goatboy

CRUEL SISTER!

Climbed Eldorado (standard route) for the first time over Saturday/Sunday and really enjoyed the views and the conditions. Seeing Forbidden Peak from that side, perched above Moraine Lake, is breathtaking, and inspired me to go take a whack at the North Ridge (or have it whack at me?) someday. It was quite warm on the hump up the hill on Saturday, with lots of sun, especially on the talus field section (about 1000 feet of slow-going on hot rocks). We chose to rope up crossing the Eldorado Glacier, though the snowbridges were all bomber and conditions good. We rolled in to the high camp on the rocks at the base of the east ridge, very nice bivy sites there with a running water supply. One other party rolled in around dark, intending to check out the NE Face the next day. We got started at 7 AM and found great crampon conditions all the way to the summit. The snow arete was beautiful, though not as steep on either side as I expected. We summitted at 8:20 or so. One solo climber came up as we were descending, and we could hear the party of two over on the NE Face, though we had left before they arrived. Descent was long, as it entailed 6600 feet of descent before driving 6 hours back to Portland. But we were home by 10:30. A few notes : We saw a black bandanna and a pile of poop on the Eldorado Glacier. What a grim scene. The Park Service issues blue bags to protect that alpine environment, too bad some folks don't care. Seeing that was the low point of my trip. Icefall We saw hundreds of pounds of ice blocks which fell right over our boot tracks from the previous day as you access the Eldorado Glacier (on the rock slabs after dropping into Roush Creek). The soloist was coming down to that same section Sunday when the icefall above calved off again, sending more blocks down. He was fine, but hurried through that section (appropriately). This was around noon -- beware the unstable snout of the glacier! Is it worth the slog??? All in all, a great trip, perfect weather, great partners. I highly recommend Eldorado for those of you who wonder if a fairly non-technical "walk-up" is worth the strenuous approach. See attachment for image.

For what it's worth: I climbed it at this time last year and the schrund itself was bleak (overhanging ice headwall about 20-some feet tall). However, it was very easily bypassed via snowfield just to the left of the rock rib that cleaves the schrund -- traverse left through rock cleaver right at the level of the schrund itself and then rejoin regular NF route about 100 feet up. My friend also bypassed the schrund by climbing what he described as surprisingly easy (5.0) climbing on the rock cleaver itself. In other words, at this time of the year, I imagine that weather would be more of a stopper than the schrund . . . Go for it and tell us how it is!!!!! I hope that's helpful. What happened to the days when people would belligerently write, "Go take a look for yourself!?!?!?!"

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Sad to get news like this, even when you have never met the guy . . . Does anyone know a newspaper online with info about the accident that I can go to that doesn't require registration or a subscription? I tried King-5 news, the wenatchee world online, and a few others . . . My condolences to the family, and to the community of climbers that are affected either directly or indirectly by this accidental death. I hope that websites like this -- and accident reports, and news reports, and conversations can help some of us avoid whatever happened to the fellow on Outer Space.

As to where the route "goes": I climbed it in a whiteout two summer ago, and I think not being able to see actualy HELPED me, as I was careful not to get suckered up any of the tempting crack systems you bypass before getting to the true finish (which is more closely on the west face than the north). Bryan Burdo's North Cascades Rock book actually has a helpful hand-drawn topo inside for the route. After reaching Burgundy Ledge via mostly-non-descript pitches, you traverse WAY RIGHT (tunneling behind a huge leaning block) and climb up a ramp system which leads to a very thin crack (small stoppers, aliens) which takes you up to a wider dihedral and the summit ridge eventually. It was so cloudy when I did it, we couldn't even see Chianti!!! If you're going to go do it, PM me for more specifics if you care to. Steve

Thanks for sharing your top three (or more!), everyone. Here are mine: 1) Torment-Forbidden Traverse in a long day from high camp in Boston Basin -- magnificent! 2) Climbing Serpentine Arete with my girlfriend on her birthday -- her first Grade IV! 3) Two week climbing trip to the Sierras, quite good despite frequent afternoon thunderstorms and rain. Highlights were Cathedral Peak, Eichorn Pinnacle, Nutcracker, and West Crack on DAFF Dome, plus a day at Lover's Leap . . . Beautiful rock down there!!!

