The Cascades offer an amazing array of options when it comes to different mountain sports. And Spring is the..
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Toprope soloing is the fastest and easiest way to maximize climbing with limited time at the crag. This week I..
Stop going cragging. It’s an inefficient and overly-elaborate process if your primary goal when heading to the cliff is to..
Have you ever come up short on a rappel when you remember that you’d managed to make it before? How..
I’d like to start this article by just mentioning a thing or two about my intention in writing it. I..
As climbers and climbing-gear buyers, we are accustomed to wading through marketing claims, weeding out hearsay, and determining the facts..
Unlike ropes, shoes, and harnesses, our climbing protection will last through years of use and abuse. I still regularly climb..
The northwest climbing community experienced a string of tragic accidents in September of 2014, when three veteran climbers were killed..
While climbing do you often feel irritable, moody, or wracked with pain and uncomfortable pressure in your crotch and lower..
Six common pieces of gear and why you’re better off leaving them behind.
Blake Herrington rappels in the Mendenhall Towers, Alaska. He and partner constructed this rappel line and each rappelled it 3 times in the course of a week, using just 6mm cord and no rappel rings.
Backpackers cut the handles off their toothbrushes to save weight. Alpinist just don’t brush. But while we meticulously save grams for multi-day trips, many of us carry far too much gear around on our harnesses for a day at the crag, attempting a hard lead, or an afternoon of multi-pitching. Before leaving the car or tieing into the rope, analyze your gear and strip off the items that aren’t vital. You’ll climb harder and have more fun.
- [TR] Big Bear! - Brushtissima 11/11/2019 November 18, 2019Trip: Big Bear! - Brushtissima Trip Date: 11/11/2019 Trip Report: With all this attention on the NW couloir on Eldorado the past few weeks, Kit and I succeeded on a smash and grab ascent of BIG BEAR! last weekend. @Kit is in the midst of a noble mission to climb all the Cascadian peaks visible […]
- [TR] Colfax Peak - Cosley-Houston 11/10/2019 November 11, 2019Trip: Colfax Peak - Cosley-Houston Trip Date: 11/10/2019 Trip Report: Not going to do a long TR here since there are plenty of TRs on the Cosley-Houston. This will just be a quick update on conditions for those interested. First off, I was wrong when I posted a week or two ago that the approach […]
- [TR] Eldorado Peak - NW Ice Couloir 11/06/2019 November 8, 2019Trip: Eldorado Peak - NW Ice Couloir Trip Date: 11/06/2019 Trip Report: Anthony and I jumped on the bandwagon and ran a lap on the NW Ice Couloir of Eldorado on Wednesday. The approach was snow free through the boulder field and crevasses were easy to navigate on the glaciers. In the couloir, we encountered […]
- [TR] Mt. Baker - Heliotrope Ridge Ice Playground 11/01/2019 November 5, 2019Trip: Mt. Baker - Heliotrope Ridge - Heliotrope Ridge Ice Playground Trip Date: 11/01/2019 Trip Report: Took advantage of the cold autumn weather and lack of snow to do a little easy ice climbing on the flows above the Heliotrope Ridge Trail before reaching the glacier overlook. There are an abundance of ice flows just […]
- [TR] Eldorado - NW Ice Couloir 11/03/2019 November 5, 2019Trip: Eldorado - NW Ice Couloir Trip Date: 11/03/2019 Trip Report: Camille and I had a great alpine romp on Sunday. Fall alpine ice season is in full swing!! Anyway, we left Mt Vernon at 1 am and headed toward Cascade Pass. We arrived at the Eldo trailhead at 1:45 am. Confused? so were we. […]