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  1. Trip: Argonaut Peak - East Ridge/NE Couloir Trip Date: 03/09/2024 Trip Report: Argonaut Peak (8,455 ft) March 9, 2024 East Ridge/NE Couloir 18 miles skiing/climbing, 10 miles snowmobiling, 8300ft gain 73/100 Winter Bulgers Eric and Nick On the summit The weekend looked to be stormy but the Enchantments zone seemed to be getting hit the latest. I’d previously bagged all the Bulgers peaks in the Enchantments in winter except Argonaut, so we decided to go for it. The route I’ve previously climbed Argonaut twice via the south face route (May, August), which ascends a steep gully to the summit ridge followed by a class 3/4 scramble to the summit. This is not necessarily the best winter route, though. In February 2022 Nick and I had been camped near the base after climbing Sherpa and planned to climb the south face route, but my updated NWAC forecast on my inreach made us too nervous about snow stability. So we bailed that time. Our East Ridge/NE Couloir route (drawn on picture taken by John Scurlock from the north) This weekend the snow stability conditions didn’t look great for that route either. But Argonaut has many different route options, generally all technical. I noticed we could ascend gentle slopes up the Porcupine Creek drainage on the south side to gain the Argonaut-Colchuck col at 7700ft keeping the slope angle low. From there we could climb one of the technical routes up to the summit. The routes might require crossing short snow slopes, but we would be roped up clipped in to gear in the rock so would be protected. We would bring a 60m half rope, hexes, nuts, cams, and technical tools. I would bring one technical tool with a hammer (for the hexes) and one ultra-light corsa straight shafted axe with a custom 3D-printed adjustable pinky rest Nick had just printed. This would allow me to plunge in snow and save some weight. We’d also each bring our custom carbon fiber ascent plates Nick had CNC milled. Unloading the sled The main route options from that col appeared to be the East Gully, the East Ridge, and the NE Couloir. Neither of us had done any of these routes but we figured we could see what looked the most reasonable based on conditions and climb that. The first record I could find of a winter ascent of Argonaut was via the NE Couloir (Lurie, Feb 2006, NWMJ). But climbing the full couloir seemed too risky with the snow conditions since it’s a ~3,000ft long snow gully and I wouldn’t want to be in the bottom if it slid. Worst case we would just cross the top of it, roped up, which would be much safer. At the Beverly Creek trailhead The shortest approach would be from the Beverly Creek trailhead, which is accesible by snowmobile. In order to beat the incoming storm we wanted to summit by noon, so that meant leaving very early. We decided to do a car-to-car push to avoid carrying overnight gear over the fourth creek pass. Friday evening we got to the Twentynine Pines staging area on Teanaway River road, unloaded the sled, and went to bed. Saturday we were up and moving by 12:30am. The road had just been groomed and we made excellent time, hitting 40mph in places. The Beverly Creek turnoff was a bit rougher, but we reached the trailhead 20 minutes after leaving the truck. Interestingly, there was a nice skin track already going up from the trailhead. This is very unusual for winter Bulgers trips. Crossing Bean Creek We followed the tracks across Bean Creek, but then they diverged west after a few miles. It looked like they might have been heading for Iron Peak. We then broke trail up to the Fourth Creek saddle, and transitioned to ski mode. We had fun turns going down fourth creek, then transitioned to skins as it flattened out. We skinned down to Ingalls Creek, trying to set a good track for our return trip. Ingalls Creek The creek was too high to rock hop across, but we found a nice fallen log across near the trail crossing. It was 8″ wide with a foot of snow on top and lots of branches sticking out. I strapped my skis on my back and started over au chaval. I karate chopped the icy snow off the top, then used an ice tool to bang off the branches. Progress was slow but this worked and made for a nice smooth crossing on the return journey. On the other side we skinned up to the Ingalls Creek trail, followed it east for a half mile, then left the trail heading up the Porcupine Creek drainage. The slopes were nice and mellow angle and the forest was mostly open for easy travel. As we got higher to more open areas the snow had a firm sun crust. We started on the west side, then crossed over to the east side and ascended into the large bowl flanked by Argonaut, Colchuck, and Dragontail. Conditions were pleasant with no wind and great views of the summits. We knew that would change by afternoon, though. Approaching Argonaut in the upper Porcupine Creek drainage We noticed the East Gully route looked like it might go, though was kind of steep. We decided to head to the Argonaut-Colchuck col to scope out the East Ridge and NE Couloir to see which one we preferreed. As we crested the ridge the wind picked up from the south, and we noticed the north side would be much more sheltered. It looked doable to ascend the East Ridge then cross over the top of the NE Couloir to gain the upper north face of Argonaut. That sounded appealing given the wind direction, so we went for that route. At the col We ditched skis at the col, then roped up. Nick started first and we shortened the rope to 30m and simul climbed. The East Ridge started getting steep soon so we dropped onto a snow ramp which we traversed across to enter the NE Couloir. We got good gear in the rock to protect a fall in case the snow slid. On the opposite side of the Couloir Nick built an anchor and we swapped leads. I kicked steps up the right side of the couloir for 30m then when the couloir dead ended at a rock face I exited up and right. Crossing into the NE Couloir This section was the crux of the route. The snow got thin and steep on a rock slab except for a thick wind deposit about 3ft deep. I had to tunnel through it Cerro-Torre-style, digging down to the thin icy layer on top of the slab to get good purchase with my front points. I kind of wished I had the custom wings on my ice tools. Eventually I excavated out an old rap anchor, clipped it, and tunneled the last bit up to the low-angle north face snowfield. In the upper NE Couloir I belayed Nick up there with a solid hex anchor and we swapped again. Nick led up the left side of the snowfield, getting a few gear placements in the rocks on the side. We eventually simul climbed up to the summit ridge, and swapped leads again. I traversed the ridge, weaving the rope around horns and getting a few intermediate pieces in. I had to make a few mixed climbing moves getting over one rock step. At last, I saw the famous tunnel under the summit boulder, and luckily it had a big enough gap to squeeze through. Nick on the summit By 1pm I made the final short mixed scramble to the summit. I belayed Nick up off the summit horn, and we were soon both on the summit. It was windy, but luckily not snowing yet. It appeared the storm was coming in a bit later than forecast, which was great news. There was no view in the whiteout, so we soon regrouped and headed down. I led the way back as we simul downclimbed the ridge and retraced our exact track back down the snowfield. We regrouped above the crux, and we decided to simul downclimb that as well. Now that the snow was excavated and good steps were kicked it wouldn’t be too hard. I put the exact same gear placements in as on the way up, and we simuled back down to our previous anchor point. There Nick took over and led back across the ramp to the Argonaut-Colchuck col by 2:30pm. Descending the summit ridge Now the storm had hit with full force, and it was extremely windy and snowy. I was jostled off balance a few times. Back at the skis we put goggles on, and decided to crampon down in the whiteout until it got more sheltered. I followed the track on my watch since our up tracks were drifted over. After 10 minutes we got back into intermittent trees and the wind died down. Unexpectedly, it then cleared out and was partly sunny! It appeared to be a brief break in the storm, and came at the perfect time. We switched to skis and had fun turns down the big open slope. Though, lower down we hit sun crust which made skiing challenging. Hiking down in the storm We switched back to crampons and descended down into denser trees. Back in the trees the sun crust disappeared and we again skied back down. The icy lower sections had changed to a small layer or corn and made for excellent skiing. We eventually reached the Ingalls Creek trail as the sun gave way to heavy graupel and snow. There we skinned back to Ingalls Creek and scooted back across the log. Last view of the south face of Argonaut We then followed our tracks back up fourth creek as darkness set in. At the pass we switched back to ski mode and made a high traverse back down the Beverly Creek drainage. Interestingly, we encountered a set of snowshoe tracks that had followed our tracks up to 5000ft. This appears to be a relatively popular area in winter! I guess the road approach is only five miles, so a snowmobile isn’t really necessary. Though I certainly appreciated being able to sled in and out instead of walk. Sledding out It was fun cruising down the drainage, and we made it back to the sled by 8:45pm. We then strapped our gear on and got back to the truck around 9:15pm for a 21-hour push. Gear Notes: Snowmobile, 60m rope, skis, technical tools, hexes, nuts, cams, ascent plates (unused but we probably should have used them) Approach Notes: Sled to Beverly Creek TH, ski to Argonaut-Colchuck col
    5 points
