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Trip: Southern Pickets - A Thread of Ice 2nd Ascent and 1st Ski Descent Date: 7/4/2011 Trip Report: Over a clear weather window Louie Dawson and I spent 3 days adventuring, climbing, and skiing in the Southern Pickets. Sorry it took a lot of work to write and add photos all info can be found here: http://mtnsaremyhome.blogspot.com/ Gear Notes: Lots Approach Notes: Long

First Ascent of the White Chick “White Chick” (Pk 5884 southeast of White Chuck Mountain) May 21, 2011 Personnel: Paul Klenke, Stefan Feller, Martin Shetter, and Fay Pullen (the token white chick). Stefan says he likes my trip reports because I always put in so much detail. Well for this report, I’m not gonna. Why? Becuase I’m a busy family man. Plus, I’m 40 now, so I’m old(er), and stupid(er), and out-of-shape®. Here are some views of White Chick, the rocky bump to the right of White Chuck: [img:center]http://c0278592.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/original/79240.jpg[/img] [img:center]http://c0278592.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/original/96702.jpg[/img] [img:center]http://c0278592.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/original/186265.jpg[/img] We met in Seattle at 4:45am, which is usually REM time for me, not RPM time. So motoring to the Park ‘n Ride was a catatonic affair. But there they were, the OTHERS, waiting for me, already there, already laughing about something. Anyway, Stefan drove to the “trailhead.” Well first he drove to the Darrington gas station (I know it well, as do you) so I could purchase an energy drink. What? Two for one? I’m all over that like crappy snow on a Cascades ski resort. Here is White Chick from the bridge over the river: [img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/504/medium/599x401xWChi01_fr_river_bridge_I_sm.JPG.pagespeed.ic.AsoHnu-gmb.jpg[/img] We started at 6:45 on the overgrown logging road at the head of Dan Creek (elevation 1970 ft). The first obstacle was Black Oak Creek where the bridge had either slumped and disappeared or had been removed. All that remains is a large rusted girder and very steep banks. The Black Oak Creek washout (the banks are steeper than they look): [img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/504/medium/WChi03_Black_Oak_Cr_washout_I_sm.JPG[/img] After this creek that reminds me of a Soundgarden song, we walked the remaining three miles of mossy road eastward and upward. The annoying windfall decreased, but the annoying snow cover increased (plod plod plod). At 3400 feet we came to the end of the roadway at a spur ending in a regrowing clearcut. We avoided this wetness and arced around it through nice old growth (some big trees here). The old road: [img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/504/medium/WChi04_old_logging_road_sm.JPG[/img] Stefan and I descended steep duff a couple of hundred vertical into the big gully beyond the last clearcut. But Martin and Fay pullened it and took the ridge upward paralleling the west side of the gully. They essentially got cliffed out while Stefan and I easily ascended the avalanche debris escalator to approximately 4000 ft. We only lost about 20 minutes waiting for them. A view of the big gully (my wife said the snow fooled her into thinking it was a white-water torrent): [img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/504/medium/WChi05_the_big_gully_I_sm.JPG[/img] The cliffy west side of the gully at 4000 ft (Stefan's in this photo; he pulled his pants up just in time…): [img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/504/medium/WChi09_north_side_of_gully_sm.JPG[/img] That mountain whose name I forget as seen from the big gully: [img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/504/medium/WChi08_Forgotten_fr_gully34_sm.JPG[/img] I took off to break trail up and right from the gully, traversing more rightward than upward to avoid the likely cliffs obliquely abutting the gully. Since I’m old(er) and fat(ter), Stefan eventually caught up to me and finished the remainder of the slog up to the base of the rocks, which finally opened up to us at 5300 ft. [img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/504/medium/WChi10_Stefan_at_5300_ft_sm.JPG[/img] A view of the northwest side of the summit rocks (this is about as good as the views got on this day): [img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/504/medium/WChi11_at_5400_ft_sm.JPG[/img] I took a brief second shot at kicking steps before motorfoot stomped past me. We took a snowy gully rightward from the left side of the rocky corner until the gully headed at short cliffs. A steep 55-degree snow chute got us up over a minor spur to the next gully over. We took this adjacent gully up a tad then left up a straight “Triple Couloirs-esque” gully to very nearly its col looking over the East Face. The cornice at the col notch was too much to approach comfortably, so Stefan exited right to continue up through short trees and minor rocks. Looking down the straight gully from the notch: [img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/504/medium/WChi22_final_gully_near_top_sm.JPG[/img] He got up to a rocky knoll a hundred or so yards from the summit and waited for me to catch up. He thought that belaying the final corniced ridge was the wise thing to do and I concurred. The climbing wouldn’t be technical but no one likes to do cornice tobogganing. The rocks abutting the cornice were wet and sloped and not conducive to walking over. Stefan took the lead up and I followed, dragging Martin and Fay’s second rope. [img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/504/medium/WChi21_final_ridge_IV_sm.JPG[/img] I made it up and immediately planked the summit (there was photographic evidence but Stefan erroneously deleted it because of its poor quality—the photograph, not the plank move). Stefan struggling to belay the token white chick. She’s sooo heavy! [img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/504/medium/WChi15_Stefan_at_top_III_sm.JPG[/img] Fay at the summit (in nice weather White Chuck Mountain would have been looming behind the white chick in this photo): [img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/504/medium/WChi16_Fay_at_top_sm.JPG[/img] Martin: [img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/504/medium/599x401xWChi17_Martin_at_top_sm.JPG.pagespeed.ic.1rbJxq2NUE.jpg[/img] I placed a Fay Pullen Special at the summit and built a cairn. This cairn kept falling over. I must suck at building cairns. Paul (no we weren’t all sharing the same jacket): [img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/504/medium/600x450xWChi18_Paul_at_top_sm.JPG.pagespeed.ic.NJFZ1gBfzX.jpg[/img] It had taken 5.5 hours to get up. Approximately 4.5 miles and 4000 ft of gain. We had taken not a single break and I only took my pack off once to put a jacket on. That’s not bad. Maybe I’m not as out-of-shape-and-fat-and-older as I thought. The token white chick in her element (w/o skis on!): [img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/504/medium/WChi23_Fay_at_4200_ft_sm.JPG[/img] We returned the way we came, glissading the big gully (that went quick!). The road walk back seemed longer on the way out (but isn’t that always how it seems?). 9.5 hours round trip. Our route: [img:center] http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/504/medium/WChi01_fr_river_bridge_I_anno.JPG[/img] [img:center] http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/504/medium/WChi02_fr_river_bridge_II_anno.JPG[/img] Our GPS Track courtesy of Fay: [img:center] http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/504/medium/White_Chick_Route_Fay_Pullen.JPG[/img] A comment on the weather, though it wasn’t bad (we were only blemished by light rain), remember that we had superb weather only the day before. And so it goes in Washington. Due to the weather, the conditions were cloudy and a white out most of the day. White Chuck Mountain made a brief appearance from the belay knoll and I took too long to photograph it. Drat! It would have shown the mountain from a previously unseen angle…if this truly was a first ascent. We think it was. Prove it if it wasn't. Epilogue So we’re at the car and Stefan breaks out a wrinkled dress shirt and suit and puts them on. Then he puts on a tie. Now, I’ve never seen him wear a tie before—and especially at a trailhead. This is most peculiar. He had said he had a memorial service to attend to in Ballard. Oooo-kay. Stefan in a “birthday” suit... In reality… He was just trying to throw me off (and he did). In reality there was a surprise 40th Birthday Party waiting for me back at the house. I opened the garage door with the opener as I’m backing my car in and the first things I see are a whole bunch of legs and then I realize for sure the thing I suspected might happen really is happening. I had a great time that night, so great in fact, that I did not go to bed until 4:00am—fully 24 hours after I got up. But I was only 39 years, 363 days old then. I’m 40 now and probably couldn’t handle that now. I am older, stupider, out-of-shaper, and weaker now. Gear Notes: Ice axe, safety rope for cornice adventures, suit and tie. Approach Notes: I don't know that this climb would be easier without snow. Steep duffy ground in the trees and then perhaps mossy rocks or steep heather higher up.

Trip: Leavenworth Midnight Rock - Running Start (New Route) Date: 8/25/2010 Trip Report: Melanie Estrella wanted to go to Midnight Rock in Tumwater Canyon for a loooong time and I too was taken with the idea. It perches another steep 30-minute hike above Castle Rock. Following the approach, we wander around Midnight Rock for a good half hour looking for the start of the famous ROTC. We didn't know about or find the ledge at Midnight Rock's mid-height that wraps around from the climber's left to almost the base of ROTC. So we decided to climb from the base of the crag 200 feet to ROTC. HOW HARD CAN IT BE? Note the forshortening in the pic. We aimed for the left of the side-by-side roofs. They look like the closed eyes of a giant wearing heavy mascara. [img:center]http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs661.snc4/60144_1499923013859_1107670161_31397475_2474442_n.jpg[/img] Mel gets the party started and takes a cool line up a diagonal crack system working up along a short fist to offwidth crack, onto an incredible layback flake, to another crack system to some face climbing and finally to a final layback flake to a small grassy alcove below 2 large roofs. Prolly goes at mid-5.10 with pretty good gear from micro to 4 inches. Here she is at the alcove about to balay me to God knows where. Beautiful smile. [img:center]http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs658.snc4/61816_1499921293816_1107670161_31397465_1922473_n.jpg[/img] Above the alcove, seems an impasse. The wall is blank on all sides except under the roof up and right. There is a 25-foot no-feet fingertip traverse on small gear rightward, under this roof (crux). Near the end, find a no-hands rest on a vicious knee lock and shake out. With a toe hook one is then able to flip up and over the roof's right side, to reach across a blank wall to a sweeeeeet hand crack (5.9 ish) with good gear to a much easier second roof and onto a spacious ledge above. *whew!* Here Melanie tops out modeling a sexy hula skirt of bling. [img:center]http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs718.snc4/63822_1499921973833_1107670161_31397467_7880547_n.jpg[/img] [img:center]http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs718.snc4/63822_1499922013834_1107670161_31397468_6514975_n.jpg[/img] Here, my appreciative 6th chakra is leaving my body, whatever a chakra is. Sorry, no other pics of the route. Having too much fun. Overall, first pitch 120 ft, mid 5.10 second pitch 80 ft, mid 5.11. Descent: Walk off the ledge system at top of pitch 2. Enjoy! Gear Notes: Pretty good gear. Doubles cams from micro to 3 inches. One #4 or #5 friend helpful for start. One set of stoppers. Approach Notes: Go to Castle Rock, cross Loggers Ledge and continue on a rising rightward faint trail to the base of Midnight Rock.

