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Trip: Rogers Pass Ridge Running - Avalanche, Eagle, Uto, Sir Donald, Asulkan Ridge, Tupper Trip Date: 07/25/2018 Trip Report: It's no secret that Rogers Pass has some of the best moderate alpine rock routes anywhere. Still, I was surprised by just how great the climbing is up there. I had been to the pass in 1999 on an attempt of Sir Donald (verglas turned us around low on the NW ridge) and driven though it many times on my way further east, but I had never spent much time there until a few weeks ago. Wow. And so few people! When we ran into a local midway through the week and asked him about this, he shrugged his shoulders, grinned, and said "this is as busy as it gets." I think we ran into two parties on 11 peaks over the course of the week and nobody actually on a route we were climbing. Even on the uber "popular" Sir Donald, we were the only party on the NW ridge. Of course, thunderstorms were building and we did have to run away from 3/4s of the way up it! Oh well, a good reason to go back. But the trip has hardly a failure, overall. Using the newish Jones book as our guide we managed three trips totaling five days: 2 days on Avalanche, Eagle, Uto, and Sir Donald (strenuous, camped at Uto-Sir Donald col); The Asulkan Ridge Traverse (Abbott, Afton, Rampart, Dome, Jupiter with camp at Sapphire col); and a day trip up the west ridge of Tupper - All five star outings (there are many other excellent traverses and routes detailed in the guide). If you haven't been up there, put it on your list! Speedy at the Top Sekrit HELLACAMP! A different sort of alpine hazard: Looking up at the impressive Illecillewaet Glacier: Steve starting up Avalanche, en route to Eagle, Uto, and Sir Donald: The incomparable view from Eagle of Uto and Sir Donald: Looking back at Avalanche. Swiss Peaks in the background, right: Ummmmmmmm.....That's quite a North Face Sir Donald has: Steve, putting our names in the Uto register: Descending Uto: We scored the best site at the Uto-Sir Donald col: Steve leading the charge up the NW ridge of Sir Donald: Crap! Watching as the summit slowly disappears into the approaching thunderstorm. We bailed about here and traversed around to the South ridge to descend: Steve on the descent of the south ridge of Sir Donald: Looking back at the summit of Sir Donald, between cells: We descended the South Ridge and walked off the Terminal side of the mountain. Here Steve is on his way to Pearly Rock: Trip #2. The Asulkan Ridge Traverse. The Illecillewaet Neve from the Abbott ridge trail: Abbott, Afton, and Bonney: Summit of Abbott I think. You can see the Avalanche, Eagle, Uto, and Sir Donald ridgeline we traversed above Steve: The North ridge of Swanzy is supposed to be uber classic. In the foreground is part of the Asulkan ridge traverse: Near the summit of the Rampart. Jupiter above Steve. Dawson Range in the distance: Trying to find a way off the Dome: Sapphire Col hut! Moonrise over the Dawson Range: Classic scrambling up Castor (summit of Jupiter): Summit of Leda (another Jupiter peak): Mount Fox with the Dawson Range behind: Approaching the Asulkan Hut: The Johannesburg of the Selkirks, Mount Macdonald: Hermit meadows, looking back at the Asulkan Ridge: The summit block of Tupper! Tuppertoe: At the summit of Tupper, looking at the Swiss peaks: The incredible SW face of Tupper: The Hermit Gendarme on Tupper: Looking across the highway from the summit of Tupper at the huge north face of Macdonald and Sir Donald in the distance: North Face of Tupper: The bugs were as impressive as the views from Hermit meadows: North Face of Macdonald: South face of Tupper! Gear Notes: half rope, medium rack to 2", approach shoes (which I didn't have), ice axe, Al crampons, helmet Approach Notes: Trans Can and walk