  2. Trip: North Side of Yak Peak - Humbled Beginnings Trip Date: 02/14/2024 Trip Report: “Humbled Beginnings” The North East Gulley of Yak Peak We had gone up to the back side of Yak Peak the Friday before, camped and did 2 pitches of ice the Saturday before. Upon doing so we noticed a line that goes for about 1000 feet on the north east side of yak peak. We had left Everett around 1130 pm Tuesday February 13th in Logan's 4runner after he got off work. Two minutes after getting on the road I realized I had forgotten my hardshell pants in my truck. We turned around grabbed them and officially started the drive. The plan was for me to drive up to the Falls Lake trail head while Logan slept in the back. I had managed 2 hours of sleep in the parking lot after work waiting for Logan. Thankfully had only worked 11-330 Tuesday because I had done a 19 hour shift that on Monday-tuesday morning 7am-2am. So I got to work a short day Tuesday but Logan got to do his long day the night before our climb. Clocking in 17 1/2 hours on Tuesday. Life in the emergency repairs world is like that. Most days are just 8's but if you have big plans count on a long work day right before hand because that's just how it goes haha. Anyways our first crux was an hour and a half into the drive at the border crossing. The Canadians made us park the car and come inside to tell them about our plan and then quizzed us on our insurance and whether or not it would cover an accident in Canada on a high risk activity. After some talking and telling them I had a Garmin high risk plan and showing them what that plan covered (a plan I do not actualIy have just happened to know about lol) they let us continue after a 15 minute delay. I drove for another hour and a half before I was almost falling asleep at the wheel and Logan finished out the last 30 minutes. We got to the trailhead at about 320 and both of us crashed in the back for an hour. We got up around 4 15 and double checked everything and got ready. Starting out an hour later than we had initially planned at 5 we started towards the north side of Yak Peak. We made good time and we were there in a hour. We stepped out of our skis and into crampons racked up and started out. Now something to keep in mind is we are NEWBS! We both started ice climbing last year which was a day at Bryant's buttress on top rope, and then a few days in ouray on top rope as well. I had done my first lead on Jan 14 this year. Logan had yet to lead. I started up the first pitch in much more brittle conditions than the weekend before. After the first pitch Logan did his first ice lead and took us up the second pitch. He kicked ass! After the second pitch we unroped and crossed the snowfield to the bottom of the gulley. At the base of our route we solo'd 50 meters of 60-70 degree snice before setting up a belay with a medium angle and a .75 cam behind a rock that protected the belayer (Logan) from spin drift and ice fall. I started up the first pitch with an m4-5 step protected by a #1 cam then traversed 15 feet up and left, placing a knife blade on the way to a 6 foot vertical rock with some ice bulges on the edge where I was able to get good sticks and pull up and over. Then 60 degree snice lead us towards the mouth of our gulley and just before our gulley I was able to get a #2 cam and then started up our gulley. The gulley began with a combo of 75 degree ice and since leading into WI3 ice just thick enough in most places to get a few 13s in. After placing a few ice screws I was about out of rope and made 2 19cm v threads one vertical and one horizontal backed up by a 13 cm screw. While building the belay a helicopter flew through the basin below us and must have seen us and circled around and came and looked at us for a few minutes. If anyone can get us info on how to get ahold of the helicopter that would be awesome because they have to have super cool pictures. After equalizing the v threads I brought Logan up. We were making terrible time and the first pitch of the gully took us almost 2 hours. The next pitch was the best of the route. 70 degree ice into some beautiful WI3. That went quick and I brought Logan up on a solid v thread and 22cm screw while getting heavily blasted by spindrift. Then Logan led a pitch of 75 degree snice then my lead up 65 degree snice then Logan finished out of the gully on 65 degree snice. With extreme winds blowing spindrift up into our faces. "Holy shit dude we did it. We finished it. We did the route." This was monumental for us. Logan and I have shot high and failed, a lot. This was our first full year of climbing. We had failed on Chair Peak last March after a fall and chest deep wallowing. We had both taken bad falls in the summer on rock. I fractured my L2 and L3. Logan fell 2 weeks later and had hurt a nerve in his back and cracked a helmet. We had attempted Early Winter Spires both of the last two weekends before the gate closed and bailed due to snow wallowing and running out of time, we had turned around two pitches up Triple Couloirs because we ran out of time, and those are just a few stories but we have been going for it repeatedly and just kept failing and we did it. We finished a route and the crazy and stupid thing is it wasn't even a known route. Now we did the 15 minute hike to the summit of yak peak hugged, screamed, high fived, and maybe shed a tear. It was 530 pm at this point. Then we started descending. Now if we were to do this again I'd climb with skis on my back and ski out down to the highway it would be an easy ski fast and relatively safe. This was Logan's first idea and I had shot it down because I was nervous about going into unknown terrain with skis on my back because I wanted to move unencumbered. We should have done it Logan's way. But we left our skis at the base so that was out. We talked about heading towards Nak Peak and descending the ridge that came off the sub peak between Yak and Nak, that may have been a better choice but we would be descending an unknown route in what was very soon to be darkness. So we ultimately decided to rap our route because it may suck but at least we know the evil. The first rap was on a single nut and 35 meters. The second rap was another nut and another 35 meters. Third rap was a knife blade and another 35 meters. At the bottom of the third rappel somehow my headlamp came off my helmet and went tumbling down the mountain, thankfully I had a backup in my pack. For the fourth rap it was another nut and the wind wasn't as bad now that we were deeper into the gully so we decided to start doing double rope rappels at this point. Typing this is fast but doing it took forever. We were battling winds on all the 35 meter rappels really bad. We rapped and set up a v thread. Pull rope. Rope stuck. Now here is more newb stuff. We had ran the rope through the wire of the nut. It was a big nut with a big wire that didn't seem to be a threat to cutting the rope, why not save cordage. Well while trying to pull the rope and realizing it was stuck I realized that that loop on the wire isn't rigid and when we're trying to pull it it's making the wire clamp the rope. So we decided that I would rope solo the pitch again so we cloved the rope to the anchor and put a micro Trax on then pulled out the second micro Trax to back it up, and I fumbled the second micro Trax, gone. Down the mountain she goes. Okay well I guess the first one will have to do. I climb the 75 degree snice, anchor myself untie the rope, put cordage and rap ring in, retie rope, reblock rope, rappel again and back at the anchor. Logan was just kinda on standby waiting for me to fix the rope so he ended up falling asleep sitting in his harness. Things are getting pretty real. It's about 9: 30 pm and we still have four more raps and a skin out. I guess that four raps seems like nothing now but things just took forever in that environment. Anyways Logan is in tough shape, so at this point it was just a juggle keep moving but make sure Logan keeps it together too. For the fifth rap I pulled the rope, ran it through the v thread to set up for another double length rappel, and then blocked it and rappel. set up another v thread for the anchor and after Logan came down we ran the rope through the v thread pulled the rope to set the 6th rap, another double rope rappel. This got us down to the fixed piton from the first belay and got Logan down. Logan is borderline hypothermic at this point I'm in the headspace of I have to keep us moving. That's my responsibility now is get us out and to our skis once we're on skis it's easy. Logan will get warm, we'll be moving, everything will be okay once we get to our skis. So Logan gets to the piton and goes "dude I left your tools up there." He says while shivering, scared,and in borderline tears. That sucked. I got those from the Wrights they were Pritis tools that she had pictured in Classic Cascade Climbs on Triple Couloirs. The Wrights are my heros they're cooler than Colin Haley or Honnold in my book so those tools had more than monetary value. But my friend is in bad shape and we need to keep going and leading that pitch took forever and it's almost 11 so I accepted the reality that they're just objects and we kept going. If anyone finds them I would love to have them back. They're probably in the snowfield below buried in powder. They're orange Cassin kinda old-school style tools with green cordage tied to the bottom. From the first belay station we did our seventh rap off the fixed piton which took us down the section we first solo'd and then walked across the snowfield down to the first two pitches of ice. Here we did our eighth rap which again was a double rope rap, off a tree. At the bottom of that rap we were back in good ice. I had forgotten to grab the 22 from Logan after the v thread above the fixed piton and so I put a couple 13s in and equalized them and then brought Logan down. Once Logan got to me I got the 22 and made a v thread which set us for our ninth and final rappel, again double rope,to our skis. Pulled my inreach out, texted my parents, we were back at our skis and then started skiing out. It was 12: 50 at this point. Skiing out was hellacious. The first mile wasn't so bad but the second mile was horrible. All of a sudden my heels hurt super bad from blisters so I sat down to adjust my boots. Fell asleep. Logan wakes me up after a minute and I realize I fell asleep. We keep skinning, on the lake Logan pukes. At the end of the lake we stopped to drink some water, we both fell asleep laying in the snow still in our skis in the fetal position. I wake up and realize what happened and wake Logan up and I kept skinning, we never drank water. I crashed hard on skis right onto my back. A few minutes later I hear Logan saying "Alex!" I woke up. I had crashed and I guess that was a comfortable enough place to sleep. He had turned around after waiting a few minutes for me so I guess I was out for 5-10 minutes. We finally got to the car at 2: 30 am making car to car 21 1/2 hours. Logan was a savage and drove us all the way back down to Everett to go to work. We got there at 5: 45 Where Logan slept for an hour and went in. I slept until 9 and was late. I think leading all the scarier bits and then leading and setting all the rappels in that head space of I just have to perform completely drained everything I had. Our boss noticed how bad of shape we were in and let Logan go out to the car and sleep around 10 and let me do the same around 12. Was it stupid? Yes it was, we should have not gone on such little sleep. I know I've been too eager to learn how to ice climb and while I'm definitely learning this was probably too much for us. Was it worth it? I mean we lived and to the best of my knowledge did the First Ascent of a new route in a cool area in Canada so that's pretty cool and feels good but it could have waited and we should have. Am I stoked? Yes but also humbled and my respect for the Wrights, Beckey, Wayne Wallace, Jim Nelson and numerous other alpinists, soared to new levels. They did such incredible things with much less and I have a deepened respect for all of them. Gear notes: Ice screws, knife blade pitons, nuts, cams to .5-#3 (BD's and the one black Totem), some smaller cams would have been nice. Smallest we had was a black totem. We ran half ropes, one 60m one 70m both Edelrid 8.2 which we really like for alpine stuff. Logan is making his own TR as well -Alex Cunningham Gear Notes: Gear notes: Ice screws, knife blade pitons, nuts, cams to .5-#3 (BD's and the one black Totem), some smaller cams would have been nice. Smallest we had was a black totem. We ran half ropes, one 60m one 70m both Edelrid 8.2 which we really like for alpine stuff. Approach Notes: Park at the Falls Lake trailhead, skin up to the falls lake campsite and across the lake, down through the basin and to the backside of yak peak. When the trees get less dense your basically there. There's a few good campsites.
