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Trip: Mt. Stuart NE Face - "Always the Cowboy, Never the Cow" Trip Date: 01/24/2026 Trip Report: Mt. Stuart “Always the Cowboy, Never the Cow” January high pressure is almost always a given. Whether its three days or a week one can usually count on a high pressure system showing up sometime in January. This year it decided to consume a large portion of the month. Great for climbers! With freezing levels reaching well above 10,000ft for multiple days. Washington winter was looking canceled. After a week of warm weather, the cold finally returned. With clear skies and cold temperatures in the forecast climbing conditions were lining up. On Tuesday I got a text from Michael asking if I was free last weekend to go check out Mt. Stuart. He pitched a winter ascent of the DNR which I quickly counter offered with the idea of a line to the left of Girth Pillar we both had looked at before. Steph Abegg had posted a summit photo from Colchuck on Instagram and way in the back it showed the NE face of Stuart. One could see the face was covered in ice and that there was a sliver of white just to the left of the Girth Pillar. Not certain of conditions but excited for the potential we decided to go take a look. After a spree of texts we came up with a plan and started reaching out to friends for beta and gear. Michael was able to acquire a sled from Sam Duke (shout out Sam!) so we could zip our way up the closed forrest service road to the trailhead. The stars were aligning for a rare Washington winter climbing window. We met in Leavenworth Friday morning caffeinated and hungry. We quickly sorted gear and headed to the trailhead. Michael powered up the sled which gave a loud burp and rumbled to life. We gingerly made our way up to the trailhead as neither of us had ridden on a snowmachine, eek! But we kept it on the road. We left the Stuart Lake trailhead around 10am and were happy to find a nicely packed trail all the way to the mountaineer’s creek turn off. The warm weather had consolidated much of the snow making for mellow boot travel once we stepped off the main trail. It took us about four hours to make our way to a bivy spot near the end of the sherpa glacier drainage. We set up camp underneath a boulder settling in making jokes and discussing a wide range of subjects to occupy our time before tucking into the tent. Oh he's a wanderer! Just a wanderer! NE face looking fat! At 4am our alarm clock rang and we slowly rolled out of bed. After a slow start of brewing up and eating breakfast we packed our bags leaving camp around 5:30. We made our way up to the ice cliff glacier finding passage along the right side of the ice cliff via ice and snow covered slabs. After getting onto the glacier we could see how much ice was covering the NE face… it was historic conditions! After roping up to cross the glacier we navigated our way underneath the face. At this point the wind had woken up and began biting at any part of skin we had exposed. This would make for a chilly morning. Big Mike getting ready to get Shrundy! Sunrise on the NE face! The bergshrund crossing was looking questionable. It appeared that crossing this shrund may provide a serious challenge in the future as the options were slim. Michael made his way over a narrow snow bridge finding Neve and ice on the other side. Once across we simuled our way up a few runnels of ice eventually making our first belay below a rock step. After reaching the belay I took the rack and set off on my first lead. I made my way up this rock step placing the #4 in a very nice crack working my way into some delicate feet with good tool sticks. Once I mantled this problem I moved my way into another 20m ice runnel. Topping out I came into a snow slope that lead to the streak of ice we had been ogling ever since we saw the face. I belayed up Michael and at this point the wind had made its presence well known. It made for parka and puffy pant belays necessary. Photo: Michael Telstad First Rock Step After a hasty transition Michael took off into what appeared to be the steepest section of the route which we broke up into two pitches. Michael led a really fun ice flow with stemming and good sticks into a shallow snow slope and put me on belay. As he brought me up we were chatting how much type one fun this would be if the wind would just die down. Looking up I was excited that this was my lead. It looked like the most exciting pitch of the route. It was a left facing dihedral with a smear of ice running down the left side. I started up aiming for the corner to our left. The trickiest part was getting through a thinnest part of the smear using small rock edges and delicate front points on the thin ice. This lead into the steepest ice on the route which was challenging to navigate due to the verticality and irregular ice flow. After topping out the smear I found a rock outcropping and belayed Michael up. When he reached the belay I could see in his eyes he had been blessed by the screaming barfie fairy. After a minute of arm swings and groans he took the rack starting up the next section of ice and snow runnels. Photo: Michael Telstad The flow that started it all Photo: Michael Telstad Getting the goods! Michael led us up another rope length with some simul climbing taking us to the upper snow slopes. From here we chose the path of least resistance taking a right leaning snow ramp that we saw would take us to the sub summit. From the photo it looked straight forward. Funny enough it ended up being some of the slowest climbing on the whole route. The snow ramp we saw was actually a very narrow band of snow that was a strange consolidation requiring multiple kicks to make a secure step. This ended up being some blue collar toe bashing over the next hour or so. Bashing my way across this ledge in one long simul-block we eventually made it to an anchor where the ramp turned into a snow field leading us to the sub summit. Michael later told me he was annoyed with how long I was taking until he came around the corner and then realized the reason for my slow lead. He proceeded to thank me for the steps I had painstakingly made. Almost There! Topping out the sub summit we popped onto the sunny south side and took a snack break. We ditched packs and ran up to the summit snapped a few photos and headed down. We walked and down climbed our way to the sherpa glacier descent exit. Front pointing our way down the sherpa glacier we eventually made our way back to camp sometime around 6pm. I don’t quite remember what time. Obligatory Summit Selfie Sunset Selfie. Back at camp we ate our de-hys, listened to music and hopped into our tent. The next morning we walked out following our tracks through the mountaineer’s creek drainage. We were psyched on what we had climbed but our excitement also laid in what might come next for the NE face of Stuart. Our Camp We believe our route climbs a direct start to the ’86 Girth Pillar Left completed by Mark Beibe and Charlie Hampson which was done as an aid climb in Octobe. We climbed this completely free following ice, snow and neve with a few mixed sections. Thus it was not quite a new route but definitely a first ascent in this style. We chose the name “Always the Cowboy, Never the Cow” after a CMAT lyric from the song “I Wanna Be a Cowboy, Baby!”. This was due to the blue collar climbing and the feeling of being cowboys out in the wild wrangling ice. Photo: John Scurlock “Always the Cowboy, Never the Cow” AI5 M5 FA: Michael Telstad and Tucker Merrill Gear Notes: Alpine rack to #4, nuts, screws. Approach Notes: Mountaineers creek to Ice cliff glacier

Trip: Black Spider on Wy'east - Arachnophobia Trip Date: 01/31/2026 Trip Report: Climbed Arachnophobia the other day. Good ice, a little brittle first thing. Snow is very icy which makes for some tiring front pointing. Not as sun baked as it might appear. Five long pitches does it. L side of schrund went easily. Thanks to G for being a great partner, and Kyle and Matt for going up the route first so I didn't need to leave the family just to have a look-see. Pictures... Luckily sunrise had some cloud cover. Starting up the ice-looking bits, after some snow-looking bits that were still icy Snow-looking icy bits on P2 Starting up P2 Leading P3 Looking down P3 Coming up to the final belay at a rock anchor Descending S Side Hoping we get some snow this winter. But while we wait the sticks are quite good. If you need more beta, please feel free to DM me. -Sam Gear Notes: Single rock rack (small cams and nuts useful, nothing bigger than 0.5), pins, 10 screws Approach Notes: S Side and traverse over White River and around.

