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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 are 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 years or so, 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

We are not dead! That was extremely trying. The server totally crashed in a terrible way right in the middle of a super intense week at work for me and I was taxed mentally to the max figuring this out. Luckily I have a couple really good friends, ex-coworkers...but they are friends to give me moral support and confidence to do everything I did which was rebuild everything on modern software. So the site is in a MUCH better place than it was pre-crash. I still have a bunch of maintainance to do, but the site is back up and going. Thank you for sticking around. We WILL keep this place alive dammit.

Trip: New Hampshah - Black Dike and Frankenstein Classics Trip Date: 12/30/2025 Trip Report: Was in New England visiting family for the holidays and got to sneak away for two days of ice up in New Hampshire. Lots of beta out there on these routes, but I will just reiterate what you probably know... the ice is plentiful, plastic and easily accessible. Worth a flight out from the NW? Maybe not given the other options much closer, but if the opportunity arises I recommend. I found this website to be very helpful for partners and conditions... https://www.neiceconditions.org/ ...They also do some great things (like the instagram hack) that seems like it might be useful here too. Day 0 scoping after freezing rain Like every road cut... Day 1 Black Dike High of 8F, 50mph gusts Pitch 3, harder than it looks Looking over at Fafnir... next time! Day 2 Frankenstein Clif Pegasus Rock Finish, Hobbit Couloir, Dracula + some thinner TR laps... 10-20 min walk from the car park. Pegasus Rock Finish is a second pitch alternative that goes up the pillar... Partner topping out on the Rock Finish... Partner's shot of the top/crux of Hobbit Couloir... HC and PRF from the ground... Approach vibes... Dracula... Gear Notes: Standard ice kit Approach Notes: Micro spikes were helpful

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

Speaking of what we want to preserve on this site....this thread is a great read. Here's to you Mr. Stoddard!

Yep. That was me. I have a picture of me holding the approximately dictionary-sized rock that came through the tent while I was sleeping at thumb rock and embedded itself in the snow about 12 inches above the top of my head. It would have killed me if it had been 18” lower. Weird waking up in a fully zipped up mountaineering tent due to a weird noise and looking up and seeing the night sky. Wait, aren’t I still in the tent?

North Cascades shenanigans, celebrating that the site is NOT DEAD YET!

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.

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

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

Three weeks ago, when it was still winter:

SJake on the summit of Luna, taken from the false summit with a disposable camera in 2018. One of those perfect mornings in the alpine.

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.

22.5y ago, holy shit! Trip report from 2003

There were so many rocks littering the tent platform at Thumb Rock that I tunneled into the up hill side about 2' so at least my head would be protected during the night. We were in bivi sacks so even a small rock would've been exciting. Wasn't there a TR a while ago where someone had a rock come through their tent in the night at Thumb Rock?

You can get free Copernicus satellite imagery here: https://browser.dataspace.copernicus.eu/?zoom=10&lat=47.66954&lng=-121.40991&themeId=DEFAULT-THEME&visualizationUrl=U2FsdGVkX18z6Zi7g1Gbn2Jvf7fcB7hKdFXY56XViUM1f0y3pjlscnbMy4%2BSm%2FxjluCs8JUTQx8CDq%2BkXXcBjEKcs%2FIdXAgLCLpQHbynBn9mF0ONoxVS17wsMJ1aztTj&datasetId=S2_L2A_CDAS&fromTime=2025-12-22T00%3A00%3A00.000Z&toTime=2025-12-22T23%3A59%3A59.999Z&layerId=1_TRUE_COLOR&demSource3D="MAPZEN"&cloudCoverage=100&dateMode=SINGLE And free NOAA snow depth modeling here: https://www.nohrsc.noaa.gov/interactive/html/map.html?ql=station&zoom=&zoom5.x=2&zoom5.y=14&loc=48.946+N%2C+122.239+W&var=ssm_depth&dy=2026&dm=1&dd=7&dh=15&snap=1&o5=1&o6=1&o9=1&o12=1&o13=1&o15=1&lbl=o&mode=pan&extents=us&min_x=-122.86666666667&min_y=47.899999999996&max_x=-120.99166666667&max_y=48.949999999996&coord_x=-121.92916666667&coord_y=48.424999999996004&zbox_n=&zbox_s=&zbox_e=&zbox_w=&metric=0&bgvar=dem&shdvar=shading&width=800&height=450&nw=800&nh=450&h_o=0&font=0&js=1&uc=0

The ledge is in good shape but the fly is undoubtedly no longer waterproof. Shoreline area.