    5 points
  3. https://craftmtn.com/features/above-alpine nice article about @John_Scurlock and the small hardcore group PNWers on cascadeclimbers.com
    5 points
  4. Trip: Wahpenayo Peak - West Ridge Trip Date: 02/23/2024 Trip Report: Alex and I took advantage of the beautiful weather and ventured out to an area that I've wanted to visit for a few years: Wahpenayo Peak, in the western part of the Tatoosh range. It was amazing and I will definitely be back! The basin was beautiful and held fantastic cold soft snow on the north facing slopes, we had clear views ranging from the Olympics to four volcanoes to other Tatoosh peaks, and what I think was Tookaloo Spire. The ridge travel was certainly engaging and the mountain let us pass safely to and from the summit -- and not another soul in sight all day! The tour starts at the Eagle Peak trailhead outside of Longmire (no pesky gate concerns) at a whopping ~2800'. We carried skis up to around 3800' and then were able to continuously skin the trail and then it was up the avalanche debris to the saddle south of Chutla Peak; still in the shade, we had great skinning conditions (soft debris but very supportable snow). Some of the first fantastic views Skinning up to the saddle Cool rock feature Other Tatoosh peaks (Lane and..?) Woohoo! Yahoooooo! Alex gets sick airtime With huge smiles, we made our way around and up... we weren't feeling much time pressure so took a sort of roundabout way, fully enjoying the scenery, to the NE ridge that one source suggested as the best (maybe with a ton more snow? ...it might have been easier to have just gone in with no beta for this one). After booting the ridge, using the trees to our advantage and an undercling, plus a short in-your-face steep snow climb, we decided that we'd reached an impassable notch for our gear and headed back down and around to the other ridge. This ridge did not go. That one was also engaging -- decided to go up a short gully after soft shallow snow on heather and rock seemed pushing the limits of what made sense. After a bit of large tree assistance, we were on the summit (6,231')! Amazing views.... From the summit looking west From the ridge looking east toward the summit We headed back down the ridge carefully to where we'd left our skis and skied more fantastic dry snow back into the basin, then headed back up to the saddle, and made a long traverse which resulted in only a short section of side stepping/shuffling to get back to the trail (felt like spring for sure), back to skis on packs, and back to the car, in base layers, vents open, no gloves. Felt so much like a spring day. Special place! I'll be back! Gear Notes: Skis. Brought sharp things but did not need them! Approach Notes: Enjoy!
    4 points
  5. Trip: Mount Angeles - Middle Peak East Gullies Trip Date: 02/03/2024 Trip Report: Decades ago, when I first started climbing, I would head over in the winter to scramble around on Mt. Angeles. The road is open all winter, the peak is close to the road, and the views grand from such an elevation at the edge of the range. Somehow though, I stopped going, seduced by harder, longer and higher winter objectives. But now that I am in my "mature mountaineer" phase some 22 years later, I went back with @cfire and @Kit (also in their mature climbing phase) for a civilized winter's outing. The weather wasn't quite as nice as on some of my earlier forays, and maybe the east gullies seemed shorter and less steep, but the charm of Angeles in winter remains. I'll try not wait another twenty years before I return! The road to hurricane ridge: The east gullies! @cfire getting to a narrow section @Kit topping out on the steeper section: Traversing the ridge to the main summit: Coming up a step in the ridge towards the main summit: More traversing: Cumbre! @Kit showing his pleasure at the views: Downclimbing to corkscrew around the summit to the SW and off: Almost off the steeper ground and back to mellow forest on the SW side of the summit: Gear Notes: Axe, crampons, helmet, 2nd tool handy if the gullies are icy Approach Notes: Switchback trail to ridge, up gullies to middle peak, traverse ridge to main summit and off the west side. Wrap around south side to hurricane ridge trail back to switchback trail.
    4 points
  6. Trip: Nak Peak - North side Up, South side Down Trip Date: 02/17/2024 Trip Report: @geosean and @thedylan and Mike (not sure if he is on here) already had a plan for this past Saturday, but they graciously let me tag along after I sent a flurry of texts trying to find a partner for the hills. Plan A was the North Couloir on Thar, then traversing up and over Nak to Yak, or maybe skiing the couloir. But a reactive windslab in the the couloir after digging a pit scuttled that idea right quick. And so we skittered down and around to the west, eventually booting and skinning up through every type of terrible snow to the Yak/Nak col. It is a great viewpoint! We had it to ourselves, but the afternoon was getting on and we had some windboard to schralp. We didn't relish the thought of going back the way we came and so we picked the devil we didn't know and headed off the south side of the Nak. The snow wasn't any better but it wasn't much worse either. More importantly, we were "Exploring the Coast Mountains on Skis"! The snow was, however, a bit thinner on the south side of Nak, and soon everyone but @thedylan had their skis off and was thrashing down to the pipeline road. Once reaching this welcomed scar on the landscape, we had a bonus 500' of gain to end the day, but at least there was no brush and @thedylan was charged up and breaking trail out front. I was very pleased to not arrive at the car dead last, despite how worked I was. In the future with these fit, young bucks, I think I'll leave the dSLR at the car! Skinning across Falls Lake: North Couloir on Thar: @geosean in the North Couloir at about our high point: uhhhhh, run away? Plan B! North side of Yak: Yes, this is fun: @thedylan skinning up below Nak: Why not keep carrying these skis? And where are my sunglasses??: Needle Peak: Looking out to Silvertip, Outram, etc.: Booting up to Nak: Steinbok, Ibex, Chamois, etc.: Mike pulling up on the summit: @thedylan getting ready to have more "fun" "skiing": Gear Notes: Standard backcountry ski gear. Axe, helmet, and crampons helpful to get up Nak from the North if snow conditions are thin Approach Notes: Falls Lake TH and head up to the lake and past it
    4 points
  7. Today we did what would have been a fun gully on the east crater wall. I don't know what number it's supposed to be. v4? Or is it between v3 and v4? Anyway it would have been more fun in firmer snow/rime. But we were wallowing in deep snow, and the rime was so fragile it could barely support itself. Though that did make all the excavation easy. Took WAY too long to get up there and we dealt with a lot of hollow snow. Went down v4(?) instead of finishing the traverse. The soft snow made for an absolutely blissful ride down to the lot. Beautiful day 🙂 Also saw a pretty massive avalanche crown on the west crater.