Trip: (Ira) Spring Mountain - East Ridge Trip Date: 01/25/2026 Trip Report: This long stretch of grim ski conditions had me casting about for other ideas in the North Cascades and Olympics (Ellinor, maybe I'll do a TR) these past few weeks. This past Sunday I cast off solo up the mountain loop highway from Darrington, aiming to get to the Lost Creek Ridge Trailhead. Surprisingly the MBSNF had a current report that you could drive all the way to the TH and indeed you could. Everything was in great shape, including to the turnoff for Pugh (not sure about the road up, however). 2wd would get you to the LCR trailhead at this time, which was somewhat surprising given the apocalyptic nature of this past December. Unsurprisingly, I was alone at the TH, and set off up the dry trail. It was generally in good shape, though with a good bit of blowdown in the first half mile or so. It had been 29 years since I'd hiked the trail and I had forgotten what large trees there are in this section of the Sauk. Of course, when they fall down, I wish they were a little smaller: Within a couple hours I found myself at Bingley Gap (hitting snow about 500' below gap), where I put on crampons, got out the axe and started up the steepening ridge. Views of Pugh and Sloan teased through the trees as I gained elevation: Within a few hundred feet above the Gap, the east ridge of Spring Mountain narrowed and steepened dramatically and I found myself doing some spicy scrambling in crampons sans helmet. Oops. (Don't worry, I found an easier way down to the north and below the ridge itself). Soon, Dakobed came into view: And then, not long after that, the summit of Spring, which was smaller and more noble than I was expecting: The view from the summit was sublime (about 3.5 hours from the car), extending across Sloan and the Monte Cristo peaks to the Olympics and up north past Darrington into the heart of the North Cascades. It was just me and a lone raven up above, croaking as it rode higher on the thermals. It was a beautiful day in the North Cascades. Out to Hall Peak and the Olympics: I stayed on the summit for about an hour (3 bars 5G service FYI), flinging digital poo at those that couldn't make it out with me that day. But I was a bit uncertain about the descent, since I didn't want to descend the way I had come up and left early enough to give myself some time to figure things out. Impressive views of the east side of Pugh slowed my pace on the way down. I had brought my new telephoto, which came in handy: Breccia Mountain: But I needn't have worried. Straightforward snow slopes (though steep-some facing in) were fairly easily followed from the summit all the way back to Bingley Gap. No sketchy scambling with crampons was required and within an hour I was on the trail bombing back to the car. I arrived early enough for a stop at the NF Sauk Falls (highly recommended), where a nice view of Spring Mountain was also had (summit is that middle rock): I hadn't seen anyone all day, nor a car, since leaving the pavement a bit south of Darrington. This was somewhat surprising to me, given that it was a beautiful Sunday, but then I remembered that there was a Seahawks game on. Too bad for those folks, I guess. I sat for a bit along the road as the sun sank west, admiring Whitechuck Mountain. I never get tired of a good day in the North Cascades. Gear Notes: axe, crampons, helmet Approach Notes: Lost Creek ridge trail to Bingley Gap. The east ridge can be followed, more or less to the summit from the Gap, though it can get spicy in places. An easier route drops a couple hundred feet on the north side of the Gap and then up and left through avy paths to the summit.

Yeah pretty much all the info I can find is for the right side too. Thanks for looking. @Tucker_Merrill and I climbed a variation of the line I drew last weekend and are trying to figure out if what we climbed is an existing route or not. Regardless it was super fun and recommend others go take a look if we get another weather window this season. I'll be writing a trip report for it at some point unless Tucker beats me to it.

Sloan and Bedal this past Sunday:

Trip: Guye Peak - South Gully Trip Date: 01/22/2026 Trip Report: My friend Vraj and I climbed the South Gully of Guye Peak during the strong inversion layer on 1/22/26. This was both of our first times up to the peak and we were rewarded with some great views above the low hanging clouds. We left Seattle later than intended due to the usually busy traffic on a Thursday and ended up parking at Summit West Lot W3 right around 0900. We asked one of the Summit employees about the parking and were pleasantly surprised when we learned you do not need a pass to park there on a weekday (non holiday). We then worked our way to the base of the South Gully moving pretty slowly and finally roped up around 11 AM. The conditions at this point were ~32F and cloudy as we were very much still in the inversion. Mixed climbing between loose Class 4 and snow for about 7-8 total pitches. The going was slow as it was both our first time in this type of terrain and found the protection to be limited. We were pleasantly surprised with how much snow remained in the gully due to our own pessimism on the south facing route. We were also looking forward to our friends who had told us to go find snow somewhere else! Some fun climbing through the chock stones (which were completely bare) led us up and out of the gully turning left prior to the end. Vraj took the lead on the last pitch before we decided to unrope and scramble the rest of the way to the south summit. This was ~1630 and the light was starting to fade. We wanted to make it up to the north summit before dark so we had to hustle. After reaching the south summit we traversed to the middle summit easily on a snow band. We were looking around for about five minutes before spotting the correct rappel station off a tree below the summit. We made it to the final ramp up to the north summit which contained the best snow of the trip. Topped out on the north summit at 1750 to a fantastic view of the backlit cascades. Downed some much needed calories we made our way back to the parking lot off the north side and through the Commonwealth getting back around 2000. Gear Notes: 60m rope 1x 0.5 - 3, nuts 2x pickets (did not even think of using) 2x ice screws (why) Approach Notes: Standard South Gully approach (MTN Project)

East side of Mt. Pugh two days ago.

