Jens

Climb any of the NE face routes instead. Why the NE butress seems to be so popular in the last several years or so is beyond me-- NE butt has lots of brush, trees, running water etc. Even if you were to climb on or near the NE butt in winter I would imagine that all the big trees would cut way down on the commitment. You could make a bonfire on top of some tin foil and make a shelter, and if you got scared, just start rappin' off big trees. NE face routes are steeper, cleaner, and devoid of vegetation. As for descents, I have come down the south face, the east ridge, and part of the west side. The east ridge is the best although right now some of the moats in the Johannesberg/Cascade couloir are prtetty wide. I once started descending to the West but found the rock to be even worse than the stuff around the summit. J-Berg is an odd mountain. It can let you have quick and easy passage or it can scare the shit out you and throw epic at you big time.

I would have to agree with phil on the NE face of Eldo being more of a variation. I climbed it about a week and half ago. It is in fine shape, but for those looking for an "ice climb" you may want to look elsewhere. We did climb a short overhanging wall on crevasse just to save some traversing and to not feel like losers for humping a bunch of extra gear up to the route.

Bouldering and bouldering guides are cool but........A lot of people have been bouldering at a high standard in lots of areas of the high country for a least a decade now. Yes- hard problems have been done at Ingalls lake, yes- hard problems have been done in the enchantments. Whether it has been a rock jock who packs his slippers and chalk while taking a significant other on a backpacking trip or several alpinist/rock jocks wondering away from basecamp. I'm not taking anything away from the latest crop-- some of them crank hard on the boulders and have good power. It would be wrong to list "first ascents" that were just done by many of the pad toters in any new guidebook. Stuff has been done up in the mountains up to about V7 in my best judgement. So if any of you reading this are thinking about someday writing a guidebook to bouldering areas in popular cascade mountaineering areas (or anywhere in WA) they are most likely not firsts ascents. This may be more true for all over the state than you may think. We've had C4 rubber for a long time now. Power training methods have remained about the same.

Have the locals made a drive-in route to bypass the gate that blocks access to the Monte cristo area, or is there just a lot of bootleg keys out there? When I climbed E. Willman's, on the way out tons of locals had cars very close to monte cristo. Were talkin' little cars too. They were out beer drinkin' and picknincing. The gate was locked when I went in and rode out.

Some more sandbags: Thin redline--pitch 1 Carnival Crack in Leavenworth. Harder than 5.11ow's or squeezes in Yosemite or Squamish that I've lead.(and I like shoving my lame wretched carcass into the wide stuff). Swim- Index. Also- most of the sport routes at the upper town wall have been lost to the black lichen these daysand are harder then they once were. Nobody wants to do the same crimp for every hold on 85 degree slabs.

I've done both descents I think that the East ledges descent is definitely faster but is more nerve wracking. Plus once you are done and hit snow It is way fast. So decide what your priorities are.

Give yourself lots of time to get off the thing. It took us longer to get down than to get from the car to the summit.

We did it about 3 weeks ago. No snow was found on the route except for about a 30 yard crossing of an upper lobe of a glacier. It is a good way to get away from the crowds and circus found on the Sahale summit. Leave all your gear at the col and come back to the col when you are done. The route is 4rth class. The rock quality is poor, but hey what's new?

Did the route in 98'. The approach was a schwack! We went in from low on the Cascade river Road. Perhaps it would be easier to go from Cascade pass. Bring one axe, and crampons. Let us know what way you go in.

As of right now, many Coleman Headwall Parties and North rige parties are leaving from camp low However, the quickest way to go is definitely high and traverse over as previously mentioned. Don't get suckered by all the boot tracks. There are a few sets of tracks high though. We just climbed the North Ridge. Last August when we climbed the Coleman Headwall, we did a ton of stupid gerrymandering trying to get to the headwall. Have fun.

If anyone goes up there it would be great if they could post specifics and the approach of the Burdo sport route that was mentioned in Rock and Ice. Also is their really a band of Dolomite on it? If so, it would be way cool.

The route was well marked with cairns as of about 3 weeks ago, However I was using the route for a descent and the markers can be trickier to spot on the way up.

The summit ridge area of Johannesburg is pretty bad stuff. The volcanoes are pretty bad also. As for WA '"destination" crag areas, Vantage is the worst. Many of the climbs we did there in the early 90's are way different then they are now. And despite what some may say, the choss out at Vantage has and never will support a legit' 5.13. If temporarily 13, rehearsal sessions, will yield enough "new holds" to become 12. This will apply forever.

