goatboy

[quote I was referring to the Eldo glacier, not the Inspiration glacier. Yeah, me too.

I believe that the Eldo Glacier can be very different at different times of the year: when I did it, there was quite a bit of calving off of seracs and such, and sustained sections of blue ice and small snowbridges -- fun! But a bigger deal than some of the other suggestions, as JoshK says. I think it's a good point he's making, to simply indicate that not all of these glaciers are on the same playing field in terms of simplicity. Relative to the original example (Sahale), I'd defnitely say that the Eldo Glacier warranted more routefinding, skills, and comfort moving through areas of objective hazard. Of course, October conditions are quite different than July . . .

All great options . . . but best wishes in getting a permit for Boston Basin over 4th of July weekend!!! Or Prussik Peak, for that matter . . . Silverstar might be a good call -- Could climb SS and one of the Wine Spires (Chablis has a good 5.6 route, I hear)...

Fors the few of us who may not be Paid Members of Bivouac.com -- anyone want to heist the photo and post it here? Oops, is it appropriate to use the word "Member" in light of the other posts in this thread?

My apologies for thread drift, especially on a thread of this nature. Condolences to the friends and families of the deceased climber.

Every photo makes the route look so clean . . . . I had heard some bad reports of poor, loose rock higher up -- is that not the case?

solo = not with anyone. So Couloir, what do you call it when you free-solo something with a partner who is also free-soloing? I call it "soloing." But you can do it WITH someone. Not trying to be , but I think you're implying that Juan's question is a dumb one, which it isn't.

Deep in the cascades . . . .

I assume that was with a single 60 meter rope? What was the ratio of rapping to downclimbing? (I think about the S Arete descent on SEWS, which is about 90% downclimbing and a few short raps towards the end -- and then I think about others that are just the opposite...)

Thanks!

chuck, or anyone, do you have any photos of Pandora's Box from the South side of Dragontail? I tried to find this descent once and flailed around before finally descending Asgard . . ..

We rapped off the summit of Burgundy with a single 60 meter rope about three years ago and there were ample fixed anchors then. If I were to go back, I would only take one 60 m rope.

Sometimes as that couloir melts out it can be hard to get to some of the rap anchors in the rock on either side, especially if you're doing single rope rappels. Was that a problem at all?

Nice Work, TeleRoss. Pretty exposed at times on that route -- probably pretty exciting to solo it! Did you descend the route, or the NE Face? Did you take a rope at all? What were snow conditions (and quantity) like? If you want the experience of the W Ridge going on forever, I suggest you climb the Torment-Forbidden Traverse. Once you gain the ridge crest East of Torment, you have a LONG way to go, climbing the Skagit Gneiss crest over gendarmes and narrow, airy sections -- feels a lot like the West Ridge, but much longer . . . . .

Nice work, Alpinfox! Right you are. It is Intruding Dyke, at City of Rocks. but it's not a handcrack -- more like #1 Camalot -- kinda tight for me! But similar to outer space in that there are many chickenheads and features in addition to the crack. And yes, we did hike in towards the Perch -- it's the large granite dome visible on the right side of the mountain landscape shot -- trail was melted out completely, but the perch still had lots of snow up high -- not sure if the route would be wet or not --the area really reminded me a lot of the Washington Pass area, with steep granite and lots of snow -- but it still seemed just a wee bit too early to be there to ensure dry routes -- plus the weather was very unstable as well. A few more weeks, though, and I bet it'll be golden. I was VERY impressed overall, and not at all surprised that Beckey sniffed this place out a few decades ago . . . . As for the Finger of Fate, that was our original plan (before my shoulder injury and the unstable weather, plus the snow, all conspired to dash my hopes and dreams . . . . ) I will certainly be back, and am excited to be there again. Let me know if anyone else has specific questions. Go get it!

Climb: City of Rocks and Sawtooths-Many Date of Climb: 5/28/2005 Trip Report: Quick TR: Injured self climbing at Spring Mountain. Drove to Idaho anyway and climbed a little, and took a LOT of pictures. Here are a few: More info to come later . . . Approach Notes: 10 hours from Portland to Stanley, Idaho

Thanks, y'all! Will post TR in a week when I return . . .

Hey Llama, Not sure if you know the meaning of the word, "hedonistic," though I believe you were attempting to insult me. To answer your question, the title of this thread is "dirt routes --" and Goat Sick is the absolutely worst "dirt route" I know of. That's why I thought of it. I'm certainly not chest-beating about being dumb and doing one of the dumbest routes in the world. Hope that answers your question.

Rapple Grapple is fun. Here's the deal: Hike to Notch between Liberty Bell and Concord (standard approach for Beckey Rt). Pitch 1: Same as Beckey Route, but go past another pine tree or two on the big ledge at the top (about another 40 feet or so). Pitches 2-3: Follow obvious cracks, steep at times, on quality rock, directly up for two pitches. Pitch three is a steep finger crack to start. This "short circuits" the Beckey Route and takes you directly to the shoulder below the 5.7 slab (one-move of 5.7). Leave ropes here and scramble to the top. Descent: Down standard rappel route (best done in two rappels rather than one long one -- though I noticed someone cut down the rope-eating tree last year!?!?) Dru's right -- Rapple Grapple is between Beckey Rt and Overexposure. This is a fun route which can help you avoid the crowds on weekends - until now.

Hello, Thinking about going out to Idaho to see new country. Hope to climb at City of Rocks and possibly Finger of Fate as well. Does anyone have any favorite routes (5.6-5.10) they'd recommend? What should I expect, given the snowpack this year and the fact that it's late May? Any first hand info or predictions? Thanks in advance for any info. - GB

Hey there Tricky, Nice work! I like the way you made it a thru-hike instead of doing the obvious (descending Burgundy Col directly to the car). Sounds like you maintained high spirits throughout. The photos are great -- especially the shot of Snagtooth Ridge. How wet were the wine spires? I bet the North Face of Burgundy was pretty snowy . . . . (at the risk of stating the obvious). Nice work!

How do you make it so that you can "click on the images to download bigger images?" Is that normal, or did you do something funky in the post?

Good to see you're paying attention, Slaphappy. It's actually an awful "dirt route," which is why I thought of it for this thread. You are correct that it's very hard to get onto (that's the dirt part) and aesthetic only for the last 15-20 feet or so. A highly UN-Recommended route -- just wanted to hear what others thought of the damn thing. It certainly APPEARS to be nice, from a distance -- I got suckered in. Don't recommend that others do the same.

The second image shows the exit, which is the right hand fork of the couloir -- so, the cornice on the left we avoided -- it looked bad -- the cornice on the right is EASILY bypassed to the right or West, as it is not continuous.