Disclaimer: if you're looking for beta, you'll probably be disappointed by this TR. If youre looking for an emo introspection on soloing, then perhaps you’ll be amused… I awoke without an alarm on Tuesday morning. I stumbled around and gathered my things. Two skinny 30m cords, ice tools, crampons, one ice screw, 2 carabiners, some snacks.. I loaded my pack and headed up to the pass around 8am. I left from a nearly vacant lot at 8:40; not exactly an alpine start. But with freezing levels down to 500ft and clouds in the forecast, I wasn’t too worried about timing. I skinned up the thinnest approach to Source Lake I have ever seen in February, my skis sliding out from under more than I would’ve liked. My normal skins for these skis are having glue issues, so I used 77mm skins on my 95mm skis, not ideal.. As I skinned, I thought back to the last time I attempted this route, which was 9 years prior with my college girlfriend. We drove down from Bellingham and accidentally climbed a full pitch up Bryant Peak before realizing that we were climbing the wrong mountain. Hopefully today will go a bit better, I thought to myself. As I skinned through the valley, the morning fog lay like a wet blanket. Cold, wet, quiet. I skinned up from Source Lake; there was about an inch of snow in the skinner, which made the skinning a bit nicer than the ice down low. I caught a glimpse of Chair through the trees as I crested above the fog. Dang it. Looks like no ice on the upper pitch. Oh well, maybe it wasnt meant to be. I can still take a look at the North Face, or maybe climb the lower pitches of the NE Butt, then bail. I passed a few other skiers. I was actually enjoying being alone with my thoughts, so I moved quickly, eager to get back to some silence. I finally got up into the sun and was fully free of the fog. I felt the humidity drop and my sweat start to dry, one of the best feelings. The feeling was short-lived. I booted up the thumb tack to the ridge where clouds had again blown in and brought light snow. Above the fog... View of the route. I meandered along the ridge and finally got a view of the North Face, no good, no ice, just snow on rock. Not today. I ended up at the base of the NE Buttress of Chair without even really stopping to consider if and why. I looked up, and the rocks above had a smear of ice that looked fun to climb. As I transitioned from skinning to climbing, I briefly pondered my options and how I was feeling. Soloing requires confidence. But too much confidence will get anyone into trouble. It's a delicate balancing act. Today, I had the confidence. I started up. The ice was thin. Ranging from a quarter inch to 2 inches in “fat” spots. The movement of climbing sub-vertical ice and rock is addictive. Delicate taps with the tools, finding edges for the crampon mono points, ice and rock, perfectly mixed. Nothing feels better than flowing through that terrain. Soon enough, I had “flowed” my way into a pickle. I looked up and realized I had blown past a ramp to the left I should have taken. Above was vertical rock that I had no business touching, so I awkwardly scraped my way down a bit and transitioned left over the ridge. I was not psyched about this little blunder. The downclimb had some scary moves that I did not enjoy. I contemplated bailing. Confidence gone. I knew the upper pitch wasn't in any way, what's the point? This is all so contrived… The thin climbing right off the bat, not much ice but it was good. I continued moving upward through ice and rock and got back into the flow on this slightly easier terrain. The ice was mostly an eggshell over powder on rock. The movement was a 50/50 split between scraping tools or ‘pons looking for a positive edge out of sight beneath the snow, or gentle sticks in snice. I topped out the lower pitch feeling good. I looked up at the upper “ice” pitch with no ice, and I looked at the trees to my right that I could rap down and be done. Oh well, I’ll just keep going up. I’m curious if this middle snow slope is skiable anyway. Eggshell ice over rock. Looking up at the "ice" pitch on the right and the ramp I took (but would not recommend) on the left. I booted up the snow slope, moving quickly. Only a few inches of boot pen made for efficient movement. As I approached the upper step, I considered taking the plum line that had a few ice smears, or traversing out left to what appeared to be lower-angle snow and rock. At this point, I felt like I was way off the deck and had already made one mistake, so I took what I perceived to be the easy option to the left. I climbed out of the steep snow into the steeper rock and quickly regretted my decision. No ice, very few positive edges, not ideal. I scraped my way up it, crampons skittering on smooth rock; it felt a bit harrowing. There was one lone tree at the top of these rocks, and when I finally grabbed a branch, I breathed a sigh of relief. I pulled myself up over the tree and booted to the top, relieved to be done with the climb. I wandered around the top, went to the true summit, and looked for my descent. Nothing looked like the photos I had looked at. Eventually, I found the correct gully based on a dead tree at the top, which I recognized from a photo. The correct gully was a little bit back down the climbing route from the summit(s). The descent gully was nearly dry, and I face-in down-climbed down nearly the whole thing. It was slow and tedious, and a few spots felt about as thoughtful as the route up, except there were a few smears of solid ice yielding good sticks in this gully, unlike most of the route up. I got down to the rap station and joined my 2 30m cords for a 30m rap. I finished the rap and thought that what I had just rapped seemed a lot easier to down climb than what I had down climbed to get to the rap anchor… Up the final slope. Looking down the descent gully. A slow transition at the bottom of the descent gully ensued. Coil ropes, harness off, crampons off, skins off, skis on, boots locked, finally ready to ski. The ski down yielded a few good turns. Hop turns up high with dust on crust and rather flat light. Down lower, the snow got softer and deeper, and the light improved. A few good turns later, I was into the skied-out refrozen debris over Source Lake. I boogied down that and enjoyed the icy luge back to the car. C2C was 4:20. Would be fun to try to go fast in better conditions! A few nice turns on the exit. A few parting thoughts. I really wanted to do some technical climbing and forced it a bit. The solo headspace pendulum of caution vs confidence was a bit tilted toward confidence today. We shall recalibrate a bit moving forward and try to find the elusive balance. This route probably needs more freeze-thaw after getting baked in the hot sun for weeks. It sure does have a lot of south for being the supposed “NE” Butt.

