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I would've been better off. Not sure of the temps but the ice seemed to be insulated by the surface layer of slush. Longer screws or some excavation work led to some better placements. A 55mph inspection at 3pm today leads me to conclude that this is mostly a rock climb now.

Trip: Skookum Falls - Far Right Side Trip Date: 02/15/2021 Trip Report: On President’s Day I finally got to climb my first pitches of ice in Washington and I got the full PNW experience. After skiing the Cascade concrete for the last three of months I found that the Cascade ice is quite the opposite. We left Seattle at 6:15 that morning, raining. Heading south through Auburn, raining. As we joined the line up in Enumclaw to Crystal Mountain (9 inches, who could blame them), raining. We started making backup plans to head up to Snoqualmie but kept our fingers crossed. Even heading into Greenwater, raining. By some stroke of luck, as the GPS struck 5 minutes ETA, the rain turned to snow. When we pulled into the Skookum Falls Viewpoint (47.0529, -121.5721) we found the ice to be in pretty good shape. Dark blue - our pitch 3 Orange - our rap route - rap 1 through v-thread down to a large tree, rap 2 down to a second set of trees, rap 3 to ground Light Blue - Skookum Falls (courtesy of Justin Sermeno) Green - Skookum Falls Right (courtesy of Justin Sermeno) We made our way to the river working with vague beta of a crossing made of fallen trees. We basically flipped a coin and decided to head north along the river hoping to find this fabled bridge. Less than ten minutes in we stumbled onto it. (47.0539, -121.5754) Excited to have found the crossing, we jumped onto the trunk and gingerly walked across not knowing if the fresh snow had covered a solid step or a slip into the river. In our excitement, we failed to notice that the other side of the tree was a boulder problem of roots and frozen dirt. Luckily for us someone had placed a precarious crash pad (log) on the other side. Having successfully down climbed the root system, we made our way in a general south-west heading completely ignoring the beautifully tracked in Skookum Flats Trail opting instead for the ankle breaking snow-covered scree field. Red - not recommended Yellow - recommended As we geared up at the base of the climb (47.0523, -121.5763), we noticed the occasion slough. There was minimal overhead hazard and that the ice was decently fat we didn’t make a big deal of it. James offered to take the first lead and I happily conceded as I hadn’t swung a tool since my mid-December Hyalite trip. As James started off, he bottomed out his first 16cm screw. Oops. Finding a better place for it he continued on his way and made quick work of the first 45m pitch. As I belayed, I noticed the falling snow getting fatter and wetter. It wasn’t long before the falling snow melted as soon as it hit me. I followed up, happy to get back into the groove on top rope. As I took over for the second pitch the reality of WA ice set in. Every swing planted my hands in the wet snow. By mid-pitch, my gloves were completely saturated. I was pretty stoked with my new tape job but I may as well have taped cold, wet sponges to my handles. As I swung my tool back I could hear the *squish* of my soaked gloves as the tool passed my ear. The ice softened as the day went along and I was happy to have the horizontal front points of my Snaggletooths. At a certain point though horizontal or vertical didn’t matter, I was really just smashing through the slush and stomping down a foot hold. This was my first multi lead and my first realization that bringing 13 screws actually means you have 7 screws for the climb. 3 screws at each anchor. I had to call it quits at 35m. I set up my station, put my climbing gloves in my jacket and put my belay gloves to bring James up. Throughout the belay I watched as my fancy Goretex jacket slowly wetted through from the inside. This picture was taken with a very wet and slippery iPhone. James made it to the belay and we make the call to go or no go. Despite the moderate temperatures we are both shivering from the wetness, but enticed by the gorgeous sheet of ice above us we decide to keep at ‘er. It was only noon anyway. James throws down and takes the line of best protection. 35m. As James set up to belay me, I was shivering and my layers were saturated. I start climbing with reckless abandon, moving without testing my sticks and kicks until I reach a short section of dripping icicles. It was at this point that I learned that my layers weren’t saturated and could actually take in more water. Kicking it up a gear, I ran through this short section and met James at the belay. Now we were done. James built the V-thread and rapped a short section to a tree we had been eying all day. We pulled the rope and...fuck… it’s frozen in the V-thread. It took some hard negotiating but the rope eventually came through. I made sure to keep the rope moving back and forth as James cleared some tangles in the rope. At the tree we clear the old tat get ready to head down. Stepping over a branch, James heads toward the obvious gully (beta from not this section of Skookum Falls) climber’s left. Passing through the gully it’s clear that our 60m doubles aren’t going to hit the ground and James cuts back right to build an anchor at another tree. Cold and wet, I quickly followed over the branch not knowing that he had zigged and then zagged. As I got to the anchor and started the pull, the rope was stuck again. It was the orange rope wasn’t it? Or was it blue? No amount of forceful pulling would even budge the rope. This was the rock rescue moment we all say that we’d practice but never actually do. It was time to jug the rope. PNW lesson number I don’t know anymore, wet Prussiks are extremely catchy. Jugging up 35m on Prussiks was not happening. For the second time in my life and was supremely glad that I brought a Ti-Bloc with me. James fixed one end of the rope and I was able to jug up the other strand. Left quad cramping, right shoulder burning, I got up to the station to find this mess that I am almost too embarrassed to post. I cleared the tangles, rerouted the rope around the branch and un-zigged the zag. The remainder of the rappels went without a hitch and I thought to myself that I’m glad to be done. Mistake. We reverse the yellow arrows (see above) and find the trail. As we returned to the river crossing I am extremely unmotivated to climb what must now be a partially melted mud boulder problem. Recalling that there were other fallen trees that crossed the river I decided to pick the wrong one. We shimmied across another trunk trying not to fall in the river and we landed on an island that did not connect to the other side. Me yelling expletives at the river At this point we were less than 10 minutes from the car and the only thing that wasn’t wet were my socks so why not make it a royal flush. Gear Notes: A load of 13cm screws. Probably should've brought up more 16cms. 60m doubles. Approach Notes: Parking (47.0529, -121.5721) Crossing (47.0539, -121.5754) Base of climb (47.0523, -121.5763)