Trip: Washington Pass - New Route - Wright/Pond (5.11, 4 pitches) Date: 10/4/2010 Trip Report: I'm not sure how much climbing weather we'll have left this year, but we did a new route up on a feature near the pass and if anyone wants to go climb it and let us know what you think, we'd be stoked. It's all set up with bolted belays and a handful of lead bolts, and the route is pretty clean and super fun! It takes about an hour to get to, each of the first three pitches are rope-stretchers and are awesome and I'd say it was worth a day if you're looking for something new. Now!Climbing There's a complete write-up and more photos here if anyone's interested. P1 5.11a/b, 55m – Begin by climbing the obvious left-facing arch depicted in the photo below. At its terminus, head directly up gaining a shallow, right-facing corner. Climb this past one bolt to a strenuous pinch at an overlap. Gain the pinch and move left to a stance (crux) below a handsome, right-facing corner to the right of a large roof. Climb left around a flake to gain the corner and climb the corner crack to a bolted belay at a ledge with a small tree. A bold lead. P2 5.10c/d, 50m – Leave the belay to the left and head up a large flake towards a bolt on a small overlap. Clip the bolt and step right into a clean open book. Stemming and thin fingers lead through the open book and past another bolt to gain a stance. Step right and follow the line of six bolts up the face (crux) on small edges and pockets. Step left past the last bolt to a clean, shallow, right-facing corner. Follow the corner to another bolted belay. P3 5.10a, 50m – Head up the obvious right-facing corner (mostly fingers) until it closes out. Work the corner and face past one bolt until a small roof. Pull left past the roof into left-facing corner crack. Climb the crack up and left before another crack trends slightly rightward. Jam fingers and hands to its finish and climb a short, easy slab up and right to a treed ledge and another bolted belay at the base of a left facing corner/chimney. P4 5.8, 45m – Climb the blocky corner/chimney up past a tree until you gain a low-angled slab. Head left across the slab to a wide hand and fist crack hidden in a left-facing corner. Exit the corner up and right on blocky but easy ground to low-angled ledges. A tree with rappel slings is on the left. Descent: Rap the route in four double-rope rappels. Gear Notes: Double rack to #3;, emphasis on smaller cams and wires. RPs useful. Approach Notes: Turn off Hwy 20 app. 4.5 miles east of Washington Pass following signs for the Cutthroat Creek Trail. Drive about a mile down the road to a trailhead parking with a bathroom on the left side of the road. Walk up through the woods (no trail) towards the wall, gaining elevation quickly before traversing leftwards in open forest and on slabby benches. You should reach a shoulder near the base of the wall’s right-hand side within an hour to an hour and a half.

Trip: Silver Horn - F.A. - Spice of Life - III 5.10 C1 Date: 8/12/2010 Trip Report: First off: Im impatient and kind of an internet numbskull so I've posted photos on picasa Spice of Life Photos If someone could send me a PM with some simple instructions to insert directly I would appreciate it. Anywho... So awhile back I was visiting our friend Blake Herrington and talking about climbing. Go figure. He was showing me some photos of his trip to Silver Horn in '08, remarking about the rock quality and pointing out the two lines that now existed from the previous ascents. To my peaked interest (pun intended) there was a large corner system on the upper half of the formation that still lay untouched. Fast forward a few months and my good friend Mike Pond and I are getting psyched to go fire this thing. We roll into Mazama with perfect July weather but get sandbagged by athletic tape. Turns out Mike is horribly allergic to the adhesive substance on the tape and after taping his ankle for a long day in the mountains it swelled up and blistered for a week. Ugh. Fast forward again, roughly one year. Im coming off an injury, Mike has not climbed any serious rock for a few months and needs a good send off before he goes to Ohio for grad school. Seems like a perfect time to test this idea of ours deep in the mountains so we start hiking up the Cedar Cr. Trail outside of Mazama. This trail is super mellow for circa 7 miles. We hit the first major drainage and started the uphill schwack that would lead us into the proper cirque. (It turns out that a pretty decent, albeit discontinuous trail can be found that runs about 50 yards climbers right of the drainage creek.) From the cirque it is obvious where to go and we settled in for an open air bivy in the gorgeous meadow below Silver Star, Silver Horn, and the surrounding peaks. We woke at dawn and began the approach up through the slabby gully just east of Silver Horn to the base of its apron wall. Blake's line, Playin' not Sprayin', is an obvious corner system that looks fantastic. Although tempted by what is sure to be great climbing for the apron pitches, for the sake of doing something new we opted for a corner/crack system that runs between sprayin' and The Chalice. We swapped leads as we climbed and after reaching the bench and looking up the massive corner system that lured us up there I almost creamed my pants. The climbing through here is fantastic and the position is awesome. Topping this out we were met with a surprise. Thinking that it would top out, instead this put us about 15m below to summit. The rock for this short pitch left something to be desired and we probably would have opted to finish on the last chimney pitch of sprayin' as it was just out of reach via a sketch down climb. I attempted to tackle what seemed the "best" section of rock via an offwidth through a roof. My OW skills also leave something to be desired and after fussing with the crux for a bit and not totally trusting the rock/gear I frenchied the move and finished what was still some hard 5.10 climbing to the top. Mike tied in short so he could haul the pack up this last pitch and was able to pull through with a well placed fist jam. A quick mantle on the summit block and some belly timber for the soul left us ready to descend. To descend we rapped off the W/NW side into the gully (1 rappel) that heads south to into the cirque. Eventually cliffing out we resorted to rapping from tree to tree. Wondering if we took the shitty way down as we approached the final rappels down some slabs Mike made a mild suggestion to rappel of a questionable bush. As he said this I looked at my feet and there lay some sunbleached tat around a horn. I chuckled at the circumstance and remarked that we either had indeed taken the right way down or someone else had made the same mistakes. Assuming there was not a skeleton below we replaced the worn cord and reached terra firma 2 raps later. After all the terrain covered with the moments of tension and joy, at the end of the day, adventures like these boil down to one thing. Climbing is what we love to do. It is the spice of life. Pitch Breakdown: P1: Start 60 or so ft' right of Playin' not Sprayin' in a giant left facing corner. This widens drastically and move left into another left facing corner. Follow nice fingers to hands past a hollow flake until it pinches down to a seam. Pull right over an arete and back into the original corner for 20' to a small ledge with a tree. Move left along wicked finger rail traverse back into the other corner system (5.10), past some hanging flakes to a tree belay. 40m P2: Head straight up into a left facing flake/corner. Move past some slabby tree-grovel moves up and left of a small roof (past some more trees) and up about 15' right of a wide crack. Pull a bulge into a finger crack (5.10) that arcs from hands to wide and onto the belay. Sick! 60m P3: Follow grooves and a small flake up to the bench mid point. (5.7) 10m From the bench, move the belay left until you are below the awesome left facing corner. The next two pitches are brilliant. P4: Follow beautiful, mostly clean cracks on great rock. Stem your way up and pull a wild exposed mantle out right to the base of a prominent hand crack. (5.10-) 1" - 2" gear for belay. 50m P5: Climb the splitter until forced into chimney moves. Grovel/climb/work your way up until forced out left into a corner. Follow up into crazy orange rock and chimney up through the horn feature. (5.10) 60m P6: Climb exfoliating, suspect rock through an offwidth roof (effin hard!) and continue with mostly wide crack to the top. (5.10+ ish) 15m Mantle the summit block and be psyched. Gear Notes: Doubles in fingers through hand sizes. Single #3 and #4 (crucial). 60M rope. Good approach shoes. Approach Notes: Head up Cedar Cr. Trail for circa 7 miles then start bearing west up into the alpine cirque. From there it is obvious to the base of the apron.

Trip: Darrington, Squire Creek Pass - Pass the Nut's (FA) Date: 7/25/2010 Trip Report: I finally got up to Squire Creek Pass with Karen and Carsten to climb the wall to the north of the pass. Of course I forgot the camera:-( I wanted to try to climb it ground up and clean. We took a line straight up the center of the wall, starting with an amazing steep knob field with a dirty crack in the middle of it (5.9). An easy ramp leads to a perfect 5.8 finger crack in a shallow corner and then a comfy belay ledge. The second pitch traverses right under some bushes and then up, with a slabby crux. The moves are probably 5.9 but with no pro at the crux I'd swear it was 10a :-) The third pitch goes left around a steep bulge on a really cool natural stair case and then up cracks and flakes to the top (5.7). Descent is a scramble down the back side. Although there was surprisingly fun climbing it's not the family friendly route I was hoping for. There are a lot of expanding and detached flakes and you have to be really careful where you go and where you put gear. Some of the route is pretty run out and a lot of the gear you do get is marginal. I don't have any plans to put in anchors or bolts. If someone wants to put bolts in have at it. I climbed it the way I wanted to. I'm calling it "Pass the Nuts" in reference to Squire Creek Pass and the fact that you have to be nuts to climb those flakes ;-) All in all I'm really glad I finally got up there and did it. It was an accomplishment for me and the view from the top just blew me away. Gear Notes: 00 tcu up to #4 C4. doubles on micro, fingers and single or doubles on hands depending on how much you want to carry up there. 60 meter half ropes. Approach Notes: South on Mt Loop Hwy from Darrington 2 miles, then right on the forest service road 6 miles to the Eight Mile Creek trailhead. Hike past Three O'clock rock to Squire Creek Pass (5 miles total). From the pass bush whack north and a little west to the boulder field at the base of the wall. Follow the base north several hundred yards to the knob field.