Thank you Benjamin S!

Happy new year to you all! Here is to another year of trip reports, of time in the mountains, new explorations and experiences. Bring on 2026!

It's probably easiest to just paste what my public comment was, so see below. Maybe (hopefully) I'm overreacting? But I think what takes me aback is the apparent scale of the operation, lack of clarity of what areas are being impacted exactly, lack of clarity that this will actually work (is this an experiment on a huge scale? Or is there evidence that this restores long term forest health? Is this even about long term forest health?). Happy to hear your perspective on this. Thank you for the opportunity for commenting on this project. While I am no expert in forestry and forest management, I am a deeply concerned citizen who cherishes our forests and the MBS in particular. I know enough to understand the theoretical need to thin our young forests that were devastated by clear cutting and then overplanted. I have also always thought of forest thinning as a potentially good sustainable option for forestry, and I know there are examples of such forestry around the world. That said, there are many reasons that this project causes concern for me, and why, despite the above, I can't support this project with the information provided in the EAS. 1. The proposal appears to be for "the entirety" of the MBS forest land that meet certain criteria then goes on to say that the intensity of thinning will depend on the location, but no information on specifics is given. What parts of MBS are more intensely thinned? What parts less? What portions of MBS meet this criteria? Will portions bordering designated Wilderness Areas received less intensive treatment as a buffer zone? 2. The proposal seems to suggest that this will thin the forests to 35% coverage. What is the basis for this percentage? Is it scientifically validated as something that will increase the health of the forest? Or is it what is economically viable for the logging companies to make profits while having to practice the more labor intensive thinning vs. clear cutting? 3. One reason for thinning is to reduce potential for wildfire intensity and spread long term. The EAS seems to suggest the the risk for wildfire in thinned areas would increase after thinning due to the dead debris left behind. This seems counterproductive. Shouldn't the logging companies be required to clean up the sites appropriately? 4. The EAS says there will be temporary new roads for logging. How many? What density? Furthermore, from my perspective, the word temporary is misleading: roads cleared for logging are temporary on the scale of decades. The EAS seemed to allude to methods to replant logging roads to aesthetically beautify and hide them. Will this be required of the logging companies immediately after they conclude their work? 5. What evidence is there that this method of thinning, including laying down "temporary" roads, will actually help long term forest health? What evidence that human intervention on this scale can produce healthier forests long term compared to nature taking its course? While I'm sure these techniques have been used elsewhere, have the been used on the scale of the entirety of the MBS? This seems to me like an experiment on a vast scale. 6. What is the long term commitment to protecting the forest to ensure this thinning project benefits the regrowth of a healthy robust forest long term so they may return to a mature old growth forest state? Or, given that the EAS states only areas zoned for commercial timber harvest, is this a project to improve the tree health only to be cut down in the relatively near future? 7. What is the plan to ensure wildlife security? While I accept that thinning is preferred to clear cutting for less overall impact, the EAS gives an example image that clearly shows devastation of the understory immediately after the thinning. This proposal then seems to imply they will devastate the entirety of the MBS undergrowth habitat in the qualified zones in the span 30 years. Without understanding what portions of the MBS will be affected and where the affected wildlife will go, how much of land is affected, etc.

I got the same grivel tools and poons. I really like those items so you dont have to talk them down. they are still worthy but I get out ice climbing as much as you do so what do I know?

build up some dirt ramps and Dukes Of Hazards over dat shit.

