goatboy

Update? How and where did you go???

By mid-aug the schrund will likely be continuous across the lower face, but it's usually easily bypassed by crossing the rock rib and ascending snow to climber's left, rejoining the normal route a few hundred feet higher than normal... I think it'll be doable for sure. Agree with Kyle about the melting out creating challenges overall regarding the appoach and descent.... much of the day is spent approaching the route and returning to camp, and as it melts out, that portion of the route will become looser and less pleasant, but still doable. Post photos for comparative purposes if you go!

I climbed the E Ridge in a day about 5 years ago. It was a great day, but fairly long. We hit the ridge crest by about 8 AM and were up and back down to the car before dark. We left boots, ice ax, etc. at the gendarme where the ridge climb begins, and descended the E Ledges. The first time descending the ledges, it was in fact stressful but not terrible. It's easy climbing with constant exposure, loose sections, and grassy ledges to cross... We ended up simulclimbing about half the ridge, and pitching out some of the harder sections. I thought the technical climbing difficulty was a few notches harder than the West Ridge, overall, including one very steep (but short) gendarme section.

Fabulous! What a smart way to do those peaks, utilizing the high camp near the Chopping Block as a staging area for Terror....

DonnV did it, as I recall...great photos!

MattP, What I hear you saying is that a rote, mechanistic (or even "scripted") approach to climbing is fundamentally less resourceful than an experience-based approach that relies on skills and techniques accrued through trial and error over time (versus a series of structured workshops). For example, insisting on a SRENE anchor regardless of the context of the situation (vs. recognizing the value of the monolithic horn which you tied off). Or relying on specific steps to a belay escape vs. having a deeper bag of tricks which came from a depth of experience. Is this a fair restatement of your point, or am I misinterpreting?

I appreciate the irony in your post, but I'm searching my memory banks for an example of bitching about people who don't climb....if anything, I'd be happier with fewer lines and fewer cars at trailheads, personally...with lest people stacked up on the W Ridge of Forbidden, or easier permit availability for the Enchantments, or less of an anthill crawling up the Pearly Gates....etc...

The E Ledges look a lot worse than they really are...but they're time-consuming at first and kinda stressful initially...

Seconding this patch, carrying a pack, I found it easy to stem the whole thing....but would likely find that more difficult when leading it (versus the awkward security of the left side stuffed into the crack)....

Strange that you'd forget your ice ax but carry a pointy stick all the way from Seattle? More importantly, where can I buy me one of them pointy sticks? Nice work, tanstaafl and rat! Hope to see the pix (some rainy day???) Point of clarity on the descent: Did you descend the west ridge and rap near the gully, or straight back down your route, or what?

It's parallel and I'm sure a big bro would work. I also know a guy who climbed it with a HUGE tri-cam -- one of the big boat-anchor types....

Fender, Could you give an example of when you'd step in, and when you wouldn't? It seems to me like your criteria (imminent death) is actually a pretty broad, gray area.... One trigger for me in the past is seeing if kids are involved....I remember seeing a woman at Granite Point near Pullman set up an "anchor" which was comprised of two carabiners (non locking) and a since piece of webbing stretched taught between two bolts using two water knots. She had her climbing rope running directly over the center of the webbing itself, and was about to belay a kid up to the top using this setup when I intervened. She was put off at first but was much more receptive after I demonstrated for her how rope cuts right through webbing....

Hey there Team Schutte/Sofich -- Thanks! The pound of extra Blazer garb was worth it for the looks on everyone's face when I pulled them out of the little black bag .... and for the summit shot alone! TeeWa may disagree.... I see it as essential gear, really.... - GB

Coole reporte, assuredly.... Nice worke!!!

Good question -- sadly, it's just a digital artifact, not something I actually saw....kinda funky, though, huh? I see that DPS climbed this route (from B-S Col) the same day -- or was it the next day? I wonder if Dirty Harry and friends saw us descending from the summit around 2 PM on Saturday? Anyone snap any pix from afar? How were those bivy sites? They look outstanding...though I don't think I would've liked having to hump back up there after a long day on Buckner!

