Jump to content

All Activity

This stream auto-updates

  1. Yesterday
  2. Not much detail but here's a link to the article for those who are interested. RIP https://methowvalleynews.com/2023/09/21/climbing-accident-claims-life-of-alabama-man/
  3. So great! I really need to get across the pond and experience the civilized mountain life. This past weekend I was tormented by mice running across my face all night. This sounds much better.
  4. The Methow Valley News had a brief article in print. It was a rappelling accident on the Methow Inspiration route on Sunday and was a young guide from NW Alpine Guides.
  5. Last week
  6. is that "(shit work) computer" or "shit (work computer)"? hi!
  7. excuse the grammar, sentence structure, and spelling issues. i'm lagged af, and still recovering from just one night in Munich. there was this carnival there with big tents and lots of beer.
  8. Trip: Austrian Alps - Stubai High Trail Trip Date: 09/05/2023 Trip Report: Over 20 years ago I had personal blog with custom domain name, and posted pictures of what I had going (hiking, climbing, having a kid, etc) and one day I got an email from some Austrian who was looking for a part for his company from a US business that had a domain name similar to my blogs domain name. We had a ton in common, including to him just having a kid as well. Anyway, we chatted a bit and then just stayed in touch over the years, till last year. My son was doing a quarter in Rome, and so I suggested they might meet if it worked out. Turns out his daughter was working and an au pair in Milan, and so they ended up hanging out and then after his quarter was over my son travelled around Europe for a while, ending his trip with a visit to my Austrian friend's home in a little village in the Austrian Alps. I figured it was high time I pay him a visit myself, and so I bought the plane tickets. We weren't sure how to spend my time there, but I suggested hut hiking as I'd never done that. He suggested the Stubai High Trail. So well after 20 years of our first contact a I showed up in Munich and he picked me up. He had to work the first day I was there, so while he worked, I walked from his house over to a trail and climbed the mountain you could see from his kitchen window. I was a great warm up and introduction to hiking the alps, a trail up into the alpine, with a little scrambling, a cable to two, and then a cross at the top....and an insanely beautiful view below. On the hike back down I tore the crap of my feet, getting blisters all over my feet from my climbing boots. After this we went and bought a part of Scarpa approach shoes which I used instead, as we figured out that we wouldn't actually need mountaineering boots for the peaks we would try. We drove to Innsbruck and bought ourselves some jaunty Tirolian hats, and then headed up to Neustift im Stubaital. We parked the car and headed up to the first hut, which gave me an opportunity to get into shape. Was redlining behind my Austrian Machine. Thom is pretty fit, for his 45th birthday he ran in the mountains, doing 26 miles a day for 10 days in row, running from his parent's old village to his own. Our hike that day was only 5k, but gain 4000ft in elevation. The first hut is the Starkenburger Hütte, and as became our custom we celebrated with a couple cold beers. The views from the hut were awesome. The next day, as we tried to do every day, we beat all the rest of our hut-mates to the trail. We climbed some peaks: Gamskogel 2659m, Steinkogel 2589m, Marchsaule 2598m, and Schwarzhorn 2818. These were gained with hiking or minor scrambling. We then dropped back down to the main trail, stopping for a beer and lunch at a sheep herders hut. Then we continue up the valley, which had impressively steep slopes at parts. At one point I was going through a steep gulley which obviously rockfall and heard crack! and saw a grapefruiit sized rock just graze my foot...I was lucky. We continued to Franz-Senn Hutte, which was one of my favorite. The next day we went Franz-Senn Hutte to Neue Regensburger Hutte, which seems out a movie set with a big waterfall just below it. That day we also climbed Östliche Knotenspitze, which is 3101m. It seemed improbable with no gear, but with a few strategic cables and then lots of narrow ledges and some scrambling it went fine. The next day we went from Neue Regensburger to Dresdner Hutte. The Dresdner is located right on a ski run right below the glaciers above. From the Dresdner to the Sulzenauhütte (where we had lunch) to Nürnberger Hütte was the best day for me, though there was not a bad day at all...they were all special and awesome. On this day we went over yet another pass, going by a huge amount big cairns or "hippy stacks" an incredible view of a canyon below that used to house a glaceir as late at the 1950s, but now there is a just a lake....the glaciers had retreated to well above the lake. There was a massive wall of a moraine below. Then down to the Sulzenauhütte and up by the beautiful blue lake....named "Blue Lake". Over a pass we headed down to the Nürnberger Hütte which was another favorite. The next day we went from the Nürnberger to the Bremer Huttle and climbed Innere Wetterspitze at 3053m, which was great fun. The views up there were amazing. The day after that we headed to Innsbrucker Hutte. Our intention was to climb Habicht, another 3000+m peak, but it there was thunder and rain in the morning so the next day we headed up. I can't begin to convey how fun this trip was. My friend Thomas is the nicest guy you could meet. I might as well have been climbing a with a guide (he actually was guide for a while), but what was the best was having a local who pointed out all the local flora and fuana, history, and translate German for me, and basically arranged everything. We saw plenty of herd of goats and sheep high in the alpine trying to escape the heat. This is the time of year they normally bring them down, but it was still so warm they didn't want to come down yet. We saw a pair of Stienbock, which as very cool, and then smell and eventually saw another one that was dead along the trail. We ran into a lot of other Europeans, and shared some of our time on the trail with a couple from Portland. The company and food in the huts was great save the vegetarian fare they served at the Regensburger Hutte, which came out of me in a 3 second burst just below the steep pass you go through to get out of there. I felt immediately better after. The scenery is quite amazing. It is alarming to see how much the glaciers there have receded, they could be gone in 10 years. I took so many photos and videos. Here a few photos. Gear Notes: silk sleeping bag liner. approach shoes. no tent, stove, etc... Approach Notes: south of Innsbruck