    3 points
  8. Trip: Boston Peak - West Face Trip Date: 02/10/2024 Trip Report: Boston Peak (8,883 ft) First Winter Ascent West Face (steep snow/rime, 5 pitch) Eric Gilbertson and Nick Roy Feb 10, 2024, 12:30am – 5:30pm The last pitch to the summit (photo by Nick) I’d recently been climbing in the area around Cascade Pass the previous weekend to bag Buckner, Horseshoe, and Sahale peaks. On that trip I’d taken some pictures of Boston Peak from Sahale and Horseshoe, and thought about tagging it on as a bonus point. But bonus points almost never happen on winter bulger trips, and we didn’t have enough time. The route Interestingly, the snow and weather conditions looked to be stable again for another weekend. I’ve found the highest chance of success on winter bulger trips often happens when revisting the same area after a recent trip, when conditions and approach beta are known and will likely remain the same. This sounded like a good recipe to attempt Boston Peak. As far as we researched Boston had not previously been climbed in winter. This is probably for good reason. All routes are loose, exposed, and at least 4th class (in summer, at least). According to Beckey “The US Geological Survey party of 1898 believed the summit inaccessible and applied the name to the present Sahale Peak.” That's why the survey marker on Sahale says "Boston." The west face route (drawn on photo by John Scurlock) There are four routes I’m aware of that have previously been climbed on Boston Peak. The Southeast Face is the standard route and involves steep, loose, exposed 4th class climbing. Nick and I had each previously climbed Boston twice via this route. We remembered there were basically no protection options. We expected in winter it would likely be steep thin exposed snow on rock for several pitches and sounded sketchy to essentially solo. The South face is the standard rappel route and has steep rock of low quality. This sounded like the most technical winter route, and would be tough with questionable protection. The North Ridge was climbed in 2018 by Sam Boyce and Kyle Willis in their Boston Marathon trip. This would likely be corniced in winter with prevailing west winds, and also sounded sketchy. The West face was climbed in September 1956 by Anderson and Shonle. The exact route up the face is described by Beckey as starting at the lower of two prominent gullies, then “begin from the gully and climb the west face.” Unfortunately even their original trip report doesn't give any more details. Loading up at the Eldo gate I’d been in Boston Basin in January 2022 climbing Forbidden and had gotten some good pictures of the west face of Boston then. It appeared like there might be some steep snow gullies on the face with rock walls in between. Based on topo maps the face appeared lower angle than the south face. We suspected the gullies might be protectable with the rock faces on the sides, and this face could be the best option in winter. It wouldn’t be under any cornices most likely since it was on the side of prevailing winds. The route would definitely require stable snow, which was in the forecast for Saturday. The weather looked clear Saturday but a storm was coming in Sunday, so we decided to go for the climb as a car to car push. Rigging up the bike tow (photo by Nick) Luckily I had very fresh beta about the approach for Boston. I had just driven and logged out Cascade River Road to the Eldo gate the previous weekend, and there hadn’t been any lowland snow or big storms since then. There’s unfortunately some inaccurate information online about the road conditions. The national park service website says the road is gated at the park boundary at MP 18, but that gate has been open all winter. The Eldo gate at MP 20 is locked though. My main resource for predicting snow depth, NOHRSC, had been showing deep snow starting at MP 18, but I found in reality the road is melted out all the way to MP 22 around 3000ft. With this in mind, I planned to leave the snowmobile at home, but bring the big chainsaw and bikes. Nick has an e-bike, and we planned for him to tow me up the road with a rope to save energy. I’ve done this before on cascade river road, and the best strategy is to tie the rope to the front bike’s seat post or back rack, then the follower holds the other end of the rope in one hand. Boston creek washout For the route we planned to take the Cascade Pass trail all the way up to the last switchback, then cut up and left following the same route as I had taken the previous weekend. We would traverse around sahale, drop through a low-angle gully to gain the Soldier Boy drainage, then continue to the Quien Sabe glacier. I know skiers often ski up Midas Creek or Soldier Boy creek directly from the road to access this area in the spring, but those drainages were all melted out last weekend and would be tough alder bushwhacks. Friday evening we started up cascade river road, and there were only two minor blowdowns to clear all the way to the Eldo gate. I was a bit disappointed to not get to use the chainsaw, but there was still hope for the drive out that something would need sawed out. We were the only ones at the lot. Approaching the Quien Sabe glacier We got a few hours of sleep then were up and moving by 12:30am. One car was in the lot by then. We strapped the skis to the bikes, then tied the rope to Nick’s rear rack. I pedaled a bit so he didn’t spin out but it was nice to get the boost on the uphills and save some energy. We had to carry the bikes over a few blowdowns but overall it save time and more importantly increased fun. Crossing the glacier Around MP 22 there’s a huge washout at Boston Creek. We ditched the bikes there, walked a bit higher, then hit snow and started skinning. We made fast progress up the road, then continued following the trail. This time there was a few inches of fresh snow on the icy snow, but we could still barely make out my ski tracks from the previous weekend. We topped off water halfway up at a stream, then left the trail at the highest switchback. Looking up at the west face gully system (photo by Nick) This time there was enough fresh powder to leave the skis on with ski crampons. We angled up to 6400ft, then dropped down a low-angle face into the Soldier Boy drainage. We descended with our skins on making low-angle switchbacks for our future use when skiing out. From there we made a rising traverse all the way to the northwest corner of the Quien Sabe glacier by sunrise. I’d never been on this route before, but Nick had crossed the Quien Sabe in July last summer and remembered some big crevasses. But there had been a safe summer route across the northern end of the glacier, which we planned to follow. We roped up and skied across the glacier to the base of Boston. The West face looked promising with a few gullies leading up to the summit ridge. It looked like the snow was likely deep enough to be supportive and there were also exposed rock bands on the sides for protection. We decided to give it a shot. Nick leading up the west face In the summer there is a large bergschrund directly below the col south of the summit, and with this low snow year we were worried the schrund might not be well-bridged. So we cut up and right to the outcrop just righ of the schrund area. There we ditched skis and switched to crampons and tools. Nick led kicking steps up the snow to the right of the outcrop. Then we traversed left acrosst the snow face. We didn’t have pickets, but Nick buried one ski pole as a deadman anchor. We simulclimbed to the base of a large gully that trended up and left across the face. Nick got a few pieces in, then belayed me up to an anchor. Me leading up the second pitch (photo by Nick) I took over from there, kicking steps up the steepening snow. I spent some time excavating out a rock face and smashing off rime ice to find a crack. For some reason the rock on boston doesn’t have many cracks, but if you look hard enough you can usually find one. The snow had a thin layer of wind slab but it was unreactive. Still, I felt happy to have running pro in on the steep face just in case something slid. We simul climbed on a shortened 30m section of rope from there so we could be within earshot of each other. I soon crossed over into an intersection of one gully going very steeply directly up and another going more gradual up to the left. I had to excavate out a wind lip to cross, and did a bit of downclimbing on steep snow. The direct gully looked like tough mixed climbing, and I decided to try my luck sticking to snow. The anchor under the overhanging rime face (photo by Nick) I got a few more pieces in as the gully continued up and left. Then I found a nice rock overhang with a flat snow bench underneath. I banged off 1ft long rime feathers and eventually found a few good gear placements to belay Nick up. From there we decided to leave the main gully and follow a subsidiary gully directly up to the north ridge. Nick led the next pitch, even managing to get a piton in at one point. In general I’ve found cams tend to slip out of icy cracks but hexes, nuts, and pitons can be more solid. With the terrain steepening we lengthened the rope to 60m and decided to pitch out the terrain instead of simul climbing. Nick on the summit Nick belayed me up a pitch of steep snow and rock, then I took over. The snow got icier and filled with more rime. I got a few pieces in and climbed all the way to the north ridge. The wind picked up there and I probed around and luckily there were only small 1ft cornices on the ridge. The summit was close! On the summit I banged off the cornices, got a directional piece in, then followed the direct ridge crest towards the summit. I soon reached a wider area with good gear and built an anchor. Nick then took over the last lead. He downclimbed a short bit to the final notch, then followed the narrow snowy ridge to the summit. There were no gear options the whole way, and the wind pickedup the rope and blew it pretty high off the ridge. Luckily there were no cornices for it to snag on. The summit register (photo by Nick) Nick was able to bury a ski pole as a deadman anchor and belayed me up by 1pm. Conditions were hard to beat. Only occasional gusts of wind, but not too cold and partly sunny with great views around. I peered over to the steep southeast face and