Trip: Assassin Spire - NW Face - The Shooting Gallery (IV, WI4+) - FA Date: 3/7/2010 Trip Report: Assassin Spire - The Shooting Gallery (IV, WI4+) Photo courtesy of John Scurlock. Assassin Spire is a subsidiary summit of Lincoln Peak, one of the intimidating Black Buttes on Mt. Baker. Until this weekend it had never seen an ascent via any route. Daniel Jeffrey and I headed up to Marmot Ridge via Warm Creek off the Middle Fork of the Nooksack River on Thursday evening after work. We had planned to approach that evening, but it was raining when we arrived, so we decided to postpone the approach until the following morning. Friday morning we awoke at 3:30AM, and got ready to head up. We were crossing a very icy Warm Creek by 3:50 in complete darkness. We then headed up new-growth timber through a clearcut for 700' to gain Marmot Ridge. From here, it was a long, undulating journey to camp at ~6200' in the basin below Assassin Peak and Heliotrope Ridge. The next morning we awoke at 3:30 again to crystal clear, starry skies. We brewed some water and coffee, and proceeded to cross the basin to the base of the NW Face. We had spied a vertical line of ice (~3 pitches of WI6) below the hanging glacier, but it looked a bit intimidating for us, so we opted to try a less sporty line on climber's right. 2 25m pitches of WI4+ (90-100 degree ice - short stretches of overhanging on the first pitch) separated by a ledge led us up to a 55 degree buttress. The ice on the curtain was very brittle and it took multiple swings to get good placements. This was very tiring, and we pumped out fast. I led 25m on the first step before running out of screws. I then lowered off and belayed Daniel up to finish the last 5m (one more screw placement). From here, he belayed me up and I led the next 30m pitch. The ice was better here, but still brittle in spots. A swing of the tool would shatter the ice as it broke off huge chunks. From the top of the first curtain, we climbed 55 degree snow (firm and punchy here) to gain the hanging glacier. Above the hanging glacier lies an amazing amphitheater of ice and rock that rivals anything else I have seen in the entire N Cascade Range. How impressive!! Many lines are waiting to be climbed here consisting of very aesthetic, sustained, and solid ice. We traversed the hanging glacier to another gully (45 degrees), which we simul-soloed. This gully led into some 70 degree ice which we also soloed. We went right at John Wilkes' Tooth before arriving at the final ice curtain (20m WI4+). Daniel led this and we topped out in another steep snow/ice gully to 55 degrees. 3 more pitches led us to the summit. What a place! From the summit, Lincoln Peak looks impressive, as does Colfax and Baker. We spied about 15 snowmobiles parked under Sherman Peak, and saw 4 climbers at the col below the upper slopes of the Coleman Glacier. We were buzzed on the summit by an EA6B Prowler who did a double-take and circled us 2 or 3 times. The pilot tipped his wing. Very cool. This was a fantastic trip of epic proportions with a great partner in Daniel Jeffrey. Thanks to John Scurlock for flying over before the ascent to take recon photos, and thanks also for flying over on approach day thinking we were on route (we had told him we would be climbing Assassin on Friday). We saw him circle about 10 times looking for us. If only we had a flare gun... Scurlock's photo from March 5. THANKS John! Tracks in front of the Sister's Range on the approach. On the approach looking up at Heliotrope Ridge. View of Assassin Spire from the approach. Daniel at camp. Assassin Spire from camp. Fading light over the Sister's Range from camp. Alpenglow on Assassin Spire. Sunset. Me leading the upper portion of the first ice curtain on Assassin Spire. Looking down from the arete. Looking up from just above the first ice curtain. Daniel topping out on the first curtain. Daniel climbing up to the hanging glacier. The amphitheater. Views to the Sister's Range from mid-route. Looking down from high on the route. The Assassin Spire conglomerate. Tracks on route. Weeping curtains of ice from mid-route. Daniel climbing up to the belay below the third curtain. Daniel leading the third ice curtain. The steep gully above the last ice curtain. The upper slopes of Assassin Spire. Daniel a few pitches below the summit. Daniel on route below the summit. Daniel approaching the final steps to the summit of Assassin Spire. Lincoln Peak from the summit. Mt. Baker and Colfax Peak from the summit of Assassin Spire. Daniel on the summit. View to the west from the summit. Looking down from the summit. Me on the summit of Assassin Spire. Unclimbed ice on Lincoln Peak's NW Face. A close-up of unclimbed ice. A huge curtain of ice (WI6) below the hanging glacier on Assassin Spire. Sister's Range in fading light. One parting shot.

Trip: pyramid peak - fra ne face--larson/wallace, III wi 5 (1 pt a0) Date: 2/21/2010 Trip Report: wayne and i climbed a worthy variation to a minor obsession of mine on the ne side of pyramid peak. wayne was instrumental in getting us off the ground and things fell into place, so to speak, after that. we belayed 8 pitches to the junction with the north ridge then stomped up to the summit from there. five pitches were full value, the other three were change. hard to rate but the water ice crux seemed like a short but steep wi5 and was tough enough that wayne had to take a bit of rope tension to put in a screw and de-pump. the other pitches probably clocked in at snice/ice 4/4+ with some feet on the rock but i decline to give it any m-wtf grade just to keep things simple. expect runouts. on the hopefully attached photo, the route is immediately right of the red line on the lower face and immediately left of it on the upper face. the photo was taken by retrosaurus (mm) on a previous spring attempt in the mid-2000's. we found conditions similar to what is shown on the photo. as you can see, a direct start is still in the offing. i wrote this up as the fra of the ne face but am curious where the cotter-rusch route actually lies. the beckey bible says north face but having started up a route over there one spring, i never saw an chimney with "incipient ice". is it possible we repeated or did a variation to their route? anyone have some insight? Gear Notes: nuts and cams to 3", kb's and la's, a handful of shorter screws and a specter. Approach Notes: thanks to the party who tramped in before us on saturday morning. you saved us a ton of effort.

Trip: NF Colonial Peak - FA: "First Date" Gr.IV AI3/M3 Date: 2/21/2010 Trip Report: On Saturday Beau (pronounced "bow") Carillo and I (Geoff Cecil) headed up to the North Cascades to climb something on Colonial Peak. We had a few things we were very interested to climb. The trip came to together with the help of Wayne and a helmet that he let me borrow. Then I left it in the backseat of my car. I guess I'll climb something on the NF of Colonial without a helmet? The approach was too...awesome. We had an open bivy below the face. It was cold. Woke up to a perfect bluebird day! What were we going to do? Not Watusi Rodeo. My head would've turned into a smashed grapefruit on an ice route. So, we just started climbing straight up from our bivy site. We encountered alpine ice 3 for a few sections down low along with some steep (70-75) degree snow climbing. Got up into the unclimbed couloir. 60 degree snow which turned into some short AI3 sections along with some mixed climbing up top. We simul-soloed the whole route but brought a rope, ice and rock rack. Speed was our ally as I had no head gear and was paranoid of things melting and falling down on my head. We pushed hard to the summit and ran down and grabbed our packs and started the schwack/falling down over logs back to the car. A great route, beautiful day, and a great climbing partner! Thanks Wayne! Gear Notes: Tools, bivy gear, crampons. Approach Notes: Colonial Creek

Trip: the roost - northeast face Date: 9/13/2009 Trip Report: hey swingers, lunger and i climbed it so you don't have to. don't be a wimpy, do 9 pitches plus some simul-climbing starting just right of the indistinct rib in mid-face and ending just left of it. go way out on 5 pitches of bushy galore and 4 of terrortainment. III, 5.9ish. "should clean up nicely with a little traffic." Gear Notes: nuts/cams to 3.5"

