goatboy

Climb: Mixup-East Face - with SE Ridge Finish Date of Climb: 8/8/2006 Trip Report: Mixup Peak seems to be the climb du jour this month.... Gaston, the great French Expatriate, and I climbed the East Face of Mixup yesterday, finishing via the left skyline (upper part of SE Ridge). I would highly recommend the East Face as a very do-able and enjoyable dayclimb in the Cascade Pass area, but do not recommend the SE variation with which we finished. The beta provided by Mtnfreak in his recent TR was very useful and much appreciated. Woke up at 4:05 AM, made coffee, and left Seattle at 4:50 for Cascade Pass. I was astonished to arrive at Marblemount Ranger Station at 6:20, much faster than anticipated. This was by far the only part of the day during which I moved faster than anticipated...Gaston showed up early as well, and soon we were off for Cascade Pass. We left the parking lot for the million-switchback trail at 8:00 AM. Neither of us had ever been up the Mixup Arm, and were surprised by the high quality of the "trail" that leads towards Cache Col. Here is Gaston with Cache Col at left, and the Gunsight Notch visble at right. After moving through the moat problems at Gunsight (via some cornice chopping and straightforward thought exposed down-climbing) we arrived at the base of the route, climbing an easy pitch on solid, down-sloping rock. One more pitch brought us to the top of the "knife-edge section, where we unroped and started soloing towards the East Face proper: Gaston moves through the heather towards the East Face proper: Our route went up to the notch just below and left of the summit, then straight up the left skyline for a pitch from there on marginal rock. We did not go directly up the SE Ridge over the prominent Gendarme. Gaston soloing low on the route....East Face, or Staircase??? Another look at the East Face Staircase: At this point, Gaston and I veered left towards the left skyline, which appeared aesthetic from below....until we found that the rock quality deteriorated appreciable over there. Nonetheless, the climbing was quite easy and Gaston made quick work of a creaky pitch, without sending too many bombs my way at the airy belay on the S skyline next to the huge gendarme. Goatboy very near the summit: Final pitch to summit: Summit views were excellent, under crisp blue skies and slowly building clouds: As often happens, wildlife sightings continued at the summit: As my partner is a Frenchman, we devoured some very fine summit treats including brie, prosciutto, and dolmas (stuffed grape leaves). After eating them, I concluded that dolmas are aid! As mentioned in previous TR's, it was great to see Beckey's name in the summit register: Finally, after rappels and downclimbing, we returned to Gunsight Notch for one final rappel down the steep loose dirt and gravel into the moat... Times: 10.5 hours car to car. Our times closely approximated those of Mtnfreak, though we had the luxury of an earlier start and perhaps an hour or so on the summit taking pictures and eating.... THANKS to Gaston for a great day "dans les montagnes." What a great day with a great partner. Gear Notes: Crampons and Ice Ax useful. Small rack to #3 Camalot useful. One 60-m 8 mm rope worked great for raps and simul-climbing pitches. Approach Notes: Gunshight Notch presents moat problems, but can be surmounted. We went up and down the "U" notch at Gunsight rather than the "V" notch.

CLICK

Perfect-- thanks!

How exactly do you find the start of this route?

cow... cow... cow... potatoes... cow... cow... cow... potatoes... cow... horse... GRANITE! NAKED CHICK

Was there any climbing? Hmmm, let's see: We climbed devil's club and alder; We climbed out of bed in the morning; We watched woodrats climb all over as as we pretended to sleep in the wind; I think that's it! Actually, Matt and Dave climbed the gentle glacier route on Dome via the Chickamin to the true summit. As stated, our intended route was the N Face of Sinister, a 50-degree snow and alpine ice climb...

CLICK HERE FOR ALPINE GUIDEBOOKS I have the Mt Aspiring and the Mt Cook books and they're great. What are you thinking about climbing?

Would you say that most of your time was spent on the technical sections, or the upper mountain, or a bit of both? Just curious about the approximate times en route, in order to plan accordingly. Thanks for any details, great pictures, and nice work on the carry-over! - Goat

They climbed the Upper North Ridge (top 1/3 of the ridge). The COMPLETE N Ridge starts at the toe of the ridge and continues all the way to the top, including the Upper part which they did.

Nice work!! I did this a few years ago and found it to be a great, though long, day! How long did it take y'all?

We met some other fellows on our way out who got chased off of Logan similarly...

Climb: Sinister Peak -- ATTEMPT-North Face (NOT!) Date of Climb: 7/27/2006 Trip Report: This Trip Report is subtitled, "the Neotoma Scenario." The Bushy-tailed woodrat's latin name is "neotoma cinerea." We battled and suffered at the hands of the woodrat for several evenings at our high camp, who managed to torment us throughout the night, steal my bowl, eat the handles of my trekking poles, and turn my bandanna into a pile of rags... Summary: Dave, Matt, and I went up to into Chickamin Glacier last week. Thrashed and slogged for 5 days, destroyed feet, endured snowstorm, battled the busy-tailed woodrat, thrashed back home again. Great company and amazing views, but no summit of Sinister. Dave and Matt did summit Dome Peak via the Chickamin. The team: Matt, Steve, Dave The bushwhack approach Trashed feet! The climb to high camp Hangin at high camp Our objective comes into view - North Face is right skyline of Sinister, with Dome visible beyond to the right Sinister in morning light Glacier Peak from high camp Glacier with morning light Methow Fire! Snow storm rolls in...and we roll out Retreating in the storm Lupine covered in newfallen snowmelt Tiger Lily The Return to Green Grass Thanks to Dave and Matt for a great trip! Approach Notes: Saw LOTS of bear scat all over the area....and finally saw a mother bear with cub on hike out.

