mneagle

Trango Captain Hooks, straight shaft: They climb WI well and are all around good performers on alpine routes at a price you can't beat of $170 a piece. I broke a pick the 3rd or 4th time I used them and it turned out they had a recall on them. My new picks seem much stronger, surviving being pounded dull and resharpened several times. I do have some worries about the adze though. I broke one my first season and assumed it was made out of the same crappy metal as the picks. The replacement adze seemed to be made out of better metal but broke again after 2 years of use. I can't remember ever hitting anything but ice with it, so I'm still a little worried about the adze's metal. I got mine at Second Ascent, a Trango dealer.

The dry season is the winter in Bolivia, from late May to early september. The time to go depends on which routes you want to do in what conditions. As the season moves on, all the snow turns to ice, crevasses open up, etc. The weather has been somewhat variable in Bolivia the last few years. According to a guide I talked with in Condoriri, 3 years ago the snow was so light that the Cabeza looked like a big black slab of rock. This year we had unseasonal snowfall that fouled up some of our plans but also endowed Ala Derecha with more snow than it has seen in years and allowed a few parties to tackle some of the most difficult and rarely done routes in Bolivia.

The best pack I've owned is the Wild Things Ice Sack. It has a pad and non-stretch fabric that when cinched with a big load feels no different than other packs with rigid suspension systems. I've used it for a week long trip into the enchantments, ice climbing and multi-pitch rock routes. When I'm climbing hard, I don't carry much and suspension isn't an issue, so I clip the waistbelt behind the pack and it's never in the way of the harness. Taking out the pad and replacing it with an 8 section Z-rest has worked great at bivies. At 3lb 4oz it's super light as well. The crampon attachment on the back makes it no sweat to take the points on and off.

I have a 2R with sidewindows and large door. I took it to Bolivia and it stood up well to strong winds and was super light to bring on bivies. On nights when there was a good breeze, the vents worked well and I got no condensation. On still nights the endliners were coated with ice. The middle section stayed pretty much condensation free. I used it the last 4 nights in Leavenworth where it was pretty dry and I kept the side windows open with no condensation even though I woke up sweating in my down bag. I haven't used it in a NW downpour yet, but so far it's one of my favorite pieces of gear.