Trip: Sloan SW Face - Fire on the Mountain (FA/FFA) Date: 8/30/2009 Trip Report: Short version: Fire on the Mountain: FA/FFA on the SW face of Sloan. 8 pitches, 5.10+, III+ (1100ft of technical climbing on steep, clean rock plus 500ft of scrambling to the summit). Blake Herrington and Rad Roberts. Long version (photos and video by Blake Herrington): Descending Sloan after a moderate jaunt up its West Face, AlexK and I gaped in awe at the sheer Southwest face of the mountain. Alex later commented, “Walking along the base of the SW face was like walking along the base of the Upper Town Wall at Index...line after line of really awesome steep granite rising directly from the steep slope vertically for many pitches!” Alex looking up at the SW Face of Sloan, 2006 (new route starts just off the frame to the right.) With a bit of hype and a few Scurlock photos, I was able to convince Blake to take a shot at this worthy objective. Morning mists enveloped us as we coaxed my old car up FS4690 to the Bedal Creek trailhead. We walked through old growth forest and followed the cascading creek to the base of the immense West face of Sloan. Although this impressive face surely holds more good lines, we continued on to the SW face. The mists burned off as we left the forest for heathery meadows and ripe blueberries, wasting precious minutes on the jaws of a giant. Upon cresting the final ridge, I was pleased to see that the SW face looked just as steep and clean as I’d remembered. Several lines looked good, though they would need some gardening on the first pitch. We chose a prominent left facing corner leading to a chimney (upper right in the photo below) and some thin cracks up a face. Blake getting dressed for work. We should all be so lucky I asked for and was granted the opportunity to lead the first pitch. I did a little gardening at the start, but the rock was quite solid and protectable. My calves started to burn as holds ran out and the corner turned into a chimney, but an exit onto a small stance provided a rest and revealed a series of spectacular, clean finger cracks soaring straight up the wall. Working up these, I felt the fire spread to my forearms. I rested when possible and carefully contemplated each tricky section, hoping to honor this fine line in good style. Blake was very patient. Fortunately, the rock and gear were solid so it was easy to go for it. I cranked through the crux and savored juggy moves over a final bulge to a belay atop a pillar, whooping with delight on completing the onsight. Blake joined me, casually shooting video just after the crux. [video:vimeo]6387846 This would prove to be the hardest pitch of the day, perhaps 5.10+ or 5.9++ or 5.11-. Ratings reflect only one aspect of the experience, and often they distract from the essence of a climb. For me, this pitch alone was worth the price of admission, with 45m of sustained, outstanding, well-protected (I placed about 13 pieces!) climbing on solid rock, with multiple 5.10 sections and a really fun crux. Blake then headed up the next pitch, linking clean vertical and horizontal cracks and a few face moves to a belay at a ledge. [video:vimeo]6387982 This section was reminiscent of the upper pitches of Loving Arms on the Upper Town Wall at Index and various routes on Lover’s Leap. I let Blake take the third pitch as the second pitch was rather short and I’d poached the best pitch from him on Tower a year ago. P3 started in a finger crack and then headed up a series of golden flakes, dikes, and buckets. I did a hand traverse left under a large roof to move the belay and then shot up a steep right-facing corner, brushing lichen off key footholds along the way. The angle eased a bit and I cruised up to the giant heather ledge that splits the face. Lots more steep, clean, featured rock loomed above us, and we were shocked to see it was already 4pm. Go time. Blake floated up a left-leaning crack system and a perfectly clean OW corner to a belay on a pillar. There we found two old pins. Someone had come this way before (see comments below). I danced up a steep face peppered with protruding dikes, managing to sling a giant knob and slot a cam in a small crack. The end of this pitch featured a steep finger crack in a corner with an old pin. I clipped this piece of history, but images of it failing motivated me to crank through without weighting it. Entering the crux of p6 (note slung knob in foreground) Sunshine, silence, and sweeping views of the Mountain Loop and Monte Cristo peaks enveloped us. We savored the pristine wilderness setting. Blake then lead a 60m rope-stretcher to a stance just below another large ledge. Dehydrated and fried from hours of exertion in the sun, I offered Blake what we hoped would be the final lead of the day. It didn’t disappoint, with a hand crack around a roof bulge and a rising traverse on positive flakes to a final corner. We unroped. It was 7pm. Our water was long gone, and my moxie had long since moseyed. Although I had descended Sloan before, I didn’t relish the idea of rappelling and down climbing in the dark with one headlamp between us. But Blake had never been to the summit, and we needed to complete the route, so we stashed our gear and scrambled to the airy summit. We signed the register, snapped a pic, and turned to head for the stable. Note moon in background. I staggered heavily (Blake scampered lightly) back down to our packs and we admired a stunning sunset as we started the rest of the descent. We rapped to the sloping ledge as twilight turned to night, but the moon cast its gentle glow on the descent slabs and the air was perfectly still, as if Sloan were gently ushering us back down to safety. Our ropes just barely reached the snow, but it was quite hard and our tennis shoes, one ax, and lack of crampons didn’t inspire confidence. Blake chopped a bollard and we rapped down to lower angle snow. The sound of running water drew us to a small waterfall of snowmelt where we drank deeply and split a Theo chocolate bar, smiling in the moonlight. We retrieved our packs, including my headlamp, and headed toward the trailhead. But there was still one more obstacle: BLUEBERRIES! Evening dew had started to collect on the blueberry bushes at the top of the open slopes of the Bedal creek basin, and our feet skidded out each time we tried to take a step. Glissading seemed possible, but test runs showed the acceleration rates would be more like hard ice than soft snow. The ground was very hard and there was no way to hang onto the wet plants. Self arrest would be impossible. Death would be swift and sure. I could see the headline already, “Climbers die on blueberry slope.” I pictured the deadly rabbit in Monty Python’s Holy Grail. We’d climbed a striking new route but been bested by some damp blueberry bushes. Actually, I’m OK with that. We decided to stick to the dense, prickly evergreen shrubbery on an adjacent ridge. We thrashed down that and rapped off a 4ft pine when we got cliffed-out above more evil blueberries. The remainder of the descent went smoothly. The Darrington payphone ate my quarters while trucks of teenagers cruised the minimart in the wee hours. We drove to Arlington through misty fields, wolfed down tasty food at Haggen, and headed back to Seattle, arriving after 3am. My body attended morning work meetings, but my spirit was still in the mountains. When the rains settle upon us and sun-kissed alpine rock is removed to daydreams, this is the trip I will replay again and again. Thanks for a great outing Blake, and for giving me the first pitch, the last swallow of water, the only ice ax on the hard snow, and good conversation to pass the hours on the trail. ……………… Fire on the Mountain, 5.10+, III+, 8 pitches, 1100ft of technical climbing and another 500ft or so of scrambling to the summit. All free, ground-up, onsight. The route starts in a prominent left-facing corner that turns into a chimney. This is about a hundred feet right of a prominent right-facing corner, and 200ft right of a vegetated crack leading up the diamond feature in the photo with Alex. Pitch 1: Tinderbox. Start in the obvious left-facing corner below a chimney. Stay right to avoid vegetated cracks at the top of the chimney, and step right to a small stance. Climb straight up finger and hand cracks to a belay at a decent ledge. 45m, 5.10+. Pitch 2: Lightning strike. Move right to a pair of hand cracks in a corner, ascend the right one and hand traverse right to a small stance. Link face features and small cracks to a good ledge and a belay. 33m, 5.10-. Pitch 3: Bucket brigade. Start up a thin crack and then move onto a face with golden buckets, flakes, and edges. Ascend a prominent corner under an OW roof crack and then hand traverse left under a giant roof to a belay stance out left. Future parties may choose to link p2 and p3. 34m 5.10-. Pitch 4: Controlled burn. Delicate moves up a right facing corner lead to friendly flakes and dikes and a giant heather ledge that bisects the SW face. 40m, 5.8. Pitch 5: Firebreak. Ascend a left-trending crack system near the top of p4. This leads to a clean ramp and a stellar golden dihedral with an OW crack (one #4 useful here). Finish on a pedestal near old pins and some cracks. 45m, 5.9. Pitch 6: Alpine ladder. Scale a steep face on amazing dikes, follow the ladder leftward up hero climbing, and finish up a steep corner with a pin. 40m, 5.10. Pitch 7: Smoldering embers. Shoot straight up the featured face to a giant heather ledge. 63m, 5.7. Pitch 8: Final flare-up. Ascend a hand crack that jogs left around a small roof. Continue up cracks, trend left on positive flakes, and finish up a corner to a ledge. 45m, 5.10. Scamper up to the obvious corkscrew route trail. Change into comfortable shoes, stash gear, and scramble unroped to the summit. Beckey lists a route on the SW face, but what he calls the SW face is more like a route that starts on the South face, crosses a ridge mid-height onto the SW face, and follows easy ground to a shoulder. This is very different from what we experienced. Based on the position of the few pitons we encountered, we believe someone climbed p5, p6, and p7 at some point, aiding through the steep finger crack crux on p6. We’d be interested to hear if anyone knows more about the nature of that route. The condition of p1, p2, p3, p4, and p8 suggests they had not been climbed prior to our ascent. I've attempted to draw our line on a classic Scurlock shot. Red is roped climbing on p1 to p8 and green is unroped scrambling to the summit. Gear Notes: Stoppers work particularly well, including a few micronuts. We brought double cams to #3 camalot and one #4 camalot and used it all. We took a few pins but never needed them. The OW on p5 might take a #5 or #6 but Blake did fine without them. A single 60m rope is sufficient. An ice ax might handy for the snow. Go get some! Approach Notes: Approach: Bedal Creek trail to the basin below the West Face. Ascend Blueberry Hill to a treed shoulder, traverse shoulder briefly, enter the basin below the SW face. The route starts in a prominent left-facing corner that turns into a chimney. This is about a hundred feet right of a prominent right-facing corner, and 200ft right of a vegetated crack leading up the diamond feature in the photo with Alex above. Perhaps 2 hrs from the car to the base of route. Descent: Follow the corkscrew trail around to the South face, and down climb or rappel an obvious gully to a giant ramp. Descend eastward down the ramp until able to do a single rope rappel to the snow. Traverse toward the South shoulder, cross over this, and descend back to the base of the route. Retrace the approach back to the Bedal Creek trailhead.