Yeah, by lack of fixed gear (which to me was a good thing rather than a problem), I meant that compared to the ridge on Torment (nests of slings everywhere) and the W Ridge of Forbidden (slings, biners, daisychains, rap stations, all kinds of stuff all over the place), the connecting ridge had only one sling in situ that we saw the whole day. There were no fixed pins that we saw, and no fixed pro anywhere . . . it seemed to be more of a wilderness alpine climb than the two summits on either side of it. Good luck on the Traverse, Off_White! I hope to hear about your trip when you do it.

Gaston, You must like that "Pumpkin" thing, huh???? You're absolutely correct, it WAS preposterous. What sort of "monkey business" am I up to, anyway? I will make every effort, in the future, to be less inclined towards climbing things for real and to recline deeper into vagueness, briefness, and incoherence, based on your effective feedback. Thanks for helping me -- and all of us -- evolve into a better internet community of climbers. As to editing out the hand . . . Yeah, could have been a better picture without the distracting fingers in the way, huh? But at the risk of getting back to the subject, which is climbing, has anyone else done this route lately and encountered better or worse conditions? I'm curious about people's impressions of the route at different times of the year, for example. It didn't appear to me, from the lack of fixed gear on the ridge and the entries in the Torment summit register that the Traverse gets done a whole lot, but I imagine it will become more popular as time goes by. Anyone else done it who has different views or impressions of it or its aesthetic quality?

I wanted to report that my partner James and I climbed the T-F Traverse over July 29-31. It was in fairly good condition, complete with the "problems" that Nelson alludes to in his route description (Selected Climbs Vol I 2nd Edition). July 29 -- we hiked up to Boston Basin upper camp and had dinner. Observed a party descending the W Ridge Forbidden Couloir by headlamps as we drifted off to sleep . . . July 30 -- We got up at 1:30 AM and had coffee. We were surprised to see the same party STILL descending the unnamed glacier below the couloir . . . Grim for them I suppose. Started hiking toward Torment Basin at 2:30. Topped out on Torment at 7:15 AM and headed down towards the Traverse. Most of the difficulties were in the first third of the ridge -- once we truly regained the ridge crest after all the North side monkey business, the hard part was done and the last 2/3rds of the climb went really fast, comparatively. We arrived at the base of the W Ridge of Forbidden at 3:30 PM and summited Forbidden at 5, then grovelled across the loose NE Face of Forbidden in a tired, unfocused, dehydrated state. It was the least pleasant part of the otherwise great day. July 31 -- Slept in, drank coffee, hiked out to salt-and-vinegar chips and cold beers in a cooler in the car . . . All in all, we completed the Traverse over 16 hours, back at camp by 8:30. Of note were a few problems, including the huge bergschrund we encountered immediately upon accessing the North side of the ridge (after descending across the SE Face of Torment). Also, we traversed across hundreds of feet of very exposed 50 degree snow. I carried crampons but due to the unseasonably warm weather, did not need them in the soft snow. Also carried rock shoed, unnecessarily. However, the two tools I took (actually, two lightweight ice axes instead of ice tools) worked very well for the soft, steep snow. If I were to offer any advice, it would be to bring two tools for SURE, and consider bringing crampons if it froze hard the night before. Otherwise, you may not need crampons. We did the whole climb with a 60 meter 8 mm rope, doubled over for simul-climbing. This route has been described as one of the best in the range, and I would have to agree -- once you regain the ridge crest. It is certainly long and committing, and presents interesting challenges and opportunities for routefinding and decision making. For example, we ended up rappelling 11 times over the course of the day, soloed a bit, and simulclimbed the great majority of the time. I'm sure other parties may have chosen to manage these sections via other strategies, some faster, some slower. In short, it was a great trip with a great partner, and I highly recommend the route. I will try to share some pictures soon.