Trip: Pickets - North Buttress of Fury (during Pickets Traverse) Trip Date: 08/04/2018 Trip Report: Lani Chapko and I were planning on climbing Mount Robson via either the Kain Face or North Face, but weather looked iffy so I came up with a new objective that I thought would be equally challenging. We totally sandbagged ourselves on this route. Neither of us looked to closely at beta or trip reports, we just knew that the buttress was often approached from glaciers on the west side and the rock was supposed to be 5.6 or easier. I figured it would be like the DNB of Stuart with a long approach but no 5.9 climbing... The initial plan was to do a full Pickets traverse from Hannegan to Newhalem, climb Challenger, Fury, and maybe a Southern Picket. We set up the hella long car shuttle and started hiking to Hannegan Pass on Thursday afternoon. I screwed up big time and crossed the Chilliwack at the wrong point, and we traverse for an hour through steep trees to finally arrive at the faint trail up to Easy Ridge. ^ Getting lost on the way up to Easy Ridge As the sun set we set up camp at Easy Ridge and hoped for a dry night despite a wet forecast. On Friday we traversed over to Challenger in low visibility conditions. The Imperfect Impasse was snow-free, making things quite a bit more challenging than when I crossed it in May. On the way back up out of the Impasse, we hauled packs for a section. ^ Crossing the impasse We then crossed the Challenger glacier, also without any visibility. Lani was a route-finding pro somehow, and we didn't dead-end on any crevasses. Arriving at Challenger arm, the clouds cleared and we got our first look at our route up Fury *insert swallowing and stomach knots here*. ^Our route up Fury. Keep reading to know what NOT to do. We set up camp in Luna Basin and talked a bit about life and death (mostly death), and whether or not we should draw a line somewhere with regards to alpine climbing. We woke up at 4:30am and started up the west side of the buttress. ^The North Buttress in early morning The first crack at the base of the buttress we avoided by going to the right on mid-5th, loose, unprotectable rock. We soloed up without packs and then hauled them up with our rope. This became a common theme on the "approach", the glacier-carved rock was largely devoid of cracks and it seemed futile to use a rope without gear. The next rock band was harder and longer, we mostly went straight up from the top of the first snowfield and I found just one gear placement in about 130 ft of climbing. I think going further left and clipping trees would have been a better option. From here we excitedly got back on the steep snow and headed up toward the rock chute of doom. ^ rock chute of doom There was a big 'schund that extended out to the rock chute of doom (RCOD) forcing us to quickly cross the chute and head up the snow to the right. Throughout the approach so far we had noticed a couple small rocks coming down the chute but nothing worrisome. We climbed the snowfield and crossed the RCOD at a big boulder back onto the left snowfield/glacier. At this point it started raining lots rocks and ice, both down the chute and to the left and right of it, we quickly got under a big boulder at the base of the next rockband. We climbed the next rockband via the left side of the large boulder we sheltered under to avoid being in the shooting gallery. We looked down with distressed as more rocks and ice rained down on our approach path, meaning bailing would be a dangerous proposition as temperatures rose. Finally we scrambled up toward the buttress crest and excitedly put on rock shoes. We encountered a difficult 5.8ish step almost right away, which was not very well protected. We wanted to simulclimb a lot of the ridge, but with only a few cams and some nuts it was hard to climb for a long enough time to make simuling efficient. So we ended up doing a mixture of long pitches and soloing/scrambling. ^ Lani after pulling a 5.9ish roof and finding a hand crack, one of very few sections of good climbing on the route. We climbed up rock for a while before arriving at the "snow crossing". We were able to skirt the snow on the right side, however, and avoid putting shoes/crampons on. ^ "Is it hands?!?" - Me ^ "It's friggin hands Tyler!!" - Lani More scrambling intermixed with 5th class led us up toward the snow arete. We noticed the skies were getting dark to the east after a remarkably clear day. After finishing a long pitch, I looked up at the rest of the route. At that moment, electricity rained down from the sky. The thunder and lightning occured simultaneously and sounded like a bomb, striking the mountain a stone's throw away. I looked down at Lani, "On belay?". We continued climbing to find a better spot to hunker down. By the time the storm looked like it was subsiding, it was about 7pm and we weren't sure if we would be able to top out in daylight. We found an almost tent-sized area with just a few thousand feet of exposure off the eastern edge of the buttress. After moving rocks to make a vaguely flat platform, we decided we would take up landscaping afterward and setup the first light as the rain started to fall. ^ Setting up camp in a rather precarious position I slept comfortably despite having my feet over the edge, and we woke at first light with a plan I was not excited about. It was Sunday morning. Our car was in Newhalem and I was supposed to be at work on Monday morning. We had a bit of extra food but not enough to continue through the Southern Pickets. I told Lani we'd take the "fast" way out via Access Creek to Ross Dam. She didn't know what that meant luckily. We climbed up the half snow-arete, half choss ridge. ^ On the second section of snow near the top of Fury ^ The final section of climbing to the summit area/false peak. I felt pretty maxed out in my approach shoes on this gradient Topped out at about 7:30am. All we had to do was traverse steep heather/talus/snow to Luna Col, then up and back down to Access Creek, shwack out the creek to the trail, and then hike 17 miles out to the highway, and then hitchhike back to Newhalem to pickup Car #1, drive back to Hannegan to pickup Car #2, and then back home. Our splits roughly: 4:15am - Wake-up from thunder bivy camp 7:30am - Topped out on Fury, called boss to tell him I may not be at work on Monday 1:30pm - Arrived at start of gully down to Access Creek 6:30pm - Arrived at Big beaver trail, made dinner 12:00am - Arrived at Ross Lake, made breakfast 4:00am - Arrived at HWY 20 6:00am - Got hitchhike to Newhalem 9:00am - Arrived at Hannegan trailhead 11:00am - Ate huge pizza in Glacier, WA 2:00pm - Crashed on a beach in Seattle, WA We weren't moving particularly fast, but we kept moving! The Pickets are rough but soo addicting, I'm headed back this weekend Gear Notes: 60m rope, a few cams, nuts, 1 axe each, crampons Approach Notes: In via Hannegan, out via Ross Lake Dam (not planned)