Trip: Northern Pickets - FAs on Middle Challenger and West Challenger Date: 8/5/2009 Trip Report: Mario, Sandy, Keith, and I (Seth) spent the first week of August in the Northern Pickets. We climbed two new routes: * Middle Challenger, South Ridge, 1100', 5.7, 5 pitches plus 3rd/4th class terrain (August 5 2009) * West Challenger, Birthday Route (aka East Ridge), 5.9, 6 pitches (August 6 2009) On our Pickets traverse last year, we had some killer views of the West side of the Northern Pickets, which left us salivating about new route possibilities. In particular, a photo i'd taken of the South Ridge of Middle Challenger presented an obvious and appealing route. 1100' of vertical from toe to top in a wild alpine setting. A winter of staring at that picture, plus a little encouragement from Wayne (thanks Wayne!) got us motivated to head back in with some rock gear this year. photo from July 2008 (note that by August the snow band has melted out) We had more than the usual amount of pre-trip hand-wringing, with injuries, illnesses, family matters, road closures, and forecasts of thunderstorms all weighing us down. But on August 4th we were camped up at Middle Challenger col. The next day we descended the col to the base of the ridge. The climb began at the toe with fun scrambling on the ridge crest. Several steps down low presented climbing to 5.7 on cracks and ramps. Here is Keith belaying at the top of one step. We drifted left of the crest as the climb became steeper, first scrambling 4th class terrain, then pitching out 3 pitches of fun mid-fifth class climbing back onto and up the crest. Soon we were on top, enjoying the thrill of a vision becoming reality. Mario (aka "Papa Pickets" on top) Our attention turned to West Challenger the next day. From our col camp, the East ridge and Southeast face presents a compelling view, with steep slabs split by cracks, amoung outrageous scenery. Would it go for us? We debated back and forth. We decided to give it a go and find out. I led a first 5.7 pitch on blocks and slabs to the notch at the base of the ridge. After some discussion at the base, Mario and Sandy decided to let Keith and I have a crack at it with the group's two light rock racks combined into one more sizable rack (thanks guys!). The slab above looked inviting, like Castle Rock set in the Pickets. I led the pitch, following perfect hand and finger cracks with occasional face moves. Higher and higher, wondering if the route would blank out. But it just kept going. A final fingertip traverse led to a belay on the ridge crest. Wow! I whooped with excitement. This 5.9 pitch would be three stars at any crag, before even factoring in the scenery. Keith followed it, and then basked at the belay notch. Keith led an airy traverse on the crest, followed by another airy traverse left by me. Here is a photo by Keith of me starting that fourth pitch. And Keith following it. Keith led up a clean gully, setting me up for a 5.9 sequence out of an alcove, and then up blocks to the summit ridge. With our lazy mid-day start, we were now running low on time. Our turn-around time was 6pm, and it was... 5:55pm. We tagged the summit at 6. Here is a picture by Keith of me at the summit. We set a rappel route down the East face. Three double-rope rappels took us back to our boots and our good friends. It was quite a way to spend my birthday. And as such, we named it the Birthday Route. A great team, and a great time. And finally Miller Time at the Little Beaver dock. Gear Notes: Gear to 3". Light rack for the South Ridge of Middle Challenger; Medium rack for the Birthday Route on West Challenger. Approach Notes: Approached via Little Beaver and the Whatcom Peak traverse. Got quite a smoke show from the Brush Creek fire just West of Whatcom Pass.

Trip: Mt. Formidable - Direct NE Buttress (FA), III+, 5.9 Hicks/McBrian Date: 7/22/2009 Trip Report: On June 22, 2009 Forest McBrian and I climbed the complete NE Buttress of Mt. Formidable. This feature splits the Middle Cascade Glacier from the Formidable Glacier on the mountain’s northeast aspect. From our amazing bivy near the Middle Cascade Glacier along the Ptarmigan Traverse, we descended onto the Middle Cascade then climbed 40 degree snow to the toe of the buttress and searched for a suitable moat crossing. This dictated our starting point—at the left edge of a sidewalk/ramp system, close to a small, white crystalline band. From here, we climbed about 1000’ of new terrain, up to 5.9, before intersecting the 1962 route near the top of the buttress. The technical crux consisted of a tricky move out of a dihedral on the second pitch. Numerous pitches of less technical, but decidedly alpine terrain (a.k.a. steep, loose, nearly impossible to protect, fifth class heather) led to a snowpatch at mid-height. A couple more technical pitches to 5.8 led to the phenomenal snow arête that caps the buttress. We then climbed up and over the East Ridge pyramid that sits at the head of the Formidable Glacier (though this can be bypassed easily), probably making the second ascent of that feature (Martin Volken did the full East Ridge a few years ago). Incredibly fun and exposed ridge traversing led from the right-hand col to the true summit. Descent was made by cutting across the south face, generally traversing southeast towards the head of Flat Creek (exposed class 4/5 in spots, no rappels needed); then following the Ptarmigan Traverse route northward to the Spider-Formidable Col and back down the Middle Cascade Glacier. Our roundtrip was fifteen hours, eleven of which were spent on ascent. All things considered, our route is similar to the NE Buttress (1957) of nearby Johannesburg except that it is not guarded by 2000’+ of heinous bushwacking and the rock quality is better on Formidable. The exposed, but safe position on the buttress crest between two very active glaciers gives the route its appeal. Forest on the opening pitch Pitch 3 Snow Arete Upper East Ridge The NE Buttress Mt. Formidable Direct NE Buttress III+, 5.9 Kurt Hicks, Forest McBrian July 22, 2009 Gear Notes: A single rack to 3”; small cams most useful. One axe and crampons per person if snow conditions are firm. We placed one Lost Arrow, but other options may exist. Approach Notes: Hike to Cascade Pass then follow the Ptarmigan Traverse until able to descend down to the base of the NE Buttress.

Trip: Dome Peak SE Face of SW Peak - Gran Torino FA Mike Layton & Wayne Wallace IV 5.9 Date: 7/15/2009 Trip Report: "Gran Torino" IV 5.9+ 15p. Mike Layton and Wayne Wallace SE Face of SW Dome Peak 7/15/09 Above photo by John Roper "Grand" is supposed to read "Gran" and the date is wrong. Wayne and I established the first route on the 1800' SE face. The position, climbing, protection, and rock quality were truly spectacular. I first noticed this face on my N.Cascades recon flight with John Scurlock (thanks John!). It looked like one of the biggest unclimbed faces left in the state, but the legnthy approach and unknown rock quality kept it on the to do list for four years. With the grim reality of graduating college after 11 years, and the even harsher reality of needing to work full time and relocating to SLC, I never thought I'd get a change to give it a try. Luckily Wayne and I both got time off and I flew into Seattle late Saturday night. Wayne took a little convincing. This was our plan "B" trip, as plan "A" required a better forcast on the front end. We quickly scrambled to re-pack and figure out the fastest way in to Dome. With the Downey Creek approach a literal "wash", we think we pegged what will probably become the new approach route to this area. With prototype 45L Cilogear unwoven dynema packs that clocked in at barely over one pound, ultralight CAMP carabiners, and Feathered Friends one pound custom bags (thank you Cilogear, Feathered Friends, and Pro Mountain Sports), we managed to get 8 days worth of crap in our bags without making them look like a yard sale. Wayne and I seriously geeked out over shaving every possible gram without being dangerously under supplied for weather and emergency. We took the Lady of the Lake from Fields Point to Stehekin and the Shuttle bus to the High Bridge drop point well after 3pm. (total cost with parking, boat and shuttle = $128 cash ... so bring extra bills for the bakery). We then hiked the Agnes Creek Trail for 9 miles to Spruce Creek Camp. It thundered and rumbled constantly and we finally got fully soaked by the time we pitched our tent. Thankfully the bugs hadn't hatched yet! The next day we crossed Spruce Creek and hiked for 1/2 a mile off trail until we decided to schwack up the obligatory 3500' hillside. There is a large granite buttress you can see on on the hillside for future FA'ers. From there it is a long traverse to the Spruce-Icy col where we camped again. The gunsight range loomed just above us. This is also the best approach to this range. It could be done in a moderate/heavy day, but the timing on the boat/shuttle kinda forces it to be a two day approach. The best bivy for the gunsight is past this point, however. Continue along the ridge until it turns to kitty litter with the blue glacier bordering it. From here it's only a short ways in. Day three was the tricky route finding day. We originally planned on traversing over the peaks to up and over Sinister, but after summitting peak 7875 by its east ridge, we realized this was a very bad idea. The contour lines on the map made a low traverse look dangerous, but with careful route finding we picked a way around the S.Face of Sinister (this little cirque would provide a few days of fun 2-5 pitch routes) and into the basin below dome. The basin required one lead of sketchyness to reach our high camp just below the face. I should point out that Wayne purchased a flask of Absolute 100 and put it in a platypus. This fire water somehow reacted with the plastic, and created the most awful brew. It tasted like turpentine mixed with poison. We drank it anyway and watched movies on our Ipods. Gran Torino with Clint Eastwood (my favorite movie) was that night's entertainment. At pre-dawn we cramponed around to the left side of the glacier and hopped on the ramps at the base of the face. We roped up there and immediately began climbing. We headed for a "tilted block" and climbed a great 5.8 razor layback to offwidth. We pulled an overhang into a layback dihedral and then up a 50' blank chickenhead face. Several pitches of cracks and dihedrals later we moved the belay to the right to get into the major corner system in the center of the face we dubbed the "megadihedral". The corners to get into this megadihedral were five star splitter. Variations before our corner would be excellent as well, and make the route harder above by moving the line slightly left. The megadihedral didn't offer so much gear so we face climbed on chickenheads and found fun gear on the face. It was incredibly spectacular climbing. Fun, thoughtful, a little scary since you weren't sure if the gear would blank, and wildly exposed! Two more pitches of steep crack climbing led to a steep ramp the cut right across the face. We took this ramp one pitch until we could find more cracks, and then headed up once again. We topped out at 10:30am! We were climbing with a fire under our heels to get off the face before the heat of the day was upon us. We roped up at 6:00am. To get off, we downclimbed the so far as we know, unclimbed East Ridge. The route would be around 5.6 and well protected. After the ridge, we needed to climb the next high point east to get to a col to glissade back to camp. The descent took 3-4 hours. It looked like a storm was a-brewing, and the difficult route finding around Sinister would be gun to the head shitty, so we hiked and scrambled back to that kitty litter Gunsight camp, arriving at 9pm and knackered. The next day was spent hiding from the sun and resting. We did the Gun Runner Traverse the next morning to wind down the trip, moved camp to below the pass, and bouldered for the rest of the day. To get the boat in time, we woke up at 4am and did the 12 mile hike and descent down the slope to get to the shuttle by noon. We spent our left over $4 at the bakery in the day old section, and spent the rest of the day on buses, boats, and driving home. The vast majority of the tip was spend trying to find shade under rocks. We have a lot more footage and Wayne will post his video footage shortly. -ML Gear Notes: 1.5 cam rack up to 4" (or an entire rack of .75 camalots), nuts, and slings. ice ax, crampons. one rope. Approach Notes: Stehekin to Bridge Creek to Agness Creek Trail to Spruce Creek to Spruce-Icy col. Traverse low under the towers and peaks to the garden glacier under Sinister. From here careful route finding to a platform almost level with the start of the route.

