mattp

I enjoyed visiting the Eagle's Nest and the huts around Berchtesgaden. Cool via ferrata on the Watzman or whatever it was.

Cavey - You can probably get over the 'schrund on Nooksack, but if not you could climb the Bertulis route (N. Face) which starts right next to it (you'd need only cross the 'schrund on the descent, assuming you descended via the Beckey route. The Bertulis route is a 17 pitch rock climb, up to 5.9 in difficulty but mostly low to mid-fifth, and generally on decent rock by North Cascade standards. If you try it, you may want to follow the advice we had when I climbed it: my partner was told the best approach to the final tower is to traverse right where an obvious and inviting crack system leads up and left, and this worked for us. Either way, though, Nooksack Tower is a pretty big thing for a two-day weekend. You'll know you did something. -Matt

Actually, they pretty much called the weekend exactly right, too. While Payoso may have been wearing his shorts wherever he was, it was distinctly cooler at Snoqualmie Pass yesterday than it was on Saturday night, and the predicted cloudiness and chance of showers arrived right on schedule.

Nice pic.

I have a buddy who knows somebody whose third cousin's little sister climbed Golden Horn once upon a time and she reported bad rock.

I bet you were looking at Three Fingers. After you pass below Squire Creek Wall (all Granite without any glacier at all), there are some short walls along the crest near Salish Peak, but the only big mountain wall is the East Face of Three Fingers. The granite of the lower portion of the face is not really shown in the photograph above.

This is the East Face of Three Fingers. I believe the only route that has been completed on the face itself follows that snow ramp you see trending up and right (it does not simply end in the middle of nowhere below the South Finger, as it appears in ths photograph, but actually continues to the top of the face).

I once climbed and skied the Sulfide route in fog in the month of September, and we even kept our skis on for the short icy section where all the cravasses were, on that terrain roll between 6600 and 7400 feet. I'm not suggesting that was a good idea because it is not completely trival, but we were into this thing about skiing every month of the year and we became pretty glib about Cascade glaciers. However, the route is not that bad nor is it hard to find if you know a little bit about navigation. On the descent, you will be following your tracks and I would expect most of it to have a snow surface rather than ice, so you will see your footprints. Also, the route does not deviate far from the crest of what might be called the south or southwest ridge, so any time you had doubts about where you were you could head right in search of a terrain feature that should get you back on track. Then, if you find yourself blocked by a crevasse or something, you'd only need head back left until you were able to cross it, then head back right again to once again locate a terrain feature on or near the crest of the south/southwest ridge. I've never been up or down the Fischer Chimney's so I can't make a direct comparison, but I've been to Lake Anne and I've climbed and descended the White Salmon a couple of times and I would guess the Sulphide would make an easier day trip. [ 09-16-2002, 03:36 PM: Message edited by: mattp ]

Are there any more thoughts on this?

Listen up, people. One of the reasons climbing takes a low priority in recreational land management plans as compared to other activities is that we climbers like to complain a lot and argue about the ethics of bolting but we can't seem to get it together to organize ourselves. My experience with the Darrington work parties has been the same as that Darryl noted: on each of five work-days, there have been a lot of hikers who turned out for the project but at most two climbers have showed up. Similarly, at public meetings concerning things like a proposed expansion of the wilderness permit system in the Alpine Lakes, I've seen more horse packers than climbers. How many active climbers on this board have spent even one day on a trail project, clean-up or other such effort in the last year? How many have written letters or contacted a ranger about some issue related to climbing access? On the other hand, how many have chimed in on some kind of argument over environmental ethics or called so-and-so a jerk because they did so? My point is not that there is anything wrong with calling attention to climbers' abuse of the vertical environment, but that it takes more than verbally assaulting other climbers if you really want to do something for the sport. [ 09-16-2002, 10:15 AM: Message edited by: mattp ]

Mine has been borrowed twice. Once, it was driven over and into things and then abandoned in an alley on Capitol Hill for a month where a bum took up residence. I got four parking tickets, although the broken steering collumn and doorlock were quite obvious -- I guess reporting stolen property is not the job of parking enforcement. And then, when I got it back, it smelled like hell (still does). Not too long after this, it was stolen a second time. But I guess they didn't like the smell because they drove it four blocks and got out and stole a newer model.

They had just cleared it to Barlow Pass the weekend we skied up there. From there, the road to Monte Cristo was covered in snow all but a couple hundred yards.

It sure looked neat when I skied below it in May.

Even if somebody was there yesterday and pronounced the 'schrund impassible, I bet you could find a way over it if you were really into it (similar feats of miracle climbing are accomplished all the time.) However, if you were stymied by the 'schrund you wouldn't have to "turn around" if you were flexible enough to traverse in from an alternate start or to divert to something else nearby - the N. Ridge or the NW Face route, for example. Go for it.

Yes, and it was a good shot. I'm just not as "in touch" with the sport climbing thing as I might be and that didn't look like a natural face-climbing pose to me. But I feel much better now. Thanks.

quote: Originally posted by Dr Flash Amazing: They're probably just hangdogging. At the risk of sounding like someone else on this board, I'll say that it did not occur to me that someone stoop so low as to do that and post it as a "climbing" shot. I prefer to think those are just some really good pockets.

I'm showing my ignorance here because it has been a while since I've been to Smith but, yes, I suppose it would not be Karate Crack because that climb is on a wall that faces Cinnamon Slab, isn't it? But the posture of that climber, leaning so far away from the rock, was what I thought made it appear to be a crack climb. Those must be some pretty good pockets.

quote: Originally posted by Dr Flash Amazing: Mmmmmm ... small pockets and glue-in bolts ... rrrroooowwwwrrrrr! Isn't that a picture of a crack climb? Is it Karate Crack? Does it have small pockets and glue-in bolts?

quote: Originally posted by fredrogers: Not much to recommend, unless you like large talus fields, shitty, wet, loose exposed approach gullies and loose, crappy rock all the way to the top of the climb. What's no to like about that? This is cascadeclimbers.com and that sure sounds like the Cascades to me.

Not lately, but I did the climb several years ago and it was great. It is also much easier than the book suggests, and I would guess that you will encounter no ice climbing on the route. Enjoy. [ 09-11-2002, 10:26 AM: Message edited by: mattp ]

quote: Originally posted by Dru: Frshiez dont kill people. Avalanches kill people. Saying all freshiez cause avalanches is like saying all rocks cause landslides. Rocks kill too. Come to think of it, you all had better just stay home.

Freshiez kill.

You Freshiez guys are pathetic. In October, you'll be carrying your skis up to Camp Muir to get lost in a whiteout and gauge your skis on the rocks, while the walls at Index will be crying for climbers, it'll be prime time at Smith, and there will be no bugs in Darrington; conversely, in April you will be the guys hiking through snow to find wet rock in the Icicle while the snowpack will be at it's height and the alpine touring at it's azimuth. As the seasons go, I believe it's better to be behind the curve!!!

How 'bout Big Four? You've been oogling it for a while, and I bet you could do one of those North Face routes without scaring yourself too bad at this time of year (be prepared for some bush, though).

I use as system similar to that described by Crack, except that 5 tugs means "climb." If the belayer doesn't start climbing within a reasonable time, I pull 5 times again. It may mean the leader has set a belay, or maybe they have not reached one and want to simulclimb. On alpine rock climbs as opposed to crags, the terrain tends to be more complex and there is more pressure to keep moving so the leader is more likely to want to keep climbing until they are out of rope -- and then want to keep climbing further. They may see a better belay further up, there may be no safe anchors anywhere, or perhaps they've climbed around a horn or some other feature such that they need only keep climbing to have their second "on belay."