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What time of year was that Wayne? Seems like a pretty low elevation route?

I did a Wadd trip, like 10 years ago? Was definitely a scary place in August heat but we did S Ridge of Serra 2 and Bravo Glacier up Waddington. Very cool area, but I'm not super excited to go back with climate change affecting more and more at those low elevations.

What shop has the best boot fitters in Boise? tia!

Red Route Photos (I'll add to these as I find more) Rich on Muncaster Summit Looking down into Enchanted Valley Beargrass Dave on Muncaster Along the ridge heading toward Crystal Pk Probably Crystal Pk Summit More Beargrass

Waddington range? icy gullies may be melted out but maybe some icy faces and rock ridges? there is a snowy way up mt waddington.

climbed with a guy who did a Peace Corps stint in Kyrgystan - says its to die for. did enough online research to be interested in a trip there myself, but I'm not likely to at my age... pm me and I'll put you in touch with him! If I could match your timetable, I might could get interested anyway or if Alaska interests you, Gates of the Arctic could be your spot for that time of year...

Scottish Tale is accessible from the top of the gondola in Squamish, we tried from the bottom and it was too deep of snow

Colfax or Lincoln may be in shape depending on the winter/road access but that won't become clear until you are pretty close. Mostly people ski in the Twin Sisters at that time but I am sure you could scratch your way up something! If you know someone with a gate key, that could greatly simplify the approach.

Update to this, and hoping to tap into more collective knowledge... will probably spend some time in Bham and that might be the place to take a climbing day from... thoughts I've had: -Mt. Erie rock (weather dependent) -Colfax peak (road snowed in? conditions in late March?) -Pan Dome falls (worth it? conditions in late March?) -Twin Sisters? Guessing that area is a PITA to access late winter? Other options in the Bham area for a quick day trip? Thanks y'all.

Skagit Alpine Club will once again be offering Basic Mountaineering Course! The webpage for the course is now live. Important dates: Dec 1st: Scholarships open (next week!) Jan 5th: Registration opens to Skagit residents Jan 7th: Info session (in person and online) Jan 13th: Registration opens to all I know that there's a wealth of experience on this forum, and for most people here this is an easy pass. But hopefully there's some aspirational lurkers that this will help 😅 If yall have friends that are interested in getting started mountaineering, please point them this way. Also, if anybody is interested in mentoring and helping others get started and wants to participate in that way, please let me know. https://bmc.skagitalpineclub.com/

I made a Facebook Marketplace post on behalf of my father in law. He is selling three Bibler hanging stove systems that include MSR stoves, an Ortik Heat It system, and a Primus suspension kit. If interested, please contact me and I can send direct links to these items. You can also search on FB Marketplace and probably find the listings. He's in Lindon, UT. Feel free to email me at toevlugsoord@hotmail.com as well

This is so hardcore. years ago, I went to climb Lobuche but got AMS due to a compressed schedule (or just not training adequately). Plus going on an "organized tour" of a mountain is weird. You've inspired me, the dream is back. Thank you. Following you and hope to see more stellar trs.

Just another sign the gov't is too big. Bring back DOGE

I realize it’s not easy to make out details on this map – so here’s a brief description, telling peaks the route intersects with: The Red Route starts at E Fork Quinault River Trailhead and follows to a point below Muncaster Mt. You could go further along the trail and take the Pyrites Cr. Trail up to the ridge and back track to Muncaster Mt, or skip Muncaster altogether if you like. Follow the ridge to Chimney Pk and then head N to Crystal Pk (unless you want to make a side trip to Mt Anderson). Follow the ridge to Mt Norton ,Mt Fromme ,and Mt Claywood; then on to Lost Pk, Cameron, McCartney, and then on to Hurricane Ridge – there are multiple ways to get there. There are several good side trips you can take on intersecting ridges, particularly once you get to the Lost Pk area. – we only had a week, and had already climbed many of those peaks so had to move on. Let me know if you have questions - I might know the answers to them, but its been almost 50 yrs since I took these trips, so you need to understand that these routes are probably not exactly the way we did them. However, they're close enough to give you some good ideas for ridge-running.

The map below shows two of my favorite week-long routes traversing the Olympics. The one shown in purple was the nicest. The routes are not shown entirely accurately, as you would need topo maps to find accurate routes. But you can get a general idea. I DO remember the last section of the purple route presented some route-finding challenges (getting to the ridge above the Quinault River Valley). We hiked the purple route north to south, and the red route south to north. We generally took these trips in the 2nd week in September, which worked out well for weather. I don't know if that's still the best time, now that climate change has kicked in. But it worked out well because schools were back in session and people were done vacationing. We never saw other humans once we got off the trails. I'll send some pictures from these trips in another post.

This did not work out well for another sneaker: https://velo.outsideonline.com/news/failed-fkt-eurasia-attempt-russian-jail-sofiane-sehili/?scope=initial But its all adventure (as long as you have the extra annual leave to spend in a russian jail!

The Alatau range near Almaty looks pretty amazing and the months you outlined seem like fair weather to organize around.

The Chinese side of the Tien Shan looks pretty rad, maybe another option if you weren't afraid of being sneaky?: https://www.climbing.com/news/interview-dmitry-golovchenko-new-route-china-tien-shan/?scope=initial

I wish! Always wanted to go.

Sounds fun, weather seems like a similar gamble to Patagonia? Got any TRs to recommend a winter trip?

Yeah, I love rock, but I'd like to go play the pointy things game. Seems like most of the routes in the Alps will be rock or shorter high elevation mixed in summer? Agree on what I've heard about Pakistan and Blanca.

New Zealand?

Baffin? Or is that too rock oriented? The Alps? Or is that too civilized? Seems like Pakistan is often a lot of hit or miss with weather/conditions? Seems like Cordillera Blanca has gotten hit really hard by climate change? Seems like the snow/ice oriented routes in Canada have been hit pretty hard by climate change the past decade or so? I am too much of an armchair climber to be of much use unfortunately....

After that vague intro... I'm turning 40 summer of '27, I also have a lot of flexibility from mid-June to end of August. I like climbing big alpine routes that involve technical climbing but also have snow/ice. My work makes the Alaska season very hard. Where should I go? For the sake of fun, let's assume there are no limits... Pakistan? Patagonia in winter? Cordillera Blanca? Bolivia? Kyrgyzstan side of the Tian Shan? Thinking about climate change and glacial recession as I would like to not die and actually climb something.

Wow thanks Dave, I love to hear these old stories! I totally know those wool army pants as well, when I started climbing through Explorer Search and Rescue assisting Olympic Mountain Rescue I was totally equipped by surplus pants with a plastic lined butt and knees and wool button up shirts from the thrift store over REI long underwear! I would love to hear more about the longer traverses you did! Which ridges did you run? What were your favorites?