Hi Erik Curious how you approached and descended? Also curious about the rating of this climb: Burdo calls it 10c, Kearney says 10- ... I've assumed I need to be in top climbing shape to send it in a day -- but you make it sound more straightforward. Any thoughts are appreciated. Anyway, nice work!!!! Thanks, Steve "Goatboy"

Dear nlunstrum, Most people in Pullman aren't as helpful or friendly as retrosaurus, so you have that to look forward to. But seriously, WSU has an Alpine Club (you can find their website by searching from the wsu home page I believe) and that should hook you up with climbing folks. From Pullman, you can go east and climb granite cracks at the South Fork of the Clearwater in 2 hours, or go to Spring Mountain (about 3 or 4 hours) , Leavenworth (about 4 hours), or Vantage (about 2.5 hours). There's no real climbing in the wheat, but there's a small gym at WSU and a much nicer one 8 miles away in Moscow Idaho. There's a good climbing shop in Moscow as well called Hyperspud. Good luck surviving the wheatfields, I never would have made it without the Alpine Club to keep me in line. Steve

Maybe we could open a thread that is "get well wishes" people could submit -- then you could print 'em up to go with the stuff you bring. Just an idea. Icegirl, if you like the idea and want to do that, go ahead and open the new thread. - Steve

I succeeded on climbing Forbidden my first attempt at ever climbing any peak -- any have failed on four attempts since then, getting a little FURTHER from the summit on each successive attempt due to weather (X 3) and no permit available for Boston Basin once. I have also made three attempts on S Face Prussik, failing each time due to rain or lightning -- once I was on pitch 5 when lightning came!! Bleak!!!! I suck in the mountains, I guess -- or just get pretty unlucky on certain ones, that's for sure.

I will take a gander at it and let you know what I see . . . I won't be there til July, though . . .

I climbed NW Face of Libert Bell (the Kraus/Rupley route) and enjoyed it as it was something different, but one of the middle pitches (I think it was pitch 3 or so) was fairly grim, 5.8 on super loose rock. It takes you up to the base of the final pitch, a stellar 165-foot long dihedral on good rock. This dihedral was clearly the highlight of the route. There are other variations on this route as well that I did not do.

Great info, helps flesh out Beckey's descriptions a lot. Soooo Erik, how'd you like to climb that N Face route sometime? I'll check it out while I'm up there but won't "snake it" from you. Steve

Jason, that's great beta, thanks very much. Surprising that the mounties climb it and don't leave their "droppings" (i.e. rap slings) all over it! When I climbed dragontail last year we hiked out right beneath the Witch's Tower and it looked like glorious rock, though a short route as people here have said . . . I would not hike in there just to climb it, but hope to incorporate it into a larger 5 day trip thru the enchantments (along with Prusik, colchuck, maybe dragontail) Thanks for the beta, folks -- anyone else? S

Hey Foraker, Welcome to a screwy online community. I can't get your link to open: "Web page unavailable" -- is the problem with the link, or with me? I just got back from NZ, by the way . . . S

I just found out that tieton is closed until May for raptor nesting. Good to know, as I was hoping to head there this weekend. Thought y'all might like to be aware of this closure, in case you weren't already. Guess I'll que up at Smith instead . . .

Soooooooooo, Not too much to say about this formation huh? Must be one of those "best kept secrets" I reckon . . .

Viktor just informed me via email that the route is currently rated "5.11+" in his new guidebook, going to press in a few days he says. Now I know . . . I can't lead that shit!!!!! - the humbled one

Cool, I just emailed him. Thanks, p.p.

Ditto E Face Minuteman, though there is a very loose and unenjoyable pitch right below the great roof/handcrack pitch. E Butt SEWS also great. Burgundy Spire is great and not crowded, usually. I enjoyed climbing "The Archer" on Black Horse Point. Check it out in Burdo's "North Cascade Rock" guidebook. Did not do "Pampas Drifter" on same formation, though it looked harder and longer. There are good routes to do on Kangaroo Temple as well, though frequently used by the Mounties... I also like the Cave route on Concord and "Rapple Grapple" on Liberty Bell. The North Face of Lexington is easy but fun. Noticed some variations around NW Face of Libert Bell, don't know what they were or who did them, but there was fixed gear and I believe I saw some bolts as well . . . There's so much good stuff up there!

I see several routes on this formation in Beckey's book, wonder if anyone has any beta on any of them. Hoping to go in there this summer and attempt something on the tower. Thanks in advance. Steve