I got back from Bolivia a few weeks ago and finally found time to give a not so brief trip report for all those with Condoriri dreams. This was my second time to Bolivia, the first time being 4 years ago, and not a thing has changed except for an abundance of internet cafés in La Paz and a decent coffee shop on the corner just below the Torino Hotel. Although our trip was somewhat mired by some unseasonal weather and a peasant uprising, it mostly went well. To acclimatize, I’d recommend going to Lake Titicaca. Copacabana is at 12,000 feet, the lake and ruins are beautiful and the smog of La Paz is a distant memory. On Isla del Sol, there are a few hills to 13,000 feet that can give you a workout. After returning to La Paz, two guys from Aspen and I headed to Condoriri basecamp. You can arrange transport from any travel agent or guiding agency in La Paz. Prices range from $50-70; the best price was quoted to me by the owner of the guiding agency located in the Hotel Continental on Illampu, near the market and El Lobo, the best Isreali cafeteria in South America. Once in Tuni, you can rent mules one way to camp for 40 Bolivianos (currently 6.5 Bolivianos to the dollar). We traded an old MSR stove and an old ice axe for 4 mules on the way out. We then traded a harness for lunch. The trail takes about 2 hours and gets you to 15,100 feet. The camp guard will locate you promptly and charge you 5 Bolivianos per person per day, explaining it’s for watching your stuff, building the toilets, etc… The amenities of the camp include a faucet that constantly pours out relatively clean water, pit toilets and numerous camp sites rich with artistic and architectural rock work. We filtered or boiled the water, although I heard some in camp were drinking it directly. From the number of llamas wandering the hillsides, I’d air on the side of caution. Most all the staples you need can be bought in the market in La Paz fairly cheap; 1 lb of pasta for 1.5 Bolivianos for example. There are some climbing stores where you can buy gas canisters and rent pickets, screw etc along Sagarnaga. Oh yeah and there’s climbing too. From camp you can see most of the climbs in the area. Straight above you is Condoriri and up the valley 30 min is the glacier that leads to the remainder of the climbs. We headed up the glacier and climbed Ilusioncita. It’s the smallest of the mountains but has an interesting glacier route and a short section of 5.3 rock to reach the ridge walk to the summit. The conditions when we first arrived were what the books all promise, nothing but sun and solid neve snow everywhere that takes pickets and screws well and doesn’t even require gaitors. On our way down, we stopped and did some ice climbing on the left hand side of the glacier where a 40 foot wide, 50 foot tall cascade of WI 4 green ice had formed in the shade. Conditions continued to be great for our climb up Pyramide Blanca the next day. We did the Southwest Face. The south facing aspect of the face left it with 100 feet of 8-10 inch deep unconsolidated snow at the base, but after that it was solid neve again. It was moderately steep, requiring a second ice tool. I tried to lead straight up over the cornice, but with one swing, the glacial segment I was on sank several inches. We then traversed right across a 60 degree slope and gained the ridge that was an easy walk to the summit, which is the best place to snap photos of Alpamyo. After a rest day, we set off for Condoriri. We left camp at 1:00 AM and made it to the high camp in 2 hours. The “scree slope from hell” had a lot of ice on the right and was only mildly painful. No one had done any of the other varitaions to bypass the scree. From there it’s a straight forward ridge walk to the 6 foot wide ‘shrund and up around to the right to reach the rock gully. It was great neve and we made it to the ridge in no time. The ridge is a total classic. Narrow, exposed and a bit steep in places. We had 4 pickets between the 3 of us and ran a running belay to the summit. It took us 5 ½ hours from camp to the summit in the most perfect conditions. We had about 5 minutes of views, however, until the clouds appeared from nowhere and gave us a brief snow shower, foreshadowing the 6 inches that would come down once we were back at camp. Although it’s supposed to be a virtual desert during the winter, I had 4 days with significant snowfall during the 14 days I ended up spending in Condoriri basecamp. The first 2 guys I was climbing with left and 4 more friends from Seattle showed up and we headed back to Condoriri. I had really hoped to get to other areas in Bolivia, but both groups of partners had their eyes on Condoriri and as it turned out, every other area ended up being cut off by a peasant uprising, which involved the tearing down of every retaining wall in the country and the stones being thrown into the road. It turned out to be no sacrifice, as the quantity and quality of routes at Condoriri are more than can be exhausted in 2 weeks. I learned later that my other partners were stuck in Sorata for 10 days with no hope in site of getting out. With the new group, I climbed a variation of the regular route on Pyramide Blanca, heading up the rock band just below the summit (low 5th class). The next day we headed up and over the glacier, summiting a minor peak, and then climbing the ridge route on Pequeno Alpamyo. Another true classic with a rolling and moderately steep ridge and amazing views. The new snowfall had made the glacier a 12-18 inch deep quagmire of sticky snow, but the high winds had swept the ridge down to the solid stuff. After a rest day we headed up Condoriri with the intention of doing a left sided variation up the steep section of the ridge and through the rock band to join the ridge at the notch near the top of the rock gully. We also brought up gear for a high camp, so 2 of us could make an attempt on Ala Izquirda the next day. The climb up Condoriri went well. We broke through a crevasse low down, but were able to climb past it. My buddy and I settled down for a few hours of sleep while the others headed back to camp. We had heard the ice high up in the rocks off to the right of the South Face was great and intended to climb up a snow ramp and head right into the rocks. The recent storms had been harsh on the South Face, leaving us swimming through waist to neck deep powder making rather slow progress as it was, until we found that the snow ramp was nothing more than a thinly coated sea of seracs. We downclimbed and went further left going up the South Face proper, again through waist deep snow. There was a little solid glacial ice along the right but that petered out and we were left wading up again for a few hundred more feet of profound hardship. Once finally in the rock bands the climbing was made up of brief sections of steep, thin and technical ice on relatively poor pro (half drive screws and screamers), excellent neve and the ubiquitous waist deep powder. I didn’t think snow could be that deep on that steep of an angle. We made better time further up with a few decent mixed leads through rock bands up to the corniced summit that was protected by a barrier of steep rock dusted by loose snow. Getting over it required a shaky ice tool placement and a committing heel hook 80 feet over the belay with no pro. Very exciting. Almost as exciting as the decent down the East Ridge, through the storm, without headlights, water or food, through a precarious crevasse field. Our exhaustion and the new snow nixed our plans to climb Ilusion. We left the Condoriri area heading for the West Face of Huayna Potosi but were denied by the snow clogged road and poor conditions of the route. I’d climbed the regular route 4 years ago and was really impressed by the views of the West Face from the summit. That was a little disappointing, but we tried to get to the regular route as a consolation. An unruly mob of stone wielding youths and an unpleasant attempt to go overland led us back to La Paz. With no big mountains to climb, what is one to do in La Paz except rent climbing shoes and go sport climbing. Much to our surprise, there is a cool sport climbing area in La Florida at the edge of La Paz. I copied a guidebook from Andino Guide Agency and off we went. The climbs bear european ratings and are mostly 6 or higher. A beautiful day of bolt clipping was a relaxing way to end things before heading back to Seattle smelly, bearded and 15 pounds lighter. A few more bits of advise: Air Travel: American Airlines is the only American company flying directly to Bolivia. I paid $1200 through a web based travel agency, Exito. My friends flew roundtrip to Lima for $600 and went overland to Cuzco so they could do the Inca Trail to Machu Pichu before going over land to La Paz. They flew back to Lima for $200 and then back to Seattle. They also paid a departure tax of 25 dollars in both La Paz and Lima. Hotel: The Hotel Torino is a basic place with rooms with hot showers for $6 per person per night. The rooms with shared bathrooms are much older, colder and loud but for half the price. They will safely keep as much gear as you want to leave for up to 3 months. La Lingua: Other than a few guiding agencies in La Paz, nobody, I repeat, NOBODY speaks English. If you don’t know at least basic Spanish you are in for a trial. Do something to learn at least a little before you get there. Gear: I climbed in powerstretch tights, Marmot bibs, polypro long-sleeve shirt and Mt. Hardwear FTX shell. I wore a fleece at the beginning of the 1:00 AM start. Once the sun goes down, I wore Moonstone insulated pants and a Feathered Friend's Frontpoint Jacket around camp. OR Ice Mitts w/ single liners were plenty warm. Koflach Arctis Expe's were sweet. I'm now convinced that there's no tent like a Stephenson Warmlite; incredibly light and super strong in the wind. My Marmot 0 degree down bag kept me toasty without any silly vapor barrier nonesense.