Trip: Mount Higgins - From the South Trip Date: 02/06/2026 Trip Report: This lack of powder is starting to grate on me, but at least we have some backyard mountains that are still beautiful despite the dearth of snow. Mount Higgins (Ska-dulvas) is among them. Despite many trips in the area over the past 30 years I had never been to the true summit of Higgins. It seems like, in the past few years, many ascents have come from the south via FR 1891 rather than from the Round Mountain trail (which was the former "standard" route). Being that it was winter, and the 18 road was likely blocked by snow patches, @Trent and Adam and I cast off into our own unknown on a beautiful Friday morning. In short, this is a pleasant trip. About 2 miles of brush-free road (thanks to the locals for cutting this out regularly) past a gate led to a turn off into a beautiful old Doug Fir grove, just along the west edge of an old clear cut. Several parties before us left the road into the clear-cut, but I think it better to walk a bit more and hit the older timber before ascending. And ascend you will! About 4k straight up steepening forest (open, thankfully) to a rib of sandstone that breaks up into a boulder field right before the ridge. As short walk along that and boom, the summit! It took us about 3 hours from the car to the top. The views were grand, and maybe grander, than expected, extending all across the North Cascades to the Sound (Whulge) and Olympics. The North Fork Stillaguamish is no slouch, as beautiful as the two maidens that fought over Qua-hae-eths (Round Mountain) so many years ago. Unlike the Indian legend, we had a peaceful time up high on Higgins, and delayed descending for almost an hour, enjoying the windless and weird warmth of an early February day. We hadn't hit snow on the way up until almost 4500' and didn't see more than about 4-5' of snow at the 5100' summit. It felt more like a late spring day up there, but I'll take any "winter" summit in the North Cascades! Adam and @trent heading for the summit ridge: Whitehorse (So-bahli-ahli) Skadulgwas (or Ska-dulvas): Adam chugging uphill: North Fork Valley and Whitehorse: Adam and @Trent on the summit: Looking up the NF Sauk to Sloan, with Jumbo on the right: Whitechuck and Glacier (Dakobed): Heading a short distance down to our lunch spot: Descending, with Skadulgwas and the NF Stillaguamish below: Beautiful Doug Fir and ferns on the lower slopes of Higgins: Brushed out FR 1891: Gear Notes: ice axe, crampons, maybe snowshoes in different conditions. Approach Notes: 371st to Valley View Road (FR 1891) for a few miles and then up!

Trip: Coleman Pinnacle - Standard Trip Date: 12/30/2025 Trip Report: It has been a slow start to the ski season. A very slow start. But despite the setbacks, I've managed to have a few good days the past several weeks up in the Baker backcountry. We're fortunate up this way in that our usual backcountry backyard emerged relatively accessible from the December Floods. US2 and 410 aren't quite so lucky. I've not been doing anything remarkable the past few weeks in the Baker backcountry, but I do have a new camera that I have been having fun getting to know and so why not post a few photos from the classic Coleman Pinnacle tour? This is an outing that I tend to come back to over the past 20, climbing it every 5 years or so, if only for the views and the fun run down into Wells Creek. If you haven't been out that way.....you probably won't like it. Best to stay near town and reduce your carbon footprint. Sunrise from the parking lot: The classic view of Baker from Artist Point never gets old (to me): @Trent approaching the heli line: @Trent and Coleman Pinnacle: Der Shukshan: @Trent skinning up under Coleman Pinnacle: Summit of Coleman Pinnacle: Out to Chowder Ridge: Descending from the summit with Baker looming ahead: Ptarmigan in winter plumage down in Wells Creek: Windy on der Kulhsan: coming back up over Table on the way home: Shuksan is one of my favorites in the North Cascades: Sunset from the parking lot. As Ice Cube would say, "Today was a good day". Gear Notes: flotation, but please, leave the snowshoes at home. Approach Notes: Heather Meadows to Artist Point to alpine glory

Some backpacks and sleeping bags I've done in the past couple years. Have also built an ice screw roll, bike bags, and more. Great rainy day activity for the gearheads among us. Also including a quilt extension commission that I just finished up. Open to small projects and have reasonable prices

Dakobed from Helmet Butte:

TL;DR - It's forecasted to snow continuously for the foreseeable future, so unless you're coming here to ski, I recommend staying home or going elsewhere. The gist of the season so far is that north faces above 6,500ft are in great shape. Everything below that is out or unreliable. Access is hard because so many roads washed out in the storm, Cascade River Road somehow being the exception. Dragontail and most other routes in the Enchantments are notably NOT in this season. The north side of Stuart is however in great shape. Before it started snowing again, The NE ice couloir on Eldorado was reportedly in phenomenal condition. All of this is dependent on a warm dry spell leading into a cold high pressure system allowing for the snowpack to solidify. If you don't see this, it's not worth it.

Just imagine if you could zoom into the full res originals on a good monitor! The new camera and glass that I splurged on this winter has been a bit of a revelation. I should have done this glass upgrade 20 years ago but it took that long to wear down the Finance Minister!

There is a new subtraction from the road at the same recent cave-in (2020 just above the new parking lot. This winter a cave-in removed about half of the remaining road at this spot. A barrier has appeared within sight of the parking lot. I doubt if many people will want to drive around this one. Otherwise, the Squire Creek road to Trail #654 is in unchanged condition. I rode my bicycle up there yesterday, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026. I found only two logs which will require a return trip with the axe. I removed many branches and rotten logs. As always, the principle is to remove anything that would require a bicyclist to dismount. It was my first training day of the New Year, so glad to get out and stretch. The new barrier, just above the parking lot: After: Before: After, with the big alder waiting for the axe: Before:

Gorgeous gallery and well composed! The Artisan is indeed in.

Sunset from bivy below Winnie's Slide

Original plan was to climb the south gully of Guye but decided to drive down the Alpental road to check out conditions. Ice cragging a short walk from the car doesn't come along very often in Washington! There was a decent amount of ice on the various Alpental falls. A grab bag of thin/brittle with some fatter bits and some low angle hero plastic thrown in. Plenty of water running under everything. Mostly we set up a top rope on the climbers leftmost side directly under the Phantom Slide (Aplental IV I think?)...I've skied this in fatter snow years ::sigh:: Alpental II looked pretty fun though dicey for good screw placements. Sadly I only brought a few screws because the original plan was Guye (sorry Michelle!) so we didn't go up it. Saw two guys who said they went up to look at NY Gully and it was totally dry/ice free, otherwise no other climbers. I think Alpental II is the far right flow

Great shots Jason, the new camera is proving itself! Thanks for getting me out for a great day!

A few more photos from a single-push on the Emmons I forgot about.

Board doesn’t yet support heics. Can convert them to jpg. Note to self: check on status of this. edit: no plans for support. Only Safari renders them. Other browsers do not. So it’s not a forum thing, it’s Apple doing their thing. best I could do is have the board auto convert them to jpg on upload or something, but that isn’t happening anytime soon.