Trip: Juno Tower - Clean Break Trip Date: 07/30/2018 Trip Report: It seems like Gabe and I have had a track record this season of finding the most marginal weather in the state, then choosing to go for it anyways. From plenty of wet and cold days in vantage last winter to an early season one day climb of prusik in a Blizzard, and a very cold and rainy day in the liberty bell group. This climb was no exception. On Sunday we drove over from Seattle and after cragging a little in the shady icebox canyon we stashed a bike and some Gatorade just off the road at the wine spires pullout. On our drive down to Winthrop for dinner we stopped by the Cutthroat lake rd to chat with the ranger who was stationed there. He informed us that the fire was under control and that it likely wouldn't impact our climb the next day. The next morning we woke up at 3am and left the car at 3:30 in an attempt to get to the base at first light. With a weather forecast of 90 on the summit of Silverstar we knew it was going to be a hot one. It was. Gabe trying to get us un-lost on the approach. The route basking in some nice alpenglow as we cross some slabs below the base. The first pitch is the stellar tight hands splitter on the right side of the blank wall. We got up to the base by scrambling up the chossy gulley to the left of the snow. There was an exciting 5th class mantle at the top that some might want to rope up for. No need for snow gear! I quickly learned on the first pitch that 1.)over 3 liters of water is heavy. 2.)warming up on 10c with a heavy pack is hard. And 3.) it's already damn hot and i'm sweating a lot. Somehow I managed to pull off the OS and was glad to have triples in .5 & .75. The rest of the route went pretty smoothly despite feeling like shit while baking in the sun. Luckily our packs were getting lighter really fast! Gabe styling the 10a roofy slabs. Gabe fighting with a tree on the 5.6/5.8 traverse pitch Pretending to be having fun while trying not to vomit from heat exhaustion. Moments before Gabe threw a hissy fit because our friend Jeff told us we didn't need a 4 for this pitch. The perfect rack would be one 3 and one 3.5. We had 2 3's and the crack gets wider than a 3 at the lip. Gabe didn't like that. Some of the first shade encountered on route. Trying to use the cold rock to cool down. More shade on the big ledge before the simul block to the summit. This was a real life saver though a big time suck. You're apparently supposed to stay right of the ridge crest here for more enjoyable climbing. I think we passed the only spot to get over so were forced to climb the lame sandy gullies to the left. Can't say I recommend them, but they get you to the summit. Summit stoke! We topped out at 1pm for a time of 9:30 C2S. Not too bad for how crappy we were feeling. Looking up Vasiliki ridge. One hell of a traverse! The descent follows the "obvious gully" then traverses left and down A LOT back to bench camp. There is plenty of kitty litter on slab skiing along the way to keep it exciting. Overall Clean Break is a stellar route with high quality rock and not a whole lot of routefinding issues to be had. This makes for a relatively fast 15 pitch 5.10 in a rad location. We really learned our lesson not to climb big routes on such hot weekends, and to bring a filter, not iodine if we end up doing it anyways. Half an hour is far too long to wait when you are that thirsty. Gear Notes: Rack: Doubles .2-3, Triple .5 & .75, A few nuts, 2 microtraxions. Either replace the second 3 with a 3.5, or just bring a 4. We brought 4 liters of water each. We should have brought a filter, chugged water at the base, filled up 3L, then refilled at bench camp. 2 UL poles, no axe Approach Notes: Silverstar creek trail is not super straight forward to follow in the dark so I definitely recommend having a GPS track on your phone to follow, it helps speed things along a bit. Same goes for the descent.