was very happy to have not tried that route. It was very exposed, with no protection, and would have been super sketchy. I think our route was the best option for winter. I had brought my shovel up and we decided to find the summit register. Nick remembered its approximate location, and this is one of the largest registers on any Bulger peak. It is a huge aluminum rectangular case containing a full-sized notebook. Signatures go back to 1968, when it was first placed. I recalled leafing through it in 2016 and 2018 and not seeing any winter sign ins. We hoped to change that. Climbing back down We took turns digging down through 2ft of snow and I eventually managed to find the register! We cracked it open and signed in. This was the third Boston summit for each of us. After 45 minutes on the summit we decided to head back down. Our original plan was to descend the standard rap route, but that didn’t seem like such a good idea any more. There would be three anchors that would each need excavated out, and that could take a while if they were buried as deep as the summit register was. We might not be able to find them, and it would be a lot of work excavating out our own anchors. Climbing down (photo by Nick) We had already confirmed the snow stability on our ascent route, and had already excavated out plenty of cracks in rocks. It was low enough angle that we decided to just simul downclimb our ascent route. Nick already had all the gear so he started down first. Climbing down (photo by Nick) I belayed him to the end of the rope, then started down the ridge. It took careful balance with no protection on the ridge and occasional wind gusts. I crossed to the notch, climbed back over the gendarme, then downclimbed. I carefully followed our up tracks and eventually met back up with Nick at the overhang. From there the slope was low-enough angle that we put the rope away and just downclimbed facing in. The sun came out by then and warmed the snow enough to glop on our crampons. But we carefully made it back to our skis as the clouds rolled back in. By then the summit started getting socked in. It appeared the Sunday storm system was approaching. Biking out For the descent we scoped out a crevasse-free route more directly down, and we had fun turns down the southeast edge of the Quien Sabe glacier back to our up tracks. We had to briefly change to skins to cross out of the Soldier Boy drainage, then skied back to the trail. With the fresh powder we skied down the switchbacks, cutting the last five or so in a big snowfield on skiers left that led back to the trailhead. From there we skied back to our boots, walked a short ways back to the bikes, then biked back to the Eldo gate by 5:30pm. 68/100 Winter Bulgers Note: it's hard to know for sure if we followed the same route as the Sept 1956 ascent or did a different route. Their description isn't too detailed. Gear Notes: Bikes, two tools, 60m rope, single rack to 2", pitons, hexes Approach Notes: Road still clear to Eldo Gate and bikeable beyond to the Boston Creek washout
    3 points
  9. I just renewed the sole sponsorship of CascadeCllimbers.com server hosting costs by The American Alpine Institute for another year. We owe it to these guys, they believe in this place and shown that in monetary support. Thank you @Jason_Martin and team! Our hosting company was recently purchased and this resulted in significant increase in monthly cost for hosting as they jacked the rates. AAI has increased their support to continue to support the full cost of hosting. We will need to evaluate our options to see if we can bring that cost down, but for now AAI is keeping the lights on and it is very much appreciated. Please give them all the support you can, referrals, whatever. Thank you.
    2 points
  10. That is an Awesome looking line! Picture are beautiful. You and your buddy are mighty! You now have more experience than 99% of PNW climbers on technical alpine terrain in the winter.
    2 points
  11. Great trip report, and thanks for writing it up in such an honest way! That's how you learn. We all did stupid stuff above our heads when we were younger, and those of us still posting made it out alive, but not everybody did. I advise you to do what I did. Take some of that money you are going to spend on new gear and invest it in getting some in-person instruction from a really well qualified guide. Get a little group together and the cost will be reasonable. or at least find an experienced ice climber who is also a good teacher, buy them a case of beer to take you out somewhere nearby and teach you as much as they can. Congrats on the probable FA. So I actually want to congratulate you on the decision to rap the route. I don't know the mountain or the descent options, but just going from the TR info, it appears you didn't also. so in my opinion, that was your best decision of the day and just might have saved your life. if you're not absolutely sure about alternative means of descent, it is ALWAYS better to go back the way you came. Well done. So many climbing accident reports begin with "they decided to seek an easier way down" or "they descended via _______, a route they were not familiar with." You can easily be cliffed out or find yourself in even more of an epic, and once hypothermia sets in, you start making stupid decisions without even realizing it. Others have commented on your rappel techniques. Trying to save 10 bucks by threading your rope through a wire made my shudder. You were lucky to survive that as well. You DO need to spend more time learning and PRACTICING rappelling in a safe environment. You can read great techniques in books but you need to dial that shit in at home before you try it in the field. (it's by far the most dangerous part of climbing as you probably know intellectually). If you haven't read through any of the "American climbing accidents" annuals, I highly recommend it. You can learn a lot from the mistakes others make, and it's a guaranteed injury-free activity, as well as being a pretty compelling read. One last complement- your willingness to keep learning is what will save you. Well done. Lots of people think they're invincible and aren't as self aware as you seem to be. It's great to see.
    2 points
  12. I appreciate the concern and the gear advice from both of you. I will definitely admit, and tried to make that known that we could have and should have waited to do this. I bit off more than I could chew and definitely acknowledge that. After talking to @JasonGa bit more it appears that there is a good walk off with maybe a few steeper tree rappels off the sub peak between Yak and Nak. I will definitely be looking more into descent options on future routes and planning to stay on established ones for a bit longer. We did back up most of those raps with a screw or picket while I went down as to not blindly trust it but I definitely can acknowledge that this is not ideal and not what we should do everytime. Also been reading "Down" this past week. It has been a great read for me and seeing how we can do better on rappels like this. Also went back into Marc Andres blog and was reading about his solo of Mt Robson (don't worry no desire to solo. I infact do not want to die and appreciate a belay) and noticed how he was tired at the top so dug a pit and crawled in his bivy bag for a bit. That was good insight for me that if you need rest figure out how to get it before going back into the rough terrain and environment. I appreciate your guys feedback. Feedback from people that know a thing or two because they've done a thing or two is much appreciated and remembered when we're in situations trying to figure out what to do I remember words of wisdom from more experienced climbers than myself. I'll pick up a couple more peckers next time I'm at the climbing shop.
    2 points
  13. I think those were by far my favorite trip reports to read. They also fall in line of my thoughts on wouldn't it be cool to climb.. like Sir Alexandra in Canada they are far in and very committing. You are fortunate to have found a partner to attempt these climbs with you. Keep em up and Cheers to you both!
    1 point
  14. Immediately following NWAC's announcement of the news, several obituaries (one linked above) appeared. As those seemed to conflate the NWAC announcement and some other unrelated sources, it seems like they may have been automatically generated. Now that it has been confirmed by multiple news sources that the cause was a climbing accident and not a crash, I'm reasonably certain that this is the case. Why someone would use an LLM to generate an obituary is unclear to me, but it is definitely the case that a lot of people (myself included) will click through on everything when there's a news-vacuum. Updated news from authoritative sources: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/avalanche-forecaster-dies-in-climbing-fall-near-leavenworth/ https://www.ncwlife.com/news/nwac-forecaster-killed-in-rock-climbing-accident/article_8c814908-e093-11ee-b496-e3abfdd9d0f8.html Finally, here's the link to the family's GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/supporting-stella-and-milo Our thoughts are with his family, friends, and everyone at NWAC.
    1 point
  15. Happy you guys made it down in one piece. That was quite the epic. Good to see the old guys giving you some solid advice here and I hope you take it and maybe throttle down the objectives to more moderate terrain until you have a good base of knowledge and experience in the mountains. As an old guy, I remember Marc Andre on here many years ago doing moderate objectives around Vancouver, posting TR's and being completely stoked to get advice. You should try it. The harder stuff will come with time, or you'll run out of time with horrible results. I've been on here long enough to see too many people get in over their heads and never come back. Don't let that be you. Climbing those kind of routes in winter adds another level of complexity. Try some longer summer alpine routes to get "The Dance" worked out. And a space blanket lives in every one of my packs without leaving. Even better, a lightweight bivy bag or tarp. Canadian Rockies guides don't climb without one. Found that out the hard way after our own epic up there, and I was seasoned even back then! Cheers and good luck!