Holy `@#%@#$!` the detail in these pictures is freaking amazing.

@JasonG I've seen a lot of pictures of the Cascades in my life but these might be some of the best. I would probably be interested in a book if one was made. A skier from Tacoma named Thatcher made a book of his images that turned out really well, he may have some advice.

Trip: Banks Lake - Spice Rack M10+ (a Salt and Pepper direct start) Trip Date: 02/17/2025 Trip Report: This line struck me the first time I visited banks. By no means an original thought, every mixed climbing pervert who ever drove by also looked at it and felt their pants tighten. How we got so lucky came down to three factors: great weather, getting passed over on a trip to the Rockies (I’m over it now), and JJ’s advertisement of his OnlyFans during a UIAA comp- resulting in a season ban. Looking for a cathartic substitute we pivoted to suffering upward. For the uninitiated, Salt and Pepper is the existing WI5 line conventionally approached via a short 5th class traverse from the left. This direct start provides two amazing mixed pitches and 15-25m of bonus ice depending on the main dagger's condition. Weekend 1: @ColonelCrag aka Christian Junkar, and JJ, aka Jedrzej Jablonski began this attempt’s reconnaissance in early Feb, aiding the start of pitch 1 to assess feasibility, then rap bolting an intermediate anchor at the dagger, along with a few permadraws in the roof. I joined for a caffeine induced day trip from Seattle, attempting to lead from the bottom. Several whips and rock releases later, the drill came up pitch 1. With dwindling sun, the p1 highpoint was fixed with an orange rope. Salt and Pepper’s main dagger was the biggest we’ve ever seen, adding 25m of ice climbing to the standard route. Weekend 2, Day 1: (More Development) Government Worker's Weekend (previously known as Presidents’) provided an ideal weather window with a cold snap in the single digits followed by several days of stabilizing temps. As expected, the dagger snapped. Left, right and middle towards the wall cleaved off, leaving just the optimal contact area at the wall and a thin curtain with a shower in the middle. Maybe 10m of bonus ice disappeared, forcing the line to continue further up the p2 rock roof, gaining the ice with several overhanging moves. The fixed orange rope had been buried by the breaking dagger, with perhaps 15m of it claimed by fallen ice. The visible rope was cut, leaving the buried rope to be fished out from the fall’s pool in summertime. We continued the development with Tom bolting bottom up and leading some sections, JJ bolting top-down, we met at the p1 anchor… dodging icefall from the roof releasing throughout the day. Typing this a week later, I still feel my back from top-stepping aiders while bolting overhead in the p1 roof. Meanwhile, Christian was rewarded for his patient belay with a micro-trax solo of the first two pitches on a fixed line and cleaned as much as possible with the given daylight. Day 2: (Send day) We slept in and began around noon. Christian led pitch 1 and easily danced up the pitch while tossing loose rocks over his shoulder. Having recently competed in finals at the Ouray Mixed Comp, his base strength and finesse made it look much easier than reality. JJ followed, while clipping a second single rope for me as the third, allowing us to “siege” or “caterpillar” the line. We opted for two single ropes as opposed to twins, for the ease of manipulation in the p2 roof. In retrospect, either method would work fine- though a twin rope might have too much give if you fell while following in the p2 roof to get back on. The pitch 1 dagger and subsequent traverse remain exposed to falling rock and ice and act as a decisive hazard crux following the technical crux. At the p1 anchor, we hauled a pig via tag line on the last climber. (The pig rested on the far right side of the anchor ledge, waiting to be tagged up to the p2 anchor belay cave. This pig contained water, snax, and normal boots and pons for JJ and CJ, who opted to wear comp boots for p1 and p2. I opted to wear normal boots and my standard 1100g development pons, and was not prepared for the resultant level of suffering.) JJ boldly led out p2, with delicate feet and only minor grunting in the power crux (a full stretch stein to v-notch). Leading the final 15m of ice in comp boots and no secondaries must have been terrible, considering the ice required heavy cleaning. JJ might have placed a single screw in the ice, then levitated to the belay cave on the right side. Once we gathered at p2 anchor, the pig joined us, only getting caught briefly on the dagger. With happy feet we finished the ice pitches about 4:30pm, the only snag being a brutal 3-man rope pull from the ground. The intermediate anchor needs improvement as noted elsewhere. Beers and ice cream followed, celebrating both the send and our luck. Route P1 M8+ 30m 8 bolts, 2-3 screws, 2 knife blades, .2-.4; belay from a bolt and ice screws on the ledge to the left of the first bolt. 10’ of choss gives way to better rock and generous bolts, then gains the left side of the dagger to the shelf, going right to one more bolt and connecting ice blobs to the upper shelf. Stubbies or knifeblades would be helpful in the upper ice. Bolted belay ledge includes a rap ring for bail. A single 60m can rap to the ledge, walking / downclimbing the rest of the way. P2 M10+ 30m 4 screws, 10 bolts, 7 permadraws… so bring 2 draws for hangers without permas, and draws for screws. We placed 2 screws and used 2 at the anchor. Climb rock for a move or two up towards the first bolt until you can step onto the dagger left. Traverse daggers for a couple of moves (screw optional) and then enter the roof following bolts leading to the upper dagger. Recommended to go left on the dagger and then back right to belay in a cave on the right of the main flow. This route could be aided after the starting dagger. P3 wi5 main flow P4 10m wi4 3min walk to the back of your lazy susan where the forgotten spices and flours remain untouched. Rap: V-thread from the top of P4. Bolted anchor on top of p3 to the right side. Double 60 to intermediate rap chains (located where p2 gains ice on the right side of the flow. This anchor needs fixing… the 6mm chain was too short and makes for high friction pull (3 men, 1 rope). Second ascent party should add quick links compatible with 6mm chain and rap rings. From here, a double 60m rap easily touches down. Gear Notes: Screws, KBs, .2-.4, draws, double 60m. Approach Notes: Start at the back of the cave, expect ice/rock shedding until at the start.

I've heard good things about both, but all the clubs are only as good as who is currently helping teach. So, none of my intel is very current I'm afraid.... Good luck, there is a long history of good experiences with basic climbing courses! I got my start in 1999's Mountaineers Basic class, where I met my wife....and the rest is history.