I found a single Diablo climbing shoe at 4th of July Rock yesterday in Leavenworth. E-mail me at mneagle@u.washington.edu if it's yours.

I'm a doctor at the Harborview ER, but when I grow up I'm going to be a baseball player...or maybe an astronaut.

We climbed the south face of Forbidden yesterday. Both upper and lower camp sites are snow free. Crampons but no axes required for glacier, which we walked right up the middle without a rope. No 'shrund to speak of and the moat hasn't opened up yet. The right side is seeing a lot of ice and stone fall, so we went up the left side. Once past the roofs, the routefinding is pretty tough. We intended on doing the direct, but drifted left and ended up doing the 1968 route, ending up on the west ridge with one long pitch of simulclimbing to the summit. THe route was dry all the way up. There were some spooky 5.9 moves on 3-4 different pitches that were pretty tough while carrying a pack with boots and crampons; the rest was 5.5 to 5.7. The descent route back to the east ridge is also snow free. Keep an eye out for the cairne marking the path to the right off the rappels, it's about 40 feet below the single red runner. We brought a rack of 10 cams to 3" Camalot and a set of small stoppers and that felt pretty good. The Marblemount Ranger Station is giving out 6 backcountry permits per day and there were only 2 other parties on Boston Basin the days we were there.

There is a killer variation we did last summer. Rather than heading up under the chockstone, go left up a left facing corner with a great 1-2 inch crack for a whole pitch ending in a slightly run out dihedral to a large ledge. It seemed like solid 10b. From there you go right 15 feet over a small picnnacle and end up looking down 25 feet over the chockstone. You can downclimb or just continue around the corner and up the chimney with a little rope drag to the last pitch. As to speed records; last summer there was a note in the summit register by a guy who claimed to have soloed the west ridge in 17 minutes and the Serpentine Arete on Dragontail in 3 hours...whatever.