Trip: Twin Needles, Southern Pickets - Thread of Ice, Twin Needles - FA Date: 6/26/2009 Trip Report: During a north to south traverse of the Picket Range last summer, I was intrigued by a couple of lines on the north side of Twin Needles: the sweeping north ridge and the 1200-ft snow/ice couloir next to it. I later discovered that these two lines were the "Thread of Gneiss" and "Thread of Ice" named by John Roper on his ascent of the Twin Needles in 1984. As far as I know, neither had ever been climbed. Here is a great photo taken by John Roper in July 1984 of the north side of Twin Needles. The Thread of Gneiss runs up the left ridge, and the Thread of Ice is the central couloir. Thread of Ice is central couloir: Wayne Wallace and Mike Layton had attempted the “Thread of Gneiss” in 2007. They had encountered a rotten fault line that was almost impassable, and deemed the buttress not worth the risk. So I turned my attention instead to the steep, skinny, shadowy, snow couloir that snakes its way to Eye Col between the two Needles. I emailed Wayne Wallace and asked if he was interested. "Heck, yeah." So, on June 26, we headed up the Barrier into the Southern Pickets, hoping that the June conditions in the couloir would be a 1200-ft continuous line of steep snow and ice. We hit the route under ideal conditions, and had a great first ascent of what turned out to be a pretty cool route. (Note on conditions: This route is very dependent on conditions. A melt-freeze cycle could result in an amazing water ice route, heavy snows could create the potential for a challening ski descent, or patchy/nonexistant snow and ice could make the ascent impossible. Under ideal conditions of continuous snow and ice, the route does not pose any major challenges.) I posted the TR on my website, but can't figure out how to make the html work here. So, until I figure this out, here is the link to the TR: http://sabegg.googlepages.com/threadofice Below is a video and a couple of photos to give a taste of what is in the TR on my website... Video taken by Wayne as he climbed up the route: [video:youtube] Steph near the top of the Thread of Ice: Wayne on the summit of East Twin Needle: Link to the TR: http://sabegg.googlepages.com/threadofice

Trip: MF7FJ - Date: 5/30/2009 Trip Report: Left town on saturday and made it to the trail head after some tree removal around 11. Camped a lil below the summit of maude and woke up and waited for a stupid cloud that lingered over maude preventing the snow from ever really warming up. Dropped in only to find the cornice broke and took a nice slab with it on the face causing a few tense moments negotiating the transition. Made quick work of skinning up Fernow, such a nice skin line! at one point near the top I was skinning along a knife ridge of snow with big air on both sides. felt great! skied the sw face of Fernow from near the top and had to take my skis off for a 200 ft downclimb. super fun ski and want to get back earlier for a ski off the top. Had time to ski Seven Fingered Jack that day but upon arriving at the col to a perfect bivy site and plenty of food decided to spend another night and get better ski conditions in the morning. Was able to ski 50 feet below the summit all the way down into the woods. While skiing a nice lil kewliar i got caught up in the perfect moment and didnt watch my sluff. got put on my ass and stopped myself with my whippet but not before my ski tip tapped the wall and broke a foot of the end of my ski still managed to link turns down into the woods, and then once at the valley floor the snow was continues again and skied to within a mile of the truck! great skiing!!!

Trip: Greybeard Peak - East Face Date: 5/16/2009 Trip Report: Dan Helmstadter and I climbed and skied the East Face of Greybeard (on maps appears as eastern terminus of Ragged ridge just E of Easy Pass, elevation 7965’) on Saturday. I haven't seen any record of this being climbed or skied; would be curious to hear if any of you have heard tales. The climb alone as a moderate alpine objective is worthy and recommended; its proximity to the road makes it that much more appealing. A few weeks ago, somebody had posted a shot of this face, unnamed, on a report from Cutthroat (I think)—looked intriguingly possible. Then last week a couple buddies and I were on Mt Hardy and noticed the east face looking pretty fat—perhaps probable. Greybeard East and North Faces: The obligatory Scurlock photo: http://www.pbase.com/nolock/image/53643445 On Friday evening I drove up towards Swamp Creek and saw that the face had melted out some from a week ago, but still appeared relatively do-able. What the heck, give it a try and if it’s not good, bail or descend some other aspect (the southwest is more mellow)… evening east face We started climbing from 6100’ at around 3:30am after a solid freeze, and availed ourselves of a NE-facing couloir to gain a rib and ultimately the east face proper. Runnels in the couloir initially made for ready sticks with axes and crampons, but abruptly morphed into chunder-wonder variability. The climbing on the ribs and faces above was often steep and entertaining; I recall at one point left hand to rock hold, right hand to axe in snice, left foot post-holed, and right foot kicked into ice—what was next was a guess. Route-finding slowed us down a bit, as did two crampon failures for Dan, which he handily repaired. Luckily, clouds kept the sun at bay, urging us upward. above the couloir difficulties on the face last stretch to summit The views from the summit didn’t disappoint. Goode et al Dan and Black Peak sunlit Mt Logan, Arriva foreground Jack Mtn S Face w/ lenticular and Crater Peak The skiing was classic “spring variable”. We had gained the summit at a bit before 8, and as it had been cloudy all morning, waited for the sun to come out and work some magic on the icy patina found on most of the snow we had climbed. When the sun finally came out full-force at 11 a.m., it was forceful, and our worry turned from too crusty to too soft. For the most part we enjoyed soft-snow turns on the face. up at summit turns We had to down-climb a couple sections due to either grave avy conditions or too-rocky chocolate-chip sections. We finally jumped a little step to finish the c. 1700'face, and skied a ridge feature to my bivy site at 6100’, making for a c. 1900’ run. link1 link2 Perhaps this face will come into better shape (i.e., ski-able in full) in future years after a more robust snowfall for this area. Taken later that afternoon with Rainier in hand: route up in red, down in green edit: guess I used the wrong "shortcut" for showing images. will try to fix later...if any of you mods have helpful suggestions...

Trip: Mt. Shuksan - South West Face ski Date: 4/30/2009 Trip Report: I left the White Salmon parking area a touch late and dropped into the valley and skinned up the White Salmon Glacier on firm snow, partially following an old faded track. Then I took the connection to Curtis Glacier and Hells highway to the Sulphide, snow in this section was begining to soften and allowed steeper skinning. The weather was following its forecast, but the clouds seemed to thicken as I skinned towrds and part way up the summit pyramid where I switched to step kicking up the mash potatoe proto corn to the incredible summit. Views needless to say were incredble... I had to downclimb a 3 foot rock band 5 feet below the exact summit, but other than that I was able to ski to the entrance of the chute (skiiers right). The snow was very fun to ski, a little on the manky side, but only a little and I skiied fall line down to the Sulfide arcing big turns to the entrance of the South West face. I met two skiiers Eric and Shawn skinning up the Sulphide, they were stoked about the good corn conditions. Here they are skinning towrds the summit: I was a little nervous about dropping the SW face blind, as there are extensive cliffs at the bottom which might prove difficult to get through. However I was prepared to epic hard if need be, and I had studied various pictures, so I had a pretty good idea of what was below me. I found ripper corn dropping into the 4500' face... I had to "use the force" as I skiied lower down, there were many big cliffs below, and I skiied several very steep and little chutes through trees as I weaved my way down thinking it will go, it will go. I came across some bear tracks - strange in such an area... With a little bit of luck, I found a way through the cliffs, although I did have to pack the skiis for a 40' stretch down some some steep rocky trees, safe passage of which was only possible because of vines and pines to use hang on to. The gully: The light was dwindleing, but I was not concerned, just very stoked to have skiied the face in such good conditions, and not haveing to epic hard - getting cliffed out at the bottom.. The arm was a mile or so and 2500' above, but the snow was moist, which made steep skinning possible. I attained the arm as the last of the glowing red sun set, an experience wich will stay with me till the end of my days. I skiied down the arm and through the resort and back to the truck on mostly manky frozen crusts with the aid of headlamp. Super stoked to have had such a rewarding smooth going alpine day. The same can not be said about an experience a few days later...

