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Trip: Idaho - Heart of Diamond, Milwaukee's Best Trip Date: 09/15/2022 Trip Report: I've spent chunks of the last two Septembers helping some friends scrub, trundle, and bolt on a unique 800 foot granite wall on a subsummit of Storm Mountain, north of McCall, Idaho. At least for the time being, we're finished, and would love for folks to get on the two resulting routes to get some traffic and confirm grades -- everything about them is geared to optimize the experience of subsequent ascents. The wall has an extraordinarily consistent angle at just under vertical, and is littered with overlaps, layback flakes, and small roofs, which together create routes that are extremely sustained and with varied and high quality movement. It's just the right angle, and has just enough edges and dikes, that it is almost never slabby, and also almost never requires cranking on micro edges. While covered in cracks, many of them are too shallow, flaring, or fragile for bomber gear (but are great for climbing), resulting in routes with around a third natural protection and two thirds bolts. It also tends to excellent free climbing conditions, facing northeast (so warms up quickly before going in the shade) at around 8000 feet in a relatively dry range. Last year started by pushing a route ground up, since that seemed like an important thing to do. It was hard, scary, dangerous and required lots of aid and drilling on lead (not by me), and would have (as is) resulted in a route that was very poorly suited to repeats. So, from that point, we went top down and focused on making quality routes. For instance, much of the wall is initially covered in loose potato chips, which make free climbing ground up extremely challenging (and not very fun), but scrubbing invariably reveals bomber edges, divots, and dishes pointing in wild directions to create interesting boulder problems. As far as protection -- if there's bomber gear, you place it; but if it's questionable we put in a bolt. You can expect sizeable (but safe) whips at cruxes, but will always have confidence in whatever you're whipping on (well, except in a few .10 ish bits), and everything should be both clippable for short folk while still protecting talk folks' ankles. Last year's route, "Milwaukee's Best" (MB, nine pitches, with two options for the last pitch), mostly tries to follow cracks on the left side of the wall, and is sustained at .11 to .12, with one pitch of .9 and one of .10. The two easier pitches are meh (easy .9 slab, somewhat fragile .10 cracks), but every other pitch is really good. This year, we had figured out that the climbing is often better if you avoid the big, obvious crack systems, and "Heart of Diamond" (HoD) zig zags right up the middle of the wall. Of the seven pitches, one (p5, a leftward .12 ish traverse) is perhaps a bit forgettable, but every other pitch is extremely high quality, with sustained and varied movement. There's one or two pitches of .11, two or three of .13 (so I'm told -- I can mostly do the moves but do not send that hard), and the rest some flavor of .12. Also worth saying -- these are real YDS grades, not Washington grades -- for instance I had little input, since my diet of index and ungraded bouldering gyms, and weird body proportions, mean my opinion isn't very transferrable. Michal wrote up an excellent description on mountain project: https://www.mountainproject.com/area/123065053/storm-dome, so I'll just dump some photos here. Northeast face of Storm Dome: The NE aspect enforces the pleasure of relaxed mornings, during which you can explore the variety of shapes into which wood can burn. Maybe these holes were woodpecker homes: MB pitch 3 before the roof: MB pitch 3 at the roof: MB pitch 3 after the roof: MB pitch 7: MB pitch 8, before the groove peters out: MB pitch 8, right where the groove peters out: Through the roof on MB pitch 9a (right option): Starting rightward on HoD pitch 4: Continuing rightward on HoD pitch 4: Starting the journey on HoD pitch 6: Near the top of HoD pitch 6, hanging in a hueco: Immaculate, perfectly sculpted and oh-so-crucial dual pinches on HoD pitch 6: Topo for MB and HoD: Smokey sunrise from camp, which is a pika-filled meadow between the lake and the wall: Gear Notes: Light rack and draws (see MP link for details). Approach Notes: 7 miles, 2800ft, 4-5 hours in, 2-3 hours out, see MP link for details.

Trip: North Cascades - Fisher Outpost High Route Trip Date: 09/25/2022 Trip Report: Wyatt and I enjoyed a wonderful fall day exploring the region around Outpost Peak and Fisher Pass! We ran down Bridge Creek and up towards Goode, before climbing up the long east ridge of Outpost Peak. There is actually an old decommissioned trail here and would love to learn more if anyone knows anything about it! Outpost has beautiful meadows and larches before some fun scrambling to top it off! It if wasn't for a 12 mile approach, this thing would be classic. We continued on down to Fisher Pass, over Spectacular ridge, Natal Basin, Meulefire-Arrival Col, and Silent Lakes, before rejoining the Easy Pass trail and heading on out. The Meulefire-Arrival Col was a little tricky and I think it could be challenging if you came from the other side, because the main gut on the west side of the col is total death choss. We instead ascended a pink gully just climber's right of it. Total came out to about 30 miles and 11k. What a stunning area! https://climberkyle.com/2022/09/25/fisher-outpost-high-route/ Gear Notes: Running shoes. Poles. Approach Notes: Down down down Bridge Creek.

Trip: Mount Carrie - Smoot Direct Trip Date: 09/11/2022 Trip Report: Perhaps the only upside to shattering my thumb this spring is that I have been catching up on my Smoots this summer. In fact, I'm at 99 after an ascent of Carrie a few weeks ago with @cfire. With each peak, I'm pretty impressed with this list ( it is back in print!). Not many bad outings in the book and some are very, very good. This is one of them, not for any classic climbing but for jaw dropping views across the valley at the Olympus massif. And so you'd better like pictures of Olympus, because you're about to be assaulted. Given the long drive we did the trip over three reasonable days: Day 1 was up the Sol Duc to the High Divide (prepare for combat parking at the TH); Day 2 was out to Carrie and back; And Day 3 was finishing the High Divide West to the headwaters of the Bogachiel and back to the Sol Duc. Every day we saw bears out and about, fattening up on berries before the winter snows come. We also saw quite a few people doing the loop in a day (the Olympics version of the Enchantments thru hike?), since permits are hard to get. Despite that, this is a busy loop, lots of people everywhere but Carrie (we saw nobody on our ascent). But, as you'll see below, it is worth the hassle of planning ahead. The High Divide is about as Olympics as it gets! Heart Lake: Carrie in the smoke out there: Olympus! Summit views to the SE. No idea what most of these peaks are, but I know @olyclimber does!: We enjoyed watching the ravens on the summit. They were battling with each other and raptors that invaded "their" territory: Cumbre! Heading down, Hoh below: Carrie is choss pile on the right. Not as bad as it looks though! I lugged my tripod all the way in, but should have looked a bit more closely at the moon phase: The classic Sol Duc falls (I cropped out the crowds): The trusty Civic is still intact with beers inside! Gear Notes: Clothes, shoes, whiskey. Approach Notes: High Divide, clockwise

give me a call @dberdinka! I can do blue collar.