I just got back from Bolivia 3 days ago and your order of peaks seems appropriate, but you may be surprised at how many peaks you could bag in 3 weeks. I'd suggest going to Titicaca first for acclimatization, as it's at around 12,000 feet and the hills on Isla del Sol get up to 13,000 feet. The base camp at Condoriri is at 15,100 feet and has the best access I've ever seen. I went there for 6 days with one group of friends and climbed the Ilusioncita, the Southwest Face of Pyramida Blanca and the gully route on Cabeza del Condor. I returned with another group of friends for 6 more days and climbed the regular route on Pyramide Blanca, the ridge route on Pequenya Alpomyo, a direct ridge start on Cabeza del Condor and the South Face of Ala Izquierda. We set up a high camp the second time up La Cabeza to get Ala Izquierda the next day, but otherwise everything is a day trip from the tent. If you are in shape and acclimatized, the Condoriri area is the perfect place to be hyperactive. If you want to climb the west face of Huayna Potosi, you can easily get to it from Tuni after leaving Condoriri by a short jeep ride or a few hours with a llama team. If you have any questions about Bolivia, let me know. Good climbing.

I have a pair of Montrail Couloirs which were stiff when new but are now worn in and relatively flexible. I bought Charlet Moser Ecrin crampons which have never failed me on many alpine climbs such as El Dorado, Sloan Peak, West McMillan Spire, the Brothers and Mt. Constance to name a few. With the crampons off, boots flex well on the approach and when the crampons are snapped shut add a lot of rigidity for front pointing and French technique.

I've done both approaches and found the Bedal Creek to be less complicated but more work. If you're doing the Bedal Creek approach, be sure to use Bedal Creek road, which cuts 4 miles off. The major difficulty w/ the standard approach is finding the trail on the other side of the river. If memory serves me correct, the first half mile is good trail leading to a 15 foot wide stream. On the other side is a Cairn and a trail leading about another half mile to the river. The stream can be crossed either where the trail meets it if the water is low, or you can follow a faint trail that goes right and over a large tree that spans the stream and then find your way back to the cairn. At the river, you'll come to a bank w/ a wide area of exposed rocky streambed on the other side of the water. Turn right and continue on another faint trail and walk about 200-300 meters, while keeping a sharp eye on the opposite bank for surveyor's tape. I was able to see the tape in several trees and found a relatively shallow spot to wade/rock hop to the other side. The trail swings off left and from there on is well marked w/ tape, cairns and an arrow created out of stones on the old road that gets you to the main trail. I climbed the lower ramp on the Bedal Creek approach, which was exposed and dangerous at the base due to wet rock, but it may be covered w/ snow now. Higher up there are a few exposed sections before reaching the upper ledge after which it's pretty straight forward 3rd class. On the Sloan Glacier, I went late in the season and was turned back by gigantic seracs and crevasses on the upper part of the glacier. Walking over that glacier without a rope would be a death wish. Good luck.

Anyone know anything about climbing and/or trekking in Morocco? I'll be there for 4 weeks from the end of October into November.

Well, when I came down at the end of the day and found the rope sitting on the rock, I never imagined it would cause this much "discussion". I left a note on the rock and continued my climbing trip. I haven't had any access to the internet for several days and only learned about this whole fiasco when the owner called me and we made arrangements to get his rope back to him.

I read an editorial, in Climbing Magazine I think, by a researcher who had done cadaver studies of whether taping fingers decreased risk of injury. His findings were that taping did not affect the durability of the tendons. He made a comment however that these studies were done on intact tendons and whether or not taping injured or previously injured tendons improves their strength is still not clear.

In the Rock CLimbing Washington book, it shows a line leading from the rappel anchors of On Line to "The Mohawk", which appears to be a swath of trees over the dome. Is there any reason to go up there and is there another descent route?

After a great trip to Snow Creek Wall, I returned to the parking lot for a moderately unpleasant encounter w/ officer friendly who handed me a $50 ticket for not having a Northwest Trail Pass. I have gotten a few of those "reminder to buy a season pass" envolopes on my windshield, but I was told by others that tickets can't be enforced and that court outcomes have so far been in favor of the ticketed. Does anyone know exactly what the legal status of trail passes is?

