skeptical that it hasn't been climbed already. We did see boot prints on the approach, filled in slightly by the last storm cycle, but saw no signs of passage on the climb. McBee and I joked about naming it "Shock and Awe." Gear Notes: Standard ice rack Approach Notes: Exit at the Power Station, an unmarked exit ramp immediately before Herring Island exit. Park on the shoulder of the pavement. Walk up the gravel road heading behind the Power Station. When you reach the Battery Room building, head left on an old FS road to the creek. Powerhouse Falls will come into sight, just a few more minutes uphill.