  9. Trip: [FA] Silver Peak - Ice Cold Zach Daniel's Trip Date: 08/24/2023 Trip Report: Not much to report here but an uneventful new route. Ice Cold Zach Daniel's, 5.9+, 3 pitches, FA Daniel Montgomery and Zach Colburn. The north face of silver peak had kinda always been on our radar as something we felt should be climbed. We hiked a load of bolts to the top last October during our Indian summer (anticipating too many death blocks for any kind of ground up nonsense, which turned out to be accurate). Found a line that seemed like it would go and used up a drill battery. The face was shorter than we hoped (about 80 meters) but seemed worthwhile enough. I went to Utah for about 5 months, came back in April 2023 and waited for the hot days of summer. This basin stays cool and shaded making it nice for the month of August when a lot of the pineapple basin routes are roasting. We hiked up again with more batteries, rapped down and bolted the lower pitches, climbed the route and hiked out. First pitch has 3 bolts and wanders through some choss to a ledge with 2 bolts. This is just so you don't have to link a full 120foot pitch if you don't want to. About 5.7 Second pitch is about 90 feet with some juggy, dirty 5.8 climbing. 3rd pitch (100ft) is quite clean following a line of positive holds diagonally across the face. Fun 80 degree face climbing that requires some thought. It is a little traversy but the rope drag is minimal. To descend make 3 straight 35m raps down from the last anchor. The anchors on the climb dont have rap hardware. It's a pretty short route, approach is only about an hour compared to the tooth though. And it's shaded. There's a ton more potential for similar routes up there, but I don't really care much about bolting any more easy routes. A job for the guides. Gear Notes: 10 draws and a 70m rope Approach Notes: Go to Snoqualmie pass and drive back heading for Mt Catherine/ pct crossing in ollallie meadow. (Fs road 9070) Follow the road back as far as your car will take you then walk it to the end where there's an old fire pit. A trail heads north from here. Follow it to the talus field that sits below the gentle northwest ridge of Silver peak. Then go straight along the talus towards the face/ follow hunter trails along the edge. Pretty easy and doesn't take long. At the base of the face scramble up dirty ledges , the right and traverse back left to the first bolt. (The last rap takes you over the ledges) Zach wrote a more detailed approach beta on mtn project
  10. just got snow in the mazama foothills. snow in bugs cant be far behind.
  11. this FB group has some good info graphics on the non bug-patch col approach. maybe ask on that page? https://www.facebook.com/bugaboofriends the better question is the weather gonna cooperate though. There crazy canucks ice climb in there relative lowlands in early november. i imagine things start to get snowy up in the bugs early october. But if the weather or conditions shut you down, it is still amazing to just be there.
  12. Maybe call a guide service in Revelstoke or Golden and see if they would be kind with beta on the conditions of the glacier?
  13. A buddy and I are considering a late-September trip to the Bugaboos. Neither of us has been before. We had hoped to do the Kain Route but understand the Bugaboo-Snowpatch Col is out for the season. We're now wondering what a late-season crossing of the Bugaboo Glacier to reach the West Ridge of Pigeon Spire might look like. We assume bare ice and plenty of crevasses, but wonder if there's much of a chance of finding a route through them...assuming we get lucky and find a good weather window. I've been unable to find any September trip reports, which seems to speak volumes. Have any of you been up there this late in the season in a bad snow year? The Kain Hut is still open but wondering if we'd have much to do if we couldn't cross the glacier. Any tips/recommendations? Is it silly to even consider?
  14. the closest I came to a confirmed kill while cragging was while rappelling on humble Rocky Butte ... I advocate for a triple check of every point of failure when rapping
  15. I'm seeing the 2016 accident get bumped elsewhere on social media from folks looking for info on Sunday's accident.
  16. Strange timing to see this bumped back up. The navy was doing a helo rescue in Mazama a few nights ago, so I expected to see some news from that incident. No word on what happened.
  17. That's so sad, I would hate to have been one of the two climbers left behind. I did MIR last Friday, great route. It can be rapped safely with a single 70 but I totally understand the impulse to use a double and speed things up. Especially with a group of three. So sorry for the family/friends' loss. Climb on, my man.
  18. Looks like a great time! I plan to do this loop with Townsend as a bonus. Any suggestions from your variations or the original lap?
  19. Thanks. The Google search link is bunko it seems, but I managed to find it typing in the url. Probably my shit work computer...
  20. Earlier
  21. I just did Loowit and Timberline this summer and wondered if a Jeff circumnav would be possible. Nicely done! Someone mentioned the tribe. I don’t think it’s especially difficult to get permission. Hopefully people who do this trek and are aware of this rule follow it.
  22. site has been working for me @Choada_Boy....
  23. Did Alpinist.com call it a day? I have been getting a "403 Forbidden" message the last couple times I have tried to check in...
  24. RMI is one of the best but SummitClimb is a bit cheaper compared to RMI.
  25. I still need to figure out who I would contact about that. I was thinking maybe if AAJ accepts a writeup first then I could send that to the proper Uzbek agency and it might look more official.
  1. Load more activity
×
×
  • Create New...