Hearing today that my partner Jiri Richter has died on Rainier. We didn't find many summits together, but it wasn't for lack of trying. He was the sort of strong, solid, quietly competent partner I sought and most enjoyed. Aside from mountaineering, Jiri was an accomplished paraglider, who had an affinity for launching from difficult spots, and once took off from Poo Poo Point in Issaquah and landed in Yakima. Thank you for the fun and laughs, Jiri.

I took a look at, but chose not to climb, Eliot headwall on 2026-01-25. Here's a picture. It's a bit difficult to tell but I suspect that much of the snow is very firm. I haven't been up the north face gullies this season but in late november cooper spur offered roughly 1000 feet of climbing with penetration varying from crampon points to the ball of the foot or so.

Jiri and I were roommates in 2013-14. He was one of the first people I met outside of work, and he helped make me feel welcomed in Seattle. His athleticism was inspirational and I admired his love for travel. He took me on a memorable tandem paragliding ride from Poo Poo Point in Issaquah. I'll remember you, Jiri, for reminding me to keep doing the things that give you joy. RIP.

I worked with Jiri at Microsoft. I was his last manager before he left. In the spirit of some live to work and others work to live, Jiri tilted the balance of his life towards adventure. This is the cake we made for him at his send off in 2011. To quote Mary Oliver: "What is it you will do with your one wild and precious life?" Rest in peace Jiri Richter and thank you for inspiring us with your one wild and precious life. John Lambert Corporate Vice President Microsoft Corporation

Yeah I just need to get a redirect reenabled there. I turned it off when troubleshooting after rebuilding everything

Great write up and beautiful photos of Steve Barnett's favorite July ski tour! I've been meaning to do it but that southeast side of Table after a good snow spooks me. You hit it right in terms of timing. I was sitting on top of Hadley Peak in late July taking in that view (seen in your Chowder Ridge pic, but from the opposite view). Such dreamy ski touring terrain for an extended snow camping trip! In Barnett's 1987 book "The Best Ski Touring In America" (highly recommended!), he talks about the winter avalanche risk on that SE aspect of Table (hence his preferred time to do it is in summer), and how a party got caught in a storm on the way back and buried up to their necks by an avalanche off that side of Table. Instead of continuing to Artist Point, the party turned back and made an epic exit via Wells Creek drainage, stumbling over logs and through icy water and devils club thickets in freezing rain. Barnett wrote: "They spent the night keeping warm by wringing their clothes out". Type 2 fun. Even when you hit the Wells Creeks logging road it's still a looong slog back to Nooksack falls and the 542. Coming back via Chain Lakes and Herman saddle is less avalanche risk but that group probably hadn't done it before and the route finding through the trees and hillocks covered in snow can be circuitous. I believe Chowder Ridge is actually the ridge barely seen in shadow on the right skyline of the photo. The rounded ridge in front of it I believe is Dobbs Cleaver, draining into Bar Creek. It's wild terrain up there, so close yet feels so remote when you are back in there. The peaklet to the left of Hadley on the connecting ridge is Peak 7842 and continues up Bastille Ridge to the Cockscomb just north of Grant Peak. That view of the bowls of Wells Creek in your "coming back up over Table" photo look amazing! Ted Mueller wrote in his 1968 book "Northwest Ski Trails" (with great B&W photos from the Spring brothers): "These north-facing slopes are smooth and unbroken between 4800 feet and 6200 feet. The variety of runs is unlimited throughout this entire area." Rainier Burgdorfer wrote in his 1999 book "100 Classic Backcountry Ski and Snowboard routes" : "Whether or not you decide to reach Coleman Pinnacle, there are abundant possibilities for runs over 1,500 feet in length." Thank you for posting up!

Three weeks ago, when it was still winter:

Black Cloud Thunder by Twark Might It is eleven PM. Thirty feet of snow has fallen in the last twenty minutes. My fingers are frozen solid. The wind is pounding our ropes and our determination. Our belay consists of one piton hammer stuck three millimeters into a rotting hunk of moss. Harry Hampered is vomiting green and brown spew and bleeds copiously from his rock-fall-broken nose as I get ready for the final pitch of our new route on Les Grands Tombés in Chamonix. Worst of all, I think I’m out of batteries and can’t listen to my Discman. * * * I got the call three weeks ago in Boulder. I was sitting at the Airy Green Fairy café with--let’s call her--Amy. “Twark,” she pressed, sensing doubt perhaps by the way I held my pinky on my espresso-cup hand, “now is when I need you. I’m starting my organic community garden for underprivileged Latino youth with cerebral palsy and autism, and I need your support. I want you here with me and those kids, being a role model and helping.” Away off in the distance, September snows dusted the Rockies. Her voice drifted away into the clear empty air as icy couloirs, sheer granite cracks and ripping winds filled my mind with the usual NWA soundtrack: “You think I give a damn about a bitch? I ain’t a sucker!” “I’ve got stuff to do,” I told her, throwing a fiver on the table and standing up. Idly, I wondered if she was good for another round in the sack, and then forgot about it as I saw the Big Bad Bodies Gym sign down the street. Time for pain. * * * Climbing will go faster, I realize, now that I have cut Leif Trailer free from the rope and he has fallen to the death that suits wussy people who refuse to lead dangerous pitches. His screaming is nearly gone from my mind as I start up the pitch. I find a tenuous placement for my left tool. An enormous chunk of ice slams my right shoulder, breaking my arm. I now have only one arm to climb with. As the pitch begins to overhang by 45 degrees, I have to do one-armed dynos with my left tool to ever smaller holds with no feet. I move up thirty feet on no gear, then grab my tool with my teeth so I can use my arm to put in a screw. “Eat my ass, Will Gadd, Raphael Slawinski and Stevie Haston,” I mutter through a mouthful of tool. “THIS is mixed climbing.” * * * Alpine climbing is brute amazing pain, punctuated with moments of elation that only the few and the proud—the hard alpinists—will (and should) ever be able to savor. I begin my training routine with six hundred one-armed pull-ups per arm off of my Stubai straight-shafts. Bent tools are for posers. I follow this with six marathons and two thousand push-ups. In the weeks that follow, the frequency of Amy’s phone messages drops to around one per day. I get into the Zone, crank up the Joy Division and the Rancid, and get hard. Nights, I rent Masters of Stone videos and wonder at all the losers working boulder problems, prominently displaying their Patagucci and Horse Race clothing. The only way you could get farther from Real Climbing is to sit on a beach and imagine a mountain. And then float up it. * * * “Secure,” I scream at Harry. Towers of black cloud thunder over us as Harry jugs the pitch. He arrives, and I look deep into his eyes, and want to kiss him when he says “You are one crazy motherfucker.” This is why I climb in the alpine—to feel so close to both death and another man that kissing him and watching him die become equivalent sensations and equal possibilities. We are close, Harry and I, as we posthole toward the summit up the final snow slope. Then I hear the rumble of the avalanche. * * * I want to go light. We pack two screws, one nut, three small cams and one two-millimeter rope. Weight is for gumbies. I am naked under my Gore-Tex suit. The harness feels delicious on my scrotum as I test my gear in the privacy of my apartment. We will bring only water, energy bars and caffeine pills, and we will climb for 80 hours non-stop in order to finish the route. Boulder is full of girls with ‘biners holding coffee mugs to their backpacks and morons in SUVs with Petzl stickers as I head to the airport. Maybe the hardest moment of the climb is persevering through the dangerous approach slopes of sport, trad rock, bouldering, aid and gym climbing that threaten to avalanche safe idiocy onto me as I work toward The Real Thing. * * * Hanging with one heel spur, the avalanche roars over me. I vaguely hear Harry screaming as I take his full weight and he dangles in space. Something jogs my Discman, and suddenly the music returns. “Don’t call, don’t call me white,” sings Pennywise, something I can identify with. Who wants to be a member of the lame loser class that dominates? I get energy, and use my arm to haul Harry up. We continue to the top, blink twice, and stumble down toward bed. The next morning, we discuss the route name and grade over coffee. We agree on “Fuck the Entire Universe, Who Are Losers but Don’t Know It,” and grade the route at Grade VIII, WI7 A5+ 5.15c M22X. Harry, after this experience, will never climb with me again. And so, at the end of the climb, I am only really beginning up the lonely mountain of total alpinist commitment. http://www.falling.ca/