Trip: Courtney Peak - North Face, FA? Date: 7/2/2008 Trip Report: On July 2nd of this year, Tasha MacIlveen and I climbed a new route on the north face of Courtney Peak in the Oval Lakes Wilderness. Courtney is part of a group of high peaks between the Twisp River Road and Lake Chelan, and the north face overlooks Middle Oval Lake. The face may or may not have been climbed before—please drop me a line if you have any information about the history. I knew of the face from having worked in the area with Outward Bound for a number of years. There’s a good deal of salt-and-pepper granitic rock around Oval, Star, and Courtney peaks, and the shape of the face sort of recalls Dragontail in the Stuart range. A pure, continuously steep line was clearly not in the cards; the big snow ramps cutting across the wall suggested moderate terrain. It looked like fun, and I will admit that I was a little driven by the notion that it might be a first ascent. We schlepped up the long trail from the Twisp river, hiding out in the afternoon from a thunderstorm. This part of the east slope can get into a regular daily cycle of electrical storms. Why go to the Rockies when you can be terrified right here in the Cascades? Our packs were big; we brought enough supplies to make a couple of attempts. The last half mile or so saw us wandering across the lingering snow toward a camp on the moraines below the face. The forecast called for more scattered thunder showers, and we knew that our late start might cut the day short as a simple reconaissance. We set out with a comfortably large rack, a single rope, one ice hammer, and a handfull of pins. After some himming and hawing over the line to take, we chose the lowest toe of rock on the face. Several fun-looking arretes appeared as we got close, and it was essentially a coin-toss that decided us. The compact first pitch was a nice 5.7 warmup, a little run-out but fun. Tasha lead out and pulled some thin, 5.10 moves well above a green Alien. I arrived at a complex web of tiny gear she had managed to garden into the granite. We wondered out loud if this was really going to work, and thought of the ramp we should be hitting in a few pitches; it should offer an easy escape downward. I did a dirty mantle right off the belay, yarding shamelessly on a cam. Tasha followed it and called it 5.10, which made me feel like a big chicken. Another 5.8 pitch brought us to an impasse; upward looked hard and unprotectable. We tried left, no luck. Then rightward, we discovered a third-class ledge skirting away under a little mossy waterfall. I brought Tasha up onto the ramp we had been anticipating. Exhilerated by the lower pitches, we looked anxiously at the sky. The clouds certainly had that look, and I knew we could count on some rain, thunder and lightning. But glancing at a picture of the face on the camera, we could see how far we had come. We agreed to continue, keeping in mind that if we could regain our present location, a quick scramble down a fourth class ramp would have us down on the sow. We jogged up the ramp and I lead out up a beautiful piece of white granite, just to the right of a steep gully. Some wandering amongst dodgey flakes brought me onto lower angle terrain—easy but very compact and without the possibility of gear. I stretched the rope all the way out, barely reaching a decent belay terrace and a few thin cracks. The sky flashed as I clipped the first pin, and I could feel the rain coming as I drove the second. By the time Tasha reached me, the wind had picked up and Oval Peak lit up with purple forks of lightning. In retrospect, turning around would have been prudent, but the necessary discussion did not take place. Tasha scrambled up easy ground, then began searching for a way across a big bulge of compact rock. After much climbing, downclimbing, and backseat climbing from me, she found a delicate traverse leftward. This gained her a rib of lovely, greenish rock paralleling a snow gully to the left. I watched her climb smoothly and calmly while the sky above her exploded with bolt after bolt of lightning. The summit ridge of Courtney was getting hammered. She continued up the rib, climbing wet 5.8 moves with no pro for 100’ until the rope got tight. I hollered and began simul-climbing. By the time I reached her belay, I was pretty wet. I whipped on coils of rope and we climbed together through steps of fourth and fifth, toward a little overhang I had spied from below. The storm reached its full, ridiculous strength while we huddled, clipped to a couple cams, under a half-hearted roof of granite. We tossed on the space blanket, nibbled sandwiches, and laughed. Stupid, stubborn climbers. When the hail and rain was done, and when the lightning seemed to have moved along, we started up again. Simul-climbing up through a sea of loose blocks, winding up through depressions toward the summit ridge. Tasha glowed with sunlight against the black clouds in the distance. A short scamper up the blocky ridge yielded the summit. We sauntered back to camp down the west ridge, delighted with our adventure in the wild Cascades. North Face of Courtney Peak, III, 5.10, 1,200’

Just in: Alan Kearney on E McMillan Spire.

Trip: Lemolo Peak (erstwhile Hardest Mox) - NE Buttress ("After Hours") V 5.10- R Date: 9/12/2008 Trip Report: Summary: On 9/12 and 9/13/2008, Rolf Larson and Eric Wehrly climbed the NE Buttress of the 8501' summit to the E of SE Mox Peak. The NE buttress on right division of dark and light, John Scurlock photo: A shot from the other side on our descent: From what we can tell, our route shares several pitches with Layton and Wolfe's E Face line "The Devil's Club", somewhere in the middle third of the ascent. "After Hours" (appropriate for several reasons) takes a direct start on the NE Buttress toe, and ends at the summit of what some have referred to as "Hardest Mox", the apparently heretofore unclimbed peak to the E of SE Mox. We continued to SE Mox Peak from there, adding a bit more engaging climbing. I believe that we are the first ascentionists of this peak, and hence can derive a little fun naming it. If this is the case, in keeping with the naming convention of Mox ("twin") Peaks, we propose Lemolo Peak; "Lemolo" is Chinook jargon for wild, or untamed. Klone (Chinook for "three") Peak would also be appropriate, but is already taken in Washington. If this summit is not worthy of a separate name, then no sweat--I already had my fun. I think that Rolf (aka the Bard of Leavenworth) is crafting a TR in iambic pentameter; until then, the following must do... Overview: Day 1, approach from Little Beaver to c. 5000' bivy in Perry Creek basin; 9 hours. Day 2, finish approach to 6000' rock start, and climb to 8200' bivy; 13.5 hours. Day 3, proceed to 8501' summit, then ridge traverse to SE Mox 8504', and descend to camp via gullies and unnamed glacier SE of Mox; 9 hours (ish?). Day 4, thrash homeward; 7 hours even, every minute fun. More detailed notes and pictures (I took all pictures; when the Bard isn't writing, his other job is male supermodel): On morning approach day 1, Jack Mtn and Nohokomeen Gl: Early part of roped climbing on day 2, somewhere around 7000': I was pretty worked from the day 1 approach, and started to get some hand cramps about 1000' into the climb; so Rolf took up the yoke and led the majority of the steep headwall in the middle third of the climb. He drew the crux pitch, which among its cruxes, included pulling a roof over suspect gear. Rolf reached into his puny reservoir of Solid and cruised the pitch—-one of the most impressive leads I'll witness. It was here that I believe he threw an alpine berserker gang-sign. No time for pics, but after following the pitch, I took a shot back at its traverse element: You might be able to make out some tat from MnE's rap 3 years ago. Additionally, looking at this pic from Mike's report, I surmise that while those guys went up and left from that point, we went up and right, cutting back left eventually. Here's Rolf making his way through more roofs: Some exposure from this belay, looking down at the buttress: At about 7500', I led what we jokingly referred to as a "comeback pitch" left and then up one of the few clean splitters we encountered, very exposed, then Rolf zagged back right across the buttress crest: The climbing was exposed and a lot of fun; I like the Bard's term for it, "cerebral", ha. Another shot a bit higher, ~8000': We had enough daylight to search around for bivy sites between 8000 and 8300, and settled on a then-windless site at 8200'. Temps were dropping a bit more steeply than we expected; we'd left our sleeping bags in favor of a lighter jacket-and-backpack bivy, and paid for our insouciance. We were so giddy about our situation, that we giggled convulsively through the night. Here's the alpine rat burrowing in for Led Zeppelin's "you shook me" all night long: Took some solace from the views; underexposed Picket Range: After the sun came up and I drank from my partially frozen water, we scrambled up and roped up for teetering stacked blocks to the summit (Mt. Spickard background): Last pitch to the yet-unclimbed 8501' summit: Shot of Pickets from tippy-top: Now we have to go over there--SE Mox: The traverse involved a 60m rap, a scoot around a gendarme, then a few more pitches of climbing on a ridge--actually very cool climbing. Even more pics, first is looking back at Rolf and the gendarme, I think: Then Rolf leading toward SE Mox, Mt Redoubt background and NW Mox foreground: Finally, views of 1) Lemolo from the summit SE Mox; 2) Challenger et al; 3) Bear's NF etc.: Then the ultra-brutal chossy galore descent of several gullies to the glacier: This tried our dessicated patience. Staggered into a deserved camp celebration of the finest 2-course meal (I guess everything does taste better with tuna), brews, bourbon, chocolate. Last day parting shot: And then beers and plunges at Ross Lake while waiting for our boat; deeeeluxe. I can now fully appreciate and salute Mike and Erik's journey into the unknown 3 years ago. Pretty certain I'd not take 4 days off to go after this big endeavor without their information posted here--thanks fellas. I remember reading about the brotherhood you guys shared, and held hope for similar with Rolf--nope. Our partnership is built on mutual disrespect and loathing; we share a vile and putrid love, and feed most from each other's misery. I'm not happy until you're not happy. Nevertheless, the Bard is a solid partner and I look forward to future adventures--this was an exceptionally stellar one. Gear Notes: -medium rack, with pins that did not get used. tri-cams employed often. -while no metal used, much extracted; our route intersected rap stations enough such that we bootied bountifully. -no plants were harmed in the development of our product. Approach Notes: Jungle fever Nihilism (or Zen Buddhism, according to one’s preference)

Trip: Sloan Pk.-(FA)-SE Ridge - Probable FA of the SE Ridge of Sloan Peak Date: 9/7/2008 Trip Report: It was time to follow up on a few lines that I have schemed on in the past. 12 years ago I saw a super steep ridge directly above the Corkscrew route where it exits the glacier. It is the cliff on the right skyline. The Corkscrew (CS) Route is the grassy ramp below. Jared and I mounted a spirited attempt the Labor Day weekend before, only to get snowed out half way up the Bedal Creek approach. With renewed vigor and yet still more clouds, Lane an I went after it this weekend. All clear pictures were taken late Saturday or summit day, Sunday. Seems the west side sogginess was to prevail. With newly soaked shoes, we dispatched the approach . Up high, the clouds began their dramatic uplift. Lane and the "Snowpatch Spire of Washington" Monte Cristo Backdrop We then settle into an amazing bivy light show-yet again I am a lucky photographer lately I know I drove Lane nuts with taking a 100+ photos of him. A cold night led to the same in the am. At 8 am we got after the snow-crossing and the lower ramp and got above and into position to do the obvious Dihedral that caps into a big , crackless roof. Route goes up the Black Blocks(pitch 1, 5.2) on left and into the thin cracks on right of dihedral. Lane following 5.7 , pitch 2 I then traversed right onto the crazy-angled East Face! On to a fist crack, and then into the steep thin face section that also served as the crux. Pitch 3, 5.10a, Reachy, "Reach for the Nickel Pitch" Scary, steep and committing! After a crazy mantel left, I sent the final mossy, wet, yet fun dihedral finish. Pitch 4 , 5.10a. We were then stoked to be at the top of the steep part of the lower buttress. What is amazingly fun about Sloan is the upper bench to the left , lets you "Shop" for your finish. I have done 2 lines now on the SE Face and they have both been 4 stars! Pitch 5, contrived, yet 5.9+ Our route takes the lower left dihedral and goes right and straight up from there > Sloan is a blessed and cursed peak. It is blessed with great granite in places,and soaring walls. It is also cursed with huge ledges and western dampness and weather. I have had several great trips there, and it will be the sight of many awesome routes in the future! Cheers to your future with the highly-accessible -Sloan Peak Gear Notes: Cam to 3, several bugaboos