Absolutely, often stop for a snack on the way or a beer/meal afterwards. Covid messed with that a bit but it’ll come back. You should set up a survey if you are looking for more data.

I always enjoy stopping for coffee/breakfast before and a celebratory dinner at local spots when going on climbs. It's a luxury I appreciate, especially when the cafe/restaurant feels welcoming and community-oriented. At the same time I skip it without much thought if timing is an issue, i.e. leaving early or getting back late. Usually 1-2 people but sometimes more if bouldering.

Haireball, you came so close to keeping all the ice conditions in the same place, and then that senior moment. Someone delete that Leavenworth thread... Both the skiing and climbing has been great over the last two weeks of awesome PNW winteryness, so here goes my attempt to recap recent waice conditions. The first legit cold snap of the winter hit from around Feb 10 to 17. The temps were decently cold enough to get lowland ice forming, but what was somewhat unique is the cold was accompanied by non-stop precip so tons of snow fell during this cycle. Avy conditions went through the roof so most of the ice that got climbed was the lowland variety (I assume). But this snap happened late enough in the season, that the higher sun will tear things down quickly. Based on daily drive-bys to Crystal, Skookum Falls looked climbable from maybe Feb 12 to 15 this year. Here is @moyboy 's Skookum TR from Feb 15th. The mighty and mysterious Snoquera did not form completely during this cold snap. By around Feb 17th, it became kind of game on at Banks. The lack of much snow on the ground limited which seeps were seeping when the cold arrived. Many of the usual climber suspects were out there over the last few days, but it was nice and empty as usual too. Tom and I had a successful quick hit visit on Feb 18-19, and like most Banks trips, things were the same and different than previous visits. For the first time I have seen, Children of the Sun was surprisingly in, not just a thin smear wilting in the sun; so that was our first climb. The golfing is not good now because of the recent snow, non-white golf balls recommended: Children was pretty wild and more three dimensional than it appeared from ground. Pic of Tom about 1/3 up - I built a belay about 2/3 up because I was not sure I could get to the telephone pole anchor (visible in pic above) at the top of the climb from the base, but it IS less than 60M from the base: The mega pillar on Clockwork Orange's P2 was still not touching, will someone please haul an extension ladder up there for future ascents: After such better-than-normal conditions to the south, I was excited to see the big boys on the Million Dollar Mile, but it was more hit or miss. The Cable's P1 was not touching: For the connoisseurs, check out P2 on Thursday (above) - probably climbable, but here is how it looked it looked the next morning: Based on the weather forecast, I assume P2's fate will befall most of Banks by Monday. Moving north, H202 was very in and very fun: With a name like H202, it was wet of course, but I have never climbed a dry Banks pitch: Moving north, Salt and Pepper - who wants to describe the beta for the approach, mixed pitch? This climb looks so cool: The spectacular Zenith not close to touching: The Pee Wee's Playground lines have never caught my eye before, but they looked all mostly climbable, depending on your tolerance for brush bashing topouts. We climbed this fun line, which I am calling Pee Wee 4: Shitting Razors does not deserve a picture, the ice was not there enough to even call it shitty. Maybe the most noteworthy formations and ascents during this cycle where two big lines up and right of the Punchbowl, I have never seen these form before and don't think they have names. To avoid and/or add to future confusion, I propose Twin Towers Left and Right for these climbs, with TTR being the right-most line pictured (the one that has it's own twin flows - confusing, huh). The pillar just right of the Punchbowl was not touching down and not climbed, I assume, and I've named it the Devils Deathcicle, AKA Trotsky's Terror (all Banks lines need at least two names). On the way home, we climbed the classic Champagne which was much less fat compared to my two previous ascents in years prior, and there was a surprisingly thick jungle to bushwack/ice climb through to top out (which either grew really fast or is usually much more buried), but I still love this climb, one of the best in WA because of it's Cody-like ambiance. As seen from the walk off: Starting up P2. This pic shows a close up the condition of most of the Banks ice we climbed (going, going, soon gone...): How long will Banks be in? Let's just say if you are not there now, I would hesitate heading out after the weekend without some very current beta. Some shorter climbs came in and were climbed near the Railyard crag rock area. Based on old tat I have seen stranded on the west facing wall, I have often wondered about how often these, or climbs around Merritt falls, or even some of the south facing gullies on Nason Ridge come in. The Hidden Lake ice on the north side of Nason was in a few weeks ago and is probably still good, but again, the avy conditions remain sketch so no one should be up there now. Haireball, please add these areas to your future ass-clamming missions.