Historically, a solid gold thread. This is what we’re fighting to preserve, but also to continue. The free flowing exchange of ideas represented.

During the past school year, I’d made the plan of doing a bike to climb trip this summer. Mainly due to the fact that it’s difficult to borrow a car from my parents for a while, but it also just seemed like a neat concept, and I was down for an adventure. After getting back from the North end of the ptarmigan traverse, I was inspired by the peaks further south. My partners were either out of commission or had came up with the lame excuse of “work” and “paying bills” so I figured I’d make it a solo trip. The peaks on the ptarmigan traverse made good sense for this since they’re usually 4th or low 5th making it a pain to bring rock gear. The only challenge was glaciers, but I hoped with my later-season climb they would be mostly dry. I was pretty lazy about prep so a late Saturday night found me and my brother binging a show. I woke up at the too-early time of 7am on Sunday and packed my bike before setting off at 10. Sunday 8/17 The first day was quite chill until I got to the centennial. At my first break on the centennial, I went for my phone when I realized my pannier pocket had been completely open and in a position to spill out the contents for the last hour while I’d been biking down a windy hill and over railroad tracks. I looked around but couldn’t find it so I asked a kind stranger to see if I could call my parents to find out the location. The man, Tom, ended up driving me back an hour of biking to the last known location but after a 1.5 hour ordeal, I came out empty handed. I figured I’d continue on with a garmin and stop by somewhere to get a map. Hour or so later, When I reached down in my frame bag for some snacks, I found it tucked behind some bike tools. The rest of the day went smoothly and I got into Darrington around 6 or 7 in time to get some food, buy groceries, and set up camp. Monday 8/18 As was the trend for the trip, monday was also a moderate day. I biked 30 miles to the trailhead and hiked up to itswoot ridge. The Downey/Bachelor creek trails are now well cut out. Always able to see your feet. At the Bachelor turn-off I ran into two climbers who were coming down from dome. Once I got to cub lake, I met a backpacker who had twisted his ankle a few days ago. An hour later I watched a helicopter come pick him up. I worked it up to Itswoot ridge where I went over to back the peak before setting camp at the established bivy sights to a nice view of dome and glacier. Tuesday 8/18 Trying to save phone battery and figuring the ptarmigan was obvious, I navigated the old fashion way. I knew that I had to climb through snowfields to the spire col so went to what I thought would be the obvious one. Once I was climbing the gully to the col, I found that it was much much looser than I had expected. Topping out, I realized I was definitely in the wrong place, I’d gone to the spire/west spire col. A shitty descent and some more vert later, I got to the right col. I scrambled up spire peak and enjoyed a mix of sun and clouds. TR’s had reported a licheny slab that wouldn’t be fun in approach shoes but it wasn’t too licheny anymore. From here I made the awful descent down to the basin where I traversed around to cub lakes. The only snow of the entire day was between the col and the base of the spire point. I got into cub lakes early and bagged 7340 and Lizard before heading to bed. Wednesday 8/20 The goal for the day was simple, Sentinel and Old Guard. The south cascade glacier was entirely dry and it was cool to see all the glacier monitoring equipment. I found a nice left leaning ramp up the West face of sentinel and scrambled to the top. With the sun and clouds there was a cool glory effect. I descended down, traversed over to the Leconte Glacier, and followed the dry glacier to the col. With some endrunning I was able to stay entirely on ice except for a large snow patch right before the col past the schrund. The scramble up was fun and I enjoyed good views of the more northern peaks. I descended back down and got back to camp by 4. Made some oatmeal and figured I’d scramble up old guard at 4:30. Made it from camp to the base of the North ridge in 45minutes before realizing that there may be some 5th class. It ended up being about 5.6 but it was a secure chimney so I felt comfortable. Made my way down by 6:30 where I found a deer at camp. Picked lots of berries alongside the deer before settling in for the night. Also lots of unfazed marmots. Thursday 8/21 Woke up to find my helmet 20 yards away from my tent. The marmots had stolen the foam padding from it. Spent the morning walking over to the dome-dana col. I went up and over to the itswoot ridge side since I didn’t want to solo the Dana glacier. Set up a nice camp before scoping out conditions. Figured it would probably be do-able but I wanted to do it in the early morning before sun hit everything and while snow conditions were firm. I was doing everything in approach shoes and hybrid crampons so steep stuff was not my forte. Listened to podcasts and sat around for the easy afternoon. That night was horrible, some mice disturbed me for two hours, eventually getting into my tent by making holes in the mosquito netting. My food was hanging but they still walked around by my feet. Didn’t get a ton of sleep. Friday 8/22 Started at 5am, picked my way up the glacier trying to stay on ice. Summited dome at 6:30, down by 7:30 before the sun had even hit camp. Figured I might as well make it down to the trailhead where I found myself at 2pm. Quickly packed the bike and headed towards darrington where I stopped to gorge myself at the burger place. Afterwards I hopped back on the bike in the 93 degree heat to bike to arlington where I camped in a park. This night also sucked too. Loud music + heat + my grimy body only gave me like 2 hours of sleep Saturday 8/23 I knew it’d get hot so I was moving as soon as it was light out, made it home in 5.5 hours where I showered and gorged myself. I’d been doing some moderate rationing for most of the trip so was, and still am, quite hungry. Overall it was a great trip to end the summer. I’ve got a oral surgery tomorrow that will put me out for 2 weeks and by then, I’ll be a week into the school-year. Been busy getting out recently but with this off-time, I’ll probably put together some mini-TR’s on my site(https://lucasfng.blogspot.com/). I’d been wanting to do a long trip over the summer so this satiated my hunger, though it would’ve been nice if I could've got more than one in.