    1 point
  16. Awesome report!! What are your favorite 3 that you have done on this winter bulgers tick list?
    1 point
  17. Is that what those are? I will keep a eye out for you on others that might work
    1 point
  18. I was able to make this setup work with some old rear crampon straps, I haven't found a narrow toe bail that will work yet. I haven't noticed any movement on the boot once its locked in though. Its stiff enough for the stuff I do down the roads and approaches. I have not put the downhill lock back on yet as I wasn't sure if I would be keeping them.
    1 point
  19. I went in and visited Jim yesterday. Definitely get in there and help a friend close out his business. Really good deals on some great quality equipment. Western Mountaineering sleeping bags, Montbell stuff, the usual great selection but at going out of business prices. It was good to see him!
    1 point
  20. Cairns can be amazingly helpful in steep alpine terrain, especially when you are trying to link weaknesses to keep the grade below what you would need a rope for. Hidden ledges, crack systems, chimneys....they can point the way to an easier path that is otherwise not obvious. That said, cairns get abused and are often put in places where they aren't needed (scattered willy nilly across boulderfields for example). I tend to remove cairns more often than I leave them, but they do serve a purpose when used correctly. Good luck with the article!
    1 point
  21. Hello everyone, Last summer I took the American Alpine Institute's Leadership and Mountaineering course (Part 1) and I would love to connect with some fellow mountain climbers in the area. Unfortunately, all of my peers in the class were from out-of-state, so I have been left partnerless. We summited Baker and Eldorado Peak (pictured below). Fire season kept us from finishing some of our other pursuits along the North Cascade HWY. I would love to join a rope team this spring/summer on some entry-level climbs if anyone has room. My experience so far has been on three and four-person rope teams. I work as an ICU nurse, so my work schedule is flexible. Although, week-day trips work best, as I work every-other weekend. I am also looking to get together with a peer, or a group of peers, on a once/twice a month basis to review different skills (self-rescue, anchor building, knots, etc.) Would anyone else be interested in meeting up in Seattle to exchange some knowledge and review some skills?
    1 point
  22. Very cool report did something similar with road to paradise being closed, some great skiing in those upper basins and in those open trees below eagle peak.
    1 point
  23. In between Eagle and Wahpenayo is Chutla also good little scramble. Nice job catching the weather and getting to the seldom visited end of the Tatoosh.
    1 point
  24. So fun! I concur with Jason. Need less desk jockey time. Thanks for sharing @Alisse
    1 point
  25. Looks like a great day! I need to retire.
    1 point
  26. Right, a space blanket! That saved @Trent and I from a potentially serious situation when we were caught out on the West Arete of Eldorado late season many years ago....great suggestion @Lostbolt. Same with light stove in the winter, esp. on routes expected to take most of a day.
    1 point
  27. Interesting trip report and Climb. The others that have commented are good climbers, some I know personally. Its nice to see you guys hear the advice and respond positively. I have read Down and actually own a copy, some of the ways things are done in there are only good for certain situations. Learning from others I.E a guide, The Mountaineers, Washington Alpine Club are worth it. Don't be afraid to reach out and ask to gain good experience bumming a ride to Hyalite and tagging along to learn is very possible and being up front and honest money and skill wise is nothing to be ashamed of. Proper planning including, having Plan A,B,C, A detailed topo of previous routes and descents, pre trip and post weather information seem so boring but will make your trip that much better. Don't rely on one source like technology or mountain project. Work or that hot dinner date ect are not worth compounding and increasing the risk of your life. If you made a bad call and showed up at noon or the next day, a good person would understand and be glad you are safe. I have been on longer than expected climbs 26hrs+/-. A mylar emergency bivy bag and a jet boil will keep you coming back the next day. I definitely understand tunnel vision planning to stop and eat drink at this time or this belay station and making it a must will help curb the crash. The approach and grade are something to work into, its hard to ditch the go big mindset but its a must for a long life. I have always been diligent about stair stepping. It never crossed my mind of attempting Trip Col. before I felt comfortable on chair peak NE Butt. ect. Take a few more years learning mixed and Ice in a controlled environment with less commitment, use these crags to hone your skills. The rope and gear are there to protect us for the oh shit moments, not to allow us to climb above our grade and take whippers. There is no shame in bailing at the base because its more than you expected. Good job making it out, seems like you all ready know this is a big learning experience. I hope that your next one is less of a pucker factor and more fun even if its only 2 pitches. Don't be afraid to reach out. Climb safe and stay Humble.
    1 point
  28. This is not our picture. The best way to find pictures is look up zoa peak trip reports and scroll through the pictures. In a few pictures it looked like most years this line would be filled in with snow. Sometimes a terrible winter can yield different opportunities I guess.
    1 point
  29. WUT!!!! MT ANGELES TR????? Is "mature mountaineer" how you describe yourself on TInder? Looks like a good time Jason!
    1 point
  30. This is just flat out wrong and I want to point this out since @AlexC192 is listening, responding, and trying to learn from their intense climb. I don't take this lightly. I feel very strongly that this is bad advice. Especially in light of the raps these guys are making, off single pieces, in the dark, completely knackered. A simple map/aerial review of the Yak Peak area would have identified a probable walk-off a short distance away (and everyone in this day and age really should be looking at and carrying these information sources in their pockets). Getting to the top is only halfway, and figuring out your descent plan is just as important as figuring out your route up, maybe more so, since you are going to be tired and it will be late in the day. Do your research. Are there times when rapping the way you came is the best alternative? Sure. Are there times when it is a terrible idea? Absolutely. This was one of them. I am glad that @AlexC192 is open and honest with how far strung-out they were- we owe it to him to give good advice, tailored to his situation, and not some general platitudes.
    1 point
  31. There is another saying: "There are old pilots, and there are bold pilots, but there are no old, bold pilots." I'm old, and was never especially bold, so take my advice FWIW; you kids be careful out there.
    1 point
  32. This is probably not in the "findable" category, but I once stripped all the junk off a Sk'alp / Petzl 8007, and replaced the heel piece with a crampon part to make a nice light approach binding. See pic. It worked well for what it was, but I gave up skiing in climbing boots long ago...