Sleep in your own bed. And catch a Latte' on the way. As of right now, the low snow year if anything makes the approach quicker up the red creek slabs. We left our car at 6:10am Sat and climbed the standard Sharkfin route, the 5.10 Sharkfin route, Boston Peak, and Sahale and were back to the car for late afternoon-early evening beers. The route is a natural one day route for someone of any hiking speed and climbing ability, although Boston Basin is a cool camp.

Dwayner, The Hawaii cave story sounds familiar. If you are who I think you are, was that on an archaeological expedition? Keep up the good stories.

I agree. I have noticed that in the last year a lot of registers from Cascade summits are disappearing. Pretty lame. It's fun to read em'.

There is a lot more exposed ice on i t right now vs. a regular year for this time. It is fairly broken up but still very climable. This cirque is never really a place to dilly dally. We climbed it car to car two days ago. We encountered a short AI3 sect ion of ice, but the rest of the route was moderate. Keep moving, look and listen while you are moving. There has definitely been some stonefall and icefall activit y up in that cirque in the last week. Nothing came down on us for the 3 hours we were on the climb. The descent down the sherpa couloir/glacier is in good shape right now also.

Ups I meant Saturday.

Was that you hiking up the moraine below the ice cliff glacier on Sunday when I yodeled across from the flanks of the sherpa glaicer?

The bolts in question on DDD are rather in poor taste. It doesn't have to sound like a witch hunt, but I am curious who put them in. I have climbed the route prior to the bolts being added. If my memory serves me correct , from about 40 off the ground to the finish, there are bomber gear placements, yet it is a bit far apart so just prepare for a big safe winger. The first 3rd of the route if I remember was a different story. It had some sketchy gear. If nothing else, the route could have been equiped with two bolts down low, and then only by a few people. Dana's arch is a different story. The bolts adhere to the Yosemte ethic and even Bachar wouldn't blow his top. Having free and aid climbed the thing (in the rain) , pins will destroy parts of the flake, stoppers try to lever out and cable stemed cams will torque in a wierd way . The bolts were added to save the feature, much like wheat thin on the cookie cliff by Bridwell in t he 70's, Sure one could do the thing on gear if he or she had to but the logic is different. As for Numbah ten, how much is the climb getting tried now? Does anybody know? Wasn' t Tom Herbert the only one to ever onsight flash it with no beta? I hope my comments don't sound to much like they belong on the spray forum. I'm bored. Great topic discussion starter. Everybody's got an opinion.

Great Route-- much better than the serpentine arete. *Don't Bivy if possible *The Wide pitch took a big bro (7 inch?) down lower and then offered a few good small gear placements up higher. Try to spot the pitch from down low as some people have gotten lost. * The fin is a cool feature * I would bring either crampons and a ski pole or an axe for any time of year. It will be a lot faster that way. * We did it in 7 pitches and roped up at the base of the wide pitch

I am hearing that some people are suggesting that we should rethink conventional wisdom about supportive taping of fingers for rock climbing. Does anyone have any knowledge of the subject? Should tape be applied to prevent injury of fingers (middle & ring finger)? What if one was trying to climb while nursing an injury, or doesn't want to take a major long layoff? Is taping bad? One school of thought is that ligament injuries in fingers should be taped while tendon problems should not be taped. How does one tell the difference without consulting a doctor?

Haven't been ski mountaineering on Adams lately but was up touring near the Sahale Arm last Sunday. Quite a bit of new snow was on the ground and it was snowing lightly off and on during different times of the day. The turns were fun and more winterlike up high. It got wet and a little heavy down low. The whole day felt more like march.

I haven't climbed the route...... but why so many chains!!#@!!?????

Many of us are looking at the bigger picture about stringing bolt lines up mountian faces. Debating that is very good and provides hours of chat. My point is simply this: The WA climbing community doesn't need a rap-bolted, power drilled, top to bottom sport climbing, clp-up on the ESE face of south early winter spire-- And I love sport climbing and have done my share of rap bolting. I have studied this face in great detail and have scrambled around the base of the whole thing. Here is why this route will not do a service to the community: 1. Granted, a cool free line on this face would require a few bolts. But if you look carefully enough cracks are found all over the place EVERYWHERE. Why not just use a few bolts to link protecable systems? The face is steep enough that you wouldn't get hurt if you took a big winger. 2. This is the mountains not the crags. I don't care that you park 30 minutes away, It is still the mountains. Just because we sport climbers won the bolt war of the 80's doesn't mean it is manifest destiny to bring our doctrine to the high mountains. 3. A rivet or a drilled bathook aid ladder is not done from top to bottom and rarely takes up more than 5 percent of the total veritcal feet gained. Even on the big stone. Just because the route has been started doen't mean it has to be finished. Please let it rest in peace. ps. as you ascend thin red line, who put all the bolts around it?