I might have dropped a couple of BD screws at the base with green nail polish. I've made peace with this, but just in case someone finds them (maybe spring?) it'd be cool to have them back. Thanks to Brandon for climbing with me on short notice. It was a full Cascades adventure, start to finish! Showa gloves are on order...

Typical Cascades character building conditions, which probably explains why there are so many characters here.

I guess I gave up on this season too early!?!? Noodling around the Assicle canyon today, found enough to finally initiate Haireball's ass-clammin' coverage, so here it is, before my boots are even dry - apologize for lack of photos; I'm a digital dinosaur... Hubba-hubba: choked with four days worth of snow, the Funnel looks skiable!?!? It was raining as I was glassing it, so I'd expect it to run BIG sometime this week Eightmile Buttress - left edge flow is in. this is a safer alternative to Hubba-hubba -- no hangfire above it. two pitches of WI3. Park at Eightmile campground, walk up the road a couple hundred yards, and follow my slowshoe tracks to where you can plainly see the flow Assicle Buttrest: no ass but lotsa avalanche debris - enough to warrant some plow work Dog Dome: the Dog Nasty Dike chimney is in - this is a great clam because it's a bolt-protected summer clam, so if you're fortunate enough to find the bolts, you're one happy camper. After losing an extension ladder to a high-water event several years back, I no longer establish a ladder bridge there. I don't want to be the guy responsible for someone attempting to cross a damaged, ready-to-fail construction. If someone wishes to re-establish the bridge, there is a bolt (placed by yours truly about 15 years ago) on the mid-river boulder upon which your two extension ladder sections will sit, so that those ends can be anchored, and not just slammed into the snow hoping... without the bridge, most will consider the Dog Dome ass unacceptably inaccessible Rainbow Gully: at last! I really was afraid that it was too late for this to come in, but as of today I count at least four clammable lans, and a fifth if you want to try the horror show in the far left corner. It looks doable, but not leadable for me in its current condition. Bring stubbies and rock pro if you hope to protect anything. Assicling: there's a fun little "ass-bouldering" park immediately across the road from the Eightmile campground parking area, and more of the same along the Assicle Buttrest road cut. Get it while its here -- as I said, it was raining when I was out exploring... -Haireball

this winter continues to claim lives in unexpected ways. Wednesday morning volunteers from King County SAR and Chelan County SAR retrieved the body of a snowboarder buried not far from the base area lodges at Stevens Pass Resort. the burial occurred near the bottom of the "Housewives" run, only about 50 feet from the edge of the groomed surface, within a few seconds ride to the loading station of either the Skyline Express or the Hogsback chairlift. The subject had apparently nipped into the trees for some fresh-snow turns, aired a small jump, and failed the landing. Searchers found him hanging upside down from his snowboard in a creek bed, under seven feet of snow. He had lived long enough to unbuckle one boot from his snowboard before expiring, It took fifteen shovelers forty-five minutes to complete the extrication. Over the past month, my ski-partners and I have encountered a frightening number of SOLO skiers and boarders at backcountry venues. One partner I ski with has developed a habit of taking the name and phone number of each soloist we meet, and phoning them at the end of the day. (this partner is a retired ER physician with nearly sixty years of high-standard alpinism under his belt). Every year, I read about needless snow immersion fatalities - and every report reiterates the absolute need to ski/ride with a partner and keep that partner within sight. And as this instance clearly illustrates, it's never overkill to ski/ride with a shovel, even in bounds at a lift-served resort. The mountains are fun, my friends, SERIOUS fun. Stay safe and take care of one another. -Haireball