    1 point
  33. Trip: Buckner, Horseshoe, Sahale - Standard Trip Date: 02/03/2024 Trip Report: Buckner Mountain (9,111ft), Horseshoe Peak (8,480ft), and Sahale Peak (8,680ft) Winter Ascents First Winter Ascent of Horseshoe (SE Face, M3) Feb 3-4, 2024 Eric and Francis Rapping off Horseshoe (photo by Francis) The weekend looked like a rare alignment of stable snow and weather in the west north zone, and we decided to tag some peaks along cascade river road. This road is difficult for access in the winter. It’s not officially maintained in winter, and it is at a critical elevation where sometimes it is snow covered and sometimes not. One thing is guaranteed in the winter, though – there will be lots of blowdowns. In mid January it was snow covered and I was able to drive to MP 15, then snowmobiled from there to the Eldo gate, sawing out a few trees en route. This weekend looked to be a bit warmer, but NOHRSC was still showing deep snow starting at MP 18. The route Our goal for the weekend was to climb Horseshoe, Buckner, and Sahale, with the trailhead starting at MP 23 near Cascade Pass. I expected to be able to snowmobile the last 5 miles of road, as I had back in December on a road clearing mission. The road is gated at MP 20 at the Eldorado trailhead, but a snowmobile can squeeze under the gate. I also expected a lot of blowdowns, and I have a 25″ chainsaw for this purpose. Logging out a few trees I’ve previously climbed each of these peaks two or three times, which is very helpful for times savings in the winter. On one trip in 2022 I had hauled up my theodolite to measure the double summit on Buckner and concluded the SW summit is 18 inches +/-3 inches taller than the NE summit. This was valuable knowledge for a winter ascent since we wouldn’t have to bother making the sketchy traverse to the lower NE summit and could save time. Last winter, 2023, I had tried to bag these same three peaks, but was thwarted by law enforcement. Ryan and I drove up to MP 13 on cascade river road before we were stopped by blowdowns. We got out the saws and started clearing, but USFS law enforcement showed up and told us we couldn’t be there. They never came up with a clear reason why we had to leave, and seemed reluctant to stop us from clearing the road, but they still kicked us out. I’m still a bit confused about that encounter. Starting up This time I hoped would be different. Friday evening I drove up Cascade River Road, and logged out six new trees up to a foot diameter. I was a little disappointed there weren’t any bigger or more difficult trees to clear. As my friend Paul says, this is just a bad year for blowdowns. Surprisingly, the road was snow free all the way to the Eldorado gate! The NOHRSC model had been very inaccurate. I jogged up the road another half mile past the gate and there was still no sign of snow. This was a bit disappointing, since it meant I wouldn’t get to use the snowmobile and would instead have to walk that road section. My general rule of thumb is to not snowmobile more than about 1/2 mile on gravel loaded down with two people and overnight gear since the sled will overheat. A few big washouts Back at the trailhead another car pulled up and the climber was planning to snowshoe up Eldorado the next morning. I gave him my beta about where the good stream crossing was three weeks earlier. Francis soon arrived and we got to bed around 8pm. Saturday we were up and moving by 1am. The goal was to climb Horseshoe and Buckner that day, then Sahale on Sunday. We would prioritize Horseshoe since it was the only one previously unclimbed in winter and was the most difficult, with a short technical pitch at the summit. Skinning up in the twilight Amazingly the road was completely snow-free all the way to the Boston Basin trailhead at 3200ft! NOHRSC had predicted at least 3ft of snow at that elevation. There was a huge washout at Boston Creek, and I suspect that, as usual, that upper portion of road will stay gated well into the summer as they repair the road. Climbing up Sahale Arm with Johannesburg in the background Snow started just after Soldier Boy creek and we skinned up to the Cascade Pass trailhead. From there we followed the trail up to the last switchback before it traverses to the pass. The snow was icy but a thin dusting of snow started at that elevation and we were hopeful that it might be skiable higher up. We cramponed up a few hundred feet through open trees, then hit a clearing and continued skinning. We angled up and left around a cliff band and eventually popped out on Sahale Arm just at sunrise. The views were amazing of Johannesburg Mountain across the valley sticking up through and undercast. We could also see the Ptarmigan Traverse opening up to Dome Peak in the distance. Skiing down the SE face The snow got softer all the way to Sahale Camp, where we stopped to take a break. Here we had a few decisions to make. First, we decided to bring our overnight gear down to Horseshoe basin instead of leaving it at Sahale Camp. That way if the climbs took longer than anticipated we wouldn’t be obligated to make the 1000ft climb back up to camp at the end of a long day. Second, we decided to ski the SE bowl down to Horseshoe Basin instead of downclimbing the SE ridge. I’ve always downclimbed the ridge in summer and fall, but there would be one 4th class step that would be sketchy with big packs and skis sticking out. Nice views across to Ripsaw Ridge and Buckner On the shaded relief map we noticed a route down the bowl that appeared to avoid cliffs. I found that Tim Gibson had posted a video on Turns All Year of skiing this route in May a few years ago, so we knew it could work with enough snow coverage. We had intentionally timed our departure to hit this section after sunrise so we could assess the route before committing to it. We leap frogged each other skiing the bowl, and there was just enough powder on crust to make for fun and safe skiing. We cut down hard skiers right, found the weakness through the cliffs, and successfully made it to the base at 6500ft. Scrambling up to the base of Horseshoe There we traversed around to a flat sheltered area at the base of the SE ridge and ditched our overnight gear. Above us Ripsaw Ridge looked very intimidating with countless gendarmes plastered in rime ice extending all the way from Boston Peak to Buckner. Horshoe was one of those gendarmes, though luckily I knew it was easier than it looked from afar. We skinned across the basin, seeing lots of evidence of old avalanches from the atmospheric river the previous week. We cut through the old mining site, then zig zagged up to a bench at 8200ft below Horseshoe. There the snow turned icy so we ditched skis and put on crampons. Me leading up the summit block (photo by Francis) We kicked steps steeply up the snow, then scrambled over a small ridge to the gully at the base of the SE face of Horseshoe. This area is easy to get slowed down by route-finding issues, and I was happy to have already climbed Horseshoe twice before to have the route dialed. We kicked steps up the gully then ditched gear at the large notch just east of the summit. Here is where the ramp leads up and left to another notch just next to the summit. It looked a lot harder than I remembered, with a foot of rime ice plastering all the rocks. The first time I’d climbed Horseshoe I’d rope soloed it in the summer and it wasn’t too hard. But this time I was happy to have two tools, a partner, and a good climbing rack. On the summit (photo by Francis) There was a nice horn at the notch we rapped the rope around a few times for the anchor. Then Francis belayed me up. The ledge got narrower and narrower and I had a bit of trouble finding gear. I remembered some good cracks above me, but when everything was covered in rime ice they were hard to find. I kind of just gold-mined around, clearing rime ice off of everything until I eventually found a crack that worked. The cracks were all icy and I wanted to pound hexes in like I usually do in winter. This works well in vertical cracks, but not so will in horizontal cracks under an overhang. So I ended up just using cams. Both on the summit (photo by Francis) I was very careful with feet placement on the ledge since I didn’t want to kick all the snow off and be left with a thin slab, but I also couldn’t necessarily trust the snow on the slab. I managed to get solid hooks with the tools before trusting my feet. Finally I reached the last notch and hooked a good jug with the tool. I then pulled myself over and clipped onto the rap anchor. I went over and tagged the summit, then belayed Francis up by 2pm. We had great views all around of Sahale and Boston above an undercast and Lick of Flame looking intimidating covered in rime. We took turns rapping down, and I was happy to have brought the full 60m rope. It comfortably reached the gully below, but a 30m rope definitely would not have reached. Rapping back down We collected our gear, then returned to the skis. It looked like there would be plenty of time to climb Buckner before sunset, which would be a treat. The slope was icy so we strapped skis to our pack then traversed over to the SW face of Buckner. I had brought ascent plates for the climb, but we only sank in to our ankles in the snow so they weren’t necessary. There were a few isolated pockets of 6″ wind slab, so we stuck to the edge of the face climbing between flattish areas below cliffs and minimizing exposure. Climbing up Buckner We took turns kicking steps, then reached the SE ridge where we ditched our packs and skis. From there we scrambled up the thickly rime-encrusted summit block, topping out at 4:30pm. I peered down the steep north face and was happy to not be skiing that. We had talked about it, but I bet it was risky with wind slabs. The traverse over to the NE peak look tricky, and I was glad I’d put in the effort to measure that we were indeed on the true summit. On the summit We soon downclimbed back to the skis and started skiing down. The skiing was fun, and we hugged the side of the gully following our up tracks. We soon reached the base of the face and traversed back to our stashed climbing gear at the base of Horseshoe. From there it was more fun skiing down to the old mine, then skinning back to our stashed overnight gear by 6pm, just as the sun set enough to need headlamps. We were still feeling strong and that campsite seemed a bit windier than I would have preferred. We decided to do our future selves a favor and climb back up to Sahale Arm that night, to make our Sunday a bit easier. Campin at Sahale Camp The slope up the bowl was too steep for skinning, but the snow was too deep for booting. Luckily I had the perfect solution – ascent plates. They are like mini snowshoes specifically for going up steep snow faces. I have a strong aluminum pair and an ultralight carbon fiber pair I made. Francis took the lead with the aluminum pair and I followed. We made must faster progress with the plates than bare booting, and by 8pm we popped out on the Sahale Camp shoulder. We traversed over to a semi-sheltered area, then set up the mega mid and melted snow. It had been a 19-hour day and we appreciated the rest. Skinning up Sahale Sunday morning we just had to climb Sahale and ski out, which would be a much shorter day. So we decided to sleep in a bit so we could make the climb when it was a bit warmer. We were up and moving by 8:30am. We roped up for the Sahale Glacier and zig zagged up the slope. Once on the SE ridge we packed up the rope, ditched the skis, and cramponed up the icy slope. Climbing up Sahale I’ve previously climbed Sahale twice by two different routes, and appreciated this knowledge. One route goes directly up the south face and has a short bit of 5th class climbing. I recalled a good rap anchor at the top of this route on the summit. The other route raps around the east face the climbs the north ridge. This route is exposed 3rd class. We got to the base of the south face route and it looked easier than I remembered. But I suspected the rime was still masking the 5th class step, and it would be tricky. So we instead decided to go for the exposed third class route. The east face was covered in snow and rime now, with 2000ft of exposure to the Davenport Glacier below. We would definitely rope up. Even if the snow climb were easy, we didn’t want a small wind slab knocking us off our feet. Looking down the east face I built an anchor in a rock outcrop on the SE ridge and led out. I traversed across onto the face, got some gear in a rock outcrop, then kicked steps straight up. I hugged the cliff band to my left, getting in a few more pieces as the slope steepened considerably. As before, the rock was plastered in rime ice and it took me a while banging the ice off before I could find good cracks for gear. On the summit (photo by Francis) I eventually popped out on the North ridge, then made the final moves to the summit. I dug out the summit block, finding the “Boston Peak” USGS marker and then the rap anchor I remembered around the summit boulder. I could now see Francis directly below, and I yelled that I’d put him on belay. He soon climbed up and we spent a few minutes enjoying the view. Boston Peak popped up out of the clouds briefly, and we got great views of Forbidden and Eldorado in the distance. It was 11:45am and was not too cold or windy. We hung out taking pictures, then rapped down. The 60m rope just barely reached our lower anchor, and I was again happy to have brought the 60m instead of the 30m rope. Skiing out We cramponed down to our skis, than had an amazing ski down. We made dollar signs across our up tracks, then picked up our overnight gear and continued down. The snow got a bit icier down low, but was still skiable. In all we got a continuous ski run from 8500ft to 5000ft, which was fun and fast. Back in the trees we booted down the trail, then took a shortcut in an open snow slope to bypass the lower five switchbacks. Back at the road we skied down to our stashed boots at snowline near soldier boy creek, then hiked back down to the Eldo gate by 3:45pm. There were no other cars there, which meant the hiker climbing Eldo must have made it down safely. That was good news. As we were packing up a hardcore Jeep drove in, and this made me a little disappointed since it meant there wouldn’t be any fresh blowdowns to clear. We made it out no problem and got home at a reasonable hour. 67/100 Winter Bulgers Movie of the trip: Gear Notes: Single rack of cams to 2", nuts, hexes (very important), two tools, chainsaw Approach Notes: Road melted out/logged out to Eldo gate. Melted out to around 3000ft. Bad washout at Boston Creek (MP ~22). Road bikeable to MP 22. Note: I wouldn't advise going up cascade river road without a big chainsaw this time of year. A few weeks ago I got blocked in by a 3ft tree but was able to saw it out. There are always new blowdowns on that road every week.