Funny I should see this post after not being around for probably 10 years! I think it's a lot of things, but the young folks are going to gravitate toward social media. I was just talking out loud trying to remember my login here, mentioned it to the wife, and my 11-year old overhead and asked "What's a forum?" That probably sums it up pretty well. That, and many of us that *do* know what a forum is have drifted away due to family, work, etc. It's nice to log in after all this time, and still see familiar names. It really surprised me. Really *really* surprised me to still see the same folks running it that ran it last time I was here. Hats off guys! I've been on a lot of other hobby-centric forums, and I have to say that looking around here after all this time... there's a TON of life left in this place! Long live CascadeClimbers! -Kurt

Trip: Goode Mountain - Northeast Buttress From the West Trip Date: 07/10/2018 Trip Report: http://goacrophile.blogspot.com/2018/08/goode-ne-buttress-78-713-2018.html Gear Notes: Rack: Nuts and tricams, single BD C4 from 0.4-2, BD X4s 0.1-0.3; 12 alpine draws and 4 long slings. Rope: Single half rope (60 m), doubled over for the rick climbing. Ice: Crampons, one ice screw, and one picket each. Footwear: mountain boots – I never wished for rock shoes, but this is a personal preference. I know many folks who've used rock shoes on this climb, and been glad to have them. Shelter: we used an XPED BIVYBAG DUO UL as our "tent" with two pickets lashed together as the pole. 300g of useful shelter. It works, but it's pretty miserable to be trapped inside of during a rain storm. We used every piece of gear we brought, except the ice screw. You probably don't need the pickets unless you intend to descend via the Goode-Stormking col, or if you do AND are comfortable on exposed 45-50 degree snow without protection. Approach Notes: Park Creek Trail: - A little brushy in places, with a few downed trees closer to the junction with Stehekian valley road. Not bad at all. The Goode climbers trail that connects Park Creek trail to the basin below Goode's SW face: - The old track is right in the middle of the 2015 burn zone, and is mostly gone. You can still pick up bits of it along the rib-crest just up-valley from the major stream crossing, which is helpful. The fire seems to have petered out above 6000', and the track up through the cliff bands between 6200 and 7200 is still there. Goode-Stormking col: -It appears that the rappel route most climbers are using is not the right one. There are about a dozen slings wrapped around a large but rotten horn at the lowest point of the col, with a boot track leading to it. Not only is the horn suspect, but the rappel line is horribly dangerous: a long vertical-to-overhanging line with extremely loose sharp rock. Searching up and right (closer to Goode) I found a disused piton and nut anchor in solid rock, that provided an easy, safe 10 m rap to the snow. Goode, SW Couloir descent: Descending with one 60 m rope can be done quite safely. The block on the sloping ledge "at 70 feet" that Beckey describes in CAG Vol 2. (and which was there as late as 2008) is gone. Instead, a solid horn is found at 100'. Altogether a better anchor.

I think from the traverse from Access Creek to Luna col.

I just bumped the Nodder thread. That should make you happy.

congrats you guys; looks awesome! I've been staying off cc.com since rotator cuff surgery has me sidelined 'n sedentary until ski season and hanging out here is just a little bit a bummer right now, but Ken told me about this report so I had to check it out. Killer.

#fuckfacebook?