I went up to do the SW Rib on SEWS a few years ago and found 3 other parties ahead of me on the route....reckon it's becoming more popular due to inclusion in Selected Climbs Vol II, and discussion on websites like this one...

this one especially rocks!

MountainGirl writes: "I'd do just about anything to avoid hiking in or out from Snow let alone doing it twice in one day." This is a constant source of debate on this website, but I prefer the Snow Creek Approach to Prussik over Ass-neck Pass, for all the reasons which are normally mentioned: Fast, Direct, Bomber Trail, still about the same distance in the end without having to grind up the Big Hill. Don't knock it if you haven't done it that way!

Yeah, we considered that possibility -- and they certainly COULD have blown away, since we almost did...but I doubt it, since they were in a hole, a foot down in the snow, on a very sheltered side of a rock wall....so maybe, but I don't think so. I'd like to THINK that they blew away vs. got stolen, however.

Ahhhh..... That shot of the N Ridge of Forbidden is compelling . . . clearly a sunset vs sunrise image . . . . did you bivy on top somewhere?

Hmmm......guess you feel strongly about this topic, huh John? Your points about more injuries on the W than the N is well-taken, though it kinda makes sense to me that this would be the case... Anyway, another way of interpreting the three day suggestion would be - Day 1) Hike in and make camp Day 2) Climb the route and return to camp Day 3) Hike back out to car Thus, the "relax and enoy it" theme? This would not entail a 40-lb pack on the ridge, nor two days of dehydration... Granted, this is probably not how I'd do it, nor is it necessary for a route that can be done car-to-car, but different strokes, eh? Playing devil's advocate for a moment: If you're trying to minimize accidents on the W Ridge, some might argue that advising people to do routes car-to-car when they might not be ready to do so is another good way to foster more accidents... No need to about it...

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

Climb: Kautz Glacier (Attempt)- Date of Climb: 7/15/2006 Trip Report: TeeWa and I climbed to 11,000 feet on Rainier last weekend before getting blown away by high winds. Not much to add, other than gorgeous views, enjoyable direct approach up the Nisqually, apparently good conditions on the route from what we could see, and a helpful fixed line at 11,000 which allows you to bypass most of the objective hazard from the Icefall. Here are pictures. Can't wait to go back and try again, probably next summer. Day 1: Hiked to 9,200 foot (sheltered!) campsites via Moraine trail and Nisqually: Day 2: Moved up to the 11,000 camp, less sheltered, but great access to the route....or so we thought. Ate, drank, hydrated, felt very acclimatized and ready to go, setting the alarm for 2 AM.... Day 3: Got up at 2 AM, having listened to the tent flap hard all night. Between 2 and 5 AM, the winds increased a great deal, to the point where it knocked me off my feet when I went outside, and when inside, I sat for a few hours with my feet on one tent wall, and my back against the other, simply trying to hold the ship together. We were demoralized, packed up, and descended back down into the soup and back out to the car. The only other note to mention is that when we returned to our 9,200 foot campsite, we had cached some fuel, food, and gear there -- but someone stole two trekking poles! One is an orange BD, the other a black Leki ultralight pole. If anyone cares to return them to me, I would be grateful. Approach Notes: Good bootpack from Moraine Trail to high camp.

First, camping AT Ingalls lake is verboten. Camp in headlight Basin (just to the south) if you must camp in that area. Second, sure -- you can climb the W Ridge, descend the Cascadian Couloir (brutal!) and then climb back UP to camp again if you want to... or, you can bivy at the bottom of the CC in the many sites in the trees there, and then simply climb over Long's Pass to drop straight down to your car again.... Your call. If you do it the way you've drawn, let us know how it goes! Good luck.

Stuart presents a bit of a dilemma regarding the car-to-car vs camping strategy. Doing the West Ridge (vs. North side routes) makes the situation a little simpler, however... It can be deceptive, because some folks cruise the route (or other routes) on the mountain, climbing quickly (or soloing) through the technical sections, returning to the car the same day. Others carry loads of gear, move slowly, and bivy once (or more!) My suggestion, if you're not familiar with the area, is to camp near the bottom of the Cascadian Couloir, so that regardless of your speed en route, you can simply descend back into camp... I have climbed Stuart car-to-car and being familiar with the area was one factor that helped me to do so...also, being more fit at the time than I am now probably helped too! Check out other TR's on this site for more context.

Great photos and detailed info. Thanks. Makes it look like something I need to go do...

I have a BD Alpine Bod and it's fine.