Trip: Mt. Buckner - North Face Date: 7/12/2008 Trip Report: My wife told me she wanted to climb the Mt. Buckner for her birthday weekend. Sounded like a good idea to me -- I had done the route years ago in September conditions, and wanted to go back and attempt the NF Couloir this time. As it turned out, we climbed the standard NF route instead. Day One -- Friday the 11th -- Got a late-ish start from Seattle, and enjoyed the long rolling terrain of the Sahale Arm which led us into camp before dark, only to find every established campsite taken by a party of 12 from a large climbing club. This sucked a little bit, but we threw down in the snow near running water and away from the crowds. TeeWa on the Sahale Arm Our pee-lickin' camp buddy Our friends Sam and Joe rolled in LATE that night (around 1 AM!) after a 9 PM trailhead departure...impressive effort, given our 3:30 AM wakeup time! Day Two -- Saturday July 12 -- Sam and Joe located us in the dawn hours and we ate, got packed up, and were crunching up firm snow towards Sahale (past the huge party of 12). And soon, we were established on the ridge linking Sahale to the chosspile that is Boston Peak. There are several glorious bivy sites at the Boston-Sahale Col...and nice views along the way.... The easy ledges that lead from the ridgecrest to the Boston Glacier.... And finally we could see our objective! We also noted an appreciable schrund at the base of the NF Couloir....and a strange, green glowing orb near the summit??? Passing crevasses along the lovely and remote Boston Glacier We decided to climb what we could see rather than use up time and energy looking at the schrund on the Couloir (it might have gone, but the consensus was to climb what we could see would go)...And soon we were on the North Face proper, passing the schrund lower down via easy ramps and ice tunnels on climber's left... The small rock rack I had brought for the NF Couloir worked well for the rock walls and outcrops of the NF... There was a substantial trough carved into the NF by runoff and rockfall -- it was about 6-7 feet deep and 4-5 feet wide, with fairly steep walls....an interesting obstacle! TeeWa did a very nice job of leading through and across the trough, which we called "the funnel"...here she is entering into it: Here, Sam and Joe follow us up the route, with the Funnel off to their right... Having passed the funnel, the easy neve slopes led up to steeper rock and ice above, along with some rockfall which went barrelling down "the funnel" intermittently....TeeWa tried to lead through that section, and ultimately thought better of it. Instead, we traversed off to climber's left through some easy (loose) rock gullies and ledges. Here she is seen following that traverse, as Joe belays Sam up... Above the rock bands (3rd/4th class) we were back on snow again, climbing a glorious snow arete leading to easy neve slopes above... and topping out.... Soon, there was strange rejoicing at the summit! And the long descent/traverse of Horseshoe Basin and the Davenport Glacier, past the mine and down to cold running water....then back up the snowfinger and ridge seen leading back up to the Sahale Glacier camp.... Where we found the relief for which we had been seeking all along...in the throne room of the mountain gods! under the watchful eyes of the overseer... Sunday, July 13 -- hiked down the Sahale Arm, hesitated at Cascadian Farms, and headed home.... A great birthday weekend with great folks. Thanks!!! Gear Notes: 2 ice screws, 1 piton (didn't use) 3 pickets (used a lot) 5 stoppers (used) 5 cams (used all) 2 ice tools Approach Notes: Sahale Arm mostly melted out. Boston Glacier very straightforward, as is the descent down the South side and the Davenport. Everything is in good condition...

Keep her on a leash as a rule and it'll be fine. Take her off the leash if at a crag and it's appropriate to do so. JT Coyotes DO lure domestic dogs out and kill them at night, as a habit. This is not an urban myth! Have fun in JT.

Yeah, I asked the same thing in marblemount -- basically out of curiosity -- regarding using some kind of dirt bikes on the washed out road at the Downey Creek TH (as per Ptarmigan Traverse). She called her boss and got the definitive "no" response I was expecting... Maybe a classic case of "Better to ask forgiveness than permission?"

Nice beta and entertaining photos... Thanks!

This is one of the best TR's ever. Glad you fellows are okay! Way to be persistant!

I find two (double) ropes to be useful for descending Forbidden, especially as the couloir continues to melt out and the schrund opens up....as described above, the anchors get harder and harder to access as the snow recedes from the rock walls of the couloir. When I did the TF Traverse a few years ago, snow conditions were firmer and ax/crampons were very useful. I actually had TWO ice tools for the steep, exposed snow sections and it was great. So, to each their own. I would not recommend this route with no ax at all, however. I did hear about some folks taking the baskets off of their ski poles and using them as a "second tool" in firm snow -- pretty resourceful.

I took a WFR from Tom just a few months ago. He struck me as an unforgettable educator, truly talented and intelligent, but also deeply funny and witty. He incorporated that humor into his work and truly connected with the class of 30 students -- not an easy thing to do! I was stunned to hear this news and can only send best wishes and thoughts to Lucca and his family and friends. What a great life that guy had, and how wonderful it was for me to get to know him even briefly.

Lovely evening light you captured -- thanks for the photos!

I agree with all of your points except for the part where you call the program Un-American. It's a classic case of bureaucracy, corruption, mis-appropriation, and double-taxation that benefits privileged user groups and large industry at the expense of all of us. If that ain't American, I don't know what is. And you help make that point by stating that there's nothing in place to prevent them from increasing the fee... On a related topic, I printed one of the dashboard signs ("I am here for religious purposes so please don't ticket me under the NWFP Fee Demo act) from Scott Silver's website and put it on my car at the Snow Creek TH years ago -- Larry the Tool was unimpressed and wrote me a ticket anyway, while I was standing there, and proceeded to lecture me about the sign on my dashboard, too...

EC_O (Enviable Celtic_Origins?), Nice work and thanks for the phone call from on high. I wallow in West Side cloud cover and dream of the Cashmere Crags.... Nice to see some snow lingering up high! I love the shot of the old, relic rope....