I just had someone offer to buy this site. I didn’t get as far as how much or anything like that but it was a real approach to buy it. By someone who runs online communities in other spaces. I thanked him, his approach was genuine and I think it’s possible his group could run this community in a thoughtful way. But I turned it down. This site is not for sale. At least not by me. When a site is bought and sold the community becomes a product. There is then a need for the community to turn a profit somehow. i have a different vision, of making this site a nonprofit organization that benefits our community and those adjacent to it. That gives an option online for people to connect and share where we are not the product and are not being mined for our data or to be fed directly into the AI machine. But I can’t do this on my own. So if you or don’t you know is interested in helping please reach out. I’ll share more of my vision here but I’ll also listen, particularly to active members of the community. This is not mine, this ours.

On a road trip in Idaho and Montana and came across this hat in a thrift store in a little town in Montana when I stopped in to get some steak knifes. Got this and three steak knifes for $2. Thank you Steve and RIP.

The trip report for Nature's Way has languished in the North Cascades section without comment. I must bring your attention to what may become a classic NW granite pitch. Also, this "Rock Climbers Forum" needs some bloody content. If you are a crack climber, you may not pay any attention to news from Darrington, the slab paradise. But there is a new crack pitch you should be aware of, Nature's Way pitch 3. On a less-than-vertical wall, the giant flake forms a rising undercling crack of fingers width between .3" and .75" for 20 feet. The wall has been wire-brushed for clean smearing of feet. There is one rest stop halfway along, an edge for feet and a crack for fingers. After that, more pure undercling moves to the top of the flake. The pitch seems burly for this moderate slab climber. It has commitment, unless you enjoy underclinging with one arm while placing pro. It is steep enough to look intimidating at first, but not steep enough to be 5.10. I'd like some crack scholars to go up there and confirm, or not, my grade of solid 5.9. It takes three hours+ to hike up there. Bring sandals or the like for the creek crossing. It can be done in an easy day; I just did the second ascent, with my buddy Yale, yesterday, 10hrs car-to-car. It requires two 60m ropes, as the first two pitches are long, ~55m. Topo and approach details are on Mountain Project. It is restful to stand here and place extra pro: And, after some furious activity, to stand on edges and place some more: On the hike down yesterday, I daydreamed some future essay, "The Controlled Frenzy of Undercling". I hope some of you can plan to spend a day on a new crack climb. Let us know what you think. Bill

Snow slopes west of Spickard. Looking towards Easy Mox.

Index town walls.

There is snow on the ground at 5k'. Let the games begin!

Bent Screw in the Gorge is in! Many other lines will be great tomorrow...

Anyone been up to Wapiti/Coe falls area on the North side of Hood?

Cool! Where is that? Name?

Where is that?

A little bouldering. Should be better in a couple of days.

Columbia Gorge Ice! Post your photos! Mist Falls 1/14/2024 Left a V thread and backup screw 80-90' up. Use at your own risk. Likely will be under a bunch of ice tomorrow. Have fun, be safe! -Kip

clouds parted enough today to look (january 10) - Drury is disconnected blobs of ice, Pencil appears to have formed and fallen; little-to-no ice visible on any of the usual prospects in either Icicle or Tumwater Canyon. If temps drop as forecast, I'm hoping to see improvement by weekend.

Well it looks like we might actually get ice soon so that's exciting. I was thinking about getting up into hwy 20 on Sunday or maybe Leavenworth does anyone know how drury is looking?

Running with water, most likely. 40s last night over WA pass.

Three Fingers from Squire Creek last weekend! Who knows what it looks like now.

I was up thereabouts a week ago skiing on rocks and the ice on the Polish route on Colfax looked decent. Crappy pic but best I could get

I went up to heliotrope yesterday and had little luck finding any well formed ice flows. Probably a couple more days for things to form up nicely. Here are a couple of photos. On the right side of second photo you can see a relatively well formed flow.

Yes! That’s exciting. Suppose to snow more this week.

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!

My 2 cents, in general, July is now late for Liberty Ridge because, as you say, melting is far worse. Tons of rockfall and ice fall hazard, really just luck if you don't get hit by something. Memorial Day weekend (when the road to White River usually opens) through mid June are better options, but less reliable weather so have to be flexible. When I did it around Memorial Day weekend in 2015 we were nearly killed by a serac fall near the top of the route, and there was a ton of rock debris around thumb rock (fortunately none fell on us while sleeping). That was a low snow year, but my observation is Tahoma has only gotten rockier and less icy since then.