Trip: Distal Phalanx - North Arete (FA) Date: 9/6/2008 Summary: First Ascent of the North Arete of Distal Phalanx 5.10, A0 Grade IV. Sept 6th 2008 John Frieh and Craig Gyselinck Distal Phalanx courtesy of John Roper Connecting the dots... Sure enough. Surf Mr Scurlock's long enough and you'll find something that'll make you swear under you breath and scramble for your stack of CAGs... seems to be a weekly occurrence for me. Only this time the offending picture had a link..? Click. Hook. Line. Sinker. Dr Roper roped me in with this: "Distal Phalanx (7615+) is the central climax of the long, untouched north arete above Neve Creek" I immediately fired off an email to the good doctor only to learn the untouched had recently "been touched though was still unclimbed" Touched but still unclimbed? Why I wanted to know... Too chossy? Too hard? Beta? Details? The good doctor forwarded my request for details and got this in return: "They went up to McAllister Creek bridge to cross Thunder Creek." Hmmm... But whatever it was... chossy, hard, etc... it didnt really matter. I had sent the pic to Craig (Alpinemonkey) and he was stoked! Both of us had to be @ work Monday morning so we figured we had to be at minimum halfway up the arete on Saturday if not on the summit to allow enough time on Sunday to get out and home. After examining the terrain and mileage we would have to cover before the actual climbing we agreed we needed to be underway by 2:30 am. Unfortunately both of us had to work a full day on Friday so we didnt get to the TH until late... I had time for 2 hours of shut eye in the parking lot next to my car before having to puke and rally. (Funny side story: some walking by around midnight felt the need to tell me to "get a tent" ) We were on the trail @ 2:40. We reached the bridge across thunder creek quickly and promptly began the schwack up Thunder creek to Neve creek and on up to Distal Phalanx. Neve Creek Craig in a sea of Stinging Nettles Craig and I joked "When I first saw the route my skin tingled! Then I realized it was just the stinging nettles" Local riff raff Neve Falls Other falls (summit in upper left hand corner) We started the arete around 11 am. Taking advantage of ramp systems and vegetation (veggie belay!) we were able to simul solo the lower half the arete (maybe a move or two at most of 5.6). As we didnt know where the next water source would be we started the arete with 4 liters each in addition to overnight gear on our backs... unfortunately the heavier packs, lack of sleep and effort already expended getting up Neve creek was starting to take a toll on each of us... it was apparent we were moving slower than normal. I was worried we werent going to make the summit by night fall. We busted out the rope at the halfway point where the arete gets much steeper and began simul climbed until the terrain demanded we pitch it out. I think we each found our second wind or the fact that dusk was coming quickly and the upper arete lacked bivy ledges but we started climbing much faster. Craig Neve Falls visible below Closing in Ask me about my windshirt! Summit! We barely made the summit by nightfall... I followed the last pitch by headlamp. In the interest of finishing before dark we opted to A0 one or two moves instead of hauling packs (we both climbing the entire route carrying bivy gear + water for the next day). We spent two hours trying to get a head start on the awaiting descent but more or less created more work for us the next day. We passed out in some bushes SE of the summit around 10 pm... 20 hours of effort on two hours of sleep had finally caught up with us Craig: So you're going to make coffee... right? The next morning we sorted out where we were and proceeded to climb back up over Styloid Peak and down to Thunder Creek. We searched in vain for some way across Thunder Creek to the easy trail on the other side... no such luck. Two days of schwacking had driven us we spent a good 15 minutes trying to prop a bean pole across one narrow point of the creek Down thunder creek we marched... I repeated "one less step... each step counts" over and over in my head. To our surprise we made much much better time on the way out than back in and we back to the TH around 4:30 pm. Epilogue: I had a blast. Yeah... the approach is brushy but it is no way as bad as going into Bear. In fact... if you've climbed the CNB of Bear and felt the climb was worth the approach chances are you'd like this climb. It is after all awaiting a FFA! Gear Notes: green, red, yellow c3 x1 0.3 x2 0.4 x2 0.5 x3 0.75 x2 1 x2 2 x2 3 x1 3.5 (old style) x1 4 (old style) 70 m rope 5-13 nuts hammer/pins (didnt use) Approach Notes: Ill edit my post with some maps and such.

Trip:Silver Horn - Playin' Not Sprayin' - III 5.10 Date: 8/31/2008 Trip Report: Armed with the prospect of cold and stormy weather on an August weekend, myself an David Trippett (AviTripp) headed east to a beautiful valley on the forgotten side of Silver Star Peak with thoughts of unclimbed granite and storm avoidance. The objective was a clean-looking spire known as The Silver Horn, an apt name given the white granite on its flanks. Red arrow marks the spot. We woke up on the morning of the 31st to ice and frosty conditions, a theme that would continue throughout the day. After some steep alpine travel to get the blood pumping, we reached the base of the wall. From the base we climbed 8 pitches of cracks, flakes, and corners, with the occasional loose funk. A ledge splits the face at mid-height. Below the ledge we were to the left of " The Chalice" (Berdinka/Thibault '05) and it looks like we started off the halfway ledge to the right of their climb. The finishes were certainly separate, but we may have shared some ground around p7. P1 Begins with a big clean flake, before moving right to the base of a long corner. P2 & P3 Follow the corner on nice cracks. P4 Avoids the chossy roof with flakes and splitters off to the right. Snow and ice began to fall on us during this pitch, and frosty white flakes continued for much of the day. P5 From the ledge, David drew the lead, and embarked on a really nice pitch sustained at 5.10. This involved some roofs, mantles, and a long corner crack. P6 Stayed through the corner, before moving out right to a pedestal belay. The man in black rockin' the white CiloGear Pack... P7 Began with some loose funkiness before a great stemming corner and steep crux moves. P8 We finished straight up the chimney to the summit. Pictures don't do it a whole lot of good, but the climbing was really fun, solid, and hard to the finish. From what felt like a cave in the middle of the summit, a frozen-fingered pullup and mantle move around a little roof landed us on the top of the spire. Overall this was a fun time in a beautiful and less-frequented corner of the Washington Pass. Thanks to Darin for the trip suggestion! Gear Notes: Doubles of cams and a set of nuts. Bring Rappel stuff or be prepared to use what was probably Fred Beckey's shoe string... Approach Notes: Up The Cedar Creek trail - turn right at the creek crossing draining the objective face.

Trip: Tillie's Towers - Austera Ridge - W Tillie's Tower N Arete Date: 8/17/2008 Trip Report: Inspired by J. Scurlock's photo, Rolf Larson and I climbed an approx. 1100' route (6.5 rope-stretch cysmastfu pitches) on the half-sunlit arete of the right hand tower, just left of center in pic below: credit: J. Scurlock. Tillie's Towers are basically the most prominent NW terminus of Austera Ridge or Austera Towers (point 8260' on USGS map), of which Beckey comments: "The name is for austere, barren rock towers consisting of many massive rock blocks and spires. The N flank of the western towers is above an unnamed glacier where there is the steepest wall of the ridge...These are two impressive towers..." We found solid, mostly clean and featured rock--Eldorado Orthogneiss--offering both nice cracks and gear-protected face climbing. The route featured gobs of 5.8 and .7 climbing, with a few moves of .9 sprinkled along the way. Joking about a route name, I liked "Nutmeg Tilly" (you better lay your nutmeg down), but Rolf rightly observed re our route: "an unearthed obscurity destined to return to obscurity." "Unearthed Obscurity" is better because the adjacent Piltdown Tower (see pic below) refers to Piltdown Man, an archaelogical hoax comprised of part man, part monkey--like our team. This is an out-of-the way rugged corner of the NCNP; I dug the cool position and alpine ambiance. Pardon the pictorial play-by-play, I got a few decent pics--wildfire haze has its pros and cons...but the rock and area are photogenic. After hot long hike in from Colonial Cr Campground on Aug 16, sunset light on Primus peak and Borealis Gl from our camp: On up/down/up approach morning Aug. 17, it started raining, but we decided to go to the base of the route and see what the weather decided. Looking back at Tricouni at sunrise, Ragged Ridge L background: Showers stopped, we ascended over blue glacial ice to base, and were stoked to get on it. Pitch 1, crack and face on neat-O rock: We generally stayed either on or w/in spitting distance of the Arete. However, on pitch 2, I did a curve right to access a chimney system to bypass an overhanging pillar. Belay from cleft, top p. 2, hard to see Shuksan in background: Rolf heading up scrappy .9 section of p. 3, from deluxe alcove belay: I drew these nice cracks on pitch 4: Pitches 1-4 are pretty steep; from 5 on the arete backs off a bit. Here's a shot looking down 6 at the glacier: From the summit, views of the McAllister Gl icefall and Austera Ridge (towers): Descent beta: rap S face c. 100', then traverse E and downclimb steep 4th to gully between the Towers. Descend gully only a little, looking to ascend/traverse E to Austera ridge crest. Find your way down and onto to N Klawatti Gl (deep moat). On rap, half man half monkey Piltdown Tower: Tag E Tillie for good measure (dry Buckner background): We had time, and a poor next-day forecast seemed to prohibit climbing the N side of Primus, so we went over Primus en route to camp. Along the way, snuck a pic of contemplative curmudgeon with more Eldo Orthogneiss, rare opp to avoid the finger: From summit Primus, view of our camp at outlet of Borealis Gl: Lightning and thunderstorm that night, with next morning dawning temporarily clear: Such a purty place, with a dapper Pinocchio to boot: (clem done found him a tattered hat) Parting shot of Tricouni and Primus, happy to hike in the rain: Having only cragged once this year in March (long ski season, busy summer), this was an ideal alpine shot in the arm with--dare I say it--an easy-going and downright fun-to-hate partner. The route's certainly not destined for any guidebook, but if you like untrammeled lines, a fine place. In light of all that, prob. moot title: West Tillie's Tower - N Arete ("Unearthed Obscurity") III 5.9 Gear Notes: med. alpine rack, brought pins did not use them axe and crampons 4 12 oz. Rainier 1 flask bourbon (Porter: can you guess?) Approach Notes: icy hot become what you hate destroy what you love