    1 point
  34. On weekends in the winter now. I always think....what is EG doing?
    1 point
  35. Thanks for writing this up and sharing the stoke!
    1 point
  36. 1 point
  37. Your questions are flawed... need to be able to check multiple boxes. It's not always a one-or-the-other thing.
    1 point
  38. The snow pack is strange this year, very thin further north, more normal in the south. We skied at the Mt. Baker resort on Sunday and it was shocking to see how thin it was below 4,000', there's hardly any snow. This could all change with a couple of good storms but there's not much hope on the long term forecasts.
    1 point
  39. All of those Enchantments routes come in their best shape with repeated melt/freeze. Otherwise it is mostly just scratching around on cold snow and dry rock.....so it will all depend on the temps. Early March is typically pretty cold up high, even on a year like this so I wouldn't think that you'll find much in great climbing shape. That said, all will generally be climbable with the right weather and avy conditions. The good news is that if climbing conditions aren't great, ski conditions usually are a lot better, so maybe look at what is in store right before your trip and plan accordingly. And, if you are casting about all over the Western US, that is another story. I am sure you can probably find something, somewhere to climb. But I only really know our backyard....
    1 point
  40. Uhhh....any trip where you get to use a chainsaw is pretty awesome. Wow those are some great pictures, you know that first one is special because you put it first....it is! Thank you for sharing. That is another solid adventure.
    1 point
  41. That is just RAD man great report!! I have wished to get into there in the winter, excellent use of the weather window we had!
    1 point
  42. Nice work Michael and Eli! Visionary to remove the need for the pesky Polish's dagger to be in. I'm giving you permission to upgrade it to WI4+++ but, this being Washington, no way can you call it WI5- 🙂 I fear for the aspiring moderate alpinists who attempt some of the WI4+/M5 routes put up in the last several years without knowing that WI4+/M5 is the new 5.9+/A2.
    1 point
  43. Do more in Southwest British Columbia.
    1 point
  44. I haven't climbed Mailbox Peak, nor have I done Glacier Peak in a day or the Bulger List but I did climb some ice in Banks today. Most routes are not in but we found good ice on the Corner Route at MP 9. Left MBI 1 was also in. The cable and H2O2 are trying but not really close. We climbed U1 and U2 at MP 14. Peewee #1, 4, and 5 all looked in. Zenith wasn't even close although it is trying. Most other lines were either non-existent although a few of the brush routes were trying.
    1 point
  45. @Kyle M I'm offended that you would dare to make climbing recommendations to @Kayleighm or any Eastern Washington alpinist. Unlike their bougie, coddled, and techbro-centric Seattle counterparts, Eastern Washington alpinists are the real deal. Every morning, they wake up and do 10x hill repeats at 5k speed up Ingalls Peak as a warm-up to set the FKT on the Teanaway Traverse. For lunch, they head over to the North Cascades to do a one day push of the High Route using only huaraches and a compass because gear is aid. You think you're hard for doing Glacier Peak in a day? Think again; Eastern Washington alpinists lap Glacier Peak in the dead of winter as they prepare to do their yearly repeat of the Bulger List. Which acts as base-building for their ultimate yearly objective: setting the FKT on Mailbox Peak without the use of supplemental oxygen. All in all, I am flabbergasted that you think you have the mountain expertise or moxie to give guidance to climbers of that profile. Check your cardio privilege, porfavor.
    1 point
  46. Franklin Falls was good today. Probably on its way out though with the warmth coming.
    1 point
  47. Thanks for the history & your efforts. Perhaps thankfully, we didn't see any of your bail pins. I suppose it's rated about the same as other routes on the NW face, however one wants to rate those, but is of a slightly different character & pretty run out on the first pitch. Since then I have seen photos where that pitch looks like hero WI3. I'm surprised that it wasn't done before & I haven't heard of an ascent since. It's a good route with plenty of opportunities for new variations with a summit at the end.
    1 point
  48. Trip: Mount Prophet - "Jacob's Ladder" (AKA full SW rib...FA?) Trip Date: 06/24/2018 Trip Report: "And Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went toward Haran. And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep. And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it." - Genesis 28:10-12 KJV Grunting our way up the prominent rib on the SW side of Mount Prophet (above, in photo taken from Luna Peak by Martin Shetter), nobody would have mistaken Kit Moffitt and I for angels. Although the summit of Prophet this past Sunday was certainly much closer to heaven than the bug infested forests back at Luna Camp, our home for two nights as we investigated the directissima up the SW rib. Our aim was to explore above 5450' on the feature, where everyone seems to traverse off the rib into a typically crappy talus basin (via 4th class down climb). Given the ominous warning on SummitPost, Kit and I went in with a rope, rack, and even a pair of rock shoes: "The rib has cliffs on either side and no one has yet explored the possibility of climbing it directly to the summit. That could prove to be a bad idea."- SP We were a little disappointed that the gear stayed in the pack the entire time, however (long way to carry it!), but pleasantly surprised to find fairly clean and exposed class 3 climbing for ~1500 vertical feet to the summit. There really is no reason to leave the SW rib for future parties, until it is time to descend. We did go down the "SW rib" route (south of actual SW rib, described well on SP and found it to be your typical mix of scree, talus,and pain). We also found a way back on to the rib at about 5600' that only involved a bit of exposed class 3 (seems easier than how the lower access is described on SP?). Given the obvious difference in quality between the two scramble routes, I suspect that future parties will follow the loop that Kit and I did this past Sunday. However, I wouldn't be surprised if someone has ascended the full SW rib before we did this past weekend. Does anyone have info of previous parties, before Kit and I go claiming this massive, 3rd class, FA?? It is quite prominent as you descend out Access (Axes? Pickaxes?) Creek, and I noticed it back in 2007 on the exit from my first Pickets trip. It was fun to come back and explore something that has not been documented before- our very own backyard adventure! Just goes to show that there are still plenty of blanks on the (climbing) map, even for the blue collar set.... Calling the resort for the boat pickup, saving 12 miles RT: Luna Peak: Mac Spires, Inspiration, The Pyramid, Degenhardt: Blue collar! Nearing the summit as the rib fades: Jack: "Jacob's Ladder" from the summit Old habits die hard. Hanging out with the ghosts at Good Food, post trip: Gear Notes: Helmet, axe, crampons (early season). We brought gear in case it was technical, but found nothing over exposed class 3. Approach Notes: Big Beaver trail to just before Luna camp, then head uphill a steep vertical mile to the summit. It goes from hiking to scrambling at about 5800' The slope turns into the SW rib which is followed religiously to the summit. Descend on the south side of the rib until you can regain it about 5600'
    1 point
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