Has anyone ever used Baruffaldi mountaineering goggles? I'm wondering how they fit and what the specs are on the lenses.

I'll be in Bolivia on June 12 and I'm looking for 1 or more partners to climb with until meeting up w/ others on June 23. I'd still be acclimatizing, so I'd rather do easy high climbs or more diffcult lower climbs. You can contact me at: mneagle@u.washington.edu

The grocery store in George that used to sell the Access Pass did not have the new machine as of 3 weeks ago. The closest place with one is Ephrata. I got mine at Fred Meyers in Seattle, which nullified my $66 ticket.

Last year I climbed the East Face of Lexington Tower and was disturbed to find that the 5.9 offwidth crack is now protected by 2 new bolts and a slung 2 x 4 piece of plywood, wedged in the crack. The run out 5.8 chimney above it is still preserved, but I wonder for how long.

I spent about a month in Bolivia in 1997, most of it spent trekking but also climbing HP on borrowed gear. It's not particularly dangerous or technical, but it's still legitimate in height and not as crowded as others often say (at least when I climbed it). Seeing the Gran Poder festival (think 48 hours of Aymaran Mardi Gras) in La Paz was amazing, but I agree w/ the others that getting out of sight of La Paz is a good idea. I spent several days in Sorata and another 8 treking around the Illampu Circuit. Ancohuma and Illampu are gorgeous peaks that have reasonable access from Sorata. Our trek took us past the Laguna Glacial which is not very hard to get to or find. Sorata itself is a nice town w/ good food available from the local farmers' market and guides and porters available at the Residential Sorata if you need them. The Residential's owner is a nice German guy who will keep your stuff locked up while climbing. The other bonuses of staying at the Residential are the floral garden, ancient iron spring beds and an old TV and VCR that get set up for movie night once a week, playing movies as selected by the audience. The copy of Butch Casidy and the Sundance Kid has an annoying hum in the background, but there's no better setting to watch it in the world. We visited the town at a time of crisis, when the owner of the other hotel in town was arrested for hiring youths to throw stones down onto campsites of trekkers working w/ rival guides hired from the residencial. He was busted after hiring a kid to throw stones on his uncle's group. The same guy was also apparently trying to break up the guides' union they had been forming. Anyways, the guides who were the best in town were 2 Germans. The one named Peter can regularly be found, beer in hand and barefoot, most mornings at the Residencial. He seems a little crazy but knows the most about the mountains and has taught most of the local guides all they know about steep ice. If he's still alive and coherent, he's probably worth a talk. The other guide had recently written a book pointing the finger at the local bad guy and was considering getting out of town before his head got split open. If you're going on a trek, it's probably worth hiring a guide, as the trails are tough to follow and they help in talking bandits out of robbing you, as happened to a group of Isrealis we met coming into town... I guess I didn't include as much true beta in this message. I hope it gives you a little flavor for the country, although I can't really do it justice. It is truely a mountaineer's paradise, but when you're there, don't just peak bag, drink a little mate (ma-tay) and take a look around. Incidently, I'm going back in June as well. I'm flying down on June 12th and am hooking up w/ some others on the 22nd or 23rd w/ nothing planned for the time in between. If anyone has room left on their rope, I'd love to get a climb or 2 in before my friends show up.

I've been eyeing the Doorish route for a few years. I'd love to do it, but am a little leery of the A4+ rating. If you're psyched about leading the microcracks and looking for a partner, I'd be pretty interested in exploring this summer.

Has anyone out there climbed the north face or Dolomite Tower. I scoped out the approach and descent last year but didn't get a chance to climb.I'm wondering how the bivy site is on the Becky route and whether Dolomite Tower requires a portaledge or if there are decent ledges to sleep on. Also, has anyone that's been out there noticed whether there is still snow or ice on the routes.

I'm going to be in Albuquerque in late April with 4 days to put to use. Anyone have any experience climbing in that neck of the woods? I could probably drag a full rack along if there are worthy trad routes, but a harness, rope and a dozen quick draws would be easier.