Over the last 3 days, Lani and I climbed what we believe to be the FA of the North Ridge of Redoubt. This is the long, NW trending ridge that looms over the North Face glacier route. The route was actually quite classic and comes with a high recommendation. It is by far more enjoyable than the standard route scree encountered on the descent. The route was primarily low fifth class and fourth class scrambling and we roped up for roughly 1100', though snow coverage and comfort sloping may drastically impact this number. The ridge gains a bit over 2000' over around .5 miles of horizontal. The name is inspired by the little ball of fire, Calcifer, from howls moving castle, as we watched the Perry Creek fire grow in the distance. Day 1 We approached and bivied at Ouzel lake. A bird tells me the Depot Creek "trail" is in particularly excellent condition, requiring NO bushwhacking, and they said handlines are even avoidable. The same bird mentioned that current logging roads take you all the way to the border, making the approach to Ouzel Lake 4.5 miles. We bivied all the way up at Ouzel lake as we were initially planning on climbing Spickard the next day, but growing smoke from the Perry Creek fire changed our minds on that plan. There is also an excellent potential camp at the top of Depot Creek falls, potentially allowing for a direct approach, though this would require bushwhacking of unknown taste... There are also potential bivy options on route to help facilitate a 2 day itinerary. Day 2 From the lake, we made a long contour on talus, loosing only around 400', once near and below the objective, we made our way up talus and slabs to the toe of the ridge. Excellent running water out of the toe of the glacier. We initially attempted the cracks smack on the toe of the ridge, I bailed around halfway up after encountering some 5.11 tips and entering unpleasant looseness. There is an obvious corner left of the toe that potentially holds a very classic potentially moderate direct start. The unsent directismo After bailing off the toe, we looked to the right and zig-zagged up ramps to gain the buttress crest. Snow coverage will drastically impact your experience here. Once on the ridge crest we found thousands of feet of enjoyable scrambling on mostly sound rock. Lani compared it to the NE buttress of triumph but with mostly better rock. We roped up for the occasional pitch, but mostly soloed. There is a broad saddle at 7600' where things begin to steepen subtly. This would also make an excellent bivy with a permanent snowfield for water access. Above the notch, the climbing steepened and we climbed a few back to back pitches until we were below a prominent gendarme. Unsure what the top of the gendarme would be like we traversed into the chossy gully to climbers left and climbed a short, overhanging pitch of surprisingly solid shist. After topping out the gully, we found the descent off the gendarme would have been chill, so Future parties should consider a direct line up the cracks on the gendarme for a more classic finish. Once at the notch in the ridge we met up with the large talus fields that define the slopes on the south summit. The traverse over the sub summits to the true summit was generally easy but involved a few sections of fifth class. Once on the summit, we began the "joys" of doing the standard route late season. Lani in the canonball hole Once at the base of the gullies we encountered awful scree, one could only imagine how much more awful it would be to go up, so there is that... The entire day we had been watching a fire grow in the East. Seeing it expand so quickly and already beginning to envelope spickard in smoke we decided early on our descent to forgo spickard and plan on hiking out the next day. Mordor to the East Day 3 Hike out, blueberries... Suggested Rack Single Rack .3-1, optional 2; full set of nuts; we had a single 60M rope, but it could be done with a 30M line to save weight.

Different people! Not to say anything of Mr Ng’s ability or potential. Maybe we all want to spot the next jeans wearing Cheamclimber, but I think it best just to encourage and help out the youth who clamor for the hills in our little community here. No sense in saddling expectations or projecting where someone is going. He will find his own way, and I hope his motivations are always his own. I do enjoy the TRs! Thanks Lucas!

More evidence that boomers ruin everything for the youngsters. How's this kid supposed to be the youngest to climb anything now?

Hey @Joshwl.....Sounds like you should hire some guides and not put that sort of responsibility on partners to bring a minor home alive to his parents. I worry that anyone under 25 won't properly understand the gravity of having someone's son in their care on a route like Liberty Ridge. As the parent of 15 and 17 year old boys, I would ground my kids if they were trying to do something like this with your level of experience- mostly because I've climbed Liberty Ridge! While you may pull it off and be the "youngest" to climb the route, it won't result in much attention and really isn't something that will change the the trajectory of your life for the better. Sorry to be the wet blanket old guy, but I do believe it is the truth. Glad that you are so psyched on the mountains though! It is a grand hobby that can enrich your life for decades....

I took a clinic from twight at the ouray ice fest last year and right as he started talking his crampons got tangled and he fell on his face. And then later he was soloing around on some easy WI and dropped one of his leashless tools. It was quite entertaining.

FUCK YOU!!! I once tripped on the way to the gym while crossing the parking lot...it really sucked...i almost quit climbing and took up skiing because of it!

'Bone, It is highly visible from Castle Rock. -Mitch

Hello all, Please join in celebrating the life of Jiří Richter. A memorial service will be held Saturday, February 7th from 12pm-4:00pm at the Ballard Elks Lodge, 6411 Seaview Avenue NW, Seattle, WA. Thank you all so much for the love and support. Olga, Lenka and Eileen Photos can be uploaded here to be shared at the memorial. https://photos.app.goo.gl/AtmgiCW2BAArBERh7